Buck Harvey: Night of contrasts: A way to see GMs

Joe Dumars could always shoot and defend better than R.C. Buford. Dumars had more fun with Dennis Rodman, too.

Dumars is in the Hall of Fame, and Buford has been there. And while Dumars has had his number retired, Buford continues to use his. How else could people call his cell phone?

So when Dumars rebuilt the Pistons, eventually winning a championship with hardworking parts, many saw him as the best in his profession. An executive of the year award stated as much, and that’s another contrast. Buford has never won the award.

But just as it’s better to wait a few years to judge a draft pick, judging those who make draft picks also takes time.

When it comes to Dumars and Buford, a few years isn’t even enough.

Buford has rarely gotten his share of recognition, and his relationship with Gregg Popovich might be responsible for that. No one has ever been sure who does exactly what.

This has factored into it, too: Drafting Tim Duncan didn’t take much research.

Only last summer, in fact, did another franchise notice Buford. Then, the Nets asked permission to talk to him.

Buford had no intention of going to New Jersey; working between Avery Johnson and a Russian billionaire likely had little appeal. He probably didn’t mind some interest, however, since his contract was up.

So he re-signed and went about his job. He added an overlooked American who had been playing in Europe, and he signed a long-ago draft pick to a reasonable contract. It’s what he’s done for more than a decade, although there’s a change in the current equation.

Can anyone still say the Spurs are winning simply because they won the Duncan lottery?

Even with the remarkable record, Buford won’t be this season’s executive of the year. Pat Riley won the award when LeBron James announced where his talents would be going.

Riley is smart and deserving, but his offseason outlines how front offices are rewarded. An exec impresses with an impact move, not by gradually adding piece upon piece.

Dumars has done some of both. He most impressed years ago, after Orlando took Grant Hill from Detroit, and he recovered by putting together a core that would go to six consecutive conference finals.

In the middle of this surge, already hearing how smart he was, Dumars tried to be smarter than everyone else. He locked onto a Euro teen, Darko Milicic, instead of the glut of talent available in the 2003 draft. Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh might have turned those Pistons into a dynasty.

Dumars’ decision should border on Bowie-Jordan infamy. But because the Pistons were winning, and because Dumars had so much respect, the blunder was diminished.

Still, it was franchise changing. And after the Pistons won a title, and would have won another if not for the Spurs in 2005, another Dumars flaw came out.

Whereas Buford knows how Popovich wants to play, Dumars knows what he wants. Dumars has gone behind his coaches, even Larry Brown, to counsel players independently.

When the Pistons wore down, Dumars took them further down. He traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson to clear some cap room, then overspent. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva earn far more than they are worth, and here’s the front-office sin that is glaring tonight:

The payroll of the 19-32 Pistons is only about $3 million less than the payroll of the 42-8 Spurs.

To be fair, Dumars has been working with unsettled ownership in recent years. It’s unclear how his decisions have been affected.

But it’s undeniable he has failed with both some personnel choices and in establishing a culture. Dumars’ latest is among his messiest; his fifth coach, John Kuester, is currently in an unsolvable spat with his highest-paid player, Rip Hamilton.

Given that, no one should confuse Dumars and Buford.

One was once the executive of the year, after all.