Darko headed to the Magic?

[Tha_Kid]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

^^ basically ^^

the pistons fans here need to chill, ya'll act like its a sin to say anything that could be perceived as derogatory to ya team...

[HMcCoy]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

They'll have 30 full games or so Macca and practise.

All the talk used to be how Darko was killing them "in the gym"...that's all stopped completely so you wonder if the Pistons are seeing him get burnt even in gym sessions...

Worth the risk if you're Orlando...the kid may well have simply got tired of not playing and given up somewhat.

Side note: I know every Detroit fan says "hey, we are doing okay as it is"...but man, can anyone even IMAGINE the Pistons with Dwayne Wade as their 6th man

For one, they'd have beaten the Spurs last season...

For two, they'd be favourites for the next five years...

There's no way to sugar coat it...the Darko pick was a disaster when you think of how strong that draft was. The strongest draft since the Hakeem and MJ draft...and all they'll have to show for it is Kelvin Cato. That's a disaster.

Sup, Monk?

Yeah, i agree also. McDyess and the Wallaces are almost done, I can't see them playing at this level for more than another 2-3 years tops. Wade, Bosh and Melo are cornerstone players, and the Pistons doen't have any of those right now, IMO. I don't think you can build around Rip, Tay, or Billups...and the almost magical chemistry they've developed on and off the court isn't easy to put together. This may be the most effective "team" in sports, but unlike the Spurs, Mavs etc...they don't have a centerpiece for the future. Meh, maybe they don't need one. Maybe thats the secret.

Joey D is a friggin' mastermind...so I'd bet the 'Stones will be able to parlay a few of those aging guys for younger talent. Dumars is *officially* the MF'n man until proven otherwise...

[Court_vision]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Sup, Monk?

Yeah, i agree also. McDyess and the Wallaces are almost done, I can't see them playing at this level for more than another two years tops. Wade, Bosh and Melo are cornerstone players, and the Pistons doen't have any of those right now, IMO. I don't think you can build around Rip, Tay, or Billups...and the almost magical chemistry they've developed on and off the court isn't easy to put together. This may be the most effective "team" in sports, but unlike the Spurs, Mavs etc...they don't have a centerpiece for the future. Meh, maybe they don't need one. Maybe thats the secret.

Joey D is a friggin' mastermind...so I'd bet the 'Stones will be able to parlay a few of those aging guys for younger talent. Dumars is *officially* the MF'n man until proven otherwise...

No doubt Joe D has done a great job. He'd be the first to admit he's had a bit of luck, ie he offered Webber a max deal and Webb said 'no'. He's also lucky this Darko pick isn't haunting him more.

Can you imagine if the GM at a team like Toronto or Philly passed on those three guys for Darko...they'd be out of a job.

I agree with Pistons fans who say Melo would have been a bad fit. I used to argue against them on that, but I tend to agree now.

Bosh and Wade though strike me as being incredibly mature kids...really level headed. I can imagine both of them being content being the 6th man on 2 or 3 championship teams and then taking over that team in a few years time and being the absolute man.

Wade in particular...man, they'd be loaded.

[Shaver]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Again... for the 100th time (just on this board)... drafting anyone but Darko would have changed the entire dynamic of the team.... Wade, Melo or Bosch would have all but guarenteed that Prince would not be resigned and it also would have affected the ability to trade for Sheed.

You can't play the what if games because the butterfly effect is always a factor.

PS... This trade to Orlando is 95% to happen in the next few days. The Pistons will get to resign Ben, give Billups a raise, and try another Top 10 pick.

PSS... check out my ODE TO DARKO on my BLOG today.

[injunwal]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

On paper it does not look like Detroit is getting much but they are getting the cap space to keep the starting 5 together long term and another shot at a pick.

Would i love to have Bosh (only one other than Darko given serious consideration at the time) instead? Absolutely!!!!! But then I highly doubt that Rasheed is on the team or that they have 2 finals appearance, and a championship.

You win some you lose some and from a Pistons fans stand point getting rid of Darko is winning even if the drafting of him is a big loss. Who knows, he may end up being everything he was suppose to be in another system. There was no spot for him on the floor in Detroit and when given a chance he was a complete mess

[Shaver]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

You win some you lose some and from a Pistons fans stand point getting rid of Darko is winning even if the drafting of him is a big loss. Who knows, he may end up being everything he was suppose to be in another system. There was no spot for him on the floor in Detroit and when given a chance he was a complete mess

Last night was a great example... he knows he's going to get his chance with a trade.... and he STILL half-assed it in his 5 minutes. Didn't fight for 'bounds. Shot an airball. No hussle.

[MagicBucsWsoxFan]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Last night was a great example... he knows he's going to get his chance with a trade.... and he STILL half-assed it in his 5 minutes. Didn't fight for 'bounds. Shot an airball. No hussle.

didnt see the game, but wow...he'd fit perfect on this Magic team then.

[poster]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Last night was a great example... he knows he's going to get his chance with a trade.... and he STILL half-assed it in his 5 minutes. Didn't fight for 'bounds. Shot an airball. No hussle.

We have talked about it often, but he just shows absolutely NO effort, hustle or heart. I just dont get it. Maybe getting paid along with his extremely tough childhood where he had to fight to stay alive zapped this kid out?

[Pointguard]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Again... for the 100th time (just on this board)... drafting anyone but Darko would have changed the entire dynamic of the team.... Wade, Melo or Bosch would have all but guarenteed that Prince would not be resigned and it also would have affected the ability to trade for Sheed.

You can't play the what if games because the butterfly effect is always a factor.

PS... This trade to Orlando is 95% to happen in the next few days. The Pistons will get to resign Ben, give Billups a raise, and try another Top 10 pick.

I dont see how drafting Wade would affect the Rasheed deal. Bosh I can see but getting Wade really shouldn't affect it.

And if you give me the choice of having Wade or re-signing Prince, I think I know which one Im taking.

[hokupguy]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

i hope this deal goes down i think Darko needs playing time and might turn out good for magic with Darko and Howard at the 4 and 5.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Looks like Darko and Arroyo are going to Orlando for Cato along with the pick:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2332021

[MagicBucsWsoxFan]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

YESSSSSSS!!!! THIS IS AWESOME FINALLY

[Kashanova]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Francis got his replacement?

[Admiral50]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

Again... for the 100th time (just on this board)... drafting anyone but Darko would have changed the entire dynamic of the team.... Wade, Melo or Bosch would have all but guarenteed that Prince would not be resigned and it also would have affected the ability to trade for Sheed.

You can't play the what if games because the butterfly effect is always a factor.

PS... This trade to Orlando is 95% to happen in the next few days. The Pistons will get to resign Ben, give Billups a raise, and try another Top 10 pick.

PSS... check out my ODE TO DARKO on my BLOG today.

Well hopefully they take another below average player because they wouldn't want a good player to change the dynamic of the team now would they?

[OneBadMutha]

Re: Darko headed to the Magic?

I followed Darko (and all the other high draft picks from 2003) a good year before the draft actually happened. The reason was because as a Pistons fan I knew Detroit would get that Memphis pick and Memphis stunk that season.

Here's some facts about Darko:

- People were still debating who would go #1 between Darko and Lebron even 6 months prior to the draft.

- Darko would've been taken #2 by most other GMs including Kiki (who drafted Melo). The lowest anyone had Darko on their draft boards was #4. Nobody had Wade ahead of Darko.

- Dumars decided on drafting Darko when he needed a big man. If he didn't take Darko, the next in line was Bosh...but very few had Bosh ahead of Darko on their draft boards.

- Darko was decided on before Detroit fired Carlisle and hired LB. Darko and LB were a match made in hell. LB doesn't like rookies and likes them even less when they haven't played in college. 7 footers that like to play like perimeter players make him puke.

- LB spent the first year trying to change Darko. It's been documented both on ESPN Insider and then Chauncy Billups backed it up again this year (after LB was fired) that LB broke down Darko and embarrassed him to the point where it didn't look like Darko wanted to come to practice or even play basketball anymore.

- It was documented by people who saw him in Europe and then saw him play in garbage time in the NBA that he didn't look like the same player at all. He got mechanical and stopped even trying to do the things that he was good at when he played in Europe. He was drafted because he played more like a cross between Gasol and Nowitski yet LB was determined to make Darko 300 pounds and play like a lumbering back-the-basket big man.

- I work at the Palace and saw Darko in person his first pre-season and he showed more flashes and energy at that time than I have ever seen since. His problem then was that he only got a minute here or there to prove himself and he tried doing too much all at once. People say he's lazy but I saw in person him trying to guard every player on the court. His problem was not effort in his rookie season.

- Darko finally accepted that he would never play no matter what he did and lost all his confidence so he stopped trying. He then was re-energized when Flip came in and showed flashes in the pre-season again. When Flip gave him back his old role when the regular season started and said "it's not you, it's the players in front of you" he went back to being the kid with the bad attitude who didn't work hard again.

- Despite his failures in Detroit and the things he did wrong (and I'm not saying it's all everyone else's fault), Darko has shown the ability to shoot well up to 20 feet, he can pass, he's very fast, and he can block shots. When he thought he was finally getting a chance, he showed energy. Who cares if the kid can't handle being benched? Orlando didn't trade for him to become their 12th man and "Human Victory Cigar".

- The move to trade Darko now is because Davidson will not pay the luxury tax. It might as well be a hard cap to the Pistons organization. Dumars wants to keep the core together and by signing Ben he would've had to go over the luxury cap. To complicate matters, nobody would take Arroyo's salary who was not a player Dumars wanted but a player LB wanted him to trade for. Finally there was the issue that Darko was going to opt out of his contract after the 2007 season. Of course Detroit could technically match but considering Davidson's frugality and the fact that another team would've offered him some big bucks (see Kwame, Curry, Chandler, and Olowakandi), Detroit would've likely had to let him go for nothing. Davidson would not have allowed Dumars to match a contract for Darko especially when the luxury tax would've meant spending $2 real life dollars for every $1 in that contract. It also looked obvious that Darko wasn't going to get any opportunity in Detroit over the next season and 1/2.


In summary, while Darko certainly had his faults in all of this, I believe a player like Nowitski would've been every bit as much a failure. Nowitski had a horrible rookie season himself but was allowed to play through it and nobody made him gain 60 pounds and play with his back to the basket. I've seen enough flashes from Darko to believe that in the right situation this guy will flurish. Orlando is a great spot for him as Howard is the perfect compliment to his game and he'll get plenty of playing time.

I believe when all is said and done, Detroit will regret trading Darko more than they will regret drafting him.