Mike D'Antoni said he can turn Milicic back into the promising prospect
If he WINS A CHAMPIONSHIP I'll considered him a basketball warlock. But D'Antoni has revived alot of guys careers like Boris Diaw, Tim Thomas, and to a lesser extent Steve Nash, who alot of people thought was a shooting guard in a point guards body when he played with Dallas. He is a winning coach
True but this is Darko. Guy was selected before.....well im not going to go there because everyone knows his legacy. But he is bad. This would be the ultimate revival. Diaw was pretty good before Mike and so was Tim and Nash. Darko was never good.
Mike D will bring out the best in Darko. People do not understand how much the mental side of things affect basketball players. If he can get Darko playing confident, Darko should be able to average a double double and be a quality defender. He could possibly be a Rasheed Wallace type player. Darko defense is already legit. Mike's offense should help Darko confidence and you could see him shoot a lot of 3's and maybe drop a few post moves but mainly focus on D and grabbing boards. Also he is athletic enough to catch and dunk like Lee is. If Darko would have mentally held up against the media, then Dumars would have look smart when Ben Wallace left and they could put Darko in that role and did not miss a beat but unfortunately Darko could not handle the pressure of being the 2nd pick in a draft that was that good and not have success early on. Jermaine O'neal got trade after 5 seasons and became an All Star in Indiana. Sometimes all it takes is minutes and confidence because you can tell that Darko has the skills to be decent at least and for a big he has everything an NBA player wants in a big size athleticism, defense. Everything else is a plus. I thought he played real well next to Howard a few year ago in Orlando but he signed with Memphis what is know to kill players careers.
Noone knew Diaw was as good as he was until Phoenix. Steve Nash was already good but Mike D made him look like and MVP. Also Tim Thomas got a fat contract because of how he was used in the Suns offense and the fact he was in a contract year but I think Mike D knows how to get the best out of players and can deal well with most players not named Marbury.
I think that Darko has a chance to be pretty good player. I don't know why the Pistons took such a project when they were in their dynasty "window" anyway. Wouldn't it have been better to take someone that was ready to contribute immediately in 2003 when they were ready to win "now"! That was Joe Dumars biggest mistake. It was bad to pass on superstars like he did, yes. But, taking someone who wasn't even close to being able to produce in Darko makes no sense. If he was taking a guy who could contribute 3 - 4 years down the road, why wouldn't he take Carmelo and bring him off the bench? I guess my point is, the Darko pick doesn't make sense looking back AT ALL unless Joe Dumars thought that an 18-year old European center was ready to contribute in the NBA Finals. I think that he wanted to have someone ready to contribute when 'Sheed or Wallace got old or left. But, if that were the case, it still doesn't make sense because a guy like Bosh could have been that guy. Blah, Blah, Blah. I could go on and on.
My point is, Darko should be just as pissed at Joe Dumars for putting him in one of the worst possible situations he could be in. Let's see if Mike D can bring out this dude's potential. Like someone else said, this guy is still only 24 and has A LOT of basketball left. I think that he has an opportunity to be a big-time contributor still on a good team.
People criticize Joe Dumars big time, but there were good reasons why he made Milicic the second choice in the draft 6 years ago. The guy is 7 feet tall, he weighs approximately 275 pounds, he can run the court, and he has excellent jumping ability for a big man.
Two years ago he had some games in Memphis where he finished with double double scoring/rebounding totals and would block 5-7 shots. You can't do that at the NBA level unless you have big time skills. Unfortunately he was very inconsistent and would usually follow that type of performance with a 5 point 2 rebound game, which isn't going to cut it.
He has a ton of talent, the big question with Milicic is mental. Does he have the desire and heart to become a great player? So far he's demonstrated that he doesn't, but he's still relatively young. I think going to Detroit at the age of 18 was probably the worst thing that could have happened to him. He was buried at the end of the bench for almost 3 years and the experience shattered his confidence. When an athlete loses his confidence, it's all over.
Playing in Memphis with a bunch of young guys who didn't understand that basketball is a team game wasn't very good for his career. Whoever had the ball in his hands was going to shoot it, Memphis teammates never thought about passing down low to a big man.
In NY, Milicic should have a great opportunity to prove that he can become a dominant or at least a very good center. He's certainly better than Eddie Curry, and if he plays well, NY can move David Lee back to where he belongs, the PF slot. However, if Milicic fails to produce in NY, I think his NBA career is over. It should be an extremely interesting season for the Knicks.
The biggest knock on Darko is that he was drafted ahead of Carmelo, Wade, and Bosh and some others. Taking that aside and already considering him a failed #2 pick, he can still develop into a player of value to a team. It's actually only Detroit that lost out on him as a #2 pick, since he has since been traded based on his current player value. He was even given a big contract after showing flashes in Memphis.
That said, I think he is still a bit too highly paid at 7M, but if you have him as your backup C/PF at a contract of about 2-4M, that would be a good deal based on his current production. And if he can improve (he is still young enough to get better), he may end up being a decent starter or high quality backup.
What yall think ?