The Shelf Life Of Darko: Why The Pistons Made The Right Draft Choice

Everything in hindsight is seen in 20/20.  That even applies to the creation of this article. While checking the “Detroit Pistons” section of the Bleacher Report website, I saw that the lead article was about former Piston Darko Miličić. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should check it out (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/419408-a-darko-theory-for-detroit-fans) as it is well written and provides an interesting take on 2003 NBA Draft. The funny thing about it is that I have had the idea to create a Darko-related article for a few weeks now and have just been too lazy to do it. Now this article appears to be more of a reactionary piece as opposed to the original story it was intended to be, but, “Que Sera, Sera.”

I feel I need to preface this, before I begin. I am a Pistons fan and have been for a long time. No, I do not hate the team; no I do not want them to suffer; I am not a sadistic person; and no I do not have it out for the team or other fans. Remember that when I make this next statement: I believe the Pistons made the right choice when they selected Darko in the 2003 NBA Draft over Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade. I also to this day am a fan of Darko and root for his success in the NBA. I will allow a moment for all the Pistons fans to finish shouting their obscenities at me. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.  Now that you got that out of your system, I want you approach this with an open mind and remember that history does not work as simply as, “If Portland has drafted Michal Jordan instead of Sam Bowie, the Trailblazers would have six championships.”

First, I want to start off with a quiz question: “Who has more championship rings? The new Miami trio of Wade, Bosh, and James or Darko?” If you are a real Pistons fan, or just a stats nut, you would know that is a trick question. Darko is tied with Wade and still leads James and Bosh with one in that category (Thank You 2004 Team). I wanted to get that fact out of the way for fun and to quickly throw out the silly notion that rings makes a player’s legacy in any team sport. Karl Malone is still Karl Malone with or without rings. If the Pistons lose to the Lakers in ’04 and Malone essentially buys a ring, does he move up in history? I would argue no simply for the fact that he did not and then-bench warmer Darko did.

With that out of the way, I want to get more into the thought behind the decision at Joe Dumars’ hands.  A 1996 trade that sent Otis Thorpe to the then Vancouver (now Memphis) Grizzlies had yet to be honored and the Pistons were able to call it in at the prefect time, netting a team, that was fresh off a loss to the New Jersey Nets in the Conference Finals, the second overall pick. With Lebron James the consensus number one pick even before his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers won the rights to draft him, Joe Dumars had his pick of anybody else in what is now being called one of the best draft talent pools of all time. Many considered National Champion   Carmelo Anthony as the number two overall talent on the board, but many experts touted that any player in the top ten had star potential. This left the Pistons GM with a big decision, add the second best “star” available to his team of underrated and unwanted players regardless of how that player would fit or find a piece that could be an integral cog down the road.

Joe D. can be described in many ways with many colorful adjectives depending on whom you talk to, but one thing that both those who love and hate him can agree on is he is not impulsive and is always thinking with tomorrow in mind. Last summer,  he realized early that no matter the cap space, it would be hard to lure the light of super-free agents James, Wade, and Bosh this summer, so rather than risk the team’s future on the whims and hour long decisions of those players this summer, he spent his money on players he knew he could grab last summer with Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. Despite the backlash both at the time and during the season when their play left a lot to be desired, fans have now softened their stance on these signing after watching the drama unfold this summer. Dumars had a similar thought process in mind going into that fateful draft in ’03.

Mehmet Okur was getting a lot of time at center back in 2003 when Zeljko Rebraca’s play became too inconsistent. While great at the time, Dumars could see early that it was going to be hard to keep Okur past the 2004 season and that fan favorite Ben Wallace would become subject to contract restrictions just years later. With this in mind, Darko became the perfect solution. A 7’1” true center who could score (something Ben Wallace was inept at) and command the paint on defense, and was only going to be 18 years old.  Darko was touted as the least NBA ready of the top tier prospects, but had a ceiling higher than Dirk Nowitzki, with better defense. Dumars saw a golden chance to the future of NBA centers who would have time to sit and watch his first year, ease into action until Ben Wallace’s contract expired and then become a premier PF/C, who could become an integral part of the offense.

With Carmelo, Dumars knew that ultimately he would have to decide between him and Tayshaun Prince, the talented defensive specialist Dumars “stole” with the 22^nd pick just a year earlier who had already endeared himself to the city with tough play. Not only that, but if drafted, ‘Melo would have to co-exist with Richard Hamilton who had already laid a claim to being the go-to option on offense. Wade would have to push out Hamilton all together, which had the potential to mess with the play of budding star Chauncey Billups. Billups loved Hamilton deadly mid-range jumper and that fact that Hamilton did not need the ball in his hands to create his own shot. Wade was a slasher, a man who could play the spot shooter role in time, but was more effective with the ball in his hands. Dumars saw potential in either of theses pick ruining team chemistry.  Which leaves Chirs Bosh. In Bosh, Dumars saw a tough gritty player who had a long way to go on defense to match up to where Darko looked as he was already. Dumars had watched his team to on a specific defensive identity and wanted to maintain that into the future.

Dumars did all the right things in selling Darko to the fan base and even had Fox Sports Net predicting Darko would start at PF by mid-year. Everything looked good except one key component, Larry Brown. The drifter coach had a reputation for being hard on rookies and teaching them “humility” by keeping them on the bench, even if it was not deserved. Darko did not help himself by often looking lost in practice and was quickly tabbed as Brown’s “human victory cigar,” only seeing the court with two minutes left in already decided games. Brown was more concerned with fixing his own personal legacy, as a coach who could turn any team into a winner, but had no championship rings to show for it, than he was with developing an immature and occasionally moody rookie. This relationship would remain for Brown’s entire tenure with Detroit resulting with the prodigal draft pick rarely seeing the floor. When Brown finally parted ways with the Pistons amidst various rumors of him interviewing for other jobs due to his unhappiness with the supposed amount of input Dumars and ownership wanted to have on playing minutes, it opened the door for Dumars to bring in a coach who could develop Darko into the player Dumars had envisioned. Unfortunately for Dumars, the hiring of Flip Saunders did not change the luck of Darko.

By the time Saunders had taken over as head coach, the rumors of “Bust” were already creeping in. James, Wade, Bosh and even other top ten pick Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, and T. J. Ford were playing good basketball, while Darko had yet to average more than ten minutes of action. Dumars essentially confirmed rumors that part of the Brown/Pistons split was caused by playing time for Darko when Saunders, who had helped develop Kevin Garnett, was hired. Saunders had no finals pedigree but brought up player development in his first interview. Fresh off two finals appearances, Saunders quickly saw the opportunity to pad his résumé with a ring, and despite strong summer league play, Saunders too used poor practices and attitude as an excuse to “doghouse” Darko. Losing to the Wade led Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals that year was all it took for the fans and the media to officially call Miličić a bust, however Miličić would never get to make it that far with the team. Prior to All-Star break, Darko was traded to the Orlando Magic (for what would essentially become Rodney Stuckey) with only months left on his rookie deal and at only 21 years old.

In Orlando, more playing time gave way to better play and statistics. Darko continued to advance with each week and into the playoffs, and despite the fact he was still unable to live up to the draft hype due to the play of those drafted around him, he began looking like a solid player with a bright future. Despite his play however, the Magic decided not to sign him back and let him become a free agent. He signed with the Memphis Grizzlies and brought that original Otis Thorpe trade full circle. He was injured while playing for his national team and that affected his play during the beginning of the season. Injuries and inconsistency would mar his tenure in Memphis and ultimately lead to his trades to Minnesota through New York.

Where can you blame the Pistons? His time in Detroit killed his confidence and may have ruined what was of Darko the number two pick, but a very strong finish to last season (including 15 points and 6 rebounds against the Pistons in the final game of the season) put an end to his rumors of leaving the states to play overseas and even brought him a chance at redemption at 25 years old behind a new contract.  All things considered, Detroit made the right choice and you can not be mad a Dumars or even Darko for the way things turned out. Maybe the Pistons should have taken Bosh or Kaman, but like the nature of this post, history is 20/20.