What if the Pistons drafted Wade...

[Haymaker]

How does the 2007 ECF turns out?

[G0ATbe]

LeBald probably would've joined Wade sooner.

Pistons sweep

[Smook A.]

God damn... Pistons would have won atleast 3 titles. Same thing would've happened if they drafted Carmelo. Seriously a HUGE what could've been... Their GM really screwed up by picking Darco.

[Rake2204]

Hindsight is enjoyable but Dwyane Wade was never even a draft possibility. The Pistons backcourt was locked down with two new acquisitions (Richard Hamilton & Chauncey Billups) the year prior that cost them a pretty penny (monetarily and in terms of giving up then-leader Jerry Stackhouse in exchange). Detroit also experienced a heroic rookie playoff run from Tayshaun Prince, who appeared to be ready to play the three position for the next decade. And of course, there was Ben Wallace.

Still, pretending for a moment that the Pistons ignored the one void their team had at that point (a legitimate big man in the middle) and opted to draft Wade, even though he was not on their radar - a part of me wonders how he would have developed. Would he have taken to a bit role (he seemed humble enough to do so). But then would his impact in the long term been as grand? And would Richard Hamilton or Chauncey Billups have been dealt to open up a position for him? Would their have been ramifications from such a maneuver? Or would Wade have bided his time behind those two until his rookie contract expired then bolted?

Anthony was a real-life draft possibility for Detroit, but I have less confidence for how he would have fit in Detroit than I do for Wade. Larry Brown had a poor history with rookies and he likely would have been playing behind Tayshaun Prince in a system that did not favor isolation basketball, instead highly valuing defensive stops, effort, and teamwork.

I tend to be thankful for exactly how things worked out for Detroit. It seemed like a pretty perfect series of events (even the wrong ones ended up right i.e. Darko's terrible struggle possibly leading to Rasheed) so I've never been big on wondering what-if regarding that draft.

[Pointguard]

Hindsight is enjoyable but Dwyane Wade was never even a draft possibility. The Pistons backcourt was locked down with two new acquisitions (Richard Hamilton & Chauncey Billups) the year prior that cost them a pretty penny (monetarily and in terms of giving up then-leader Jerry Stackhouse in exchange). Detroit also experienced a heroic rookie playoff run from Tayshaun Prince, who appeared to be ready to play the three position for the next decade. And of course, there was Ben Wallace.

Still, pretending for a moment that the Pistons ignored the one void their team had at that point (a legitimate big man in the middle) and opted to draft Wade, even though he was not on their radar - a part of me wonders how he would have developed. Would he have taken to a bit role (he seemed humble enough to do so). But then would his impact in the long term been as grand? And would Richard Hamilton or Chauncey Billups have been dealt to open up a position for him? Would their have been ramifications from such a maneuver? Or would Wade have bided his time behind those two until his rookie contract expired then bolted?

Anthony was a real-life draft possibility for Detroit, but I have less confidence for how he would have fit in Detroit than I do for Wade. Larry Brown had a poor history with rookies and he likely would have been playing behind Tayshaun Prince in a system that did not favor isolation basketball, instead highly valuing defensive stops, effort, and teamwork.

I tend to be thankful for exactly how things worked out for Detroit. It seemed like a pretty perfect series of events (even the wrong ones ended up right i.e. Darko's terrible struggle possibly leading to Rasheed) so I've never been big on wondering what-if regarding that draft.

Darko wasn't expected to come in and do work from the beginning. It wasn't like he was struggling. He was expected to suck at least, for a minute.

Billups wasn't some player that you wouldn't draft over. He was a journey man for four years and had that only one good year in Minny.

Lebron was the hottest recruit probably ever. And Mello was right on his tail after he won the NCAA right away and seen every defense and dismantled them one by one. Mello was clearly a second choice but not a distant second. Dumars made the huge mistake of committing to Darko very early. Especially after Bosh was everything Darko was supposed to be minus the muscle. While I agree Bosh was more to Detroits liking, Wade was a can't miss.

Darko, was a humongous mistake. They got nothing while missing on three HOFers. No other way to cut that. Detroit had that huge stroke of luck and got out of the East - they don't beat Indiana or the Nets if they were healthy. Both Bosh and Wade were NBA ready and by the second year were stellar players. The second year which is when Detroit was more of a sure thing.

[PJR]

That would be terrible.

[Rake2204]

Darko wasn't expected to come in and do work from the beginning. It wasn't like he was struggling. He was expected to suck at least, for a minute.

Billups wasn't some player that you wouldn't draft over. He was a journey man for four years and had that only one good year in Minny.

Lebron was the hottest recruit probably ever. And Mello was right on his tail after he won the NCAA right away and seen every defense and dismantled them one by one. Mello was clearly a second choice but not a distant second. Dumars made the huge mistake of committing to Darko very early. Especially after Bosh was everything Darko was supposed to be minus the muscle. While I agree Bosh was more to Detroits liking, Wade was a can't miss.

Darko, was a humongous mistake. They got nothing while missing on three HOFers. No other way to cut that. Detroit had that huge stroke of luck and got out of the East - they don't beat Indiana or the Nets if they were healthy. Both Bosh and Wade were NBA ready and by the second year were stellar players. The second year which is when Detroit was more of a sure thing.In hindsight, it seems quite obvious that Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, T.J. Ford, Kirk Hinrich, Chris Kaman, and Jarvis Hayes all would have been better draft options for Detroit in terms of talent and ability to perform in comparison to Darko Milicic.

Regarding Chauncey Billups, the Pistons had signed him to a six-year $35 million deal a year earlier to take the reigns of their offense for the foreseeable future. It was the 2002-03 season in which he earned the moniker Mr. Big Shot. His play elevated come playoff time, with only a severe ankle sprain slowing him down and ultimately contributing to Detroit's dismissal in the Eastern Conference Finals.

If we all knew (front office, fans, players) before the 2003 NBA Draft that Dwyane Wade was going to end up as not just an all-star, but a mega-star, surely it would have given the Pistons pause. And if we all knew Chris Bosh would be who he was and Darko would be who he wasn't, everything would have been different.

As it stood, Dwyane was regarded as a good pick at the time for whoever drafted him, but no one had him in the realm of possibility for the Pistons at #2, in part because people weren't sure if Wade was on the same level as the projected top three and also because the team who had that pick (Detroit) seemed to have better positional draft options more befitting their needs. Drafting a guard when a team just signed a point guard to a mega deal and acquired an all-star shooting guard at the other spot, would have been a tough get. Unless, again, we somehow would have already known about Wade's mega future. If we did, he wouldn't have ever dropped to #5.

Either way, again, I think the Pistons' championship formula was very delicate. I'm not convinced it would have been as simple as "trade Melo out for Prince and suddenly they're three time champs!" Maybe Kobe Bryant absolutely carves up a rookie Anthony in the '04 Finals. Maybe Larry Brown never runs Carmelo (or Wade) to begin with, because he already had an established front three who all fully bought in to his ethos (defense, teamwork, defense, knowing one's role).

It all could have gone right. But Carmelo on that Pistons unit seems like it'd have been lukewarm at best while I'd wonder how a Billups/Hamilton/Wade trio may have worked without Wade seeing bench minutes and bolting so he could spread his wings somewhere else.

[bizil]

The only thing that Pistons team was missing was a true alpha dog kind of player. Sheed, Billups, and Rip were really all number two or on certain teams number three kind of scorers. If u put Wade in Rip's place, that Detroit team wins multiple rings flat out. He would make everybody else so much better on that team it wouldn't be funny. He would allow Billups to play off the ball and take a lot of the playmaking pressure off of him. Sheed could still be the complementary scorer he ALWAYS wanted to be, but ALSO get multiple rings outta of it. With Prince, Wade would give his a lockdown defensive player to go with him on the perimeter.

[Sportal]

So was it just LeBron and Melon that were seen as franchise players? Or just LeBron?

[Rake2204]

So was it just LeBron and Melon that were seen as franchise players? Or just LeBron?LeBron was seen as 100% can't-miss. Carmelo was assumed to be a big time star, but not an absolutely, positively no-doubter like LeBron. The tiers seemed to be Level 1: LeBron, Darko, Carmelo, Level 2: Chris Bosh Dwyane Wade. That is, the top 3 figured to be LeBron then either Melo or Darko at #2, with Wade and Bosh not predicted to be a part of the top 3 equation.

[VIP2000]

LeBron was seen as 100% can't-miss. Carmelo was assumed to be a big time star, but not an absolutely, positively no-doubter like LeBron. The tiers seemed to be Level 1: LeBron, Darko, Carmelo, Level 2: Chris Bosh Dwyane Wade. That is, the top 3 figured to be LeBron then either Melo or Darko at #2, with Wade and Bosh not predicted to be a part of the top 3 equation.

Chris Bosh was locked in at #4 (and being compared to Garnett) , so no team was likely to draft Wade over him as well.

[SamuraiSWISH]

Chicago would've had him if not for Jay Williams unfortunate motorcycle accident in the summer of '03. We were supposed to deal either Jay-Will or Jamal Crawford's redundancy to move up to get Wade.

[D-FENS]

I think that Bosh is an interesting option as well.

[JohnnySic]

There was no chance they'd have taken Wade or Bosh; this isn't hindsight. It was Carmelo or Darko. The concensus thinking at the time was that the top 3 picks were locks (LeBron, then Carmelo/Darko).

[Rake2204]

There was no chance they'd have taken Wade or Bosh; this isn't hindsight. It was Carmelo or Darko. The concensus thinking at the time was that the top 3 picks were locks (LeBron, then Carmelo/Darko).Truth. The popular mock draft pick was having Dwyane Wade going at #7 to Chicago.

[Cobra Kai]

I remember Pat Riley saying he would have drafted Bosh over Wade if he was still available.

I think things worked out the best for everyone. But I guess that's easy for me to say being a Heat fan.

Only player in the top 5 of that draft class not to win a championship is still Carmelo. Even Darko won a championship...