Agreed.

Part of the problem is that Darko won't be cheap anymore.

If you could draft him now with a rookie contract, then that would be great. But, the Magic will have to pay him real money going forward. They benefitted from his services this year though, which is tough to measure. And remember, they haven't been eliminated yet. So theoretically, he could still help them win the Ship this year.

We, on the other hand, will be getting our draft pick for cheap.

Darko is still young. However, he hasn't shown the desire to get better and he coasted at times which with his minimal experience is inexcusable. Possibly he will get his head on straight once he gets a few years under his belt, the question is - who is willing to pay for this gamble and how much?

Another question is: what Pistons are going to do with their pick. Assuming Chauncey is coming back, we have 4 starters locked up. We need a center. Is Nazir the answer? So far it doesn't look like that. But is there anyone in the draft or on the free agent market or possibly someone we can trade for that is available that can fill the void? Personally, I don't think so.

Thirdly, there is still another young guy who will definitely need minutes next year - Amir. Is he going to start? Knowing this Pistons team if they don't change their approach he'd be lucky to get 15-20 minutes per game. I hope he plays a lot and learns quickly. He could be the guy that could provide this roster with many intangibles.

Anyway you slice it, Joe D. has lots of work, regardless of the playoffs outcome.

Kind of agree with this point Ta >No matter how much some of us hated Arroyo's game, he could have been a difference maker/bandaid to get us past the Heat last year when Billups was worned down during the 2nd and third round of the post season.

Starting Darko this season and surrounding him with Prince, Sheed, Rip, Cb would or could have yielded the same results as seen with Nazr, but being around these guys for 3 years, there's a possibility he could have actually learned something and been at least three quarters of the potential that some scout lead us to believe he was.

It's all cool, but what would've happened if the Pistons brought Webb and sent Darko back to the bench? We would've been back to square one. In addition, he didn't want to be part of the organization and he said so several times. Why would we want him here?

If he applied himself better from the start, possibly he could've gotten more playing time (although tough to say with LB). I'd say it is too much guessing at what may have been.

From my browsing of the Orlando Sentinel a couple of months ago they apparently are not going to match any huge offers. Not exactly sure what dollar figures they have in mind, we will see.

Arroyo is not even in the rotation anymore.

Huge difference from the end of last season when most thought Dumars got shafted. Here we not even getting as good of a pick as we thought and the trade seems to be in our favor. #15 is still not a bad pick.

It depends what Joe D. does with the pick. Right now that #2 pick from 2003 is still a game of revolving empty chairs with no benefit to the Pistons. But one is always hopeful.

He can't possibly screw this one up - can he? Darko, White, Cleaves were all drafted higher than #15. He has to get this one right - I am confident, the Mans about due.

Lot of questions here. Who do we pick with the 15th? Also, how much does Darko sign for? Is he worth it, or does he fail to live up to billing? Let's wait on this question a couple of years..............

True, still have to give it a couple of years. Couple of months ago I was watching Orl play Dallas and the Dallas announcers could not believe that Dumars gave up on Darko. He does have some believers out there.