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?
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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 ).
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.
