"ATLANTA -- NBA commissioner David Stern delivered two pieces of news Saturday night, announcing that Darko Milicic of Yugoslavia will be eligible for the 2003 draft and that the first round of the playoffs will be changed from best-of-5 to best-of-7 this season." Is there going to be any team crazy enough to take Darko Milicic at #1 and leave King James for #2? Not to compare James to MJ or anything but hmm...brings back memories of the 1984 draft. No regrets about dream going #1 but Sam Bowie at #2? Man...jordan at #3. http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0208/1506023.html
I really hope Darko goes at #1. All the Lebron mania, and him talking in the third person really bugs me. Mind you, we're about due for a high-picked European bust.
My understanding is that the rule was not entirely clear, and therefore open to interpretation. So the NBA just changed their intrepretation, rather than the rule itself.
From what all the people in the know says, this guys is the real deal. He's tough as nails, good footwork and solid already. I'm willing to bet the competition he faces now is 100times better than what Lebron faces. Check this out: But what really excites them is his mature low-post play. "More than Nowitzki, Gasol or even Divac, Darko has a nasty streak in him that will help him succeed in the post," a league executive said. "A lot of the Europeans are really threes in the pros. He'll be a true low-post player. His coach is doing us a huge favor by forcing him to develop those skills now. He already has moves that remind me of (Hakeem) Olajuwon in the post. Once we get a hold of him, the sky's the limit." 1. Darko Milicic, PF/C, Yugoslavia The line: 7-0, 245, 17 years old The skinny: He's dominant. Like Dirk Nowitzki, he has the full complement of skills. He can handle, shoot the 3 and play in the paint. Unlike Nowitzki, he's tough as nails. A strong defender who gets aggressive in the post. He has the potential, if he fills out, to be a legit center in the league. He's the consensus No. 2 pick in the draft if the league lets him in, a question because of his age. He'll be 18 in time for the June 26 draft, but not in time to apply for the draft, a distinction that is causing some consternation.
This should pose an interesting choice for the Cavs who could most likely end up with the 1st pick. Do you pick a center with huge potential (Darko) or the hometown kid with huge upside (King James) Then again, the Rox could miss the playoffs and Stevie Franchise and his lucky suit could magicly get us the 1st pick again and we could get Darko to team up with Yao.
Aren't "huge potential" and "huge upside" the same thing? Seems like Darko deserves just as much hype as James. Darko has been playing against professional MEN for years while Lebron has just recently started his dominance over high school kids. All that BS about "Lebron could have gone #1 over Yao in his junior year in high school" crap that ESPN (mainly Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas) puts out is ridiculous!
Oh yeah, from Francis trade a while back. I completely forgot about that, sorry. Its just wishfull thinking on my part.
James hasn't just "recently dominated" his HS competition. He's been dominating since midway through his freshman year and routinely destroys college and NBA talent. Darko has been playing in a better league, but keep in mind he's only been in it for 2 years. He also doesn't get much PT, think Tskitishvilli, so he may be more raw than we think. It's not like Darko is the star of his team over there. Keep in mind that he said the toughest player he's ever faced is Pat Burke of the Orlando Magic. What does this all mean? It means that scouts know what they're doing. If Darko was really better than LeBron, then he'd be the consensus Number 1 pick. With Yao's success, no team would be very hesistant to pick a foreigner with the first pick. The thing that keeps LeBron ahead is that he's a better prospect than Darko. LeBron has an NBA body, and Darko is only around 240 pounds. He is skinnier than David West right now, so being in the low post right now will be tough for him. BTW, LeBron recently lit up one of the top prospects in the nation with 52 points. I'm not a Darko hater AT ALL(I think he will be the second best player in the draft) but I am just stating my opinion. Until Darko shows that he can beat double teams and be consistent, LeBron will be number 1.
I haven't even seen him play against non-high school players...much less NBA talent. Unless you're stating that the a few players on the opposing teams that he plays has nba talent...is he even allowed to play against NBA players at practice or anything like that? And besides...it really doesn't matter where you get picked. In recent years, #1 picks haven't exactly been the best players...(think Kwame Brown, K-Mart etc.) To me...Lebron James hasn't proven anything. You think 52 points is something big? Dajuan Wagner dropped 100 in a game...so what? It's no big deal. Kwame Brown was also the #1 high school player in his days and dominated his teenager opponents. The only thing I see that makes him worth the #1 pick is his potential because his body is already built and his ball handling/passing skills are also developed and his athleticism just puts him over the top of all the college and international players in the coming draft. But we'll see. Those characteristics are really reminiscent of a guy named Jordan
Denham Brown also scored 112 points in a game but he's not much of a prospect. It's the way that he scored his points against a top team, he did it unselfishly. They could have probably run up the score more, but the game was in hand. I see your point, though. What made Kwame Brown the number 1 pick was a culmination of many things. He did NOT dominate high school players very much, contrary to popular belief. He was only about the 10th ranked HSer, and averaged 23 ppg. He went 1st because of a weak draft class, his "maturity" in interviews, and great workouts. Kwame was never ranked the Number 1 HSer ever. LeBron is different because he is head and shoulders above all HSers and was ranked in ever All American team as a sophomore. LeBron has dominated in the ABCD camp with pro prospects and just last year he almost beat Carmelo's #1 ranked team. I think you may have forgotten his infamous workout with the Cavs, pro players, in which he supposedly dominated. He is not a certainty, but to say Darko is much more ready doesn't seem fair to me. Dirk only had about 8ppg his first year. Pau had a successful season, but was much older than Darko and had a lot of playing time in Europe. Time will tell, but none of the top 4 picks(Bron, Darko, Melo, Bosh) are sure-fire prospects like Tim Duncan or Shaq.
"LeBron has an NBA body, and Darko is only around 240 pounds. He is skinnier than David West right now, so being in the low post right now will be tough for him." Only around 240? he's listed at 245 and I'd like to remind you that Hakeem played his entire career at 7' 245 pounds. That's plenty of weight, particularly for a 17 year old. When an NBA team gets ahold of him he'll probably be 260-270 within a couple years. He'll be a beast.
A scout described Hakeem as a "6'11, 260 pound jumping skyscraper" before his rookie year. I also think 7' is a stretch for Hakeem, since Sean Elliot said that Hakeem was about 3-4 inches shorter than Shaq. About Darko reaching 270 soon...that's easier said that done. It's possible, but I haven't seen it very often as the leaner guys generally have trouble putting on muscle.
