On New Year's Day, David Mayo of MLive.com spoke to Pistons president Joe Dumars, and has since published a pair of columns detailing the conversation. Let's round up a few of the highlights from Dumars:
- While the Pistons won't rule out making a move at or before the trade deadline, the team will be careful about taking on salary, as Dumars explains: "We like the flexibility that we have going forward. Our plan is not to give up that flexibility going forward. So anything that we may or may not do, we don't intend to give up that flexibility that we do have going into the summer."
- Asked if the Pistons were looking for a top shooter on the wing, Dumars said he hadn't identified one specific need yet. "What's happening is that as we continue to play right now, we're actually learning more and more about our team and what works best for us," Dumars said. "Even the emergence of the second group and how they're playing. We're figuring out more and more what works, what combinations work. So let's see how it plays out for a while."
- Mayo suggests that, while Detroit could retain some of its players on expiring contracts beyond this season, the team may spend that money elsewhere instead. Corey Maggette, Will Bynum, Austin Daye, and Jason Maxiell will all be free agents next summer, and the team will also have the option of clearing Charlie Villanueva from its books with the amnesty clause.
- According to Dumars, he provides input if coach Lawrence Frank asks him about lineup decisions, but otherwise the team president doesn't interfere, letting Frank make his own decisions.
- Dumars has a "tremendous appreciation" for Andre Drummond's performance so far, and has high hopes for the ceiling that the first-year big man could eventually reach.