Worst High Draft Picks

[JamStone]

I don't deny that Darko has been a bust so far.

I don't deny that drafting Darko with the #2 draft pick was a gamble.

I merely stated that AT THE TIME of the 2003 NBA Draft, Darko was considered the a top 3 draft choice prospect. Only LeBron and Carmelo were thought of as good or better a prospect.

Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were both highly regarded, but neither were considered as highly as the aforementioned three.

What excuse am I making, snowboarder?

Darko is a bust so far. In 20/20 hindsight, he was the wrong draft pick. I'm only saying that at the time, every other NBA GM would have chosen him or Carmelo.

Cantbefaded mentioned that the Pistons could have had Dwyane Wade. That's true. I'm saying it's a moot point, because no one considered Dwyane Wade to be as good as he has turned out so far. He was the dreaded "combo" guard who was supposedly not big enough of a shooting guard and did not have the requisite point guard skills to play that position.

Darko was considered a can't-miss prospect. It just turns out, three years into his NBA career, those scouts have been wrong so far.

I don't argue Darko has been a bust or was the wrong choice, IN RETROSPECT. I argue that the Detroit Pistons organization is a "laughing stock" or that AT THE TIME drafting Darko was a "bonehead" move. It didn't work out.

Not every lottery draft pick does.

[Marklar MM]

Why argue? JamStone is correct. Pretty much every scout, analyst, mock draft had Darko going #2. There was even talk that he might go #1. Everyone thought that if he hadn't entered the 03 draft, he was #1 pick in 04. Denver's GM(Kiki) who had the #3 pick said that if they had gotten the #2 pick, they would have taken Darko also. After the way Darko had played at whatever tournament was held at the time, scouts jumped on him as the next great big man...speed, agility, shooting, post moves. He was quicker than Melo(I think), had a high IQ of the game. A European with an at ude.

As said, the draft is never correct. Otherwise, Manu and Parker would have been drafted higher. Miles and Olowakandi would be taken lower. You just go for the best available, or what you need.

[Sec24Row7]

Len Bias should be on the list I agree.

[IcemanCometh]

Len Bias died, before that he was considered a can't miss prospect. Everyone that year pretty much sucked or was on coke.

[DarkReign]

That statement is totally false. Are you telling me GM's consistently use their first round picks on 17 year old skinny european projects? Or battle tested college players who take their team to the championship as a freshman or a ty ass marquette team to the tournament?

You're wrong bud.

Did someone highjack CBF's account lately?

Although I agree with your principle, I cant believe your at ude.

Are you the same CBF that posts in the Political Forum? Completely different, IMO.

[Darrin]

Great post but I agree with CBF, you guys got majorly screwed. Pistons with either Wade or Bosh is a pretty scary thought.

Take Rip Hamilton off that team, then. He was a RFA in the summer of 2003, you think the Pistons are going to soak Rip for 10 mil a year at age 26 if his replacement is sitting on the bench?

Or Take Chauney Billups off the team.

If Darko Milicic had made an immediate impact, the Pistons don't pursue the Rasheed Wallace trade. They traded for Wallace because the team was sliding backwards because there was no interior defender to compliment Ben Wallace in the post, and no one on that Pistons frontline could guard Jermaine O'Neal.

Or...

D-Wade sits stewing just like Darko did, and we can be chastized for passing on Darko. This is revisionist history. The Pistons made the right pick, even though it didn't pan out. The only consideration they could've made is taking Chris Bosh over Darko, something they did consider after Bosh had a strong workout at the Palace.

[RaptorsFan]

The consensus going into the draft was that the class was top-heavy up to the top 3 only. Everyone thought there was a huge drop-off after #3. I remember being hugely disappointed and vividly recall our representative Vince Carter shaking his head at the lottery after we dropped to #4 despite having the 3rd-worst record in the league. Wade was an undersized combo guard with a poor long-range game. Bosh was largely upside at that point. Dumars would've been laughed at and berated in the media if he passed on Darko for either of those two at the time.