RealGM

Hey guys,

First off, I feel I should mention I am not trolling (which is ridiculous, but I understand why). I have always lightly followed your teams when they had Sasha on them and firmly believed he'd become Pippen to LeQuit's "Jordan[*]". Yeah, that was truly terrible, but I was always excited about his "American" game in a Serbian -- read: typically unathletic -- body.

However, this question is going to use some revisionist history. I know the hoopla about Darko revolves around where he belongs on the "Bust" list, which is fine since most people rely on other people to get their information.

Knowing what you know now, that the team will never win a title with LeBron at the helm and he'll only stick around for 7 years, and you have the option of redoing the draft and picking between LeBron and Darko only (who 33% of GMs would have selected #1 overall had they the pick), would you draft Darko and let him develop in a comfortable situation (not a championship caliber team, available minutes and shots) and see if he becomes that big men that comes around every decade?

I realize that Darko "sucks" -- who wouldn't after spending 2 years not playing & losing passion for the game -- but in all seriousness, this was a kid who at the time was really awkward athletically (clumsy) and yet managed to tie the Pistons cone drill record (previously held by Isiah Thomas), was a legit 7 feet tall with a crazy long reach, and supposedly had mixed game of Garnett and Nowitzki.

I realize the ridiculousness of this thread since Darko has never proven to be worthy of the pick, but keep in mind his environment was never as suitable as LeBron's.

Thanks guys!

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Also, I know 99% of Cavaliers' fans hate Sasha, but I still hope he 'turns it around' and becomes a viable scoring option on a team. I can't just stop following Serbian players...

Also, do you guys think Darko can still turn it around?

No.

I think even if Darko would have developed he still wouldn't be better than LeBron is. I think its better to be perceived as 'screwed by LeBron' than to be perceived as 'too dumb to take the home town HOFer'.

Btw, if I was anyteam but the Cavaliers (who really had no choice from a public relations standpoint), I would have taken Melo first in that draft.

No to Darko.
Yes to Sasha.

Sasha no longer plays in cleveland.

He played for the Wolves this past season.

I'm just saying I wish he stays in the league, despite how badly he played for the Wolves last year. I still think he has potential to be a starter in the league.

Ball Does Lie wrote:He played for the Wolves this past season.

I'm just saying I wish he stays in the league, despite how badly he played for the Wolves last year. I still think he has potential to be a starter in the league.

He also played bad year before, and year before that, and was pretty bad years before that, but only had some what of numbers cause of lack of quality players on Cavs.

Eh, he's a reasonable big. In no way would I have taken him in front of LeBron though. That'd just be stupid.

You may not be trying to troll but this is still the stupidest thread I've ever seen.

Do not want.

Ball Does Lie wrote:He played for the Wolves this past season.

I'm just saying I wish he stays in the league, despite how badly he played for the Wolves last year. I still think he has potential to be a starter in the league.

Darko really didn't play that poorly for the Wolves. He showed some very solid defense, especially pick-and-roll defense and did a pretty good job protecting the basket (better than anyone else on the wolves anyway). He also showed a very nice passing ability. He was out of shape since he never played in New York, but you won't find Minnesota fans complaining about the signing (informed fans that is, not those that just go based on what BSPN spoon feeds them). Over on the Minny board (I'm a Minny fan, btw), we're all pretty satisfied with the signing. I have faith in him, I just hope he doesn't make us all look like fools for trusting him.

That being said, no way anybody at all would or should retrospectively take Darko over LeBron.

big3_8_19_21 wrote:Darko really didn't play that poorly for the Wolves. He showed some very solid defense, especially pick-and-roll defense and did a pretty good job protecting the basket (better than anyone else on the wolves anyway). He also showed a very nice passing ability. He was out of shape since he never played in New York, but you won't find Minnesota fans complaining about the signing (informed fans that is, not those that just go based on what BSPN spoon feeds them). Over on the Minny board (I'm a Minny fan, btw), we're all pretty satisfied with the signing. I have faith in him, I just hope he doesn't make us all look like fools for trusting him.

That being said, no way anybody at all would or should retrospectively take Darko over LeBron.

Hi big3_8_19_21,

I wasn't talking about Darko but rather Sasha. I know Darko played extremely well considering the circumstances. I watched the last 24 Timberwolves' games with obsession. The only thing that irritated me was the constant passing out of the low-post and guys would swing the ball. At the end of the season, he really picked up steam and started looking to score and had some really nice games against Los Angeles (Lakers) and Sacramento. I'm very excited for the upcoming year!

Oh, lol, yeah, I guess I misread that then. Yeah, then I totally agree

Lebron put a full house worth of asses in the seats for seven years. Even if Darko developed better by playing more than 'human victory cigar' minutes, there's no way he'd be able to do that.