Detroit Pistons: 5 decisions they wish they could undo

Detroit Pistons: Drafting Darko Milicic over literally anyone else in the 2003 NBA Draft

The Joe Dumars era was eventually undone because he always thought he was the smartest guy in the room and made moves to prove it instead of just doing the obvious thing.

This was never more evident than the Darko Milicic draft pick, as there were a couple of proven college players in Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade who the Pistons bypassed in favor of the unknown “potential” of Milicic.

To be fair, the Darko decision was one many GM’s would have made, as the Pistons were already good, so why not swing for the fences on a high-ceiling pick?

Darko was projected to be a seven-footer who could shoot, the original Unicorn, so in many ways his potential represented where the league was headed.

But he never reached it (even though he did get a ring with the Pistons) and ended up as one of the biggest draft busts of all time.

The Pistons had a rare opportunity to add a top draft pick to a team that was already good, and if they had just taken Carmelo, they might have won a few more titles.

The 2003 NBA Draft was one of the biggest “what-ifs” in league history, as it could have changed the entire future of the league had it gone a different way for the Detroit Pistons.