Joe Dumars is out as Pistons’ general manager. That’s been expected for months.
So, surely the Pistons had a plan to proceed without him, and now its unfolding.
Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
Source: Dumars has agreed to remain on as executive adviser to the #Pistons, but away from basketball operations.
— VinceEllis (@AlabamaScribe56) April 13, 2014
#Pistons executives George David and Ken Cantanella will run team through draft and free agency as ownership conducts search for replacement
— VinceEllis (@AlabamaScribe56) April 13, 2014
David Mayo of MLive:
Joe Dumars will not have his contract renewed as #Pistons president, in an ownership decision. He did NOT resign.
— David Mayo (@David_Mayo) April 13, 2014
When Karen Davidson sold the franchise to Tom Gores, she retained a small ownership stake so the team would remain with the family of Bill Davidson, its late owner. This seems to follow the same logic – keep Dumars, a great figure in franchise history, involved, even if superficially. His contract expires June 30 or July 1 (both have been reported), so if he’s not resigning out of pride or any other reason, he needs to fill some role in the interim. It seems mostly symbolic.
But why are George David and Ken Catanella slated to be in charge for so long? The draft and free agency are huge for the Pistons’ future, and the next general manager should run the offseason from the get-go. Again, given how obvious this shakeup was, the Pistons should have already begun searching for a replacement for Dumars.
If that replacement is David or Catanella, that’s fine. Name him general manager.
Otherwise, Gores is making the next general manager’s job more difficult – unless the future replacement happens to agree fully with David and Catanella, but what are the odds of that?
