I'm just about the last one to comment on this, but Joe Dumars was recently a guest on ESPN's Chad Ford podcast.
The two cover a variety of subjects, starting with how Dumars was this close to pulling off a trade for Allen Iverson back in the summer of the 2000. How close is this close? Close enough that Dumars had already called Roundball One's pilot to meet him at the airport in two hours to pick up Iverson. The proposed four-way deal, which would have cost Detroit Jerry Stackhouse and Jerome Williams, fell apart at the last second when Matt Geiger, of all people, refused to re-work a trade kicker for the deal to work within the salary cap.
Dumars said he was looking to make a deal that would give the Pistons, who were just 42-40 in 1999-2000, some sort of identity -- and it's hard to argue that a 25-year-old Iverson wouldn't have done just that. Iverson went on to win the MVP in 2001, leading the 76ers to the NBA Finals with an otherwise hodgepodge roster. (Of course, what wasn't mentioned in the interview is that Dumars accomplished that task with another deal that summer -- the Grant Hill for Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins sign-and-trade.)
Dumars goes on to say that not only has he not entertained the notion of jumping into the Iverson sweepstakes but that it's too early to consider a trade of any sort. He points out that the Pistons had just 26 games remaining when they acquire Rasheed Wallace in 2004, whereas they barely have 20 games in the books right now.
The whole interview runs about 16 minutes, so if you have the time I recommend checking it out. As Henry Abbott pointed out, it's obvious Ford and Dumars have a very good rapport, which results in a more natural back-and-forth than some interviews.
Joe Dumars talks with Chad Ford [ESPN.com]