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Dumars to be Executive of the Year Posted: Sunday May 11, 2003 5:02 PMDETROIT (AP) -- Joe Dumars will be named the Sporting News' NBA Executive of the Year, a source within the league said Sunday. The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations will be honored with the award on Wednesday before Game 5 of the Detroit-Philadelphia playoff series. The NBA does not name an Executive of the Year. Last year, Dumars finished second to New Jersey's Rod Thorn for the award in voting conducted by the league's other executives. Dumars made several moves before the season to help Detroit win 50 games, the Central Division title and the top seeding in the Eastern Conference. He sent star Jerry Stackhouse to Washington in a six-player trade for Richard Hamilton, who led Detroit in scoring during the regular season and is among the top scorers in the playoffs. Dumars signed Chauncey Billups, drafted Tayshaun Prince with the 23rd pick, put Mehmet Okur on the roster a year after drafting him in the second round, and traded Rodney White to Denver for a future No. 1 pick. Billups was among the top free agent acquisitions of the year, Prince has been a force in the playoffs and Okur has shown flashes of promise. White couldn't crack the Pistons' lineup as a rookie last year. In just three seasons in charge, Dumars has rebuilt the Pistons, who sunk to lottery-pick status just a few years after he and Isiah Thomas helped Detroit win NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. When Grant Hill wanted to leave after the 1999-2000 season, Dumars made the move that set the foundation for the Pistons' recent success. Instead of losing Hill to free agency, Dumars traded him to Orlando for little-known players named Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins. Wallace has been named the league's top defender the past two years and Atkins helped Detroit win Game 2 against the 76ers when Billups was out with a sprained left ankle. Dumars gave Rick Carlisle his first head coaching job two years ago. Carlisle was the NBA coach of the year last season. In other trades, Dumars has acquired Cliff Robinson, Jon Barry, a No. 1 pick, Zeljko Rebraca and Corliss Williamson in exchange for Jud Buechler, John Wallace, Mateen Cleaves, a second-round pick and Jerome Williams. Things could get even better for Dumars and the Pistons. Unless Memphis winds up with the No. 1 overall draft pick, it will be forced to give its first-round selection to Detroit this season as part of a 1997 trade involving Otis Thorpe. "It's not a knock on [New Jersey's] Rod Thorn, but Joe Dumars should've been executive of the year last year, and he should be again this year," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said before his team lost to Detroit in the first round. "He's just done an amazing job in a short amount of time without spending a lot of money." |
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