Darko!

[KowboyKoop 0]

This kid is for real..now that he finally has a chance..he is gonna learn/get better this year..and next year him and D. Howard are gonna be a big force in the league...Darko may never be a big-time scorer..but I can see him averaging 15 pts. 10 reb. and 2.5 blocks a game next year.

[kers2 0]

FREE DARKO!!Wait that already happened...PLAY DARKO!!

[KowboyKoop 0]

FREE DARKO!!Wait that already happened...PLAY DARKO!!

He has been playing since he joined Orlando. Like..18-20 minutes a night...and is putting up decent numbers for just now playing.

[kers2 0]

FREE DARKO!!Wait that already happened...PLAY DARKO!!

He has been playing since he joined Orlando. Like..18-20 minutes a night...and is putting up decent numbers for just now playing.

Yea I'm definitely happy about that. I'm not a Darko apologist or anything but he pretty much got the shaft by Larry Brown and then by the media. The kid was only 17 when he came out and from another country... give him a break.

[pckt10s 0]

nothing more than the next tony kukoc

[KowboyKoop 0]

Yea I'm definitely happy about that. I'm not a Darko apologist or anything but he pretty much got the shaft by Larry Brown and then by the media. The kid was only 17 when he came out and from another country... give him a break.

100% agree. It ain't like he has shown to be a "phenom" or anything, but when people like Michael Wilbon from PTI call him a "draft bust"...that is just stupid. This is the very first chance he has ever gotten....plus all reports are that at Pistons practice, he was able to hang with Rasheed pretty well on both sides of the ball...so hopefully he will turn into a pretty solid pro....and from the looks of things..Orlando seems to be really high on him right now.

nothing more than the next tony kukoc

Lol....Darko will be WAY better than Kukoc. Kukoc had his moments..but his numbers aren't that great. Darko is going to be a pretty good player next year when he is starting.

[pckt10s 0]

kukoc wasn't that bad...just saying he will be underrated but contribute plenty...

[kers2 0]

100% agree. It ain't like he has shown to be a "phenom" or anything, but when people like Michael Wilbon from PTI call him a "draft bust"...that is just stupid. This is the very first chance he has ever gotten....plus all reports are that at Pistons practice, he was able to hang with Rasheed pretty well on both sides of the ball...so hopefully he will turn into a pretty solid pro....and from the looks of things..Orlando seems to be really high on him right now.

I like what Orlando is doing, and that sucks because I'm a Heat fan (same division). I absolutely love Dwight Howard... he's such a beast. I was totally wrong about him coming out of HS I didnt think he was worthy of the #1 pick. Basically I cant judge HS talent and I'm glad they put in the age limit.Wow that was a lot of rambling

kukoc wasn't that bad...just saying he will be underrated but contribute plenty...

AgreedKukoc was a pretty good player in his prime. Darko will most likely be a 15/8 guy with the potential for 20/10. Nothing wrong with that at all. Most NBA centers are stiffs anyway.Edit: wow that combined my posts by itself... whoaaaa

[KowboyKoop 0]

kukoc wasn't that bad...just saying he will be underrated but contribute plenty...

No..Kukoc definitely wasn't bad. However, Darko will likely score more..will definitely grab a LOT more rebounds, and will be one of the best shot-blockers in the game...basically, Darko is gonna be a really good post player..while Kukoc was more of a 3-point threat seemingly....different type players.

[pckt10s 0]

so do you think he is closer to nowitski (sp)

[keith crime 8]

I feel sorry for that guy because bill simmons rags on him so much its not his fault detroit passed on Wade and Larry Brown won't play young playersthen again simmons is really funny

[Jadaki 1]

I feel sorry for that guy because bill simmons rags on him so much its not his fault detroit passed on Wade and Larry Brown won't play young players

Right now, Darko is the equivelent of drafting Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan. Ask the Trailblazers how that worked out for them.Honestly though you can't blame Detroit for taking a developmental player in that spot, the problem was he was joining a team who was in the process of winning & defending titles with proven players. I just don't see why if they wanted him they just didn't trade down because they still could have gotten him later in the draft. I would have drafted Carmello and traded him to a team willing to pay a bit to much. Now they pretty much got nothing in return for him, and the pick was wasted when they could have a player like Wade, Anthony, or Bosh on thier team. That kind of depth is priceless, and not taking Wade may end up costing them in the playoffs this year.

[ChrisOfSpades 0]

Right now, Darko is the equivelent of drafting Sam Bowie ahead of Michael Jordan. Ask the Trailblazers how that worked out for them.Honestly though you can't blame Detroit for taking a developmental player in that spot, the problem was he was joining a team who was in the process of winning & defending titles with proven players. I just don't see why if they wanted him they just didn't trade down because they still could have gotten him later in the draft. I would have drafted Carmello and traded him to a team willing to pay a bit to much. Now they pretty much got nothing in return for him, and the pick was wasted when they could have a player like Wade, Anthony, or Bosh on thier team. That kind of depth is priceless, and not taking Wade may end up costing them in the playoffs this year.

not quite. wade was fairly unknown at the time, and bosh was just as raw as darko. neither of those guys were projected as top 3 picks. detroit had two options: darko, or melo. everyone gambles on big men early in the draft, and melo isnt dumars' type of player. he took a gamble, it didnt pay off, and the franchise has been to two consecutive finals and has the best record in the league right now.no matter who they draft, its doubtful that player gets minutes. LB does NOT like playing young guys (ask amare and lebron why they didnt get minutes in the olympics), especially if they dont "play the right way". so its not like drafting bowie instead of jordan. bowie actually was decent before injuries got him, and wade, melo, and bosh will NEVER be jordan.

[keith crime 8]

i think they clearly should have traded that pick - if you aren't gonna play him and he clearly needed minutes what was the point?

[Jadaki 1]

not quite. wade was fairly unknown at the time, and bosh was just as raw as darko. neither of those guys were projected as top 3 picks. detroit had two options: darko, or melo. everyone gambles on big men early in the draft, and melo isnt dumars' type of player. he took a gamble, it didnt pay off, and the franchise has been to two consecutive finals and has the best record in the league right now.no matter who they draft, its doubtful that player gets minutes. LB does NOT like playing young guys (ask amare and lebron why they didnt get minutes in the olympics), especially if they dont "play the right way". so its not like drafting bowie instead of jordan. bowie actually was decent before injuries got him, and wade, melo, and bosh will NEVER be jordan.

Wade was not unknown, he just took Marquette to the Final Four. Anyone who watched any of the NCAA tourney saw he was just as good as Carmello, if not better because he had more time to mature and grow. His team also had a hell of a lot less talent than Syr did, and every team they played was sending triple teams at him and they couldn't stop the guy. Bosh was just as raw as Darko, I'll give you that. I'm not saying that Wade is the next MJ, I am saying this pick by the Pistons will go down as one of the biggest waste of a high draft position ever, like Bowie over MJ. There will never be another MJ.

[ChrisOfSpades 0]

Wade was not unknown, he just took Marquette to the Final Four. Anyone who watched any of the NCAA tourney saw he was just as good as Carmello, if not better because he had more time to mature and grow. His team also had a hell of a lot less talent than Syr did, and every team they played was sending triple teams at him and they couldn't stop the guy. Bosh was just as raw as Darko, I'll give you that. I'm not saying that Wade is the next MJ, I am saying this pick by the Pistons will go down as one of the biggest waste of a high draft position ever, like Bowie over MJ. There will never be another MJ.

wade had a great tourney that year, no doubt, but prior to that he wasnt really on anyone's radar. everyone knew melo was gonna be 1 and done, and he had an even better tourney that year than wade. nobody was crackin the top 3 of bron, melo and darko that year. as far as bowie vs. mj, put yourself in portland's shoes. you already have a young, athletic two guard by the name of clyde drexler (who aint no slouch). bigs are rare. bigs are a commodity. so they took the big.in hindsight, COLOSSAL mistake by the blazers. but at the time, it was the right move for them. treat it like poker, dont look at results.

[Jadaki 1]

I'd say Wade's tournement was better. He carried a team with much less talent to the final four. Melo had several other high quality players on team, like Hakim Warrick. If you watched the games, you could see wade hitting key shot after key shot in every clutch situation. He had that killer instict that great players need.Yea, I know why they picked Bowie, and I am sure they thought it was a good move at the time because you can't predict the future. I'm a fan of taking the best player avalaible at the time, and if he doesnt fit your team then you can trade him.

[keith crime 8]

wade had a great tourney that year, no doubt, but prior to that he wasnt really on anyone's radar. everyone knew melo was gonna be 1 and done, and he had an even better tourney that year than wade. nobody was crackin the top 3 of bron, melo and darko that year. as far as bowie vs. mj, put yourself in portland's shoes. you already have a young, athletic two guard by the name of clyde drexler (who aint no slouch). bigs are rare. bigs are a commodity. so they took the big.in hindsight, COLOSSAL mistake by the blazers. but at the time, it was the right move for them. treat it like poker, dont look at results.

Notice no one ever says Houston made a mistake grabbing Akeem

[kers2 0]

Notice no one ever says Houston made a mistake grabbing Akeem

That's because Akeem was the unanimous #1 pick that year... like LeBron. And he turned out to be a damn good player.Jadaki, I agree with you to an extent... but there were a lot of questions about Wade coming out of college regarding his size and outside shooting. He is only 6'4", and most teams were expecting him to move to point guard. He played the point for much of his rookie year, but didnt really explode into the phenom he is now until his 2nd year when he was moved to the two guard. He is a phenomenal talent, but wasnt as highly regarded as Melo or Bosh or Darko going into the draft.

[keith crime 8]

sort of true about wade although he did have a killer rookie yearthey were saying Darko would be all nba at the time and seriously i really doubt that will ever happendrafting a european that young is like paying big money to a pitcher out of high school

[kers2 0]

Keith also reminded me of another good point about Darko... remember how everyone was saying teams didnt want to "miss out on the next Dirk Nowitzki". No NBA team wanted the distinction of passing on Darko for the simple fact that he could turn out to be the next big thing ala Dirk.

[KowboyKoop 0]

sort of true about wade although he did have a killer rookie yearthey were saying Darko would be all nba at the time and seriously i really doubt that will ever happendrafting a european that young is like paying big money to a pitcher out of high school

How can you already doubt that Darko will be one of the best players in the league when he has gotten ZERO chance to play up until very very recently???? In Pistons practice, he apparently was able to hang with Rasheed Wallace pretty well on both sides of the ball, so that is pretty good, and he is already a very good shot-blocker/defender. I am not saying he definitely WILL be one of the best...but how can you judge that he won't when he has had zero chance to do anything whatsoever?? He is only 20 years old...hell, he may not even be done growing yet!!!

[keith crime 8]

Fair enough - but if I had to guess - he'll never start an all star game

[KowboyKoop 0]

Fair enough - but if I had to guess - he'll never start an all star game

The NBA All-Star starting lineup is just a popularity contest....so......okay. Maybe he won't.

[ChrisOfSpades 0]

I'd say Wade's tournement was better. He carried a team with much less talent to the final four. Melo had several other high quality players on team, like Hakim Warrick. If you watched the games, you could see wade hitting key shot after key shot in every clutch situation. He had that killer instict that great players need.Yea, I know why they picked Bowie, and I am sure they thought it was a good move at the time because you can't predict the future. I'm a fan of taking the best player avalaible at the time, and if he doesnt fit your team then you can trade him.

no matter what you say about wade, he wasnt going to be a #2 or 3 pick that year. it was never gonna happen. remember, melo was also final four MVP that year. and the pistons took the guy that had the most "upside". it didnt work out, so they traded. but you cant always just trade a guy. it aint that easy.