The Race To The Bottom - theBigLip Tank Machine

[Manocad]

If I'm not mistaken Carmelo said the pistons told him they were going to draft him. So it wasn't set in stone

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Read on Twitter

?

straight from Melo, he claims even up until draft day Detroit was telling him they were going to take him.
Even says Larry Brown told him that directly

that being said, I'm not old enough to remember the 2003 draft, but all the content I have found online still archived from 2003 has Melo a clear 3rd to Lebron and Darko

Thanks for posting it. So this talk about darko was set in stone the 2 pick wasn't true. Maybe to the media not the pistons.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

So the fact that the Pistons took Darko at #2 counts for less than a rumor that the Pistons told Melo they were taking him?

[Manocad]

[
I don't know how old you are but we're not playing elementary school revisionist history here. In that that draft there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Lebron and Darko were going 1 and 2, with some analysts projecting Darko at 1. This is absolutely indisputable.

Not a soul in the universe was picking Darko to go before Lebron outside of the usual suspects trying to be edgy.

With that said, Darko wasn't a reach at 2 but there were certainly some question marks surrounding taking a Euro prospect that high back in those days when the more sure things Carmelo, Wade or Bosh were there to be had.

The point was that there was no doubt that Lebron and Darko were going 1 and 2. And they did. Anyone can spin it however they want but the outcome supports it.

[mattao313]

Read on Twitter

?

straight from Melo, he claims even up until draft day Detroit was telling him they were going to take him.
Even says Larry Brown told him that directly

that being said, I'm not old enough to remember the 2003 draft, but all the content I have found online still archived from 2003 has Melo a clear 3rd to Lebron and Darko

Thanks for posting it. So this talk about darko was set in stone the 2 pick wasn't true. Maybe to the media not the pistons.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

So the fact that the Pistons took Darko at #2 counts for less than a rumor that the Pistons told Melo they were taking him?

What? Melo literally said they promised him. So obviously it wasn't set in stone that Darko was the only guy at 2. How is that a rumor?

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

[ducler]

Spurs just won another game!

[theBigLip]

Spurs just won another game!

Amazing! This is by far the best tank job the Pistons have ever done. Can’t wait for the lottery!

[Homelander87]

Spurs just won another game!

Amazing! This is by far the best tank job the Pistons have ever done. Can’t wait for the lottery!

Feels like at the very least the Pistons have locked up the second worst record after that Spurs win. If there was ever a year to tank hard then this was the year with Cade going down and VW out there.

[Manocad]

Thanks for posting it. So this talk about darko was set in stone the 2 pick wasn't true. Maybe to the media not the pistons.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

So the fact that the Pistons took Darko at #2 counts for less than a rumor that the Pistons told Melo they were taking him?

What? Melo literally said they promised him. So obviously it wasn't set in stone that Darko was the only guy at 2. How is that a rumor?

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Explain again how Melo saying the Pistons had promised to take him at 2 but took Darko instead is evidence that Darko wasn’t going at 2. When does what actually happened NOT count as evidence of what was going to happen?

Again, some of us were there. Lebron and Darko were going 1/2 according to every analyst on the planet.

[whitehops]

Feels like at the very least the Pistons have locked up the second worst record after that Spurs win. If there was ever a year to tank hard then this was the year with Cade going down and VW out there.

We’d only have five games left but if we lose to the rockets March 31 then we for sure have the worst record on lock. If we win that game it’s closer but Houston is playing .500 basketball in their last 10 games so the race to the bottom might be over sooner than that game.

[mattao313]

So the fact that the Pistons took Darko at #2 counts for less than a rumor that the Pistons told Melo they were taking him?

What? Melo literally said they promised him. So obviously it wasn't set in stone that Darko was the only guy at 2. How is that a rumor?

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Explain again how Melo saying the Pistons had promised to take him at 2 but took Darko instead is evidence that Darko wasn’t going at 2. When does what actually happened NOT count as evidence of what was going to happen?

Again, some of us were there. Lebron and Darko were going 1/2 according to every analyst on the planet.

Lol so analyst are more credible than the actual guy in the draft who talks to the team....ok I'm done here.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

[Homelander87]

Feels like at the very least the Pistons have locked up the second worst record after that Spurs win. If there was ever a year to tank hard then this was the year with Cade going down and VW out there.

We’d only have five games left but if we lose to the rockets March 31 then we for sure have the worst record on lock. If we win that game it’s closer but Houston is playing .500 basketball in their last 10 games so the race to the bottom might be over sooner than that game.

No way the Pistons would lose that game at home but I see it's at Houston which is HUGE.

[ComboGuardCity]

I miss the old lotto odds lol

[Pharaoh]

What? Melo literally said they promised him. So obviously it wasn't set in stone that Darko was the only guy at 2. How is that a rumor?

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Explain again how Melo saying the Pistons had promised to take him at 2 but took Darko instead is evidence that Darko wasn’t going at 2. When does what actually happened NOT count as evidence of what was going to happen?

Again, some of us were there. Lebron and Darko were going 1/2 according to every analyst on the planet.

Lol so analyst are more credible than the actual guy in the draft who talks to the team....ok I'm done here.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Melo says the Pistons told him they'd take him #2.

Then we picked Darko.

I'd say the evidence is crystal clear - whatever was said to any prospect was smoke.

Fact we drafted Darko proves it

Sent from my SM-G781B using RealGM Forums mobile app

[bstein14]

Dumars himself made comments that part of the reason he took Darko was because he was so high on Prince.... but he also made comments (maybe around 2012 or 2013 I think he was still running the team during this interview) about how if they were doing the things back then in 2003 that they were doing in 2012 he wouldn't have taken Darko because they were doing a lot more thorough evaluations on players and asking 100s of questions to draft picks to getter a better idea of their mental makeup.

One of the questions that was asked was whether you'd want to be a 6th man on a championship winning team or a star player on a lottery team and Carmelo said star on a lottery team and Darko said 6th man on a championship team.

[Snakebites]

I've long considered Melo to be one of the more overrated players in NBA history. Guy scored a lot of points on mediocre efficiency. There's definitely value in a guy who's able to do that (give most role players the number of shots that Melo had they'd be way less efficient), but Melo was never really very good at anything outside of scoring. Everyone agrees Wade would have been a better pick, but I'd have also preferred Chris Bosh.

That said, not taking him was a huge mistake- not because Melo should be considered some all-time great but because of how awful Darko turned out to be. That pick ensured that we'd experience the decline we did as our core players started to age out.

It's just a mistake I'm a bit tired of relitigating.

Side note in passing: I wonder at which point we "promised" Melo he would be drafted by us. I distinctly remember him refusing to workout with us because it already looked like we were taking Darko.

[SuperBad]

Wade definitely would have been the best choice, in my opinion. If we would have drafted Carmelo, he might have been on the court instead of Prince, to block Reggie Miller, and we would have lost out on the championship.

[bstein14]

Wade definitely would have been the best choice, in my opinion. If we would have drafted Carmelo, he might have been on the court instead of Prince, to block Reggie Miller, and we would have lost out on the championship.

If we drafted Bosh we likely wouldn't have made the all-in push trade for Sheed either... If I could go back I might still take Darko so the 2004 championship plays out exactly like it did... I would just rewind to the summer of 2004 and trade Darko for the best package possible when he likely still had a very high trade value being the youngest player in the league coming off a championship even though he didn't play much... We almost certainly would have beaten the Spurs in 05 if we had a little extra fire power from trading Darko. We also might have been able to trade Darko for just picks and then also have the $$$ available to then keep Okur, who turned into an all-star big in Utah.

[Manocad]

What? Melo literally said they promised him. So obviously it wasn't set in stone that Darko was the only guy at 2. How is that a rumor?

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

Explain again how Melo saying the Pistons had promised to take him at 2 but took Darko instead is evidence that Darko wasn’t going at 2. When does what actually happened NOT count as evidence of what was going to happen?

Again, some of us were there. Lebron and Darko were going 1/2 according to every analyst on the planet.

Lol so analyst are more credible than the actual guy in the draft who talks to the team....ok I'm done here.

Sent from my SM-A528B using RealGM mobile app

What’s even more credible is who the team took at 2. It wasn’t Melo.

Your whole argument is based on Melo claiming the Pistons promised to take him at 2. But they didn’t. End of story.

[440BB]

Seems it's about time to rehash why the Pistons chose Marvin Barnes over Moses Malone in the ABA dispersal draft.
Then there's the Dave DeBusschere trade...

Watch on YouTube

[ComboGuardCity]

I've long considered Melo to be one of the more overrated players in NBA history. Guy scored a lot of points on mediocre efficiency. There's definitely value in a guy who's able to do that (give most role players the number of shots that Melo had they'd be way less efficient), but Melo was never really very good at anything outside of scoring. Everyone agrees Wade would have been a better pick, but I'd have also preferred Chris Bosh.

That said, not taking him was a huge mistake- not because Melo should be considered some all-time great but because of how awful Darko turned out to be. That pick ensured that we'd experience the decline we did as our core players started to age out.

It's just a mistake I'm a bit tired of relitigating.

Side note in passing: I wonder at which point we "promised" Melo he would be drafted by us. I distinctly remember him refusing to workout with us because it already looked like we were taking Darko.

Melo is a hall of famer. Not sure how he’s overrated. As an individual he’s one of the best scorers ever in his prime. His legacy would be much different if he had a Dirk like supporting cast that propelled him into the finals. If anything, he’s one of the scorers who suffers the most from not having a ring.

[Snakebites]

I've long considered Melo to be one of the more overrated players in NBA history. Guy scored a lot of points on mediocre efficiency. There's definitely value in a guy who's able to do that (give most role players the number of shots that Melo had they'd be way less efficient), but Melo was never really very good at anything outside of scoring. Everyone agrees Wade would have been a better pick, but I'd have also preferred Chris Bosh.

That said, not taking him was a huge mistake- not because Melo should be considered some all-time great but because of how awful Darko turned out to be. That pick ensured that we'd experience the decline we did as our core players started to age out.

It's just a mistake I'm a bit tired of relitigating.

Side note in passing: I wonder at which point we "promised" Melo he would be drafted by us. I distinctly remember him refusing to workout with us because it already looked like we were taking Darko.

Melo is a hall of famer. Not sure how he’s overrated. As an individual he’s one of the best scorers ever in his prime. His legacy would be much different if he had a Dirk like supporting cast that propelled him into the finals. If anything, he’s one of the scorers who suffers the most from not having a ring.

I really hope you’re not implying he was as good as Dirk…