Joe Dumars Q&A

KL: The Rip Hamilton affair – it became public, and I know that is not the way you like to do business. Just the fact it became public, what are your impressions of how it played out?

JD: I briefly spoke on this before and said that over the past 10 years, we’ve always dealt with whatever issues came up internally, and that’s how I want things to continue to be here. To deal with whatever issues you have internally. That should not change going forward.

KL: Let’s talk about the move that triggered Rip’s removal from the rotation, when the lineup change was made and Tracy McGrady became the starting point guard and Rodney Stuckey slid over to the two. Both of those guys will be free agents at the end of the year – Rodney a restricted free agent – but if you’re interested in bringing Tracy back, are you optimistic that will happen or is it too early?

JD: Tracy has been extremely good for us here. And we would like to go forward with him. We really like his play on the floor. But also, just as importantly, we like the person that he is. We like the leadership that he brings. We like the veteran, professional approach that he brings. We like all of those things about Tracy. We would like to go forward with him.

KL: With Rodney, as I said, a restricted free agent at the end of the season. As we know, the history of restricted free agency is it’s been pretty restrictive. There hasn’t been a lot of movement there, but we don’t know what the new collective bargaining agreement will look like. The CBA aside, do you go into this off-season still intent of bringing Rodney back?

JD: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There’s no question about that. Rodney is maybe 24 now and he’s a good, young player. We like him. He’ll be a part of our core going forward and we have every intention of re-signing him and going forward with him.

KL: Let’s talk about another young player. Austin Daye has in the last several weeks shown not just a willingness to take big shots, but the ability to knock them down in clutch situations. How do you assign a value to that trait?

JD: It’s a special skill to be able to come in games, take big shots and make them. This is another young player that we think has a really bright future. He has shown why we drafted him 15th. He’s a 6-11 guy that’s really skilled, versatile and can really stroke the ball. To have someone who can shoot the ball like that and can make plays, at that size, on the floor is a big plus for us. We’re excited about Austin Daye going forward.