In the 2003 NBA draft, the Detroit Pistons had the chance to change the entire trajectory of the NBA. According to former star point guard Chauncey Billups, the Pistons drafting Carmelo Anthony that year, to plug him into a 50-win roster would have interrupted LeBron’s run and would have changed the conversation about how we rank some of the all-time greats.
“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.”
LeBron James was the first pick in the 2003 Draft and it was never going to be anybody else. Even at the time, James looked like an absolute beast and the Cavaliers would have been mad not to pick him up with their pick. Despite finishing first in the East that season, the Pistons had the second overall pick that summer [in a trade with the Grizzlies] and had the chance to pair Carmelo Anthony with one of the best lineups in the East.
Together, with Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, and Richard ‘RIP’ Hamilton, the Pistons would have surely been able to win the 2004 Finals (like they did without Melo) but they might have become a borderline dynasty with multiple championship runs under their belt. Unfortunately, the Pistons selected Darko Milicic in the draft that year, surprising experts, fans, and even the Pistons players themselves.
The Detroit Pistons Made A Huge Mistake
While the Pistons are hardly the only team to whiff on a draft pick, that mistake was particularly costly for the franchise. Darko Milicic averaged just 1.4 points per game in his rookie season and played a total of just 96 games for the Pistons before being traded to the Orlando Magic in 2006.
Meanwhile, the Pistons had to watch from the side as Carmelo Anthony went toe-to-toe with LeBron James for Rookie of the Year. And while Anthony was far from the player that James was, he was the kind of star that could have extended the championship window for the Pistons, and it might have impeded LeBron from his NBA takeover at such a young age.
Nobody knows who made the decision to quit on Carmelo Anthony but everyone can agree that it killed any chance they had to sustain long-term success. To make matters even worse, the Pistons personally promised Carmelo that they’d draft him before the big night and yet somehow managed to change their minds and go back on their word at the last minute.
Today, the Pistons are a complete joke of a franchise and are going to have to fight to even win 10 games this season. With no assets and a lack of star power, the Pistons clearly have a problem evaluating talent, and until they can get it right in the draft and land a star to lead their future, their best days will always be in the past.
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