Fandom Free Agency - #20 Detroit Pistons

I've rooted for the Detroit Pistons one time in my life. The 2004 NBA Finals against the team listed right below them in this post.

As you can imagine I'm not a big fan of veteran players going to title bound teams just so they can win a ring late in their career. So as much as I (and unexplainably every other teenager) of the early 2000s loved Gary Payton and his Los Angeles Laker running mate Karl Malone. I could not root for them to find their way onto the 3-time champion Lakers just to win a championship.

So, in 2004 I became a Detroit Pistons fan for about a month a rooted hard for Mr. Big Shot, Rip Hamilton and Mr. Ball Don't Lie.

With those players the Pistons could have been a very attractive team for my fandom free agency. But sadly those players are all either gone or beyond their prime. Really the only redeemable quality from those Pistons that still remains is their P.A. announcer Mason.

I respect Mason for almost single-handedly changing the game for NBA P.A. announcers, but he will not be able to single-handedly make me a fan of the Pistons.

The real kicker for Detroit Basketball is that Joe Dumars apparently doesn't know what year it is, and that's a real problem for a man who's in charge of a sports franchise.

For almost 2 1/2 years now everyone has been talking about the 2010 free agent class. I'm convinced that Joe Dumars misheard and thought that everyone was talking about the 2009 free agent class.

So then when last offseason came Dumars frantically tried to sign the two top free agents on the market and didn't realize until after it was all said and done that he had signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva instead of LeBron James and Chris Bosh. In all reality, a simple mistake to make.

I also wanted to again give Dumars the benefit of the doubt (I mean he did assemble a championship at one point in time) and say that maybe his plan was just to assemble an All-NBA team of UConn Huskies. He brought in Gordon and Villanueva to join Rip Hamilton but unfortunately I knew this wasn't his plan when after the trade deadline he failed to trade Tayshaun Prince for either Ray Allen or Caron Butler.

So, as is, Dumars seems to be just a very confused GM. He traded an All-Star player, and more importantly a winner, in Chauncey Billups for one half season of Allen Iverson. And has now spent well over 100 million dollars for a sixth-man type guard who does nothing away from the ball in Gordon and a big man who refuses to play down low in Villanueva.

I'm sorry Piston fans, but I can't be a part of this upcoming disaster.

UCONN TEAM, ASSEMBLE!!