Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Today on SI.com, Steve Aschburner drops a basketball-historical bombshell: This postseason is where the Pistons finally reap the bitter, bitter fruits of drafting Darko. They could've had Wade or Melo, but they had to have that mysterious Serb. They'd managed to quiet this criticism when Rodney Stuckey emerged, since Stuckey was drafted with a pick obtained in the Darko deal with Orlando. But with the team struggling, and on the verge of the lottery, Aschburner's bringing out old ghosts.
Why does this all matter now? Because, if not for Dumars' gamble in 2003, the Pistons might well be a team of the present in these playoffs, rather than one split between its past and its future. Anthony could be clicking with Billups just the same -- Smooth and 'Melo, together in Motown -- and an organization that got to six Eastern Conference finals, two NBA Finals and one championship could be chasing those things again, rather than facing first-round elimination for the first time since 2000.Which is to say -- with all due respect -- this phantom pick is the Pistons' Len Bias. Well, sort of. Bias was supposed to both provide the Celtics with an infusion of young stardom, and light the way to the future. Instead, he never set foot on the court, and after one more championship, that Boston dynasty faded. Putting aside all the contract tangles it would cause, Wade or Melo would've been good for several years now, possibly winning Detroit another ring as Dumars assembled the young nucleus mentioned above.
In a way, it's a tribute to Dumars' work up and down the roster -- apart from the Milicic pick -- that we're seeing the Pistons at less than their best. Typically, teams looking to retool slink off to the shadows of lotteryland, do what's necessary, lick some wounds and stay largely out of sight, out of mind until they're ready again for their close-ups. Detroit has done it on the fly, transitioning from Billups and the core of Rasheed Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Prince and Antonio McDyess to replacements such as Rodney Stuckey, Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell, Will Bynum and Arron Afflalo.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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Shoals just made Detroit fans and Boston fans want to reach for the bottle early. And way to casually compare a draft bust to a dead guy. Ouch!
by ChiAdam on Apr 24, 2009 5:13 PM EDT reply actions
I have to say, Steve Aschburner is by far the worst basketball writer over at SI going these days. It seems like the vast majority of his articles are either about his Minnesota Timberwolves (or Kevin Garnett, an extension thereof), or some meaningless tidbit from five years ago (like in this article). Also, I know that sports writers aren’t usually known for their eloquent writing style, but my god, he’s awful.
by dziegler on Apr 24, 2009 5:54 PM EDT reply actions
Having incorrectly anticipated the draft that year, I went out and secured the "Free Bosh" domain name. Now, I do local news for a Cape Cod paper, while the Free Darko SOB writes for TSN. I’ve hated Serbia ever since.
by Raisin' up off the cot on Apr 24, 2009 6:13 PM EDT reply actions
and the thing with the cap money is that joe hasn’t spent it. ben was let go for financial reasons. that was a fine decision, the bulls’ offer was ridiculous. if i remember right, the rational was the money was needed to resign some pistons and bring in a different big man. that plan never worked out. nazr never worked out, nor did cwebb or kwame. billups was resigned, but now he is gone. we’ll see if they actually spend the money they have saved up. we’ll see how joe works it. his situation could dramatically change since Bill Davidson passed away. i’m not sure how much hand joe has with whoever will be running the team now. either way, if he better work quick because the championship is being forgotten for hi misteps.
still, the SI writers article was garbage. well there were some people saying to go with melo, I remember Darko pretty much being the second pick on most everyone’s draft board. and for him to bring wade or bosh into it is absurb. i don’t remember anyone not having bron first and then darko and melo at 2/3. the si writer is engaging in some nice historical revisionism.
by maggotronix on Apr 26, 2009 2:53 PM EDT reply actions
Man, in retrospect, Curry’s wasted pick in ’03 changed a hell of a lot. I think at the very least, it would have meant that Dallas would have won that championship in ’06 (no Wade with the Heat), and Avery Johnson would probably still have a job coaching right now instead of commentating. Harris would probably still be stuck in Dallas and not emerged as an all-star—who knows where Kidd would have ended up.
As for Detroit, hard to imagine that they would not have ridden Melo to one more championship with all those veterans keeping him in line. It would have created some contract issues, but having a team infused with the value of Bosh, Melo or Wade’s talent would have definitely surpassed the overall talent level gleaned from the Darko pick. Given how much stronger the team would have been, the trade chips would have had much more value in the trade market.
So I don’t know, I guess I’m saying that, when one looks at how the dominos fell following that draft, the damage to the Pistons, as well as the league wide ramifications, is pretty staggering. Consider the blogger world too—if draftors were wise to Darko’s true abilities, would FD be called FD?
by bellison22 on Apr 27, 2009 11:00 AM EDT reply actions
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