If you were a Pistons fan...would you be mad about drafting Darko??

[R-Tistic]

Although a few people hesitated in 04 and 05, it is beyond official that Darko is a bust...and a major bust in one of the deepest drafts in the last 25 years. Many people still talk about how bad of a draft pick it was...and many of us laugh hard at the people who were saying "Lebron might not even go #1, it's some guy named Darko Milicic who they say is better than him".

Now my question is...if you were a Pistons fan, would you really be mad about this draft pick, since your team still won the championship that year???

Personally...I think this pick was one of the greatest blessings in disguise that most people won't think hard enough to realize. For one...if they had drafted D. Wade, it's very doubtful that Billups would have ended up playing past his potential that year, and Wade wouldn't have shined nearly as much as he did being the primary guard in Miami. If they had selected Carmelo, Bosh, or anybody else up there, there is a great chance that they wouldn't have made the trade for Rasheed to come, and they would have been trying to build a solid team versus trying to win the championship that year. So in my opinion, they would not have won the championship in 2004, and depending on who they drafted, it's not a sure thing that they would have won any rings at all.

[style-rip]

actually billups wouldve been fine. if they wouldve drafted wade, then tayshaun prince wouldve been gone eventually, but they loved his defensive presence due to his long arms and he fits their system of play so they kept their team intact. wade wouldve been fiiiire for them cuz detroit wouldve been a much improved offensive team as well.

i always think about this too, just like you rtistic. like "what if shaq wasnt drafted by orlando", "what if jerry west wouldnt have made that vlade divac for kobe bryant trade"

[Nam Dekan]

I wouldn't call Darko a bust yet, he is finally starting to get some playing time after nearly 3 years of keeping the bench shiny. Look at Jermaine O'Neal, took him 4-5 years before becoming a good player...They took a big project player who basically rode the bench basically since he turned pro at what 15? Darko could've benefited from time in the NBDL though instead of just being on the becnh..

[chickenwang]

wtf is wrong with you darko is a bust. jermaine o'neal took that long cause he was riding the bench. as soon as he got significant minutes he started to show considerable improvement. darko's a nice first big man of the bench option but 2nd overall? BUST.

combine that with the fact he's the biggest bust in arguably the best draft ever, and that makes it even worse.

[Gorilla Nasty]

I think trading Darko after what? 2 years? Was definately a stupid move. How are you going to draft a (foreign) kid (cause I believe he was 18) and get pissed at him after 2 years? Very reatarded move, and Darko will be at least a middle of the pack guy.

[Nam Dekan]

Originally Posted by chickenwang

wtf is wrong with you darko is a bust. jermaine o'neal took that long cause he was riding the bench. as soon as he got significant minutes he started to show considerable improvement. darko's a nice first big man of the bench option but 2nd overall? BUST.

combine that with the fact he's the biggest bust in arguably the best draft ever, and that makes it even worse.

Thing is Darko is/was a project and him even doing something right away was out of the question, at least that's the way I saw it. O'Neal still got double the minutes Darko got though, and he was probably a lot more developed then Darko. I'm not ready to call Darko a bust just yet though, maybe if he continues putting up the same numbers he does now at 25-30 MPG. That's why the NBDL could've beneficial for him. Picking him that high dumb? Yes it was since he was such a big project player, especially with more polished players on the board..


But when I think bust I think Olowakandi

[Who Kares]

the 96 draft was the best ever....

[Iceodu921]

reason why darko is a bust is because the players who were taken after him. Melo wade bosh others in the draft have also been much better like josh howard and kirk hinrich.

[R-Tistic]

I know that the Pistons had a lotta good talent ahead of him, but most of the time, players don't get PT because they don't deserve it...whether it's because of their skill or lack of polish, or their negative attitude. I remember he was complaining his rookie year because he didn't get to play as much as Melo Bron and Wade, and because he didn't get the commercials and all of the attention that they got.

I gave him three years....even though he didn't get much PT until his third, I still call him a bust because at his best, he won't even be worthy of being a top 20 draft pick. Cats like Josh Howard and Luke Walton are putting up MUCH BETTER stats than him, and he isn't looking nearly as good as them or anybody else who was drafted in the first round and still plays.

[Warpaint]

they won the championship so it wasnt a bust

they were drafting for the future and they had faith in prince

[Young Marc]

Now that I think about it the 96' draft class was nice....

[R-Tistic]

96 and 03 have been the best since 94. 98 wasn't too bad, and 92 was pretty damn good too.