The 2003 NBA Draft is arguably the greatest draft class of all time, and we of course know that the Detroit Pistons managed to get the second pick, and Joe Dumars decided at the last minute to draft Carmelo Anthony instead of the European Darko Milicic. Dumars simply stated that come draft day, he had a gut feeling that he should choose Anthony instead of Milicic. The Pistons dodged a bullet as Milicic was a terrible pick for the Nuggets whereas Anthony became a very important piece of the mid-2000s Pistons, who as we know dominated the mid-2000s, sweeping the Lakers in the 2004 finals (to everyone’s shock), defeating the Spurs in the 2005 finals in 6 games, defeating the Mavericks in 5 games in the 2006 finals, rematching the Spurs in 2007 and defeating them in a very close 7 game series which went down to the wire, and defeated the Lakers in 6 games in the 2008 finals after squeaking past the Celtics in the 2008 ECF. After 2008, as we all know much of the Pistons core left, leaving Anthony alone, and he remained on the team until 2012 where he chose to sign with the New York Knicks as a free agent, where he remained until today. This really makes me question: what if the Pistons made the horrid decision to draft Darko Milicic instead of Carmelo Anthony? Here’s what I think would change:
1. The Pistons dynasty is stopped completely. Though I could see the Pistons still winning in 2004 against the Lakers, I think the Spurs would manage to defeat them ever so slightly in 2005, and I think that the Heat would defeat the Pistons in 2006 without Anthony. From there, I think the team would break apart earlier and Ben Wallace would leave earlier. I could see the team making the ECF up until 2008, but I don’t see them winning any more than 2 championships. Boston likely wins the championship in 2008, giving Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce the championships they never got IOTL. I think the Pistons only win one championship in 2004, and it won’t be a sweep. Pistons fans would always look back to the 2003 draft and be angry at the fact that they passed up on Carmelo Anthony.
2. Carmelo Anthony’s career would be ruined IMO. His very early years on the Pistons were VERY important for his character development and player development. In the ‘03-‘04 season, Larry Brown and the rest of the team taught Anthony the importance of team basketball. Brown always told Anthony that he had to earn his minutes. Of course both Rasheed and Ben Wallace were famous for intimidating Anthony in games where he played sub-par defense. Anthony very quickly learned both to play on a team very well and how to play defense very effectively. Though Anthony is not a lockdown defender, Anthony’s defense is definitely very good, thanks to his early years with the Pistons where he was forced to either learn defense or get benched. If Anthony gets drafted by the Nuggets, I think it will SEVERELY hurt his development as a player. I think he would be known to people today as a me-first, ball-hog player who doesn’t work well as a team player due to him getting the ball all the time during his early years in Denver, in stark contrast to the team play and discipline he developed during his early years in Detroit. Also, Anthony would likely have no rings and would not win two finals MVPs as he did in 2007 and 2008. I highly doubt Denver would be able to build a championship-contending team around him.
3. The NBA does not have as much of an emphasis on defense today. Without the Pistons dynasty, the idea of a very defense-oriented, fundamentals-based team would not appeal to many. I think that the amount of emphasis on defense being important in today’s NBA would be much less if the Pistons only win one championship in 2004 as opposed to the complete dominance they enjoyed IOTL.
All of the NBA would have changed dramatically. What do you think would have been different?