There are only two winless teams in the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets, who are tanking with about 12 rookies on the roster, and the New Orleans Pelicans, who are being run into the ground by former Detroit Pistons GM Troy Weaver and the legendary Joe Dumars, whose reputation may not survive this disaster.
Weaver was run out of Detroit after building the worst teams in franchise history, though many of his draft picks are currently the foundation the Pistons are building on, so we can at least thank Weaver for Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart.
It was all of the rest of the job that Weaver was terrible at, most importantly asset management, as he made a lot of bad, inexplicable trades that often gave up real pieces for pipe dreams.
But none of them were as bad as what he immediately did to the New Orleans Pelicans, who are now 0-6, have already lost three games by 30+ points and look like they’ve completely quit on their coach, who is likely getting fired today.
None of this would matter if the Pelicans were rebuilding like they should be, but Weaver traded their unprotected 2026 pick for the right to draft Derik Queen, a move that was widely panned at the time and looks far worse now.
So, the Pelicans are the worst team in the NBA and don’t have a first-round pick in 2026, their coach is about to get fired, and Dumars et al. may not be far behind. Dumars had managed to salvage his reputation as an executive for the most part, but this latest chapter with Troy Weaver will ruin whatever legacy he had left.
Troy Weaver taking Joe Dumars with him
It was shocking to see these two get an NBA team to run, as Weaver was terrible in Detroit, and Dumars had been out of the league in that capacity for over a decade. Dumars’ time as team president in Detroit did not end well, marked by bad decisions, a ton of coaches fired and the Darko pick.
But he won a title, and that’s all we tend to remember in Detroit. We let him off the hook because Joe was a beloved Pistons player who won two titles and then brought another one as an executive. He’s arguably the most important Piston of all time, and his place in our history and hearts was secure.
That won’t be the case in New Orleans, where he doesn’t have any of that favor built up. Instead, he’ll be remembered as the guy who stuck a stake into the heart of the Zion Williamson era, the guy who finally sunk the Titanic, the man who set back a franchise that has fumbled the bag worse than any in modern history.
This was a team that once had one of the best rosters in the NBA to go along with a massive treasure trove of picks from the Anthony Davis trade, and just like that, nearly all of it is gone.
It’s a shame that Joe Dumars has to go out this way, but It’s increasingly looking like his time in New Orleans will be short and that Troy Weaver will have put the finishing touches on what’s left of his reputation.