Joe D: No deal is likely at this point

Maybe you’ve already seen or listened to the Part I of the interview I conducted on Thursday afternoon with Joe Dumars – we’re breaking it into three parts so it’s a little easier to digest – but the most significant news to come out of it is that Dumars and Michael Curry are proceeding as if the roster they have now is what they’ll take into training camp.

“I would be very surprised if anyone called at this point to offer the type of deal I was open to and had been open to doing,” Dumars said. “I don’t expect that call. I expect us to go to war, if you will, with the guys we have on this roster we have right now, with the 14 guys we have now.”

We talked quite a bit about the tenor of the conversations Dumars has had over the summer with the veteran core. He said none of them lobbied to stay, necessarily, but all of them made it clear to him that their preference was to come back intact and give it a try under Michael Curry. Dumars isn’t surprised, but he is pleased that they’ve all expressed an eagerness to play under Curry even though they know “there’s a level of accountability. They know there’s a level of responsibility that comes with playing for him. They know there’s a level of professionalism and preparation that’s going to be in place every single day.”

That last part is a preview of Part II of the interview, where we also talk about the decision to pursue and sign Kwame Brown as a free agent. Dumars said something pretty interesting about the ideas he and Curry have batted around about how to use the first five big men on the depth chart – Brown, Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess, Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell.

In Part III we talk about the versatility of the roster now with virtually everyone under contract able to play more than one position. We also talk about the young players who took part in the Las Vegas Summer League.

One thing I’ll let you in on about Part III, simply because by the time it gets posted on Pistons.com on Tuesday, it might have changed. As I was wrapping things up, I asked about Lindsey Hunter and his decision whether or not to return for one more season.

As we were talking about that very subject, Dumars’ BlackBerry buzzed – it was Hunter’s agent, asking him to give him a call. So maybe that situation will clarify itself soon. One more freebie – if Hunter decides to call it a career, Dumars said he would probably lean toward not filling the 15th spot on the roster now, but keep it open to “see what comes down the pike.”

In the larger picture, take this away: Dumars and Curry are not at all downcast because they didn’t make a big move. In those many and lengthy conversations he’s had with his players this summer, Dumars said they’ve all conveyed the sense that they’re taking responsibility for not matching the level of intensity Boston threw at them in the conference finals.

“This has been a good summer from my perspective,” he said, “because the complacency that I’ve taken issue with, the lack of urgency that I’ve taken issue with, has been front and center in a lot of conversations I’ve had with guys and it’s straightforward, no cute language, here’s the deal.”

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