Sometimes you have to close one door in order to open up another. That was Joe Dumars' mindset when he traded the 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncy Billups to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson. The move ended up making the Pistons take a significant step backwards as they finished 39-43, their worst finish since 2001. They made the playoffs as the eight seed, getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round.

There were a lot of factors that went into the Billups trade that kind of became an afterthought once the team started playing so poorly. Prior to the deal it appeared as if the Pistons' championship window was all but closed, so Dumars felt the need to put together a younger group who could compete for a longer period of time. The best way to do that was to ship off Billups in order to get as far under the cap as they could this offseason.

While the free agency period would be their best chance to improve, the Pistons had to worry about the draft first. With their three selections the Pistons invested in Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, and Jonas Jerebko. At the time it was thought of as a solid draft for the Pistons, but after summer league it was evident that it was even better than that.

Daye was a curious pick for the Pistons because he's so undeveloped physically and really struggled during pre draft workouts. Everyone realized what the Pistons saw in him though after he averaged 17 points and eight rebounds in Las Vegas. Daye was by far one of the best players at the camp and what's most intriguing is the fact that he's so far away from maximizing his potential. Come three years from now it would be no surprise if Daye is one of the top ten players from the class, but he's probably only going to help in spurts during his rookie year.

Summers on the other hand looked ready to contribute now and his coaches said as much. He's got a lot more strength than Daye does at this point and just as much versatility. Rather than settling for the long ball like he did at Georgetown Summers was aggressive, always looking to attack. When it was all said and done in Vegas he was thought to be the biggest surprise and an absolute steal for the Pistons.

Although Jerebko took a backseat to Daye and Summers he still proved that he belonged. The big man from Sweden showed off an extensive offense skill set, the ability to hang down low, and some good defensive instincts. He's a nice investment that will be better later rather than sooner like Daye.

When the Pistons chose Daye, Summers, and Jerebko it was with Michael Curry as their head coach. However, just before the lifting of the moratorium period Dumars decided to fire Curry citing the need for a coach with a more experience. They went into negotiations without a coach, but it didn't stop them from immediately getting their top two targets in Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.

Gordon and Villanueva were two of the top players this free agency class had to offer. Gordon gives the Pistons a lot of flexibility and another explosive scorer to put alongside Rodney Stuckey and Rip Hamilton. Villanueva provides the same kind of inside-outside ability offensively that Rasheed Wallace did, but is not the same kind of defensive presence by any stretch of the imagination.

With the majority of the cap space now spent the Pistons looked to address their vacant head coaching position. The table was set for Avery Johnson to end his hiatus and take over, giving the Pistons the experienced leader that they were looking for. Had negotiations gone as smooth with Avery as they did with Gordon and Villanueva he'd be their head coach right now but that wasn't the case. Johnson and Dumars couldn't agree on the length of the contract, which led to the Pistons hiring Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant John Kuester.

While many may have scratched their head and rushed to a search engine when Kuester was formally hired, he's someone who Dumars is very familiar with. Like Curry he is a first time head coach, but he's got over 20 years of coaching experience under his belt. He served as an assistant under Larry Brown when the team won it all in 2004 and in Dumars' eyes was the best coach to develop this young, talented group he's assembled.

Since the hiring of Kuester the Pistons have signed Chris Wilcox and are rumored to be close to a deal with Ben Wallace. Other than some other minor moves the Pistons offseason is basically complete.

As things stand now the Pistons are not on par with the elite in the East. Boston, Orlando, and Cleveland all have superior teams but they're trying to build another championship team and that doesn't happen overnight. What Dumars has done is put together the most talented group possible that in time could develop into a championship caliber group. The 2008-2009 season is now a thing of the past with the future looking extremely bright. It's on Kuester to develop this team and help them reach their potential. He's basically been an unknown up to this point like most hardworking assistants, but now he really has a chance to prove his worth.