I just don't think that Wade, Melo, Bosh, etc. would be the players they are today if we picked them. Or at least not have the impact that those players did in their first 3 seasons.

They'd be at the bottom of the depth chart of a Championship team with a core that was in it's prime and under contract.

I think that the timing was exactly why Joe felt that he was able to take a gamble on a very young and very raw talented big. I don't think that Joe was looking at Darko as the final piece to the puzzle so much as he was the future of the franchise that could take over when the current group started to slow down.

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