Game 59: Pistons (13-45) vs. Cavaliers (35-23) Feb. 24 7:00 PM EST

[bstein14]

I expect that should we win a championship, somebody here will lament that if we'd drafted who they wanted we'd have gotten two by then.
After a decade of justified woulda coulda shoulda, the Pistons are now moving forward with a plan that makes that noise pretty irrelevant.

Enter Darko. The amount of history rewriting on that one has been insane. Darko was, without question, the concensus pick at 2 that year.

Recent articles, and fans would have you believe otherwise.

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

Cade certainly sold himself to ownership/management as being a guy who wanted to be the #1 pick, face of the franchise, etc. He carries himself very well for a young kid similar to Grant Hill coming into the league. Very professional pretty much the opposite of someone like Green or Melo. That said, Cade hasn't been great at anything really thus far. He's not a great athlete. He hasn't been a great passer. He hasn't been great at taking care of the ball. He hasn't been great taking the ball inside. He hasn't been great defensively. He's been ok with everything as a rookie but not great at anything really. Mobley has been great defensively. Melo last year was great passing the ball. Haliburton came into the league a great shooter and great floor general with a better than 3:1 assist to TO ratio as a rookie.

Cade has been said to be a "great leader" but hard to really see that or quantify that on the court at times.

[bstein14]

I expect that should we win a championship, somebody here will lament that if we'd drafted who they wanted we'd have gotten two by then.
After a decade of justified woulda coulda shoulda, the Pistons are now moving forward with a plan that makes that noise pretty irrelevant.

Enter Darko. The amount of history rewriting on that one has been insane. Darko was, without question, the concensus pick at 2 that year.

Recent articles, and fans would have you believe otherwise.

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

LeBron and Melo were considered the top players of the draft until the Chad Ford hype train started up. Darko actually wasn't even old enough to enter the 2003 NBA draft until Stern changed the rules a few months before the draft. Previously international players had to turn 18 at least 45 days prior to the draft so they were "adults" throughout the entire pre-draft/combine experience. Stern changed the rules that year or else Darko wouldn't have even been an option. Lebron/Melo were hyped as the big time prizes of the draft for quite some time, especially with Melo blowing through March Madness and winning the national championship.


https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/08/carmelo-anthony-detroit-pistons-2003-draft

[Manocad]

Enter Darko. The amount of history rewriting on that one has been insane. Darko was, without question, the concensus pick at 2 that year.

Recent articles, and fans would have you believe otherwise.

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

Cade certainly sold himself to ownership/management as being a guy who wanted to be the #1 pick, face of the franchise, etc. He carries himself very well for a young kid similar to Grant Hill coming into the league. Very professional pretty much the opposite of someone like Green or Melo. That said, Cade hasn't been great at anything really thus far. He's not a great athlete. He hasn't been a great passer. He hasn't been great at taking care of the ball. He hasn't been great taking the ball inside. He hasn't been great defensively. He's been ok with everything as a rookie but not great at anything really. Mobley has been great defensively. Melo last year was great passing the ball. Haliburton came into the league a great shooter and great floor general with a better than 3:1 assist to TO ratio as a rookie.

Cade has been said to be a "great leader" but hard to really see that or quantify that on the court at times.

Mobley is not a leader at all. He doesn't hold a candle to Cade in that regard. Mobley may go on to be a very good player and a nice #2 but he's a soldier, not a general. The Pistons needed a leader and Mobley is clearly a follower.

[Manocad]

Enter Darko. The amount of history rewriting on that one has been insane. Darko was, without question, the concensus pick at 2 that year.

Recent articles, and fans would have you believe otherwise.

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

LeBron and Melo were considered the top players of the draft until the Chad Ford hype train started up. Darko actually wasn't even old enough to enter the 2003 NBA draft until Stern changed the rules a few months before the draft. Previously international players had to turn 18 at least 45 days prior to the draft so they were "adults" throughout the entire pre-draft/combine experience. Stern changed the rules that year or else Darko wouldn't have even been an option. Lebron/Melo were hyped as the big time prizes of the draft for quite some time, especially with Melo blowing through March Madness and winning the national championship.


https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/08/carmelo-anthony-detroit-pistons-2003-draft

Every mock draft had Lebron and Darko #1 and #2 and they went #1 and #2. It's not debatable.

[zeebneeb]

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

LeBron and Melo were considered the top players of the draft until the Chad Ford hype train started up. Darko actually wasn't even old enough to enter the 2003 NBA draft until Stern changed the rules a few months before the draft. Previously international players had to turn 18 at least 45 days prior to the draft so they were "adults" throughout the entire pre-draft/combine experience. Stern changed the rules that year or else Darko wouldn't have even been an option. Lebron/Melo were hyped as the big time prizes of the draft for quite some time, especially with Melo blowing through March Madness and winning the national championship.


https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/08/carmelo-anthony-detroit-pistons-2003-draft

Every mock draft had Lebron and Darko #1 and #2 and they went #1 and #2. It's not debatable.

How any Pistons fan can debate this is beyond me. Darko was the #2 pick, thru and thru. It is part of the reason why I stopped listening to sports media almost completely. Scouts back then were also very ignorant of European players.

Gotta know your history.

[Cowology]

There was actually a lot of debate over whether Darko or Melo should go #2. It's also worth noting that some people simply had us taking a big over a wing because Tay had just broken out in our 4-3 comeback victory over the Magic.

Just to be clear - I've religiously defended drafting Darko #2 and have cited people such as Jerry West who have said they would also have drafted Darko. I'm not knocking the pick at all. I just don't think saying it was never debatable is factually accurate.

[MrBigShot]

Enter Darko. The amount of history rewriting on that one has been insane. Darko was, without question, the concensus pick at 2 that year.

Recent articles, and fans would have you believe otherwise.

Yep. There were even some hot takes that Darko could go #1. But Lebron and Darko were by all accounts #1 and #2 and it's not debatable.

In any case, the Pistons needed a Cade more than they needed a Mobley. Also not debatable. There are other Mobleys out there. Not a lot of Cades.

Cade certainly sold himself to ownership/management as being a guy who wanted to be the #1 pick, face of the franchise, etc. He carries himself very well for a young kid similar to Grant Hill coming into the league. Very professional pretty much the opposite of someone like Green or Melo. That said, Cade hasn't been great at anything really thus far. He's not a great athlete. He hasn't been a great passer. He hasn't been great at taking care of the ball. He hasn't been great taking the ball inside. He hasn't been great defensively. He's been ok with everything as a rookie but not great at anything really. Mobley has been great defensively. Melo last year was great passing the ball. Haliburton came into the league a great shooter and great floor general with a better than 3:1 assist to TO ratio as a rookie.

Cade has been said to be a "great leader" but hard to really see that or quantify that on the court at times.

You're putting too much emphasis on what is supposed to be a time to get acclimated to the NBA. You want to see the flashes of brilliance. And he has most definitely shown that. If a player who is "okay" at numerous things becomes very good at a few of those things suddenly you have an all star. The handle, shooting form, passing ability, ability to get to the rim are all there. It's just a matter of becoming more efficient and cutting down on turnovers for Cade.

[Manocad]

LeBron and Melo were considered the top players of the draft until the Chad Ford hype train started up. Darko actually wasn't even old enough to enter the 2003 NBA draft until Stern changed the rules a few months before the draft. Previously international players had to turn 18 at least 45 days prior to the draft so they were "adults" throughout the entire pre-draft/combine experience. Stern changed the rules that year or else Darko wouldn't have even been an option. Lebron/Melo were hyped as the big time prizes of the draft for quite some time, especially with Melo blowing through March Madness and winning the national championship.


https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/08/carmelo-anthony-detroit-pistons-2003-draft

Every mock draft had Lebron and Darko #1 and #2 and they went #1 and #2. It's not debatable.

How any Pistons fan can debate this is beyond me. Darko was the #2 pick, thru and thru. It is part of the reason why I stopped listening to sports media almost completely. Scouts back then were also very ignorant of European players.

Gotta know your history.

And yet they still will. What Melo said the Pistons told him is immaterial since they didn't take him. By the time the draft rolled around there was no question that Lebron and Darko were going #1 and #2 and they did.

Again, the root of all of this comparison stuff is to denigrate the player simply because a poster had a preference for another player. It's over. Move on.

[Dainis]

Grant is useless. He must be benched.