It’s official: the New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to terms with Hall of Famer Joe Dumars as their new President of Basketball Operations, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
A Louisiana native, Dumars returns to his roots with a chance to steer a franchise looking for direction — and fast. After firing David Griffin just days ago, the Pelicans wasted no time in securing a seasoned executive with a championship résumé. Dumars famously built the 2004 NBA Champion Detroit Pistons, leading the front office for 14 years.
But was he the right hire?
There’s no doubt Dumars has done great things in the past, but his tenure wasn’t without glaring missteps. The NBA has changed dramatically since he last held full front-office control — with three-point volume, player movement, and financial dynamics shifting the game entirely. If Pelicans fans are nervous, it’s for good reason. Here are three decisions from Dumars’ Pistons days that New Orleans can’t afford to repeat.
3. Trading Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson
After Detroit’s 2004 title, the Pistons remained contenders, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals three straight times. But in 2008, Dumars made the shocking decision to trade Finals MVP Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson.
The move was bold — and costly. Iverson, 33 at the time, was past his prime and still viewed himself as a franchise alpha. Detroit’s rotation quickly became a logjam of scoring guards, with Rip Hamilton, Rodney Stuckey, and eventually Ben Gordon all overlapping roles. Chemistry faded, and the Pistons were bounced in the first round of the 2009 playoffs.
Let’s hope Dumars doesn’t make the same mistake in New Orleans by panicking and flipping core pieces for a fading name-brand.
2. Re-signing Rip Hamilton … then signing Ben Gordon
In the wake of Billups’ departure, fans expected a rebuild. Instead, Dumars re-signed 31-year-old Rip Hamilton to a 3-year, $37.5 million extension — a hefty price tag for a one-dimensional scorer. Then, in a head-scratching move, he doubled down by signing Ben Gordon in free agency, handing out $55 million over five years.
Both players were volume scorers with minimal playmaking or defensive upside. Gordon, in particular, never found his footing in Detroit, averaging just 13.8 points in his first year while the Pistons limped to 27 wins.
Stacking similar players without positional or skillset diversity was a foundational flaw in Dumars’ later years. In today’s "positionless" league, stacking redundant talent is just as risky.
1. The 2003 NBA Draft: Passing on Carmelo, Wade, and Bosh
This one still stings.
The Pistons, thanks to a trade with Memphis, landed the second overall pick in the iconic 2003 NBA Draft — a class that would produce multiple Hall of Famers. After LeBron went No. 1, the Pistons had their pick of the next best: Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh.
They picked… Darko Milicic.
The raw, 18-year-old Serbian big man averaged 1.4 points as a rookie and never carved out a meaningful NBA role. Meanwhile, Anthony became a scoring machine, Wade a Finals MVP, and Bosh a two-time champion. The Milicic pick remains one of the most infamous missteps in draft history.
With New Orleans projected to have the No. 4 pick in the 2025 draft, Pelicans fans have every reason to pray history doesn’t repeat itself.