Carmelo Anthony‘s interview on ESPN’s First Take covered a lot of ground, including a possible return. Let’s evaluate if he fits with the Detroit Pistons.
Carmelo Anthony is on the wrong side of history but how differently would it have looked if his career started with the Detroit Pistons?
The Pistons selected Darko Milicic second overall, of course LeBron James went first overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the 2003 NBA Draft. Anthony was the third pick by the Denver Nuggets.
Coming off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance a few weeks before the draft, the Pistons were primed to go after a key piece in the draft to put them over the top.
Positionally, it made sense to go after Milicic, which gave them extra depth in the frontcourt and a legitimate backup to Ben Wallace. An extra big man could have put the 2002-03 Pistons over the top, so that’s what they planned for 2003-04. But things didn’t turn out the way Joe Dumars, Detroit’s general manager, planned.
What made the Pistons so great was leading the league in defense, allowing a league-low 87.7 point per game. Their offense was 26th of 29 teams, scoring 91.4 points per game. Some of this can be attributed to ranking last in pace.
Anthony could have helped the team offensively, even if the pace stayed the same. The Pistons fired Rick Carlisle and hired Larry Brown, who led them to the 2004 NBA Championship.
Those Pistons ranked 24th in pace and point per game, scoring 90.4. Defensively they turned it up another notch with a league-best 84.3 points allowed per game.
Anthony’s legacy could be different had the Pistons selected him. Or it could have been Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh. Instead it was Milicic who won the first championship ring of the 2003 NBA Draft class.
By the way, he had the fewest amount of win shares out of all lottery picks, finishing with 7.1. Ninth overall pick Michael Sweetney finished with 7.8, despite playing in six fewer seasons.
Enough adding insult into the wound. Anthony is interested in making a comeback, he admitted in an interview on ESPN’s First Take, in hopes of winning that elusive championship. He also said he’d be at piece if his career was over.
Anthony has played starter’s minutes his entire career. Two years ago Anthony laughed at the suggestions that he’d come off the bench. Last year it became a truth as he did in eight of 10 games played with the Houston Rockets, though he still played 29.4 minutes per game.
Then he was cut by the Rockets, which is still unclear to him. Now he’s looking for a new home.
Let’s dive in to Anthony’s potential fit with the Pistons.