When we talk about the biggest NBA Draft mistakes, the Detroit Pistons selecting Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony with the second pick of the 2003 NBA Draft is one that often comes to mind. Rasheed Wallace doesn’t believe, though, that then-GM Joe Dumars made a mistake by drafting Milicic.
“Darko was one of them players where you had to beat him up to get him mad and then he start playing,” Wallace said on Gil’s Arena. “Darko could put it on the floor from the wing, two or three dribbles, he can finish left or right hand. He had a good three-point shot, but it was just his confidence.
“We all know how NBA coaches can shoot a n***a confidence down real fast,” Wallace continued. “If you’re not ready for that mentally, which he wasn’t because with coming from where he from, he is 16, 17 years old. He’s the man… You went from sugar to s***. I don’t think it was that much of a huge mistake that everybody says that Joe made picking him over Melo because at that time, again, as you say, is what we needed.”
The Pistons needed a big man at the time, and picking Milicic made sense on paper. It is somewhat forgotten that Wallace wasn’t on the team when the Serb was drafted and he only arrived via a mid-season trade. The Pistons needed that presence on the low post and thought Milicic could be just that.
Wallace added later in the episode that because the Pistons already had scorers like Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups, they didn’t feel like they had to get Anthony. They chose Milicic, who they viewed as an incredibly talented player who also filled a position of need.
Unfortunately, things just didn’t work out. Milicic averaged just 1.6 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks per game for the Pistons. He barely got to play under then-head coach Larry Brown, who really had no interest in playing youngsters.
Would Milicic have had success had he been drafted elsewhere? Maybe, but we’ll never know for sure. The Pistons traded Milicic in 2006 to the Orlando Magic and he would go on to be somewhat of a journeyman.
Anthony, meanwhile, went down as one of the greatest scorers of his generation. He had career averages of 22.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. You do wonder how much recent NBA history would have changed had the Pistons chosen Carmelo.
Chauncey Billups Thinks If The Pistons Drafted Carmelo, Then LeBron James’ Career Would Have Changed
Chauncey Billups thinks one of the biggest benefactors of Detroit drafting Milicic was LeBron James. Billups said LeBron’s career would have changed if the Pistons drafted Anthony in 2003.
“If we do get Melo, when was LeBron ever gonna take over? That was a hell of a rookie season,” said Billups. “But now we’re in the same division, he gonna get raised right in the game. Bron is Bron and we all know he’s incredible but when was he ever gonna beat and be better than [us with Melo]? We all thought we were taking Melo.”
Despite making what ended up being a mistake by selecting Milicic, the Pistons still won the championship in 2004. They then went back to the NBA Finals in 2005 but lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. After that loss, the Pistons were no longer the dominant force in the East and LeBron would take over in a few years. Billups thinks Anthony would have prevented that had he been a Piston.
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