Is Joe Dumars Overrated

[Bankshot]

as a GM?  Most everyone praised Joe Dumars as a great GM after he traded for Rasheed.

He did a great job putting the '04 Pistons together, but did anyone really think at the time that that team was capable of winning a championship?  Not many people thought they would beat the star studded Fakers that year, because the Pistons had no "superstar" that could take over a game, but it was the perfect storm for the Pistons that year with the Fakers imploding.

That the Pistons haven't won again and have lost to teams that do have "superstar" players, I think Dumars did recognized this, but traded for the wrong "superstar" in Allen Iverson. 

Considering that the Pistons continue to get killed in the paint, it was curious that he chose Chauncy's position to "upgrade" rather than the front court position where their biggest problems seem to lie.

Other than putting that '04 team together that won a championship (imo only because of a dysfunctional Fakers team), I have changed my mind of him being a great GM, especially after the stupid Iverson trade.

[RAcker]

He has been good up until recently.  The Allen Iverson trade will go down as one of the worst in history in my opinion.

[Rondo_is_better]

Yeah he was pretty overrated, but not anymore. He's lost his magic. Ainge, on the other hand, is still very overrated... at least for now. Everyone singing his praises right now, but soon, he'll do something irrefutably stupid, and there will be a thread titled "Is Danny Ainge Overrated?".

The fact is that all GMs are basically equally decent at their jobs. There are a couple notable exceptions, like Chris Wallace (sucks) and whoever is running the Lakers, I forget his name, (good), but otherwise its a level playing field. The rating of all GMs just depends on what they've done lately. Everyone loved Kevin Pritchard... but then it came to light that he was an arrogant tool. So now he's considered overrated. It's a boom-bust cycle. One day someone's overrated, the next underrated, and then a week later, they're overrated again.

For Dumars, the Iverson trade was "bust" in the cycle. If he ever trades for a legitimate center, that will be Dumars' "boom" and he'll be right back on top.  

[KungPoweChicken]

Drafting Darko was an unforgivable mistake. And Iverson's game is deteriorating faster than the universe is expanding. The Pistons underachieved for years, and now they are going to struggle for quite some time. I believe this makes Dumars a bit overrated.

[Bankshot]

Yeah he was pretty overrated, but not anymore. He's lost his magic. Ainge, on the other hand, is still very overrated... at least for now. Everyone singing his praises right now, but soon, he'll do something irrefutably stupid, and there will be a thread titled "Is Danny Ainge Overrated?".

The fact is that all GMs are basically equally decent at their jobs. There are a couple notable exceptions, like Chris Wallace (sucks) and whoever is running the Lakers, I forget his name, (good), but otherwise its a level playing field. The rating of all GMs just depends on what they've done lately. Everyone loved Kevin Pritchard... but then it came to light that he was an arrogant tool. So now he's considered overrated. It's a boom-bust cycle. One day someone's overrated, the next underrated, and then a week later, they're overrated again.

For Dumars, the Iverson trade was "bust" in the cycle. If he ever trades for a legitimate center, that will be Dumars' "boom" and he'll be right back on top.  

All GM's are equally decent? Like the Clippers GM?

[shookones99]

The Iverson trade was made for financial reasons.  That team (with Chauncey) was NOT going to win another championship.  They were burnt out and needed a change.  I turns out that AI was not the change they needed.  But after this season they will have a ton of cap space and even more for 2010.

And don't be surprised if Iverson is traded again this season for another expiring contract (Marion, Odom) to see if they can make another postseason run before rebuilding.

I have faith in Dumars

[wdleehi]

The trade for AI was never about this year.  It was about rebuilding.  


He made one drafting mistake.  

He also put together a team that won one title, made it to the finals twice and multiple conference championships without having a NBA Superstar.  


So yes, he is a good GM.

[twinbree]

I'm curious to see what he does in the offseason. The Iverson trade certainly hasn't helped. Adding him to Sheed and Rip that's asking for some drama but I'm beginning to wonder if the problem with the Pistons now isn't mainly due to the coaching change.  

[Rondo_is_better]

Yeah he was pretty overrated, but not anymore. He's lost his magic. Ainge, on the other hand, is still very overrated... at least for now. Everyone singing his praises right now, but soon, he'll do something irrefutably stupid, and there will be a thread titled "Is Danny Ainge Overrated?".

The fact is that all GMs are basically equally decent at their jobs. There are a couple notable exceptions, like Chris Wallace (sucks) and whoever is running the Lakers, I forget his name, (good), but otherwise its a level playing field. The rating of all GMs just depends on what they've done lately. Everyone loved Kevin Pritchard... but then it came to light that he was an arrogant tool. So now he's considered overrated. It's a boom-bust cycle. One day someone's overrated, the next underrated, and then a week later, they're overrated again.

For Dumars, the Iverson trade was "bust" in the cycle. If he ever trades for a legitimate center, that will be Dumars' "boom" and he'll be right back on top.  

All GM's are equally decent? Like the Clippers GM?

I said there are a few notable exceptions. Memphis and the Clippers are both just awful. Everyone else is pretty much status quo, and the difference in the teams is just one lucky ping pong ball bounce, or one lopsided trade.

[RAcker]

Yeah he was pretty overrated, but not anymore. He's lost his magic. Ainge, on the other hand, is still very overrated... at least for now. Everyone singing his praises right now, but soon, he'll do something irrefutably stupid, and there will be a thread titled "Is Danny Ainge Overrated?".

The fact is that all GMs are basically equally decent at their jobs. There are a couple notable exceptions, like Chris Wallace (sucks) and whoever is running the Lakers, I forget his name, (good), but otherwise its a level playing field. The rating of all GMs just depends on what they've done lately. Everyone loved Kevin Pritchard... but then it came to light that he was an arrogant tool. So now he's considered overrated. It's a boom-bust cycle. One day someone's overrated, the next underrated, and then a week later, they're overrated again.

For Dumars, the Iverson trade was "bust" in the cycle. If he ever trades for a legitimate center, that will be Dumars' "boom" and he'll be right back on top.  

I disagree about Ainge, only because he inherited such a dead end mess from Chris Wallace. Pierce is all that he kept from that mediocre group, including coaches.  There are other GM's in Ainge's league, but he is certainly deserving of some praise for the pieces he assembled in order to pull off what he has to this point.  Regardless of the opinion of the ignorant masses, the Jefferson trade for KG was ultimately fair.  Look at what Minnesota is doing right now on the back of Big Al.  They are still just too young.

Ainge should ultimately be judged in a few more years when we see how many championships he milked out of the Big 3 and what he does as their careers wind down to get something for them at just the right moment before they expire.  If the team is competitive in 2012...it will be time to admit...all of us...that Danny has done a great job.

[KungPoweChicken]

The trade for AI was never about this year.  It was about rebuilding.  


He made one drafting mistake.  

He also put together a team that won one title, made it to the finals twice and multiple conference championships without having a NBA Superstar.  


So yes, he is a good GM.

You act like that one draft mistake was an inconsequential error. Had Dumars drafted more wisely he would have won two to three more championships. His error was monumental and unforgivable. I don't see how he could be considered good when he potentially cost his team a chance at three more championships. Give me a break!

[wdleehi]

The trade for AI was never about this year.  It was about rebuilding.  


He made one drafting mistake.  

He also put together a team that won one title, made it to the finals twice and multiple conference championships without having a NBA Superstar.  


So yes, he is a good GM.

You act like that one draft mistake was an inconsequential error. Had Dumars drafted more wisely he would have won two to three more championships. His error was monumental and unforgivable. I don't see how he could be considered good when he potentially cost his team a chance at three more championships. Give me a break!

And every GM has at least one draft mistake. 

Very few GMs have won titles.

[housecall]

I don't think Joe felt the team would go much further this season than it did last,with the same pieces.I think he sees a bigger picture with the new trades,by freeing up some money for next season to get some new/better players.With AI,he probably figures in time they will eventually get better and finish close to where they did last season.He sees they are not going to win a championship with Billups,or AI so it was best to get Stuckey(pg of their future) acculmated into the starting role by next season when they possibly bring in some new pieces.I don't think AI will be back on the Pistons next season but they will have the $$$ to go after someone new.

[shookones99]

Yeah he was pretty overrated, but not anymore. He's lost his magic. Ainge, on the other hand, is still very overrated... at least for now. Everyone singing his praises right now, but soon, he'll do something irrefutably stupid, and there will be a thread titled "Is Danny Ainge Overrated?".

The fact is that all GMs are basically equally decent at their jobs. There are a couple notable exceptions, like Chris Wallace (sucks) and whoever is running the Lakers, I forget his name, (good), but otherwise its a level playing field. The rating of all GMs just depends on what they've done lately. Everyone loved Kevin Pritchard... but then it came to light that he was an arrogant tool. So now he's considered overrated. It's a boom-bust cycle. One day someone's overrated, the next underrated, and then a week later, they're overrated again.

For Dumars, the Iverson trade was "bust" in the cycle. If he ever trades for a legitimate center, that will be Dumars' "boom" and he'll be right back on top.  

I don't understand how Ainge could be overrated.  When he came here he had a vision (pick up as many young tradeable assets and package them with his two expiring contracts for two star players) and it has worked to perfection so far.  He has surrounded those star players with nearly perfect role players and he's not done yet.  

Sure you can disagree with some of the moves he makes (POB, TA, Not resigning Posey) but so far I don't see how his time here can be viewed as anything but a success.

Of course in order to view things the way I do you have to believe that Ainge had this "vision" all along.   Which I do.

[KungPoweChicken]

I'm not completely sold on "Ainge's genius". A lot of the good things Danny has done fell into his lap from being in the right place at the right time. Outside of Allen and Garnett, when did Ainge make a trade where you said, "wow, that was a great move for us."


Ainge has been the loser of most of the trades he's made.