When the prodigal son returned home a few weeks back, he proved in short order what we all knew to be true since June, and something that most fans came to realize a few years ago.
The first is that Joe Dumars made a fatal error in picking Kentavious Caldwell-Pope over Trey Burke in this year's NBA Draft. And the second is that it's long past time for Joe D. to be given his walking papers in Auburn Hills. And now that Mo Cheeks' 50-game tenure as head coach has come to an end, it's a move that needs to happen now, for the future of this franchise.
So many decisions seem so obvious in hindsight. Passing up Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade to take the Human Victory Cigar, Darko Millicic, in the 2003 draft, seems like such a boneheaded move now, but at the time, it seemed the right one. This is one that looked bad at the time and looks even worse now.
And when it comes to Dumars, those aren't as rare as they once were. He traded away the one player from the championship team that nobody wanted gone, and got a total headcase in return; then he signed Ben Gordon to a ridiculous deal, and because he wouldn't amnesty Gordon, the Bobcats may very well end up with our first-round draft pick next year unless we finish in the bottom 8.
What's even worse is how the beat writers in this town defend him at all costs, beyond all logic or reason. One need look no further than the News' Vincent Goodwill for proof of that. GoodShill™ (Jeff Moss) has not only been singing Pope's praises all year, but it's clear he has an axe to grind with Burke. Between threatening to block anyone on Twitter who dares suggest that maybe Joe D. should have done his due diligence and made the obvious pick, reveling in the rare bad performance he's turned in for Utah, and insisting that the only reason that anyone wanted Burke here is because he played for Michigan, it's obvious that he's either desperate to toe the party line because he's firmly in Dumars' pocket Rob Parker-style, or Burke wronged him personally in some way. And note that when the news of Cheeks' firing broke, Goodwill was nowhere to be found until late Sunday night, when literally everyone else on Earth had already confirmed it. Though I must admit, it's beyond hilarious listening to him and 97.1's resident mindless slappy Dan Leach defending him on the station's postgame shows by repeatedly bringing up his 6 straight conference championships, despite not having a winning season in the last six years.
And none of his arguments hold any water whatsoever. It wasn't just U-M slappies that wanted Burke here; the vast majority of State fans, including yours truly and noted Michigan-hater Mike Valenti, wanted Burke in Auburn Hills. And it's not as though we're that blind of a fanbase; everyone knew the second Joe D. made the "popular" pick of Mateen Cleaves in the 2000 draft, that the odds were against him thriving in the pros. Yet, the ever-disingenuous Dumars told us on draft night that "If it was that much of an issue for me, then I would have just made the popular selection and walked out here and everybody would have said, 'OK, you drafted Trey Burke.' But that's not what you do." But that's exactly what you did, for a player whose game didn't translate out of college nearly as well as Burke's already has.
The worst of it, when it comes to this season, is that it's clear that Joe D has no regard for the future. Never mind the fact that, as we've established, if the Pistons end up lower than the 8th draft pick, they won't have a first rounder at all. Tom Gores has made it clear that the Pistons are to make the playoffs this year, or Dumars is out of a job. This sets the team up for long-term failure, whether he realizes it or not. Dumars is acting right now to save his own hide, passing up the better long-term player in Burke for the short-term fix in KCP; signing Josh Smith to a deal that will be impossible to unload in the near future; and sacrificing a first-rounder in a draft that looks to be as stacked as 2003's. It makes one wonder: why in the hell didn't Gores clean house completely when Mo Cheeks was shown the door? What good is done by keeping a lame-duck (and let's be clear, there is no way Joe D. should be brought back after this year, and he likely won't) who doesn't have the long-term interests of this team at heart?
As for Cheeks' firing, it seems a move of desperation, and a sign of just how inflated the expectations are for this team. Sure, his rotations have sent many a Pistons fan into conniptions. The offense has been inconsistent to say the least. And the defense has just not been good. But is it really all on him? You go and sign Josh Smith, whose natural position is power forward, and force him into small forward, which you kind of have to because Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. You trade for Brandon Jennings, who takes way too many shots for as inefficient of a shooter as he is; tries too hard to create his own shot too often; and when he does pass, he passes to the wrong guys. And you expect Cheeks to force several square pegs into round holes, and give him a little over half a season to do it? That's entirely unrealistic to ask of anyone.
Now, I've always hated the idea of tanking a season to improve a team's draft situation. But when the choice is between having a first-round pick and not, is playing just well enough to make it as an 8-seed in the playoffs and getting bounced in the first round worth it? Or does it make more sense to just ship off the players that simply aren't long-term fits here, and at least get picks in return (something Joe D. won't want to do if Gores is still in "win now" mode)? Even if he does try and make a move at the trade deadline, Dumars has absolutely no leverage whatsoever right now, and every other GM in the league knows it. It's beyond obvious at this point that Joe is no longer calling the shots at 6 Championship Drive, and the axing of Cheeks proves it. A new GM would at least not have the axe hanging over his head right from the beginning, and have a chance to try and undo some of the previous regime's mistakes, and maybe even pull off a deadline deal of some sort.
At this point, interim coach John Loyer doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence, even though he won his first game tonight, which I don't believe for a minute Cheeks couldn't have done. And having been designated as such for the remainder of the season, maybe Gores has come to terms with the fact that "win now and win later" simply isn't going to happen. I mean, he can't really think Loyer is the guy to get this team to the playoffs, right? Right? If he legitimately believes that Loyer is the guy to lead this team to the promised land over, say, Lionel Hollins or George Karl, he might have done the impossible and made the William Clay Ford Sr. regime in Allen Park look rational by comparison. And I don't want to believe that any more than you do.
As such, I can only hope that Gores has realized the folly of trying to rebuild on the fly and remaining competitive in the short-term.
It's the only explanation my sanity will allow for.
