Dumars's "Detroit Raiders" Add Another Misfit; So What Else Is New?

The point guard is a four-time loser in the NBA. The shooting guard was deemed too skinny and frail, and was dumped. The small forward was looked at cross-eyed when drafted. One of the big men was labeled a coach killer and a disruption. The other big man's knee was so wrecked that few felt he'd ever play another minute in the league.

With the exception of the big man who might be a coach killer and a disruption -- because he can be, at times -- the above paragraph is no longer an accurate description of the current starting five for the Detroit Pistons. But it was, at one time.

Chauncey Billups, one-time NBA journeyman. Cashiered by the Celtics, then the Raptors, then the Nuggets, then the Timberwolves. Only one of those teams -- the Celtics (and only recently) -- have won anything of note after Billups' banishment. Meanwhile, with the Pistons, Billups has appeared in six straight conference finals, two NBA Finals, and won a championship. Not bad for a four-time loser.

Rip Hamilton, skinny and frail, once upon a time. Will never amount to more than a shot-happy, defensive liability. Or so the Washington Wizards thought, when they traded the former University of Connecticut standout to the Pistons in 2002 for the enigmatic Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse has since been bounced over to the Dallas Mavericks, where he still seeks a championship. But Hamilton's heart was apparently never measured, because since becoming a Piston he's worked hard to shed all of the negative labels that were whispered about him. He, too, is a six-time conference final participant, along with all those things Billups has accomplished.

Tayshaun Prince, from the University of Kentucky. They play some good basketball down there, in case you didn't know. But when Joe Dumars drafted Prince in 2002, there were yawns. Except from the Pistons themselves. In his rookie season, Prince rarely got off the bench. The yawners kept yawning. Until the 2003 playoffs, when Prince became coach Rick Carlisle's secret weapon. He's been a starter and a major contributor ever since.

Rasheed Wallace, cantankerous center/power forward. A perceived ringleader of Portland's "Jail Blazers" from several years ago. Judged as being too hard to handle, too much of a loose cannon. A bitch to coach. Often that's been true. It's been true in Detroit. But much of it has been half-truths or rumor or simply a tired tale that's been regurgitated so much that it's accepted as fact. But yet he remains the loosest of the Piston cannons, regardless.

Antonio McDyess, the tragic figure of the Pistons. Once a leaping, high-scoring forward. A first round draft choice, back in the day. Then, a serious knee injury. Then another. Then a career that appeared to be over, until Dumars came calling in 2004. Since then, some tantalizingly close brushes with greatness as a Piston for McDyess. Now is probably the player that teammates and fans would most like to see as a champion. No one takes losing as hard as McDyess, who joined the Pistons as they basked in their '04 title.

To all this, and we haven't even mentioned the young studs waiting in the wings, comes young (still) Kwame Brown, the newest Piston. His resume and NBA experience would seem to fit nicely with the group in Detroit. Former high draft pick -- the highest, actually. Another multiple loser -- the Pistons being his fourth NBA team, and he's only 26. Another who Dumars is taking a gamble on.


Brown, as 2001's first overall pick -- at age 19


The Pistons, it might be said, are the Oakland Raiders of basketball. The Raiders, especially in the 1970s and '80s, were famous for resurrecting careers, a haven to pro football's old, its misfits, its discards. There was something about putting on the silver and black that acted as a fountain of youth, or in some cases, a portable rehab center.

There are those who already are willing to overlook Brown's checkered NBA career, mainly because if anyone has kissed the Blarney Stone more often than anyone in the league, it's Joe Dumars. Same thing with the Raiders. Al Davis would bring in players that, had anyone else in the NFL done so, they would have been laughed at and scorned. But since it was Davis, and since it was the Raiders, then folks simply shrugged and said, "Well, if anyone can get blood from a turnip, it's Al Davis and the Raiders."

Dumars hasn't always rolled seven with those dice. Witness Darko Milicic and Rodney White and Mateen Cleaves and Chris Webber. You play enough craps, you're gonna lose on occasion. But the Brown "gamble" would appear to be a low-to-medium risk, considering the only thing at stake here is some of Bill Davidson's money. At 26, Brown could still have the best years of his basketball life in front of him. He's just a baby, really.

Just another misfit whose career might have needed this.

Sound familiar?