OT: Joe Dumars worst move as Pistons GM? Darko or J. Smith

Hands down. Look at all the talent that was available in that draft and he took that tool!!!

 Come here and we get, at the very least, one more ring. I never understood the rationale of we have Tayshaun so we don't need Melo. Melo would've been the Microwave 2.0 for a year or 2. 

I feel like the Josh Smith signing happened because of Gores' "win now" ultimatum and the fact that Dumars had the money to spend. It was a poor signing.

Darko was high on many draft boards that year and, yes, history shows that was an awful pick. But let's not forget Darko was also a primadonna who let all the hype get to his head. That hype let him think he had the right to play regular minutes each game from the start of the season. When he didn't get regular playing time under Larry Brown (another factor you have to throw in because Brown wanted Darko to play more a traditional post game instead of the inside-outside shooting big-man Euro style Darko was used to on top of the fact this was an NBA Finals bound team with a strong, tight starting nucleus already forged), he sulked. The sulking affected his attitude which affected everything else. He was talented--perhaps not at a No. 2 pick level--but it's not like the guy didn't know how to play hoops. He had a crappy attitude.

I mean...look at his choice remarks after this EuroBasket game in 2007 that didn't go Serbia's way. Talented kid, horrible mindset.

 

Probably Darko, IMO. With guys from overseas, it seems like there would generally be some added risk taking a flier on them. And it might not have been worth the gamble with Wade, Anthony and Bosh on the board.

the Pistons wouldn't have gotten Sheed in a trade. Pistons might've never won the NBA title. Melo would've sat behind Prince and there would be discontent from Melo for not getting PT.

The guy should be remembered for being an incredible player and good GM.

Every GM misses on evaluating talent. I think the Darko miss was the most serious miss, with DWade and other super talents available. It all worked out during a GREAT run and Dumars made good moves to make that happen.

The JSmith move was bad but seemed to be more out of a position of weakness.

Allen Iverson?

has to be darko. that team would have won multiple championships with melow or d wade.

In some ways, I am happy about missing out on Carmelo--that 2004 championship team was a great team, with an emphasis on the word team.

If Detroit had gotten 'Melo and still won the championship, I think a lot of the story and understanding of what happened would have been about plugging in the star player and winning a championship. Instead that year was about the team without a bona fide star that played together and won--beating the team full of the biggest stars--and not only do I like that story a lot better, but it made me love the players that won the championship.

At the time, almost everyone felt that Darko was the next Dirk.  Had it panned out, Dumars is still employed by the Pistons.  Smith was a horrible fit for Pistons.  

Josh Smith and it is not even close.

If you compare and contrast who we passed on to draft each player, it's Darko by a mile.

It's was spending all of the gobs and gobs of cap room they cleared by dismantling that last championship core on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villenueva. Darko is easy to point fingers at in hindsight, but Bosh, Melo and Wade none fit our needs at the time coming off the season we had. Nobody knew those 3 players were going to be future HOFers and we had relatively young Rip and Tayshaun at the 2 & 3 making the need for Wade or Melo not pressing or even remotely considered... And Chris Bosh is a finesse, stretch 4 that didn't fit the gritty mold of Big Ben and Sheed. The idea was for Darko to learn behind Sheed, then seamlessly slide into that role ala Duncan/Robinson, albeit not nearly on the same level. In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't draft any of those 3 because none of them would've fit in that team first mentality, and as we saw at the end of their first contracts, they were all probably migrating anyway. Whether it be joining forces or heading to a warm weather city. What I wish we would have done is trade the pick for a veteran player that would've added depth to our playoff roster, maybe a combo guard that could keep Chauncey and Rip fresh without much dropoff. Or a wing that could get buckets while Prince was expending all of his energy pestering guys like Reggie and Kobe all night on D.

Could be worse... Could've missed out on Jordan AND Durant, while instead drafting 2 of the biggest big man busts in the history of the league. Think about how good Portland could be with Durant and Aldridge as their core. Maybe they don't finish low enough to draft Lillard, but each ensuing draft would've shaken down a bit differently. Maybe they a pass first pg in the years after.

Dumars gets a pass on Darko because everyone thought he was a can't miss. Dicky V. thought Darko was a better pick than LeBron. He was sold as a Dirk but a higher ceiling. But honestly, Dumars was always horrible at drafting, getting lucky with Prince in '02 and Okur in '01. He missed on so many others topping it off by passing on Trey Burke his last time around. That was a no brainer to me, seeing they needed a PG and he was a Michigan guy. Would have filled a big need and sold more jerseys.

He lost his mind with free agent signings and trades starting with the Iverson deal and went down hill from there. Honestly, I don't remember one person saying that signing Josh Smith in any way was good for Detroit.

It broke my heart because I was a diehard Pistons guy from way before my dad took me to see Game 5 of the 88 finals against LA. Dumars was my hero and after 2004, I thought he could do no wrong. To this day, I feel like he lost his mind and forgot how to be a good GM. Maybe he was just lucky in 04, but he made some great moves to get the guys to win that year. Ugh. Such a bummer.

Darko was a consensus top 5 pick, IIRC. It wasn't as if the guy was terrible.

Dumars worst move (among plenty like Gordon, Villanueva, etc) was J Smoove.

People definitely thought Detroit would take Darko, as it was widely broadcasted. Many, if not most, thought Carmelo should be taken ahead of him.

Not to mention, no one thought anyone was on par with LBJ. He was the most hyped prospect ever and the clear choice at #1. No one else was tier 1.

 

 

Worst move? trading Chauncey and keeping rip. Second worst, replacing Wallace with Nazr Mohammed, then CWebb for 1 year, then nobody. I mean we had some $50m available that Ben turned down, a roster full of bench talent who-would-be-starters for other teams, but Boston trades for Sheeds best friend Kevin Garnett and not us.

With a bar stool?

Cleaves as a lottery pick? Cmon man.

Man, he really went from being a genius to a total bust. The way he built that 2004 team was magical. Then he trades Billups, drafts nobodies for like 10 years, then blows $90m on Gordon and Charlie V. And Calderon. And 5 different coaches and WTF. Yer fired!