He was the firecracker that we watched as kids, standing in a circle, hands in our ears. It fizzled. It went poof.

"Is that it?" we asked.

Darko Milicic never exploded. You knew it. I knew it. Anyone who watched him play over the years knew it. He looked tentative. He looked lost. With that long, nimble frame, you kept wanting him to turn into something great, someone worthy of being one pick behind LeBron James, so much so that any little move he made -- one dunk, one block -- was greeted with "Aha! There's the potential!"

And there goes the potential -- after fewer than 100 regular-season games and a career average of less than two points a night. It was only three years ago that Joe Dumars and Rick Carlisle sat by a TV in a New Jersey arena and hollered with joy when Detroit got the No. 2 pick in the draft lottery. The two men walked down the tunnel high-fiving each other.

DARKO DUMPED: Milicic, Arroyo traded to Orlando
By Krista Latham

For 2 1/2 seasons, the Pistons touted Darko Milicic as a long-term project. But Wednesday night, that unproductive and highly scrutinized project was abandoned.

After a day of on-again, off-again negotiations, Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars finalized a trade sending Milicic and backup point guard Carlos Arroyo to the Orlando Magic for injured center Kelvin Cato and a top-five protected pick in 2007. The pick has no protection beyond that. Cato's $8.6-million contract comes off the books this summer.

Hamilton wants shot in 3-point challenge
By George Simple

Sure, Chauncey Billups is deserving of a spot in the NBA three-point shooting contest. But Billups says teammate and fellow All-Star Richard Hamilton is just as qualified to take a turn shooting from the rack this weekend.

"I'd love to see that," said Billups, whose .431 three-point shooting percentage is tied for sixth among NBA leaders. "I wish he was."
Hamilton, who leads all qualified NBA players with a .456 percentage on treys, wishes he had the chance, too.

"I'm kind of disappointed I wasn't invited to the three-point contest," Hamilton said. "It's a goal of mine."

Hamilton said his success this season could be attributed in part to the flow of coach Flip Saunders' offense.

"Last year, L.B. didn't want me to shoot them at all," Hamilton said, referring to coach Larry Brown. "The offense gives me a lot of wide-open looks."


The Pistons have four players on the Eastern Conference all-star team, yet another franchise first.

With all the Pistons have done so far, this team remains unsatisfied.




Orlando will keep the pick if it has one of the top five selections after next season. From that point, the Magic would have no protection on the pick.
The trade ends a crashingly disappointing chapter in Pistons history. Milicic was the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft with expectations of becoming a franchise player. Milicic was drafted one slot behind LeBron James and ahead of such luminaries as Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. But Milicic barely left the bench during his 2 1 /2 seasons in a Detroit uniform.



While most of the buzz about the trade centers around Milicic, the second overall pick of the 2003 NBA Draft, it's the addition of Arroyo that raises red flags about Steve Francis' future with the Magic. Orlando, which now has five point guards, has talked to New York, Denver and Minnesota about a potential blockbuster involving Francis.

Magic assistant general manager Otis Smith admitted talks of a multi-team trade are on the table, but he continued to say a deal involving Francis is still a long shot.

Darko’s magical journey
by Matt Watson

Have you seen the irony yet?

The last time the Pistons sent a supposed "cornerstone" player to the Magic, they received Ben Wallace in return. This time around, they're doing it to clear up enough money to re-sign Big Ben.

But whereas trading Grant Hill for Wallace and Chucky Atkins was about getting the most value out of a player that was going to leave anyway, giving up Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo for Kelvin Cato and a future first-rounder is utterly and completely about money.



Deal is done–I’ll shut up now
by Ian Cameron

According to A. Sherrod Blakely at MLive and WDFN, the deal is done.

Darko and Arroyo for Kelvin Cato and a top-5 protected pick in 2007 (the pick is unprotected thereafter).

Expect a number of people to rail against this trade (including the ever-insufferable Eric Pate on WDFN earlier tonight) citing the possibility that Orlando could improve next season lowering the draft pick. Accepting a pick that far into the future is a risk, and the chances of coming up snake-eyes are probably greater than the chances of getting as lucky as the Pistons did in 2003.


Update: All Darko, all the time!
by Ian Cameron

So first Marc Stein was convinced that the Darko/Arroyo trade was just about a done deal, right? But then Stein backtracked today in his online chat for ESPN Insider. Check this out:

Marc (Sterling Heights, MI): Do you think Joe Dumars' unwillingness to trade Darko has more to do with his pride and him not wanting to admit that he screwed up big time in that draft? If Darko can't play now for the Pistons, why would he be able to play next year or the year after that? Shouldn't Joe get this deal done ASAP?



Orlando's Deal for Darko Complete
by Hoopsworld Wire Services

The Orlando Magic have traded center Kelvin Cato and a lottery protected first round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for center Darko Milicic and guard Carlos Arroyo.

Milicic has averaged 1.6 points on 33.9 percent shooting in 96 games throughout his career. With the move to Orlando is his playing time is expected to rise heavily, as 5.8 minutes per game is meager for the second selection of the 2003 NBA Draft. This season he has recorded 1.5 points on 51.5 percent shooting.


Motown Soundtrack: What’s so good about goodbye?
by Adriano Albuquerque

Call me crazy, but I’m sad.

I never wanted to see Darko Milicic go.

Back in 2003, I believed fiercely that the then only 17 years old Serbian with the blonde hair was gonna be the next great thing. In fact I was totally off back then – to my mind, Carmelo Anthony would totally overshadow LeBron James and Chris Kaman would just be another Chris Mihm or Joel Przybilla.


Mitchell & Ness Throwback: Adrian Dantley
by Bill Ingram

When a discussion comes up about the great forwards to play the game of basketball, the Utah Jazz expect to be right there at the top of the discussion. Young fans today will assume that the discussion will focus around the great Karl Malone, but the fact is that before Malone became a force in professional basketball it was Adrian Dantley who struck fear into the hearts of Jazz opponents.

(article slanted towards his Jazz Throwback Jersey, but AD was truly a super Piston back in the day)

http://sportsinferno.com/viewheadline.php?Headline=139

Can you imagine Tayshaun Prince coming off the bench for Wade? Now that is nasty.
The reason I bring up Wade’s name is because the Pistons were debating whether to draft Milicic or Wade and not Milicic or Anthony as many believe. Just think of where this team would have been if the debate had swung the other way.

Without looking, without really seeing if any of his teammates were trailing the play, Billups calmly flipped the ball behind him and into the hands of Richard Hamilton who laid the ball into the basket.

"I knew Rip would be there," Billups said, smiling. "I didn't have to see him. I knew he would chase the ball. I could have thrown it anywhere, and he would have sniffed it out."

It was a remarkable play, but Hamilton didn't think much of it.

"We do that all the time," he said. "Me and Chaunce, man, we're like one."

Dumars: It was time to move on
President took a chance in drafting Milicic, but is big enough to admit his mistake and move on
By JoAnne C. Gerstner

Pistons president Joe Dumars knows the Darko Milicic debate, in some ways, will never die.

But the Milicic experiment is over after he was traded Wednesday to the Orlando Magic.

The Pistons also sent Carlos Arroyo to the Magic for Kelvin Cato and a protected 2007 draft pick.

"When I get to the point where I think it's probably not going to work, then I tend to not to hold on to it and force it," Dumars said Thursday.

"I don't mind taking chances and coming up short. That's the only way you can be great at something, is if you're willing to take risks, get out there and see if it works or not. And if it doesn't, I'll be the first one to stand up, raise my hand and say it didn't work."

Vartan Kupelian and Mike O'Hara: Behind the Scenes
Blame falls on Milicic's shoulders
Youngster didn't take advantage of opportunities

It is fair to fault Pistons president Joe Dumars for drafting Darko Milicic second overall in 2003 when he could have had Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony -- or passed and saved the aggravation of answering questions about Milicic for three years.

It is fair to fault former coach Larry Brown, who didn't want to give Milicic the playing time needed to develop his game.

So much for blaming others for Milicic's failure.

Most of the blame rests with Milicic. When he went into Tuesday night's game against the Nets -- his last with the Pistons -- his expression and body language said everything. He was a guy who didn't care about playing. He launched a three-pointer that missed everything, and the twitters from the crowd didn't seem to bother him a bit.

Bottom of the second: Around the sports world
NBA aces playing card deal

I've got two pair -- two 'Sheeds and two Bens.

Huh?

Well, thanks to AllPro Deal Inc., you can plan your Texas Hold 'Em night with the Pistons and NBA All-Stars Shaquille O'Neal , Kobe Bryant … and more.

The company has produced casino-quality playing cards that feature caricatures of NBA players. Each player is assigned a specific card based on his voting popularity and performance.



Pistons may deal Cato for a guard
Dumars: Darko's agent wanted trade
By Chris Silva

Kelvin Cato, an injured forward acquired in the Darko Milicic deal, won't be waived immediately by the Pistons, though he might be used as trade bait.

Cato, limited to 23 games this season because of a cracked bone in his right foot, is expected to report to the team Monday, when the Pistons will give him a medical evaluation. The Pistons acquired Cato, 31, and Orlando's first-round draft pick in 2007 or '08 for Milicic and backup point guard Carlos Arroyo.

Cato could remain with the team awhile, or the Pistons might use him and his expiring $8.6-million contract to get another point guard before the NBA's trade deadline, which is Thursday.

Dumars is proud parent of four stars
By Krista Latham

Joe Dumars is a calculating man. But he's also honest.

That's why he will admit he didn't see this coming when he made deals that brought Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace to the Pistons.

Four All-Stars in one season?

It happens. Eight other times in NBA history, it has happened.

But never with a point guard that five other teams had discarded, an undrafted center, a power forward labeled more trouble than he was worth and a shooting guard deemed too soft.



The way he has out-smarted teams in the past for talent, one might think the man can walk on Lake Michigan with barely a ripple forming.

He makes mistakes, but drafting Darko Milicic three years ago wasn't one of them. It's easy to look at the individual success of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, all players Detroit passed on in the 2003 NBA draft to select Milicic, and point out the obvious: They could have been doing the same for Detroit, right?



Darko was ready to go
By Dana Gauruder

Darko Milicic couldn't take it any longer.

He had waited for 2 1 /2 seasons to gain playing time with the Detroit Pistons. All he saw were giant roadblocks in the form of All-Stars Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace and super sub Antonio McDyess.


That message was passed along by Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein, while he dined with Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars in a New Jersey restaurant on Jan. 30, the night before the Pistons played the Nets.

From there, it was simply a matter of when, not if, Milicic would be traded. Dumars pulled the trigger Wednesday night, dealing his would-be franchise player along with point guard Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for center Kevin Cato and a 2007 first-round pick.

Pistons need to make another move now
By Pat Caputo

Cato is "The Human Salary-Cap Dump." It's unlikely he will contribute much to the Pistons' playoff run, but his nearly $9 million salary comes off the books after the season. That, along with losing the salaries of Milicic and Arroyo, gives the Pistons a healthy $15 million or so of wiggle room in the future. It will help them resign Ben Wallace this summer and Billups the summer after that, keeping their nucleus intact, and allow the Pistons to add a solid veteran or two.
But what about now? This is essentially a six-player team. The Pistons are banking heavily - too heavily - on Lindsey Hunter rounding into form to make it seven.

Dumars must make a move or two to help the Pistons now. It is extremely difficult for an organization to get into legitimate contention for the NBA title. The Pistons, as they stand, are about as legitimate as it gets, but must remember that the competition is fierce.


Well, it mattered little then and even less now.

One step forward, two steps back?
by Ian Cameron

With Carlos Arroyo being shipped to Orlando in this week's deal, the Pistons find themselves with Lindsey Hunter as their lone experienced backup point guard. Perhaps in part because he knows how terrified I get at the thought of Lindsey running the offense, Joe D gave indications immediately following the deal that the backup point position was not settled and that another move was imminent. Alas, he now seems to be backing off of that statement.



A Little Rain Must Fall
by Eli Zaret

It’s so hard to always keep the big picture in mind. That’s why the events of the last few weeks were bound to alarm some Pistons fans.

* The Pistons went 5-4 after a 36-5 first half of the season

* Eastern rivals Miami and New Jersey have beaten them in the last few weeks

* San Antonio is threatening to overtake the Pistons for the best record in the league

We must all remember that there is ebb and flow with all athletic performance and that all things are in flux in big time sports.



I hear it's all just a horizontal myth
by Brown Recluse, Esq

Please, if you will, kindly follow my footsteps into the year 2012. Gongs clang harmoniously, dogs howl in the throes of love, basketball reins the world over. Football has gone the way of the Republican Party, whose values fueled its brief stranglehold on the American market; baseball, once this country’s dearest love, has drained itself of brawn-enhancing juices and crawls ever closer to a standstill; soccer, once the international pastime, cannot match roundball’s swirl of activity and canny dread of futility. Yet at the heart of it all, a lone figure looms over this new full-court order. Seven feet, one inches, from the palms of his feet to the blonde frosted tips of his hair, he has in less than a decade ascended from a running joke amongst sports fans, to basketball’s elite superstar, uplifting with him an entire generation of non-American ballers who would each aspire to be king on their own terms as well.

(micro: vulgar/inside joke intro aside, this piece is brilliant IMO)

Pistons get rock-star treatment
Detroit All-Stars are media darlings -- even 'Sheed
by KRISTA LATHAM

HOUSTON -- The Pistons can deny it all they want. But these days, it's mighty hard to play the disrespect card they love so much.

They certainly couldn't Friday, not when four Pistons -- and coach Flip Saunders -- rolled into a media session to discuss Sunday's All-Star Game, where they will represent the Eastern Conference.


NBA ROUNDUP: Billups, 'Sheed say Darko's got game
by KRISTA LATHAM

HOUSTON -- The Darko Milicic trade buzz followed the Pistons to All-Star weekend Friday, and his former teammates gave him high endorsements. They called him a future star, a highly skilled player and a great shooter and shot blocker. But they all had the same problem.

"He's very skilled," point guard Chauncey Billups said. "Very skilled. He's got a good opportunity. The only thing that I was ever frustrated with was when he was on the floor and he just looked like he didn't care. He looked a little disinterested. At the same time, I understood that as well because he wasn't getting an opportunity to play."



Is team play coming to the All-Star game?
Pistons coach ready to put his four on the floor
by Brian Mahoney / Associated Press

HOUSTON -- Sometime during the first quarter of the All-Star game, Flip Saunders is planning to send his four Detroit Pistons in together.

The Western Conference might have five international players waiting for them.

From sound of things Friday, teamwork might be set to take over what is supposed to be the NBA's showcase of individual talent.

The All-Star game has always been about showmanship and creativity, and much of the focus Sunday night will likely be on the high-scoring stars such as Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson and LeBron James.




Hamilton enjoying first All-Star selection
by A. Sherrod Blakely

HOUSTON -- The Detroit Pistons quartet of All-Stars tried to leave the interview room as a group, but there was one straggler, Richard Hamilton.

As children and adults approached the first-time All-Star, he couldn't resist signing autographs, shaking hands with folks congratulating him.

"I'm gonna carry this as long as I possibly can," Hamilton said.


Saunders' season magical so far
by A. Sherrod Blakely

HOUSTON -- A magician's life consists of using skillful tricks and deceptions to create entertainment and baffling effects. Pistons coach Flip Saunders dabbles a bit in magic, but there's no trickery to the job he has done with the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons have secured their fifth straight winning season with a league-best 42-9 record heading into the All-Star break. It's the kind of gaudy start that's reason enough for Saunders to feel pretty good about himself and the job he has done.

Talking to him about the team's success and his role in it, you discover he knows a thing or two about the art of misdirection, yet another trait all magicians have.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...tes/index.html

go to the second page:

THE DARKO TRADE

Five thoughts on Detroit's decision to unload Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo to Orlando for the expiring $8.7 million contract of Kelvin Cato and Orlando's top-five protected pick in this year's draft:

1. The Pistons essentially are trading Milicic for Ben Wallace.

The high price of victory

Which teams are getting the most for their money?

The average cost per victory, as of Wednesday, was $2.4 million (based on player salaries totaling $1.88 billion this season divided by the 777 games played thus far).

The leader is no surprise: The Pistons are spending $1.4 million per victory, followed closely by the third-place Spurs at $1.6 million per win.

Interesting - no relationship between how much you spend and how many wins you get.

I forget, what was the salary cap supposed to do?

Paul Pierce is kinda, sort of a Piston
by Matt Watson

We already knew that Flip Saunders intended to put the four Piston All-Stars on the floor at the same time on Sunday, but we didn't know who the fifth guy would be. Luckily, instead of going with Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh — which would have been a cruel, cruel trick to play on the fans back at home — he opted for a more neutral player...



SI Players Poll
[Based on a survey of 248 NBA players]



Curious Guy: David Stern
By Bill Simmons

Last week, I trekked to New York City to interview David Stern and write a magazine column about the experience. Since I tape-recorded the conversation, we thought we would run the transcript as a special edition of "The Curious Guy."



All-Star Game Has a Detroit Flavor
By Michael Lee

HOUSTON, Feb. 17 -- Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups were about to walk out of a ballroom at the Hilton Americas Hotel when they suddenly stopped. The Wallaces turned around, standing side by side like two enforcers, and gave a straggler the same intimidating look often reserved for anyone foolish enough to drive into the lane.

"C'mon, Rip," Ben Wallace shouted at Richard Hamilton. "Let's go, man," Rasheed Wallace said.