There is also Joe Dumars the drafter -- unsteady and wobbly -- who has basically tossed aside his bummer selections almost as often as he's kept them on the roster.
Today, and in the days leading up to the NBA trading deadline February 24, Joe Dumars -- the dealer -- will have to engage in some soul-searching with Joe Dumars -- the drafter -- to see whether or not it is wise to cast away yet another first round pick that never bore fruit.
Darko: Time to cut the Pistons' losses?
At least that's what appears will be happening in the next nine days as rumors -- the substantiated ones on this occasion -- run rampant that the Pistons are mulling over a trade that would send Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in the 2003 draft, and backup point guard Carlos Arroyo to the Orlando Magic for injured center Kelvin Cato and a first-round draft choice.
Dumars might be ready to toss his human victory cigar into the trash before it even got its wrapper fully removed.
Despite his spotty draft record -- read: Mateen Cleaves and Rodney White -- Dumars has mostly been given a wide berth on the Milicic selection by media and fans because, well, he's Joe Dumars. He is today's Jerry West -- a modern day basketball tycoon -- who has turned the Pistons into champions and yearly contenders by buying low and selling high. He has gathered his group of All-Star starters from various teams around the league, offering up not all that much in some instances. He has traded chicken feathers for chicken salad, and when he has had to part with real talent -- like Jerry Stackhouse -- he has done so with courage and an acute accumen for seeing the next diamond in the rough (Rip Hamilton).
Many of today's Pistons -- the starters especially -- bounced around the NBA like pinballs until they found a snug fit in Detroit. So why has Joe Dumars been able to see things in these players that others have not?
And why hasn't he been able to do that with players in high school or college?
If Dumars was most every other GM in the league, he would be vilified for the Milicic pick -- mocked and derided for blowing such a high selection for such little return. The Pistons had no business having the No. 2 pick off the board in '03, but because David Stern's ping pong balls tumbled the right way, Joe D. beat the odds and the Pistons had themselves the second overall selection -- even as they stumbled their way through the Eastern Conference Finals, being swept by the New Jersey Nets. But Milicic, selected when Carmelo Anthony was staring the Pistons in the face, has barely raised his posterior from the bench in now his third season in Detroit.
What would we all be saying in this town if Dumars was anything less than the Frank Lloyd Wright of pro basketball that he continues to be? As it stands, with the Pistons champions and runners-up in Darko's two seasons in Motown, he is the charming player at the end of the bench, chanted for when victory is secure. He is winked at, accepted as the twelfth man, even though only one player in the world was selected before him in the draft. It would not be so cute if Joe Dumars didn't possess such a remarkable resume as Pistons president.
I am asked often: Would you trade Darko Milicic? Should he be traded?
I've answered that question with a "have my cake and eat it too" caveat: Yes, I would trade him if I could trade him to a Siberian NBA team that is harmlessly tucked away somewhere in the depths of the Western Conference. Golden State. Charlotte. Portland. Any place where Darko could barely cause a ripple that would even remotely affect the Pistons, should he find his basketball mojo.
Darko Milicic is like that salad maker you find in the basement during spring cleaning: you hate to part with it in case you might ever need it. And you remember that when you bought it, it seemed like a good idea at the time. And you're afraid that if you give it to your neighbor, salad makers will suddenly become the hottest gizmo going. And you'll be stuck without one.
Something like that, anyway.
I am growing weary, frankly, of waiting for Milicic to blossom in Detroit. He might be the classic case of the player who needs that ever-talked about "change of scenery", the ancient justification for trading young, unrealized talent. Sometimes that kick starts a career. Some careers never get started. It's unknown, at this point, whether Darko Milicic's NBA career will ever be anything more than the notorious answer to a trivia question: What NBA bust was drafted just before Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft?
Darko might be the NBA's Tony Mandarich, the offensive tackle from MSU who was selected by Green Bay No. 2 overall in 1989. Ahead of Barry Sanders, no less. But Milicic might also be a sleeping giant -- a late bloomer who needs to ply his trade in another NBA city after nearly three seasons watching and learning from the best players and coaches in the business. Change of scenery -- that tonic has worked before, many times over. Just look at today's Pistons starters for proof of that.
As for Cato, he will be 32 years old in August. He has been a starter in the league, but never much of a scorer. He can rebound a little bit, block a few shots. He's Ben Wallace Lite. The sort who won't mind as much as a restless 20 year-old can if he sits shackled to the bench -- which is where he certainly will be stationed. The Pistons still have Dale Davis, remember.
But the trade isn't Milicic for Cato. It's Milicic and Arroyo -- the up-and-down point guard -- for a first rounder. Another crack in the first round for Dumars, basically -- and it may be a top ten pick, too. The high draft pick might be something about which to get excited, if it wasn't for one fact.
Joe The Dealer will be presenting that pick to Joe The Drafter.
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