Darko Milicic
How important is an NBA draft?
Pretty pretty important.
With the draft coming up tonight, it might be worth noting what ex-Piston Chauncey Billups had to say recently about his former team.
According to the website HoopsRumors, Billups said the Pistons could have won far more titles had general manager Joe Dumars not screwed up by drafting Darko Milicic in 2003. Milicic ended up being dud.
That same year, LeBron James was the number one pick but Dumars passed up future stars Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. That's some serious star power.
The website quotes Billups as saying:
“If he had drafted either Melo or Bosh, I think maybe that whole team would still be together. We probably would have more championships down the road. But this is the NBA and things happen. But, of course, I always think about that.’’
Milicic ended up being a dud, and recently announced he's done with the NBA.
Dumars is skating on thin ice these days. One more disastrous season like last year, and there's a good chance he's cooked, done as the general manager.
Detroit News columnist Bob Wojnowski writes of tonight's draft:
The Pistons desperately need an on-court leader, and that’s what this offseason is about. That’s what tonight’s wildly unpredictable draft should be about. And that’s why, if he gets the chance, Dumars must draft a point guard, because in the NBA, you can’t ever stop looking for one.
If Trey Burke is available at No. 8, you take him, without a doubt. He could go as high as No. 2 to Orlando or No. 6 to New Orleans, but there’s a chance he slips to No. 8. If he’s not there, you take Syracuse’s enigmatic 6-foot-6 point guard Michael Carter-Williams or Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum. And if you really want to stir it up, maybe you grab Georgia guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
