Joe Dumars is a Hall of Famer, a member of the Detroit Pistons ‘Bad Boys’ era — who won titles as a player and GM.
Dumars career will likely have a huge asterisk next to it because of what he cost the Pistons organization in 2003.
Rather than keep it simple — turning Detroit into Golden State of the Midwest before it was cool — Dumars chased the next Dirk Nowitzki — selecting Darko Milicic with the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft and letting Carmelo Anthony slide to No. 3 and the Denver Nuggets.
What should turned into the next Dynasty ‘Roc La Familia’ — saw Milicic flame out the league within a few years, while Melo went on to become the best scorer of this generation.
Tayshaun Prince joined CBS Sports host Nick Kostos on the Crossover and said that the Pistons could have won as many as four championships if they had drafted Carmelo Anthony with the No. 2 pick instead of Darko Milicic.
“I think if we did take Melo, maybe two, maybe three, maybe four championships,” Prince said. “And then after my fourth or fifth year, now you have to decide what you want to do. But at least you know going in, if you take Melo we got a guy. And who knows, he comes off his bench the first year or two, or maybe they insert him into the starting lineup, whatever.
“But we knew coming in, if he could come in off the bench and accept that sixth man role, we’d be pretty awesome for the next five or six years before they make the decision if they’re going to keep me or him.”
Prince is currently a free agent after spending last season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Darco fights in the MMA or something like that.
CBS NBA analyst and former Pistons star Rip Hamilton said part of the process that drove Detroit into taking Darko was the Dumars need to find next great stretch four after the rise of Dirk Nowitzki.
“You had a guy like Dirk Nowitzki on the Dallas Mavericks, and everyone was trying to find the next Dirk,” Hamilton said.
Dumars threw off history, because who knows if Bosh becomes a Raptor, Wade becomes a Nugget and King James leaves Cleveland for L.A. in The Decision?