This team is very important this year to the Pistons how will there season fare? Sure they had a great run at the end of the season, but was that only because barely any team were truly fighting for wins anymore? Is this team legit? How many wins will this team have next season. I'm predicting a 43-39 season and them making the 7th seed. I hope they do worse so Pistons can get a better pick. A 43 win season would get us a pick in the teens maybe?:noidea:

Hope Darko does well, hate to think I was wrong for so long, but I want a lottery pick for detroit. So here's my wish, Darko has a great season, Orlando misses the playoffs, and we get the highest possible non protected pick.

Hope Darko does well, hate to think I was wrong for so long, but I want a lottery pick for detroit. So here's my wish, Darko has a great season, Orlando misses the playoffs, and we get the highest possible non protected pick.

I don't wish for the highest pick--I just want a solid player with Pistons DNA. Look at how it turned out when had a 23rd pick in 2002 :), and then the next year, when we had a...oh, never mind. :doh:

I don't wish for the highest pick--I just want a solid player with Pistons DNA. Look at how it turned out when had a 23rd pick in 2002 :), and then the next year, when we had a...oh, never mind. :doh:

So you're saying youd rather have a 20th pick than a 6th?

I'm hoping for the 6th pick, then turn around and trade it plus our own and maybe another future first round pick for the number 1 pick.

Who do we take with the first pick? Greg Oden. But then again w/ the sixth pick there will be ALOT of quality players available, so trading might not be necessary. Next years draft will be the deepest its been in a long time.

I'd assume that Darko and Howard will start and play together. If they can work out the high / low post thing and surround that with some shooters you never know. Even if they do though, with the players around the big two I don't think they're much more than a .500 team. Put another good jumpshooter on board though and maybe...

So you're saying youd rather have a 20th pick than a 6th?

I'm just commenting on how inexact a process the draft can be. Also, the top picks come with high expections and national attention--I don't think going #2 has done Darko any favors in the league. Though if Tay had gone #2, I think he would have been fine--he seems so strong mentally.

If Tayshaun went in the top 4 his name would be Caron Butler.

It would be kinda interesting to compare and contrast the two.

I'm hoping for the worst for Orlando (no way they get a top 5 pick in my mind), but if D. Howard and J. Nelson keep improving (and stay healthy) I could see them taking the 7th or 8th seed. They have T. Ariza as well who I think is a solid player and may improve quite a bit with playing time.

And of course they have Darko who could very well blow up playing w/ a beast in the paint like Dwight.

i've never really WANTED a team to lose until now. GO PISTONS! LOSE MAGIC!

I'm just commenting on how inexact a process the draft can be. Also, the top picks come with high expections and national attention--I don't think going #2 has done Darko any favors in the league. Though if Tay had gone #2, I think he would have been fine--he seems so strong mentally.
:nod: Gotcha

They won't make the playoffs unless they pick up a shooting guard who can, for starters, actually shoot.

Nelson, Turkoglu, Milicic, and Howard is a solid starting four to build around, but I think people have gotten a little ahead of themselves with this team.

DeShawn Stevenson could shoot, but it looks like he is leaving.

It's easy to play when the games mean nothing... jess chuckin' n runnin'

I think this young team is another year away... A healthy G Hill could change this though.

Definately not convinced that Nelson or Dooling know how to run a team... and we know that Arroyo can give up more than he helps.

I believe Darko will be foul prone (tries blocking everthing)... but he'll eventually catch on.
Their perimiter and transition defense is awful.

Best guess 42 W's ... we end up with 10-14th pick

There are other lotto teams improving also.

Every season, one team comes on late, builds a lot of optimism and excitement, then the following season, quickly retreats back into the ranks of the pretenders.

Remember Golden State at the end of 2005?

You still gotta play the games. Right now the Magic look good on paper.

Every season, one team comes on late, builds a lot of optimism and excitement, then the following season, quickly retreats back into the ranks of the pretenders.

Remember Golden State at the end of 2005?

You still gotta play the games. Right now the Magic look good on paper.

New Orleans looks like the smart ones in that trade. Sure they missed the playoffs, but with Chris Paul there future is bright.

Darko is 20, he turns 21 on the 20th. If he were to re-enter the draft with all the teams knowing what they know now, is there any doubt he wouldn't be a lottery pick again?

As much as people rag on Darko, he will make far more (rightly or wrongly) than any of our current Pistons in the NBA.

What is the pick - top 7 protected? I want to see Orlando finish 30-52. Risking it for another season in which there will be no restrictions is taking a chance. I want to see them not make the playoffs and have to cough up that 8th or 9th pick to us. Then they can do whatever they want ( as long as they do not get better than us ).

What is the pick - top 7 protected? I want to see Orlando finish 30-52. Risking it for another season in which there will be no restrictions is taking a chance. I want to see them not make the playoffs and have to cough up that 8th or 9th pick to us. Then they can do whatever they want ( as long as they do not get better than us ).

As micro pointed out that run at the end means nothing. Let's see what they do when every teams slate is clean next season.

This appeared on one of the Magic forums.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_17629.shtml I hope I am successful in getting this link in. I don't know how to check it without possibly losing what I have written so far.

It amazes how our "total bust" went to one of the building blocks of another franchise, and so soon. And these are not Orlando writers.

Of course, I am not saying that this is a sure thing. No one can say that, but things do have a way of changing. That is what makes sports such an adventure, and such a gamble.

We need Orlando to suck next year. Dwight breaking his leg would be a fine deal:eyebrows:.

None of that please.

Darko is 20, he turns 21 on the 20th. If he were to re-enter the draft with all the teams knowing what they know now, is there any doubt he wouldn't be a lottery pick again?


.

I agree that he wouldn't be a lottery pick again. Is this you?

http://static.flickr.com/67/181833842_090bf87c07_o.jpg (http://static.flickr.com/67/181833842_090bf87c07_o.jpg)

I agree that he wouldn't be a lottery pick again. Is this you?

http://static.flickr.com/67/181833842_090bf87c07_o.jpg (http://static.flickr.com/67/181833842_090bf87c07_o.jpg)

I wish I could grow a mustache half that cool. And yeah, he'd be a lottery pick. Who would you rather have, Nazr or Darko?

Care to guess who has the better season next year? Scary thought, with Dwight, Jameer, Turkoglu, Darko, and Reddick starting, and Arroyo and Battie coming off the bench, Orlando could have a better season than us next year.

Darko is probably going to spend a lot of time on injured reserve with some heinous sunburn.

I'm going to go on record now and say that the Darko move was probably a mistake now. (Can't believe I'm uttering those words) I believe Joe's thought process was that Darko would never get any time here. Funny, the difference a couple months make. Now we are signing an underwhelming center with considerably less upside for a long term deal.

I hate to say it, but Joe D./Bill D./Flip have really stunk it up the past year and some change. We've seen flaws in Joe's approach. It is impossible to keep a team of hungry players motivated after winning the championship using the same pay check criteria that was used to get them there in the first place. Free agent success, team identity and player development rely strongly on the players buying in on a concept. What is the Pistons concept now? Are we really talking about an organization that is loyal to its players or only loyal if they fall in line with a below market compensation plan? I think this management team has done an excellent job of building a championship team but has failed miserably as it pertains to maintaining that continuity. Like Flip, Bill Davidson and Joey D. have shown an inability to be adaptive to what is necessary to keep a championship team and more importantly a championship ATTITUDE in tact.

In the next couple months we will see just how prepared Joe Dumars was for the inevitable implosion of his championship foundation. We will see just how well we've done evaluating our young talent. I say this because at this point given our financial situation, Nazr and any other free agent we may happen to muster will not be the key to giving this franchise hope again. It will be the youth. Our best case scenario is that Maxiel, Acker, Amir and our latest draft picks show us some outstanding upside and push the incumbents. We also have to bank on the fact that Flip learns from his previous mistakes and does his best coaching job ever. ..and if he doesn't Joe needs to identify that swiftly so that we will not lose too much ground this year. Make no mistake, we are taking a step back. But if we see a nice insurgence of our youth this year, perhaps that might be enough to challenge the league again sooner than expected. Besides, even with Ben Wallace our chances for winning with Flip behind the wheel were questionable at best.

Could Orlando be better than us next year? Absolutely. But, if Joe finally finds gold from his draft selections and figures out a way to bring the best out of Flip's coaching abilities, we excel past Orlando easily. Even better, we will be positioned to make some real noise in 2007-2008. Then maybe we can begin to look past why we let the heart and soul of the team along with the only big man he has trained the past couple of years walk out the arena getting virtually nothing in return.

Darko should really be compared to AJ and not Nazr. If 2 years from now, AJ is the better player, and we can get a decent player in next years draft, then the Darko trade won't be such a disaster.

But the biggest change Joe and Flip need to make is to stop looking at our team as us and them, us the starters, and Dice; them, everyone else. It's been assumed that everyone would always be there, and the team took players for granted, or underestimated the value of guys not playing assuming they'd never break into the lineup.

We need an honest competition for playing time next year, or we could be watching Darko and Wade in the ECFs.

I'm going to go on record now and say that the Darko move was probably a mistake now. (Can't believe I'm uttering those words) I believe Joe's thought process was that Darko would never get any time here. Funny, the difference a couple months make. Now we are signing an underwhelming center with considerably less upside for a long term deal.



I think you are right Mo.

In the words of Dr. Smith for those who remember the original Lost in Space, "Oh the pain...the pain"

The mistake is judging on hindsight in one case, and prematurely in the other. Next year's draft class is loaded. It's quite conceivable that the Magic pick could land us a guy like Josh McRoberts, a big with some Darkoesque skills but not the attitude problems.

I wish I could grow a mustache half that cool. And yeah, he'd be a lottery pick. Who would you rather have, Nazr or Darko?

Care to guess who has the better season next year? Scary thought, with Dwight, Jameer, Turkoglu, Darko, and Reddick starting, and Arroyo and Battie coming off the bench, Orlando could have a better season than us next year.

I doubt it.......

I think you are right Mo.

In the words of Dr. Smith for those who remember the original Lost in Space, "Oh the pain...the pain"

And Dr. Smith also uttered, "you bubblehead booby", I won`t say who that is refering to.................:laugh: