The
Piston’s Biggest Error
Coming into the 1986 Draft, the defending champion, Boston
Celtics were in the precarious position of holding the #2 overall pick and
selected the highly touted Len Bias.
While Bias’ subsequent death was no fault of the Celtics, it does
represent one of the greatest “what-ifs” in NBA history and continues
speculation even today about how his talent could have impacted the Celtics
dynasty. Bias was destined to join a
pantheon of legendary Celtics, carry their dominance into the 90’s and add to
the Celtics bevy of championship trophies.
Instead, they have not won a championship since and the Celtic mystique
has been a curse since. Flash forward to
the present.
With the Super Bowl now behind us, baseball still months away,
and the NHL playing on public access television, my short attention span has
naturally been drawn back to the NBA as it approaches the regular season
stretch and the jockeying for playoff positioning. While the West is seemingly dominated by the
run-n-gun Suns and Mavs, the ageless Spurs have quietly kept pace with their
stolid offensive style and suffocating defense.
The
Eastern Conference meanwhile has been an enigma all season. However, the most interesting development has
been the suddenly revamped Detroit Pistons, whose recent signing of former
After coming off consecutive 50 win
seasons and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons were in the
precarious position of owning the 2nd overall pick acquired through
a trade. In what would turn out to be
one of the deepest drafts in recent memory and possibly all-time the Pistons
hold the ignominious honor of being the team that passed on Carmelo Anthony,
Dwayne Wade, & Chris Bosh, not to mention Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw
later in the first round. After leading the Syracuse Orangeman to the NCAA
championship—as a freshman, Anthony was highly touted as a special talent along
the lines of Lebron James. Now in his
fourth year Anthony has jettisoned to the NBA scoring lead, meanwhile the
Pistons are mired in the bottom of the league’s offensive standings.
At the time Wade was
considered the most explosive guard in the draft after taking an underwhelming
Marquette team on his back and into to the Final Four. Ironically, Wade has since become the bane of
While Bosh was not quite as hyped as either Wade or Anthony, he
was a 6-11 freshman phenom at Georgia Tech who many believed could soon develop
into a perennial All-Star forward, which is exactly what he has done. At least with Bosh in the post the Pistons
could have a Plan B to implement when Ben Wallace jumped ship to the rival
Bulls. Instead, The [Joe] Dumars made
one of the most scrutinized, second guessed decisions in NBA Draft history by
selecting Darko “Baby Nowitzki” Milicic, a player who came off the bench for
his own team back home!
To make matters worse, later in the same draft, the Pistons
passed on Leandro Barbosa, and
The Piston’s fledging Eastern
Conference domination could have been prolonged by the acquisition of Anthony,
Wade, or Bosh in the Draft and supplied the Piston’s with a go to offensive
weapon they’ve lacked since Grant Hill’s departure. The addition, of Carmelo Anthony, Wade or
Bosh to a nucleus of Ben Wallace, “Rip” Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Chauncey
Billups and later Rasheed Wallace would have firmed the Pistons’ grip on the
Eastern Conference for years to come the same way .
This is where revisionist
history comes in. Can you envision the
trio of ‘Melo, Prince and Sheed, or the musical… I
meant defensive stylings of Bosh and the Wallace’s? Or perhaps even the sweet harmony of
Billups, Wade, and Rip ripping through the playoffs for another decade?
Since their NBA championship in 2004, the Pistons have done
little to establish them as a legit dynasty.
You can’t win a championship with just what you had the previous
season. From the 2004 season to the next
season until now, the Pistons have done less and less with less.
Since winning the NBA championship in 2004, the Pistons have
done little to infuse their roster with young talent via free agency or the
Draft. Add Antonio McDyess, Nazir
Mohammed, Kelvin Cato, Will Blalock, Amir Johnson subtract Ben Wallace and
Mehmet Okur and these are a glimpse of the roster changes the Pistons have made
since their championship season. They’ve
allowed their All-Star centers to sign with rival title contenders and
attempted to replace them with aging role players and 2nd round
draft picks. In the off-season, Billups
may also jump ship for a flashier contender.
Now with their
hopes for another NBA championship dwindling, they’ve been forced to turn to another
aging legend that still possesses the best passing skills of any power forward
in the game but has been robbed of his gifted athleticism.
While Dumars supporters defend his action by pointing to the
team’s chemistry en route to their NBA title, this Pistons team’s legacy will
unfortunately end with just one NBA championship to show for it. What could have been a dynasty will indeed be
known for its one hit wonder. Sure they
had four records reach gold but the platinum is all anyone will ever remember. Drafting one of those future superstars might
have vaulted the Pistons into the Shaq-Kobe Lakers, Bad Boy Pistons or the
“Showtime” Lakers-type stratosphere.
Instead they’ll be tossed into the deck of forgettable championship
teams.
Now with Darko gone they have
nothing to show for their gaffe except Kelvin Cato. Darko represented the potential of a future
superstar, all Kato represents is the Pistons curse. At least the Red Sox got cold hard cash for
Babe Ruth. How will Pistons fans respond
if Darko and Dwight team up at the 2009 All-Star Game-- in
Over 20 years later, the Celtics
should finally have a chance to reverse their fortunes and begin their journey
back to the NBA’s elite with either Oden or Durant but the question is how long
will the Pistons have to wait?
--
D.J. Dunson