DETROIT -- Joe Dumars probably wishes he could rethink several decisions he has made the last half-decade. Don't we all?

But no choice bothered him more than his decision to trade away Chauncey Billups.

The former point guard was the soul of a Detroit Pistons team that reached six consecutive conference finals. He also was Dumars' greatest managerial success.

Now Dumars is bringing him back - Detroit and Billups agreed on a two-year, $5-million deal on Thursday. So what if the Pistons aren't getting the player they shipped to Denver back in 2008? They are still getting plenty. Dumars is counting on it.

So is Brandon Knight.

The third-year combo guard might or might not be able to successfully learn to play point guard and lead the Pistons back to the playoffs. Dumars has to find out quickly. Billups helps him do this.

It's easy to forget now, but when Billups arrived in 2002, he was an untapped combo guard who had played for four teams in five years, a bruiser who liked to shoot but hadn't fully learned how to run a team. Dumars told Billups to forget about his past.

Now it's Billups' turn to do the same for Knight, to show him when to pull up for his shot off a pick-and-roll and when to feed the big man rolling to the hoop, to teach him to read his teammates' body language and decide who needs the ball when, to figure out what to say in the huddle and what to say in the locker room.

Sure, Billups' ability to hit threes should give Detroit's athletic front line more room to operate, and he is likely to hit an important shot or two. But he is here as much to tutor as he is to play.

The former All-Star missed 122 games the last two seasons as a Los Angeles Clipper, after tearing his Achilles in early 2012. And though he is healthy, he also is almost 37.

He doesn't run nor jump as he used to, and he was never known for running and jumping in the first place. He relied on strength and savvy and a feathery touch, on an ability to read personalities as different as Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace.

With Billups' return, the Pistons now employ the two most cerebral players from their title team in 2004 - Rasheed is expected to assist Mo Cheeks this year on the bench and help mentor Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe.

In recent years, Dumars got away from the kind of team he built a decade ago that enthralled this region. As that group aged, he tried to remake the Pistons with one-dimensional jump shooters.

I don't blame him for seeking players to spread the floor; the league is about getting the space to make shots. It's just that when those players didn't make shots, they didn't contribute anything else.

Dumars is restocking the Pistons with multidimensional players again. Billups once anchored a team of them. Now he is back, a little older, a little slower, but smarter, too. He understands his playing legacy is set, that the next couple of years could help build upon his reputation as a leader.

He has said that he'd like to run a team of his own one day. Helping a young combo guard the way Dumars once helped him is a good place to start.