doubt it. Detroit won w/ defense and Caremolo is not a defensive player. Did u not see what prince did throught the whole playoffs. Key blocks, giving kobe fits.
Ugh... I thought Detroit winning the freaking championship would put an end to all these Carmelo vs. Darko debates. They won a championship... thus every single decision they made this year was RIGHT. If they draft Carmelo, maybe they don't get Rasheed. Also, maybe Carmelo complains about the lack of PT he was going to get (Larry Brown doens't play rookies), and he might have even caused discord in the lockeroom. They won it all... that's kinda the point of all of this, and thus they are now criticism-free... hell, they don't even have to win it all again next year (although, they'll contend again fo sure), because once you're a champion, you're a champion for life. (or, until all the players from your championship squad either retire or leave... see the Rockets).
Carmelo would not have gotten much playing time and would have spent the season b*tching and Moaning Rocket River
You probably could make a great case that the Pistons would not be champions if they had Anthony. Seems weird, but likely. They would have a better future, but who knows if they would have won it. Anthony needs the ball and his skills require playing time. Was he ready to play and possibly lead on an NBA champion? Prince vs. Anthony is clearly Anthony overall, but for the winning formula that Detroit had, Prince fit the bill. With that said, and the power of hindsight, clearly the Pistons should have drafted Anthony for their future (and kept him on the bench all season until a hand-breaking 30 seconds in Game 5).
I'd disagree. Hindsight being 20/20, you still draft Darko. While their future may be brighter had they drafted Anthony, there's no guarantee that they'd ever win a championship. You take the championship over potential, IMO.
I agree... sort of. I'm talking about in hindsight, so I'm saying you would draft Anthony and have him do no more/less than Darko (bench him all year). It's not really realistic since you would have fans screaming for him to play, Anthony complaining and possibly Prince not feeling comfortable in his role, but Darko played no significant role at all this season, so why would they not win the championship drafting Anthony and not playing him?
Because that wouldn't happen, I guess. If they'd have drafted Anthony, he would've played the bulk of minutes, just like he did in Denver. Darko was a project from the get-go whereas Anthony was not.
I think you misunderstood. I said "and kept him on the bench all season until a hand-breaking 30 seconds in Game 5". It's not realistic, but the team's future would be better off. Or for that matter they could trade Anthony for a lot more than they can Darko. I think if Dumars knew then what he knows now, he probably would have taken Anthony. I may be wrong, but that's my guess. Value is value for a franchise, and Anthony has tons more than Darko at this point. You can't argue with a title though and who knows ... Milicic may still take off.
No you don't. You at least draft Wade and have him be your third guard off the bench or you pick up Chris Bosh.
I understood, but it's not even realistic enough to hypothesize about, IMO. It's one thing to argue something that could've happened, like them actually taking Anthony over Darko. However, it's another thing to discuss something that could never happen, like Clinton telling the truth. Yeah, you're probably right, even though, I doubt he's unstubborn (is that a word?!) enough to concede that at this point. I think they knew that Darko would be a huge project, but I doubt they realized how good Anthony would be either.
My point is, if you look back to discuss how things could've been different if you're the Pistons, you don't change a thing. If you do, you don't know what else would change as an indirect or direct result of that change. Dammit, too many Back to the Future viewings.
