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Sign up for E-newsPistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars speaks to the media
Joe Dumars Quotes on Player Signings
Opening Statement:
“Here is where we are. We have (Carlos) Delfino already signed, sealed and delivered and we are through negotiating with (Antonio) McDyess. We’re waiting on the fax to come in any minute now but that’s all done and we’re down to the last hour or so with Rasheed (Wallace). I feel by the end of this weekend we’ll have all three guys wrapped up. I’ll go back and address Delfino first. I’m very, very excited to have this guy coming over. This guy is going to be a big help for us. He’s going to come here in a position that’s needed; we need depth at the two and three spot and size. We did a great job and got away with it last year with a couple of point guards backing up those minutes but you don’t dare take a chance on doing that another season. To have Delfino coming over now is kind of perfect timing for us because there is a big time need for him here at those two positions. (He’s) Athletic, big, strong, versatile, inside/outside, very good defender and just a tough Argentine guy; just a tough guy who wouldn’t back down at all.
On Antonio McDyess:
“First and foremost, understand that we’ve done extensive background (checks), medical, on his injuries over the past couple of years. This was not a fly-by-night decision. Just understand the amount of homework that we put in to make sure that Antonio was OK. He also came in here and spent a day here, spent a half day with the doctors and Arnie Kander (Pistons Strength and Conditioning Coach) has been involved from day one. Everything we’ve done in terms of a background check on him we feel extremely good about. More so than anything else, as the doctors will tell you when you get a chance to talk to them, doctors will tell you this; ‘We can do all kinds of reports and all kinds of examinations’ but both of our doctors said there is absolutely nothing more important than what that guy did for the last 40 games of last year. That overrides anything else that we can say; the fact that this guy was healthy and played great for the second half of last year and we’re cognizant of that. We understand that. With the way he finished the season last year we feel very, very encouraged by having him come aboard because he’s going to be a big time help for us. We feel very good about that.”
On Rasheed Wallace:
“I guess the Rasheed thing speaks for itself. I don’t have to go over him and what he’ll bring. I think every body knows what he’s brought to us the last half of last season through the playoffs so hopefully by the end of this weekend I can have all three of these guys wrapped up and move forward.”
On how other free agents signings affects him signing Rasheed:
“It always impacts you and so it’s a battle you go around and around with the agents and you end up spending a lot of time talking about the other contracts that have been signed. Not so much the ones where maybe a guy got overpaid and is going to make less than your guy anyway. If a guy is a two-million dollar player and somebody pays him five million dollars a year, that’s really not going to affect your talks because it’s not at the level that he’s going to be at anyway. It’s the ones that get up in that range that we’re talking about and that’s the battle that you have to go through. It is a long, long conversation when you’re on the phone trying to battle these things out because you can have one bad contract, and you can have 15 or 20 signings and they can all be in line. If you have one out-of-whack contract where a guy got overpaid, invariably, all the attorneys and agents, that’s the one they want to talk about. I hate to say it like this but it’s fun for me. It’s fun to be on the phone and go back and forth to hammer these deals out.” On how far apart they were on the Rasheed Wallace contract talks: “We were not that far apart. We came together pretty quickly here. Not only are we on the same planet now but we’re in the same city, the same neighborhood and the same street. That’s how close we are right now; it’s very close now.”
On the number of years in Wallace’s contract being agreed upon:
“The years were always OK. We agreed from the very beginning that it was going to be a five-year deal. Let me back up with Antonio. I’ve seen some reports and there’s been a modification in his contract. It is just a four-year contract now. There is no fifth-year option anymore. It’s going to be a four-year contract and I think it’s going to read with him having the ability to opt out after three (years) but there is no fifth year in his contract.”
On if other teams showed interest in signing Wallace:
“Any team with the mid-level I felt like was going to be a team that was an option. Specifically, New York and Philadelphia made it known that they would love to have him. In terms of teams with the cap, I don’t think, not that I knew, of a team with the cap space who said that they were going to use it. From that standpoint, mainly, I looked at the teams who were mid-level teams.”
On if it’s easier to negotiate a contract when no other team can offer as much money:
“Not really. You can go one of two ways. You can use that and use it as a hammer and really get into really nasty negotiations, which I never do, or you can still look at him for the value that he is and that’s what I do. I usually try to take that opportunity right away with the agents and let them know. I know that there’s not a whole lot of teams out there so I’m not going to hold that hammer over your head but, don’t get too silly with me either. Usually when you establish that ground it usually goes pretty smooth and that’s why this one has gone pretty smooth.”
On other objectives for the summer:
“I would still be looking next week to add probably one more player at either one, two or three; one more perimeter player.”
On Mehmet Okur signing with the Utah Jazz:
“That is a great deal for Mehmo; good for Mehmo. It’s good for him. Here’s the reality of his situation; Mehmo had a choice. He could stay here, come off the bench, play limited minutes and not make $50 million. Or he could go, take $50 million dollars, be a starter and play a ton of minutes. The kid is 25 years old and I understand the mentality of a 25-year-old NBA player so that being the case, I think he made a good decision to sign with Utah. I think it’s a team that he’ll fit in good with. If all things work out like we feel like they are going to work out here with us with the signings that we’re going to do and he ends up in Utah, it will be a good place for him. It’s not like there’s any animosity toward him leaving. It’s a good decision for him. It’s not like he chose to go to a bad situation or a bad coach. That’s a good organization, good coach, he’s going to play, he’s going to make a whole lot of money and so it’s a good situation for him. Seven foot guys who have skills and talent like he does get paid. Over the years you’ve seen that. The guy that he’s replacing as a starter had a pretty good contract. That’s gone on for a long time that big guys get paid. They’re like quarterbacks in the NFL. Quarterbacks are going to get paid especially if he’s a starter. Same with seven-foot guys especially if they are starters in this league so I’m not surprised at him getting a big contract at all.”
On other free agents he plans on signing:
“We definitely would like to have Lindsey (Hunter) back and so we’re going to try to make that happen. After that, we’d like to have Darvin (Ham) so we hope it works out. Mike James looks like he might get a multiple-year deal elsewhere so if he does, that will be great for him. Those two guys are more than likely. Lindsey for sure, but with Darvin we’re going to wait and see but we would like to have him back as well.”
On if his plans change depending on what other teams do:
“No. Midway through the season, 40, 50, 60 games, I saw weakness and I saw some soft spots on our team and so you acknowledge those things. You sit there, you’re watching games and you see pieces that you need to get. You go on and win a championship and the tempting thing to do is forget about what you saw in January and February. From that standpoint, you really don’t change how you address your team just because you won a championship. You don’t get blind by that trophy and fool yourself and think ‘we’re ok, we won a championship.’ You still have those weaknesses and if I don’t address them, in January next season I’ll be sitting there saying ‘I got blinded by that trophy and I didn’t address them.’ Losing Mehmo and adding McDyess; that helps, having Delfino come in because you know you were short in the backcourt or the perimeter; that helps and adding another perimeter guy at one, two or three is going to help. That’s how you do it. You don’t change the way you build the team especially in our situation. You have the big fella (Shaquille O’Neal) down in Miami now. We don’t have to change the way we’re building our team. You start reacting to everybody else’s move and you’re going to be all over the map trying to put a team together.”
On Delfino being compared to Manu Ginobli of the San Antonio Spurs:
“Only because they’re from Argentina; two different guys. Ginobli is more the wiry, slasher-type guy. Delfino can slash but first of all he’s bigger than Ginobli. Ginobli is about 6’5”/6’6”, Delfino is about 6’7”and he’s cut differently. Ginobli is a little bit more wiry but this guy is put together nicely but both of them are big-time athletes. I think both of them are good shooters from the outside. This guy has big-time range and when he drives, he’s going to make some highlights. This guy is a big-time athlete. People here are going to like him; they’re going to like him a whole lot.”
“Here is where we are. We have (Carlos) Delfino already signed, sealed and delivered and we are through negotiating with (Antonio) McDyess. We’re waiting on the fax to come in any minute now but that’s all done and we’re down to the last hour or so with Rasheed (Wallace). I feel by the end of this weekend we’ll have all three guys wrapped up. I’ll go back and address Delfino first. I’m very, very excited to have this guy coming over. This guy is going to be a big help for us. He’s going to come here in a position that’s needed; we need depth at the two and three spot and size. We did a great job and got away with it last year with a couple of point guards backing up those minutes but you don’t dare take a chance on doing that another season. To have Delfino coming over now is kind of perfect timing for us because there is a big time need for him here at those two positions. (He’s) Athletic, big, strong, versatile, inside/outside, very good defender and just a tough Argentine guy; just a tough guy who wouldn’t back down at all.
On Antonio McDyess:
“First and foremost, understand that we’ve done extensive background (checks), medical, on his injuries over the past couple of years. This was not a fly-by-night decision. Just understand the amount of homework that we put in to make sure that Antonio was OK. He also came in here and spent a day here, spent a half day with the doctors and Arnie Kander (Pistons Strength and Conditioning Coach) has been involved from day one. Everything we’ve done in terms of a background check on him we feel extremely good about. More so than anything else, as the doctors will tell you when you get a chance to talk to them, doctors will tell you this; ‘We can do all kinds of reports and all kinds of examinations’ but both of our doctors said there is absolutely nothing more important than what that guy did for the last 40 games of last year. That overrides anything else that we can say; the fact that this guy was healthy and played great for the second half of last year and we’re cognizant of that. We understand that. With the way he finished the season last year we feel very, very encouraged by having him come aboard because he’s going to be a big time help for us. We feel very good about that.”
On Rasheed Wallace:
“I guess the Rasheed thing speaks for itself. I don’t have to go over him and what he’ll bring. I think every body knows what he’s brought to us the last half of last season through the playoffs so hopefully by the end of this weekend I can have all three of these guys wrapped up and move forward.”
On how other free agents signings affects him signing Rasheed:
“It always impacts you and so it’s a battle you go around and around with the agents and you end up spending a lot of time talking about the other contracts that have been signed. Not so much the ones where maybe a guy got overpaid and is going to make less than your guy anyway. If a guy is a two-million dollar player and somebody pays him five million dollars a year, that’s really not going to affect your talks because it’s not at the level that he’s going to be at anyway. It’s the ones that get up in that range that we’re talking about and that’s the battle that you have to go through. It is a long, long conversation when you’re on the phone trying to battle these things out because you can have one bad contract, and you can have 15 or 20 signings and they can all be in line. If you have one out-of-whack contract where a guy got overpaid, invariably, all the attorneys and agents, that’s the one they want to talk about. I hate to say it like this but it’s fun for me. It’s fun to be on the phone and go back and forth to hammer these deals out.” On how far apart they were on the Rasheed Wallace contract talks: “We were not that far apart. We came together pretty quickly here. Not only are we on the same planet now but we’re in the same city, the same neighborhood and the same street. That’s how close we are right now; it’s very close now.”
On the number of years in Wallace’s contract being agreed upon:
“The years were always OK. We agreed from the very beginning that it was going to be a five-year deal. Let me back up with Antonio. I’ve seen some reports and there’s been a modification in his contract. It is just a four-year contract now. There is no fifth-year option anymore. It’s going to be a four-year contract and I think it’s going to read with him having the ability to opt out after three (years) but there is no fifth year in his contract.”
On if other teams showed interest in signing Wallace:
“Any team with the mid-level I felt like was going to be a team that was an option. Specifically, New York and Philadelphia made it known that they would love to have him. In terms of teams with the cap, I don’t think, not that I knew, of a team with the cap space who said that they were going to use it. From that standpoint, mainly, I looked at the teams who were mid-level teams.”
On if it’s easier to negotiate a contract when no other team can offer as much money:
“Not really. You can go one of two ways. You can use that and use it as a hammer and really get into really nasty negotiations, which I never do, or you can still look at him for the value that he is and that’s what I do. I usually try to take that opportunity right away with the agents and let them know. I know that there’s not a whole lot of teams out there so I’m not going to hold that hammer over your head but, don’t get too silly with me either. Usually when you establish that ground it usually goes pretty smooth and that’s why this one has gone pretty smooth.”
On other objectives for the summer:
“I would still be looking next week to add probably one more player at either one, two or three; one more perimeter player.”
On Mehmet Okur signing with the Utah Jazz:
“That is a great deal for Mehmo; good for Mehmo. It’s good for him. Here’s the reality of his situation; Mehmo had a choice. He could stay here, come off the bench, play limited minutes and not make $50 million. Or he could go, take $50 million dollars, be a starter and play a ton of minutes. The kid is 25 years old and I understand the mentality of a 25-year-old NBA player so that being the case, I think he made a good decision to sign with Utah. I think it’s a team that he’ll fit in good with. If all things work out like we feel like they are going to work out here with us with the signings that we’re going to do and he ends up in Utah, it will be a good place for him. It’s not like there’s any animosity toward him leaving. It’s a good decision for him. It’s not like he chose to go to a bad situation or a bad coach. That’s a good organization, good coach, he’s going to play, he’s going to make a whole lot of money and so it’s a good situation for him. Seven foot guys who have skills and talent like he does get paid. Over the years you’ve seen that. The guy that he’s replacing as a starter had a pretty good contract. That’s gone on for a long time that big guys get paid. They’re like quarterbacks in the NFL. Quarterbacks are going to get paid especially if he’s a starter. Same with seven-foot guys especially if they are starters in this league so I’m not surprised at him getting a big contract at all.”
On other free agents he plans on signing:
“We definitely would like to have Lindsey (Hunter) back and so we’re going to try to make that happen. After that, we’d like to have Darvin (Ham) so we hope it works out. Mike James looks like he might get a multiple-year deal elsewhere so if he does, that will be great for him. Those two guys are more than likely. Lindsey for sure, but with Darvin we’re going to wait and see but we would like to have him back as well.”
On if his plans change depending on what other teams do:
“No. Midway through the season, 40, 50, 60 games, I saw weakness and I saw some soft spots on our team and so you acknowledge those things. You sit there, you’re watching games and you see pieces that you need to get. You go on and win a championship and the tempting thing to do is forget about what you saw in January and February. From that standpoint, you really don’t change how you address your team just because you won a championship. You don’t get blind by that trophy and fool yourself and think ‘we’re ok, we won a championship.’ You still have those weaknesses and if I don’t address them, in January next season I’ll be sitting there saying ‘I got blinded by that trophy and I didn’t address them.’ Losing Mehmo and adding McDyess; that helps, having Delfino come in because you know you were short in the backcourt or the perimeter; that helps and adding another perimeter guy at one, two or three is going to help. That’s how you do it. You don’t change the way you build the team especially in our situation. You have the big fella (Shaquille O’Neal) down in Miami now. We don’t have to change the way we’re building our team. You start reacting to everybody else’s move and you’re going to be all over the map trying to put a team together.”
On Delfino being compared to Manu Ginobli of the San Antonio Spurs:
“Only because they’re from Argentina; two different guys. Ginobli is more the wiry, slasher-type guy. Delfino can slash but first of all he’s bigger than Ginobli. Ginobli is about 6’5”/6’6”, Delfino is about 6’7”and he’s cut differently. Ginobli is a little bit more wiry but this guy is put together nicely but both of them are big-time athletes. I think both of them are good shooters from the outside. This guy has big-time range and when he drives, he’s going to make some highlights. This guy is a big-time athlete. People here are going to like him; they’re going to like him a whole lot.”
