What If Darko Was Never Drafted By Detroit?

[Mentch]

Before the start of the 1997-98 NBA Season, the Pistons dealt Otis Thorpe, the last remaining member of the Kansas City Kings, to the Vancouver Grizzlies, in exchange for a 2003 1st round draft pick. The Grizzlies were an expansion team at the time and expected to be much better in a few years; little did they know that the Pistons, a team that was coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, would land the 2nd overall pick in the draft, which they used to select Darko Milicic

 

Because he was on such a deep team, Milicic rarely saw any playing time with the Pistons, often appearing in garbage time. Throughout his entire tenure with Detroit, he averaged 5.6 minutes a game. Players cant get any better if they dont get on the court, and that is probably why he never improved much during this time

 

Before the draft, it was possible that the Raptors were looking to draft Milicic, since they were in need of a forward; however, after Milicic was selected, they went ahead and selected Chris Bosh, who turned into a perennial All-Star and became the face of the franchise. I think the same thing would have happened if Darko was taken by the Raptors. I dont think he would have been as good as Bosh, but he would have turned into a solid player and seen the floor immediately during his 1st year in the league. That would have given him time to develop, and he would have been able to build off of that. It might be too late for him now

[Real Deal]

Because he was on such a deep team, Milicic rarely saw any playing time with the Pistons, often appearing in garbage time. Throughout his entire tenure with Detroit, he averaged 5.6 minutes a game. Players cant get any better if they dont get on the court, and that is probably why he never improved much during this time.

That was only the first two seasons of his career. He was dealt to the Magic when he was still 20 years old, and he played over 20 MPG for Orlando that first season.

 

The next two seasons? He logged 24 MPG, 21 and 22 years of age (Wade, in the same draft, played his first game when he was 21).

 

He has had enough time to develop. Andrew Bynum has been injured most of his career, which means less time on the court AND in practice and offseasons...yet, he's able to average 17/14 (after 55 games per season average, just 24 minutes per game).

 

Before the draft, it was possible that the Raptors were looking to draft Milicic, since they were in need of a forward; however, after Milicic was selected, they went ahead and selected Chris Bosh, who turned into a perennial All-Star and became the face of the franchise. I think the same thing would have happened if Darko was taken by the Raptors. I dont think he would have been as good as Bosh, but he would have turned into a solid player and seen the floor immediately during his 1st year in the league. That would have given him time to develop, and he would have been able to build off of that. It might be too late for him now

Darko needed a ton of work on offense, and throwing him into shark-infested waters (basically what happened with Bosh in Toronto) and asking him to be a primary scoring option who creates for others...I just don't see how that would have been good for him. He came into the league a bad passer, didn't take care of the ball, had two moves (face-up jumper and a rolling hook shot), and he could not finish at the rim to save his life. Defensively, his size alone is what makes him decent, blocking shots and just filling space, but the Raptors needed more than that.