Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. While life, and the NBA, doesn’t allow for such opportunities, we at Hoops Rumors decided it would be fun to give our readers a second take at picking players, complete with the benefit of hindsight.
We are in the process of taking you on a journey back to June of 2003, and revisiting a draft that saw the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh available to potentially change the fortunes of a few struggling franchises. Wade was the first of that group to win an NBA championship, though James and Bosh would later join him in Miami and go on to win multiple titles together years later, while Melo is still seeking his first trip to the NBA Finals. Detroit, which owned the No. 2 overall pick that season, chose to go with Darko Milicic, who didn’t work out so well for the Pistons. Not all picks pan out, but that one is especially painful given the talent that the Pistons passed over to select the big man, who owns career averages of 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds, and has been out of the NBA since making a single appearance for the Celtics back in 2012/13.
We continue our revisionist history with those same Pistons, who had acquired the second overall pick from the Grizzlies as part of the 1997 trade that sent Otis Thorpe to Memphis. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Detroit’s pick and check back Tuesday night for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Nuggets will select with the No. 3 overall pick. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 2 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.
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- Cavaliers: LeBron James
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Would have thought this one would be a lot closer between Wade and Carmelo. Wade’s championship bona fides are definitely carrying some weight.
I think its hard for Detroit to go wrong here, which is amazing b/c they obviously did in reality. Obviously, Wade is the best player on the board right now. That being said, it could be argued that there was more of a need for Melo or Bosh from Detroit’s long term perspective at the time.
True. The weird thing about it is that the Pistons won the championship the season after this draft, went to a seventh game with the Spurs the year after that, and made it to the conference finals the following three years. They were really successful. But, if they had drafted Wade, Carmelo or Bosh, or at least somebody better than Darko, how many more titles do you think they would have won?