Melo: 27 ppg Milicic 1 ppg
in the 2003 draft, they also could have drafted Wade
2006-06-21 18:03:03 · 13 answers · asked by Yossef 3 in Sports ➔ Basketball
Yes, of course we know that. They are not morons. Darko was considered the number 2 or 3 player in the draft by all the draft "experts" that year. Lebron was the conscensus number one, followed by a combination of Darko and Carmelo for number 2, then Bosh and Wade at 4 or 5.
In hindsight, of course, Darko is a joke, but the whole NBA was kind of caught up in the Euro craze then and the Pistons became victims of it.
Anyway, they did win the NBA championship in 2004, the same year they took Darko, which may not have happened if they had had Carmelo on the team to mess up the chemistry.
And of course, I wouldn't want Carmelo if we could do it again, but D-Wade. Can you imagine him as the Pistons 6th man extraordinare? It would be unbelievable.
In conclusion, yes the Pistons did that. No, they're not morons. They made a bad choice, but a bad choice many others would have made at that time as well. And they did win a championship anyway, perhaps fueled by their bad choice.
2006-06-21 18:09:44 · answer #1 · answered by Cameron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the time, they did not need a scoring SF because of their defensive minded team and having Tayshaun Prince. Melo couldn't, still can't, and probably never will play good defense.
They definitely did not view a need for Wade with Billups and Hamilton handling. Plus, other than Lebron, the turnout for the rest of the lottery wasn't viewed as such a sure thing. THe Pistons had a championship caliber team entering the season, to which injecting a rookie to the mix would only have disrupted chemistry. It was actually perfect to draft a 'project' player.
Plus, the scouting report had Darko as a left-handed Dirk Nowitzki with a power post game and shot blocking - wouldn't you take a chance on that? The kid's only 20 so we still don't know about him.
2006-06-21 18:35:45 · answer #2 · answered by KiLLa 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think it was a bad move in retrospect. The way it is, everyone on that Pistons team plays well together as a unit and that's what makes them so versatile and hard to stop. This is a team where all 5 players know their role and share the ball evenly.
Carmelo is the type that needs to handle the ball most of the time and I think it would have changed the whole make up of that team if Prince or Hamilton were out of the lineup and the offense centered around Carmelo doing most of the ball handling and scoring I doubt they would have reached the level they're at now if they were bench players. If you consider the possibility that Dumars thought Darko would be a better fit for Pistons style of ball it makes more sense since he was looking for a team of role players who could play defense.
2006-06-21 18:39:13 · answer #3 · answered by anonfuture 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reasons they didn't get Melo because they were going to get Trayshaun Prince and you can't agrue about that. He has more defense than Melo and will beat Melo 1v1 because Melo is overrrated and sucks. Now about that Wade part I agree with you on that but you never know who is going to be a superstar in the NBA. They draft base on what happen in college. If they could read the future than they would have choosen Wade.
2006-06-22 02:26:05 · answer #4 · answered by rogerchang06 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They were confident in Tayshaun Prince's ability so they chose Darko instead. You can't say Darko is a bust, let's see what Wade or Melo could do with 1 minute of playing time per game.
2006-06-21 20:31:22 · answer #5 · answered by #15mwu 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I knew that ... Detroit was looking at Darko as a long term prospect who was supposed to to provide the team with a strong outside game and serious playmaking skills.
Denver had their sights on Carmelo long before the draft order was announced, so Denver would have done anything to secure Melo's presence on the team. Besides, if you want to look at it like that ... both teams missed DWAYNE WADE.
2006-06-21 18:08:41 · answer #6 · answered by icehoundxx 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They already had Tay Prince. They didnt need another small forward like Carmelo. They traded Milicic for a first round pick to Orlando. I think Milicic will end up being a good player too.
2006-06-25 12:05:33 · answer #7 · answered by drew4892 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No they're not. Tell me where Melo could play in the lineup? They are small forward and guard dominate, with youth i might add. Darko will be an all-star though, they didn't give him the chance, you just watch, Darko will get his jersey retired in Orlando or wherever else he ends up.
2006-06-22 03:15:13 · answer #8 · answered by Hafeman 5000 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Did you know that the Pistons could have drafted Dwayne Wade and Josh Howard, together?
2006-06-21 18:39:20 · answer #9 · answered by Riz A 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we all knew that. no frekaing way would they have the money to pay 5 allstars? melo all ready goes atleast 50 mil, billups goes around 40, walace brothers total for maybe 60, tayshaun prolly 30 something.. i know i may not be accurate..but the point is that there is no way the pistons could afford the paycheck..plus the bench players.
2006-06-21 19:50:57 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋