If Joe Dumars is mulling a trade at the deadline, he didn't exactly tip his hand, giving cliche answers to cliche questions in a Q&A Tuesday with Keith Langlois:
KL: Let’s switch gears to the trade deadline, a little over a week away. What’s your approach this year? You’re sitting kind of on the fringe of playoff contention. Do you go into it trying to better the team to make a run this year?
JD: Absolutely. The approach should never change. The approach is, man, if we can make a deal that can help us make a push these last 25 games, let’s do it. Let’s go for it. That’s how we’re going to approach it. That’s how we’ve always approached it and we’ll look at it no differently. If there’s something out there that we say this could help bring our team together or give us a push, that’s what we’ll do.
KL: Let me ask kind of the reverse. There are probably GMs out there, maybe some sitting ahead of you in the standings, who also want to make a push. If they were to call and propose a trade that probably wouldn’t help you this year but might improve your future, is that a deal you would consider?
JD: If it improves our future, yes. What it has to do is either give you an immediate push or really brighten your future. It has to be one or the other. If it’s not one of those two, it probably won’t make sense for you.
The Pistons are three teams and 5.5 games out of the playoffs -- with only 26 games to go, I'm not sure a trade for LeBron James and Dwight Howard would get this team to the playoffs, especially with Indiana, currently holding down the No. 8 seed, winning seven of nine since Frank Vogel took over.
A better question would have been how, if at all, the ownership situation has handcuffed Dumars from making any moves -- but why ask tough questions if you don't want to be lied to?