Joe Dumars and Maligned Guards

Remember when the Pistons were the toast of the town? In 2003-2004, they added Larry Brown and Rasheed Wallace and won the title. But the seeds of that team were really planted when the Pistons acquired some players with shaky reputations around the league. By signing Ben Gordon to big dollars, Joe Dumars has run the same play again. But there's a difference this time around. In 2000, the team got Ben Wallace as a throw-in, after Grant Hill agreed to sign with the Magic, and the Pistons participated in one of those lop-sided "you got us" trades instead of losing the player for nothing. The summer of 2002 is when GM Joe Dumars really earned his money. That's when he drafted Tayshaun Prince 23rd overall, and acquired Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups -- neither of whom, then was seen as likely to contribute to a title team. Of course, the pieces fit together tremendously well. Later, working on a story for a magazine, I asked Dumars why he had decided those we...