Lotto winner: DETROIT PISTONS

Darko Big Ben Cliff Robinson = best Eastern Conference Frontcourt. Billups and Rip both were wreckin this year. Sure bet for a eastern conference powerhouse for years to come.

 

Pretty sure Darko will be the #2 pick. Dumars loves his game, and the Pistons desperately need a superstar big man in the post. When Corliss Williamson is the only post-up threat on the team, you know you need a big man. Besides, they've already got plenty of perimeter players on the team like Anthony.

 

They are?

 

This is more than just a chance to get Darko or Carmelo. The Pistons don't need a teen-age power forward who will take a few years to adjust to the NBA. They have the talent to win now.
If I were part of Pistons management, I would be looking to trade the pick for a young veteran like Elton Brand or Jermaine O'Neal who could put the franchise over the top right away.
Put one of those players on their team now, and the Eastern Conference finals would look much different.

 

man, i gotta say i agree entirely! if you could lure a proven commodity like elton brand away...you trade that pick and you don't look back. elton brand on the pistons would be sick!

 

I have to agree on this as well. Excellent idea. If they trade the #2 to the Clips for Brand...jeebus the Pistons would be siiiiiick. But I'm pretty sure Dumars wants a more offensive go to guy...sure Brand is a 20-10 guy but i think Dumars see Nowitzki in Darko.

 

Some points involving Detroit sending the pick to the Clipps for Brand.

1) The pick would have to be exactly who the Clippers want and the deal would have to be agreed to on draft day and finalized later (like the SAR-Gasol trade).

2) The deal could not be finalized until after new contracts take effect on July 1st.

3) Since a pick has no trade value unless signed, the Clipps would have to agree to receive another contract or two to balance Brand's $6.4m. Almost all of the Pistons mid to lower end contracts expire after the 2003 season. That's a downside for the Clipps.

4) If the Pistons get Brand without a contract extention signed prior to the trade or via SnT, Brand is an unrestricted FA next summer.

5) I may not have this right, but as I understand the CBA in order to lockup Brand beyond 2003, there would have to be a SnT for the Rookie Max extention of $10m. If true, then the Pistons would need to send $10m worth of contracts. (I don't think BYC will be an issue as the Clipps are under the cap). I don't see $10m of Piston contracts which would interest the Clipps.

 

Yes, they are.

 

I don't think anyone outside Detriot took them seriously. This makes them a legit conference power rather than a group of overachieving regular season winners.

 

Who is what?

 

No way I do that if I were Pistons. Did we last year trade Yao for someone like Elton Brand? Don't you think Hornets regreted trading Kobe for Divac? Same thing. You never trade potential great for proven good.

I don't think Brand can make them a championship team but Darko may or may not. I rather take a chance at becoming great than stuck in being good but ultimately not good enough.

Dumars is a great GM. I am sure he will make a great decision on this.

 

The reason they make that trade is so they can contend now. Its not a given that the Pistons will in a position to contend by the time Dark develops. With Brand, they might be pushed over the hump as far as legit title contenders, right now.

 

I heard they dont want Carmelo I heard they want Darko. Thats what reporters were saying at game 3.

 

There isn't a particular reason to believe Anthony is so much better prepared to contribute now. It ain't like Anthony's a fifth year senior, he's one year out of high school himself. Milicic has been playing pro for several years.

To get this out of the way, Detroit loves both of them. Anthony went to one of their playoff games and was rooting for the Pistons. He said he was close to Hamilton. And Anthony is on record saying Detroit is the team he'd like to play for. If they had gotten the 3rd pick, they'd be doing carwheels for Carmello.

But they got the second, and they'll take Darko. They've been scouting him for a long time. When Richard Hamilton, as mentioned above is tight with Anthony, saw Darko workout, he went ga-ga. So did Jon Barry. So did every Piston that saw him.

They won't trade the pick either, unless Garnett or the like is involved. They've basically stated this and it is the smart move. The Pistons management sees the big picture. You don't trade Hakeem as a 17 year old for Otis Thorpe because Thorpe is better prepared now. You wait for the superstar. Detroit is actually a pretty young team. They have time and they've shown a incredible ability to add pieces that should ensure they'll stay competitive for a long time.

 

Here is an old scouting report by Chad Ford when he checked out Darko with NBA international scout Tony Ronzone. Keep in mind that Darko weighs 245 lbs at only 17. As he gets older and does some weight lifting he should be able to put on 15-20lbs easily to match up with any center besides Shaq and Ming, or to just play power foward.

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1484356

Milicic (7-0, 245 pounds) may be the prize tonight, but his team, KK Hemofarm, is playing BC Buducnost, which also has several major prospects on the roster. In addition to Darko, scouts are watching lithe 6-11 forward Zarko Cabarkapa, and 7-6 big man Slavko Vranes (pronounded Vran-ich).

Milicic quickly is becoming a big name in NBA circles, but he's still a relative unknown in Yugoslavia. Hemofarm doesn't get the same publicity as higher-profile Belgrade teams like Partizan and Red Star. Milicic walks onto the floor and gets a warm reception, but it's clear that most of the fans here don't know just how good he is. His coach doesn't run plays for him, his guards dominate the scoring, and Milicic spends most of his time setting cross screens. The situation isn't that dissimilar to Yao Ming's role on the Chinese national team. Coaches in Yugoslavia love control, and Milicic has been largely a victim of his own success.

Unlike the LeBron James spectacle going on in the U.S., Milicic's presence is severely understated. The media don't follow him or hang on his every word. Like everything else in Yugoslavian basketball, team comes before individual. Milicic's European agent, Dragan Delic, lets Darko know before the game that we're there to scout and do a big story on him. He shrugs and quickly gets about his business.

Milicic blocks a shot on the game's first possession. He then gets out on the break. Point guard Dijorde Djogo finds him in the post, and Milicic spins to the basket for an easy two. The next trip down, Milicic grabs a rebound in traffic on the defensive end, then battles for an offensive board back in the Hemofarm end. Within five minutes its clear why scouts are so enamored.

He's as tough as the Yugoslavian winter in the paint. Every time he touches the ball down low, he lowers his shoulder and takes it at his man. He's not afraid of contact. He has soft hands, understands when to pass the ball out of the double team, has a sweet jump hook, and plays aggressively at the defensive end. He hits several quick spin shots off the block, prompting one scout to proclaim that he hasn't seen that type of footwork out of a young big man since Tim Duncan. Milicic is in the zone.

At the end of the first quarter he has a dream stat line: eight points on 3 of 4 shooting, six boards, four blocks and three assists. And, as two scouts quickly add, zero mistakes. To make things even more enticing, consider this -- his team didn't run one play for him in the first quarter.

Milicic gets his first major challenge at the start of the second quarter. Buducnost subs in Vranes, a 7-foot-6 shot-blocking machine. Milicic tells me later that Vranes is the tallest player he's ever faced. It shows on the first possession when Vranes stuffs a quick Milicic turnaround in the paint. Here is where Darko proves himself. The next time down the floor, Milicic catches the ball in the same position on the block. Instead of trying the jumper, he puts the ball on the floor and blows by Vranes across the lane, sinks the lay-up and gets the foul.

“ See how he adjusted in just one series? It takes some of our young kids years to figure that out. It took him one play. ”
— NBA Scout, watching Darko Milicic
"See how he adjusted in just one series?" one scout whispers into my ear. "It takes some of our young kids years to figure that out. It took him one play." Milicic seems intent on destroying Vranes after the play. His teammates are still ignoring him, but Milicic keeps finding a way to get the ball. Everytime he touches it, something good happens. He takes the ball on the baseline, fakes out Vranes and dunks the ball with surprising authority.

As he walks back up the court, he waves his hands in the air in an attempt to get the crowd into the game. He plays with a passion that had every scout smiling. It's not easy to find big kids these days who actually love to play the game. Too many have been forced into basketball based on size alone. Milicic cares, and many feel that's the difference for him. His passion will drive him to keep improving.

By the end of the half, Milicic has scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked five shots and handed out three uncredited assists (they don't count assists the same way in Europe as they do in the U.S.) in just 15 minutes. He picked a good time to put on a masterpiece. When he leaves the game, his team is up 42-22.

Milicic gets off to a slow start in the second half. A calf injury sustained midway through the second quarter is bothering him. He has several turnovers, and midway through the third quarter he takes a 3-pointer. That's a no-no with his coach, Lukajic Zeljko, who has been trying to ween Milicic off his perimeter game this year. Milicic reveals later that he often played point guard for the junior team. Zeljko wants him focusing on his low-post skills, even though several players concede that he may be the best 3-point shooter on the team. Milicic picks up his fourth foul moments later, and his coach pulls him. Hemofarm is never seriously challenged the rest of the game, and Milicic never gets back in.

 

Now if only the Rox could play ball in the east.

 

The reason I think your idea is crappy because you actually believe that Elton Brand would make them a championship team?! Well I don't. I can't see Brand being able to handle Tim Duncan in the Finals.

And I don't think they need to contend now. Their only key player who is kinda old is Ben Wallace who is only 29 years old. Hamilton and Billups are both under 25. So I don't see why they can't wait for a few years for Darko to develop and "truely" contend.

I think many people (include THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, the great Detroit Pistons management team) believe that Darko will eventually become a superstar and a better player than Brand (Brand is and will never be a superstar, he's at best a borderline All-Star).

Plus almost all Detroit players have very "cap-friendly" contracts. I don't see why they can't contend for a long time.

EVEN they really want to contend now. I honestly think they can get way more for Darko than Brand.

I really think Detroit can think about KG. They have the potential superstar to offer Minnesota (Darko) -- nobody else is going to offer Minnesota a young potential superstar WITH a rookie contract for KG, the recent rumour Bulls package has a bunch of good-but-not-great players, for instance -- plus Detorit have many reasonably priced veterans as well as expiring contracts (an IMPORTANT factor for Minny if they really move KG because if they trade KG, they would want CAP ROOM, they can't get out of 1st round because of cap room situation so they certainly wouldn't trade KG AND still need to deal with this problem). Nobody can/will offer a better package for KG than Detroit in the league IMO.

Keep in mind that Darko is going to be signed to a rookie contract for his first four years in the league. He has way WAY more upside than Elton Brand, plus he is way WAY cheaper. Joe Dumars definitely realizes what Darko is worth A LOT, but honestly, I believe that Detroit can do better than Brand even they want to trade, I really do.

 

I agree with Newgirl in a way--I would not trade that pick for Elton Brand. Oneal or perhaps Gasol (say plus the #13 pick)--guys with much more dominant or potentially offensive games--would better compliment the Pistons team. Brand is a super all-around player--but most of his strengths overlap with Wallace, and Detriot needs a inside guy to create match-up problems.