With the second overall pick in the 2003 draft, the Detroit Pistons selected Darko Milicic. Despite winning the championship the next season, fans continue to lament Diamond Joe’s decision to draft the Serbian center ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade, not to mention Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich, David West, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa, Josh Howard, Mo Williams, Zaza Pachulia, and Kyle Korver. Milicic enjoyed a nine-year career in the NBA, but all of the aforementioned players enjoyed more success.
Why did they choose Milicic instead of a different player? The Detroit Pistons drafted for need over talent. Detroit didn’t need a guard or wing player, they needed help down low, so passed on the better talents for a player who was a better fit.
Detroit Pistons: Talent over fit in the NBA Draft
By talent, I don’t just mean athleticism, size, body, or offense. Talent refers to character, ceiling, and work ethic. Everybody in the draft has enough talent to be in the NBA. That’s why they’re in the draft, but it takes a certain type of professional to succeed in the NBA, and most draftees don’t.
In the grander scheme of things, rookie contracts aren’t enough of a salary cap hit to worry about, and you can trade talent. You can’t do much with desperation.
Mehmet Okur was entering the final year of his rookie contract and had earned a big payday. Due to the salary cap, the Detroit Pistons couldn’t keep Okur, and the Utah Jazz signed him for six-years and $50 million.
The Rasheed Wallace trade did what the Milicic draft didn’t, which was to add size and scoring in the post.
According to the myth, Carmelo Anthony was second on the Pistons big board. I’d argue that Chris Bosh was the better draft selection due to his overall game, intelligence, professionalism, and the fact that we enjoy the benefit of looking back on his career and accomplishments.
I caught the hypocrisy: Chris Bosh was the better fit with the Pistons. He was everything the Pistons needed that Darko wasn’t.
Arguably, Dwyane Wade was the clear talent of that draft class after LeBron James, and Wade, James, and Bosh’s careers will forever be intertwined. It’s hard to separate this group and assess what they could’ve accomplished had they never become The Heatles.
No draft makes or breaks a team, and the Darko selection certainly didn’t stop the Pistons from winning a championship, reaching the finals the year after, and reaching the conference finals every year until 2008.
That said, on June 22nd, the Pistons will make a decision that will affect the team for years. I expect Troy Weaver will draft for talent, and he’ll assess talent according to his understanding of who the player will be as a professional not next year but for years to come. That’s been his approach to every draft since taking the job.