Is the Era of Joe Dumars, Genius, Over?

For a brief period before and after the Pistons' paradigm-shattering NBA title -- the first accomplished without the aid of a legitimate super-duper star in decades -- Joe Dumars reigned as the popularly acclaimed best GM in sports. A brief look at inveterate Piston-hater* Bill Simmons' archive confirms this via typical defense courtesy of TrueHoop: Down, the road the Pistons becomes the driving force of big-time free agency as soon as Iverson's contract comes off the books next summer. The Pistons will combine a winning environment, one of the most respected general managers in the game, and -- depending on salary cap levels that are yet to be set, and extensions that may yet be given to existing Pistons -- likely enough cap space to sign two free agent players to max contracts over the next summers of 2009 and 2010. The implied emphasis there was on 2010, the summer that LeBron James and a half-dozen of the league's best players find themselves footloos...