Zoltar
6th Man
SLOC - Duke & SLOB - Angels
Posts: 819
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Post by Zoltar on Feb 16, 2006 18:15:29 GMT -4
Detroit doesnt really even need anyone else as a pick, they got their starting 5
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Post by John on Feb 21, 2006 0:31:08 GMT -4
Ian Thomsen, SI.com
THE DARKO TRADE
Five thoughts on Detroit's decision to unload Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for the expiring $8.7 million contract of Kelvin Cato and Orlando's top-five protected pick in this year's draft:
1. The Pistons essentially are trading Milicic for Ben Wallace. The room created by Cato's expiring number enables them to re-sign Wallace this summer and keep their starting five intact, a major accomplishment in an era in which Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash and Joe Johnson walked away from contenders for financial reasons.
2. Was drafting Milicic with the No. 2 pick a mistake by the Pistons? Yes, in the sense that Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade -- the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 picks in the 2003 draft -- have turned into stars. The reality is that they probably would have taken Anthony instead with the No. 2 pick, and he surely would have eaten into Tayshaun Prince's role while disrupting the chemistry of a finely balanced team that went to the last two NBA Finals. Then the Pistons would have faced another potentially divisive decision of which players to dump in the next wave of contracts, because they couldn't afford to keep Anthony as well as their current starting five. Taken altogether, the decision on Milicic may go down as the most successful bad pick in NBA history.
3. The Pistons considered asking for the rights to 6-foot-10 forward Fran Vasquez instead of Orlando's upcoming draft pick, but his refusal to leave Spain and join the Magic as their No. 10 pick raised too many questions about whether he'll ever make the commitment to the NBA.
4. Milicic couldn't be entering a better situation. Because the Magic gave up so little for him, he no longer has to live up to the expectations of the No. 2 pick. The Magic will be happy if he emerges as a secondary option alongside Dwight Howard, who will occupy the opponent's best defender and make life relatively easy for Milicic.
5. Now it really makes sense for the Magic to trade Francis as they build a team to begin peaking around Howard in a couple of years. All they need to net in return for Francis are a couple of solid players, including a younger wing scorer who doesn't have to fill Francis's sneakers as the No. 1 star in Orlando.
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satownslugga
Ball Boy
SLOX - Trailblazers & SLOZ - Wolves
Posts: 188
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Post by satownslugga on Feb 21, 2006 0:39:36 GMT -4
Doolings has been a str8 bust for them..
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Post by John on Feb 22, 2006 11:59:02 GMT -4
From the Detroit Free Press...
Kelvin Cato, who could be moved before tomorrow's trade deadline, finally joined the Pistons yesterday.
"I don't think they would have given me my name on the wall there if they were getting rid of me," said Cato. "But if it happens, they have two more days to make it happen, so we'll see." Trainers said Cato's injuries would sideline him for one and a half to two more weeks.
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Hockeywing81
Bench Warmer
SLOX - Magic & SLOZ - Kings
Magic: Where the young talent is born
Posts: 405
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Post by Hockeywing81 on Feb 22, 2006 14:01:03 GMT -4
milicic played 3 min yest. come on magic play him!
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Post by John on Feb 23, 2006 1:30:07 GMT -4
It's Milicic's move By Dave D'Alessandro - SportingNews
The only time I ever was inclined to watch Darko Milicic very closely was during a series of workouts in the barnlike building the Pistons call their practice facility behind the Palace.
This was in spring 2004, after the team's regular practice had ended, and assistant coach John Kuester was throwing entry passes into the post at varying speeds and trajectories. Darko's task was to catch, pivot, jam.
He was only 18, but he already was 7-0, 245. And the ease and speed with which he would grab a bullet at his ankles, uncoil in a millisecond and make the basket shake with a thunderous throwdown over another assistant coach made you go, "Whoa."
They did this about 20 times from each side. Either box, either turn -- right shoulder, left shoulder -- it didn't matter. Hands, footwork, agility, skill set, biceps -- all were present and accounted for, and the look on former Pistons coach Larry Brown's face told you he was in full compliance.
OK, so I read it wrong.
The coach's face, that is, not the player's talent.
Milicic still is an athletic freak, but several factors converged to make him a washout in Detroit and prompt his trade last week to the Magic.
First, the two coaches he had with the Pistons -- Brown and Flip Saunders -- didn't play him. Second, he didn't come equipped with the intangibles required for instant success -- maturity, tenacity, focus -- that kids such as LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire have. Third, like any other sulking teen with an unrequited passion for something, he had no clue how to handle rejection.
Chauncey Billups' remarks last September still resonate: "Larry beat him up too much," the Pistons' point guard/leader said. "He tore the kid's confidence apart. The kid has unbelievable talent. There's nothing he can't do out there. (But while) we're laughing and having fun out there, I've never seen Darko smile one day, and that's a problem."
It's a cautionary tale for all kids -- whether they're from South Central or Serbia -- and Milicic's lesson was the hardest to learn because he was the second pick in the 2003 draft.
So now Milicic is going to Disney World, and he's taking his career averages of 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds and his Big Bust rep with him. Orlando could be the perfect place for him; then again, anyplace will do.
"He'll be OK," Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said after the deal was done. "Everyone's been making jokes about him, but the joke's going to be on them."
Maybe he's right. Or maybe he and Billups are just being polite. The unanswerable question is: If Darko is so good, why couldn't he dominate the third-stringers he has faced in two-plus years of garbage-time duty? This is perplexing even for a fellow countryman who now plays in the NBA.
"You could tell he didn't care," the peer said. "We watch him and ask him, 'You going to play or not?' He just didn't try."
That's the main reason the Pistons gave up on him.
They'll tell you that this is a necessary salary dump, and they hope you don't remember that Carmelo Anthony -- whom they passed up in that 2003 draft -- would be a pretty nice sixth man.
Sure, the trade lowers next year's payroll from $56 million to $47 million, making it easier to give Ben Wallace the contract he deserves. But the Milicic pick was, in retrospect, a mistake.
The kid flat-lined with the Pistons not because he didn't have skill and not because the team couldn't discern his level of motivation by watching his drop step in an empty gym. The Pistons mismanaged the asset. If the kid has any heart at all, he's going to make them look very stupid someday.
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