darko would still be a top 3 pick in this draft. i can't believe that 8 - 12 thought process. darko after 4 drafts would still be a top 5 pick in every draft. i don't see how people call the guy a bad pick. if every draft since was redone he's still going top 5.

after 4 years he's 1 of 2 in that draft to have a championship ring. i don't think it's diminishing returns. you get out what you put in. i think darko is doing great after 4 years of not 1 team trying to develop him like a lottery pick. i think he's doing great after 4 years of not being allowed to play towards his strengths.

darko/arroyo > nazr/hunter/murray

i'm not saying retirees aren't true bball fans. i'm just saying they come from a different generation. my grandma still thinks chuck daly coaches the pistons. retirees are loyal and they vote.

In My Day, Ballplayers Were For %%%% | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Speaking of retirees, I thought this was funny.

Lebron James
Carmello Anthony
Chris Bosh
Josh Howard
Kirk Hinrich
David West
Leandro Barbosa
Carlos Delfino
Maurice Williams
Zaza Pachulia
Steve Blake
Luke Walton
Jason Kapono
Travis Outlaw
Boris Diaw
Mikael Pietrus
Chris Kaman

That's 2003. Tell me today you would take him in the top 5. And do it with your brain, not your heart.

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Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

yes. if i was the pistons without a doubt i'd take him # 2 again. he fit in so well with the unselfish play, the defensive intensity, the great passing, the length and quickness of our frontline. he solved the problem of having a defensive center but not having to play 4 on 5 on offense. in my opinion the problem was never the pick it was what was done after the pick.

if i was any other team. i'd maybe take lebron, melo, wade, bosh before him as no brainers. championships are won with defense and centers. centers don't come along as often as wing players do. centers can't be addressed in free agency as easily as wing players that's why there is a premium on them.

looking back that seems like an unusally deep draft..

I still would take him as the number 1 pick from that draft. He is the only 7-2 center listed above. Not only that, he can shoot the daylights out from the outside. Ask this question in two years, and I bet people laugh at you for even considering any of the rest of the players on this list.

I'm not considering lee. I want the fans opinions.

I just posted the notable players who have caught on and played significant minutes from that draft.

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Nov 13 LW Milan Lucic had an active night. He scored his first goal in eight games since his Oct. 25 hat trick and also pounded Michael Komisarek in a third-period fight. Lucic cut his hand in a fight with Michael Komisarek. "I'll be fine," he said. "(X-rays are) negative, but there's so many broken bones in there from before you can't really tell."

If I were to go back and pick from that draft, my order would be as follows-

1. Lebron- This is a no brainer. If you don't agree with this then we can continue this conversation in Japanese. I don't understand that at all either. It would be just as productive.

2. Bosh- This was my second choice behind Darko at the time. He's a franchise big. It's tough to get franchise bigs.

3. Wade- At the time, I thought he would be a one of the great combo-guards of the era. He's even better than that. He'll go down as the second greatest shooting guard of his era. Kind of like Drexler.

4. Mello- Dude is somewhat selfish, but he can really play. At the very least he would be lighting guys up off the bench to the tune of 17-20 points a night. Kind of like Barbosa on steroids.

5. Darko- He's Orlando's best post scorer, not Howard. He can pass, block shots and make open jumpers. If he was on a team like Atlanta, where he would be the primary post option, he would be averaging 17-20 points a game.

I think that a good way to measure the draft class will be to compare their salaries after all the extensions are in place.

No better way to value a stock than to look at where it is trading.

Sign Billups, trade him for Darko and GHill, sign Law and play one frightening line-up with Prince/Delfino/RIP/Sheed/Darko.
Of course, this is only a dream and Darko will never go back. If AJ and JMax don't develop the way we want them to, this team's gonna have a huge problem on the long haul.