Darko Milicic Signs With Memphis

Talk about lucky number 7.

Excellent, Smithers, excellent. This will be Darko's chance to trully shine.

On the other hand, does this mean Gasol is on the move? Darko and Gasol are very similar player and I don't believe their games are compatible.

7 posts in a row? Holy shit. That's a sight to see.

Excellent, Smithers, excellent. This will be Darko's chance to trully shine.

On the other hand, does this mean Gasol is on the move? Darko and Gasol are very similar player and I don't believe their games are compatible.

Gasol did state he wanted out last season, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're continuing to shop him. On the other hand, they might want to try them play together in the frontcourt first to see how it works out.

7 posts in a row? Holy shit. That's a sight to see.

Excellent, Smithers, excellent. This will be Darko's chance to trully shine.

On the other hand, does this mean Gasol is on the move? Darko and Gasol are very similar player and I don't believe their games are compatible.

Gasol did state he wanted out last season, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're continuing to shop him. On the other hand, they might want to try them play together in the frontcourt first to see how it works out.

More than likely he won't be dealt with unless some amazing deal comes along. Iavaroni already stated that he was looking to keep Pau around for the most part so if he was traded I would be surprised. I know he has said that he's very excited about the duo of Pau and Darko in the frontcourt so it should be interesting.

7 posts in a row? Holy shit. That's a sight to see.

Excellent, Smithers, excellent. This will be Darko's chance to trully shine.

On the other hand, does this mean Gasol is on the move? Darko and Gasol are very similar player and I don't believe their games are compatible.

Gasol did state he wanted out last season, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're continuing to shop him. On the other hand, they might want to try them play together in the frontcourt first to see how it works out.

Yea sorry about that. Why didn't you clean it up silly?

I changed my mind about Memphis' "unexpected" rise next season. They'll be better, but not as great as I thought. They spent this week losing Alex Johnson, Lawrence Roberts and Chucky Atkins.

I changed my mind about Memphis' "unexpected" rise next season. They'll be better, but not as great as I thought. They spent this week losing Alex Johnson, Lawrence Roberts and Chucky Atkins.

Are you saying that the losses of Johnson, Roberts and Atkins will cause the Grizzlies not to be as good as you thought they would be when they've added Darko, Conley, a better coach, Lowry (who is back and I would consider ALOT better than Atkins) and maybe another player added on via trade or signing? I expect them to be a good team as long as they aren't plagued with injuries. There were so many things wrong with the Grizzlies last season that it wasn't even fair to even count them as the worse team in the league record wise. The coaching was completely messed up with Fratello playing the slow-mo type style. Pau Gasol missing like the first 30-40 games of the year and after Lowry played a promising 10 games, he was out for the season.

But anyways, I found a nice article on Darko.

I'm to blather on some more about Darko moving onto greener pastures away from a team that will surely not contend for a title in the next 6 years unless Dwight Howard becomes the next Shaq (I can't even talk about the Rashard Lewis signing, it was so self-evidently wrong-headed of Otis Smith to do that trying to explain all the reasons it was so foolish would become a doctoral thesis (I believe a similar paper is what got Chad Ford his college degrees)). So without further ado, and without putting parenthesises within parenthesises anymore today, I bring you Darko to Grizzlies: The Breakdown Part #2 Bullet Style:

Switching Conferences: Darko will be switching to the more dominant conference in the NBA for the first time in his career with this move. The East has had a dearth of true quality big men for many years now while the West has thrived. Moving to the West means more Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett to guard for Darko and less Jason Collins. So, since his competition will be more difficult, if Darko simply matches his production from last year it will in reality likely mean he has improved since he is performing the same in more difficult circumstances.

Age: He is still only 22 years old. Everyone likes to throw out that Jermaine O'Neal did very little during his early years in the league, but most big men at least show more signs of dominance by this age and league tenure than Darko has. He probably wont hit his prime for another 4 to 5 years, but everyone has to realistic start to think now, how good will his prime end up being if 4 years into the league he is still only this good?

Style of Play: Much of this goes back to part #1 where the team he left and the team he is going were discussed, but with new coach Mark Ivaroni coming from the Suns system the Grizzlies should continue to play uptempo like they did last year (Memphis=7th in pace, Orlando=26th). This should be a good thing for Darko because it will help mask the fact that he still is not even close to being a potent offensive threat by helping to create easy shots from him in transition as his still impressive athleticism will allow him to get up and down the court quickly. If Darko can start the year producing well due to the style of play change, it may help build in confidence in his game which will improve him all-around. His new coach was the big men's coach for the Suns as well so Darko is now being taught by the former tutor for Amare Stoudamire, which can only be a plus.

Motivation: Darko's new contract is nice, but its no where near what he could get paid if he finally developed all the potential that was originally seen in his game. When his new deal ends he will be 25, the perfect age to command top dollar from every team in the league as an elite player. This monetary reason alone should be great motivation for Darko to improve over the next 3 years. Its impossible for me to know how internally motivated he is to reach his ceiling as basketball player because he simply wants to, but as we have seen time and time again during contract pushes, money potential brings out the best in players.

Benefits to Memphis: Memphis made an amazing deal with this singing. They had to trade nothing to get a promising young big man at probably below market rate who in 3 years if he does not develop enough could be traded or if he has developed into a good enough player, signed by Memphis even if they are over the cap. The only way this deal can turn out bad for Memphis is if Darko stops producing at the level he currently is which will likely not happen because of discussion points 1-7.

Losses for Orlando: They now have nothing to show for their trade with the Pistons 2 years ago besides an 8 seed. Instead they now have one of the worst contracts in basketball history which they wanted to badly they completely gave up on Darko. They really better hope Dwight Howard starts posting 27+ PER's or they have a 0% of even coming close to winning any titles in the next 5 years.

i find it funny that everyone is putting the rashard contract on dwight. they keep saying he has to be like the best in the nba for orlando to ever get anywhere. if i was dwight i never would have resigned after they made that rashard deal knowing that he will either have to demand a trade or wait til his deal is done to have a chance of winning anything.

[color=darkblue][b]Are you saying that the losses of Johnson, Roberts and Atkins will cause the Grizzlies not to be as good as you thought they would be when they've added Darko, Conley, a better coach, Lowry (who is back and I would consider ALOT better than Atkins) and maybe another player added on via trade or signing?

No, I don't know where you'd get that idea. I was saying that the Grizzlies would not be as good as they would be had they kept the first two guys and added all those new players. They aren't looking as deep as they were a week ago, and I figure that will cost them.

They'll still be good and back to the playoffs if they're healthy and have a good rotation, they would've been there last year under the same circumstances. But they would've been just outside the contenders with the depth Roberts and Johnson would have provided.

Of course Lowry is better than Atkins, he's certainly better than Stoudamire who Atkins was better than, and he's probably better than Conley.

Are you saying that the losses of Johnson, Roberts and Atkins will cause the Grizzlies not to be as good as you thought they would be when they've added Darko, Conley, a better coach, Lowry (who is back and I would consider ALOT better than Atkins) and maybe another player added on via trade or signing?

No, I don't know where you'd get that idea. I was saying that the Grizzlies would not be as good as they would be had they kept the first two guys and added all those new players. They aren't looking as deep as they were a week ago, and I figure that will cost them.

They'll still be good and back to the playoffs if they're healthy and have a good rotation, they would've been there last year under the same circumstances. But they would've been just outside the contenders with the depth Roberts and Johnson would have provided.

Of course Lowry is better than Atkins, he's certainly better than Stoudamire who Atkins was better than, and he's probably better than Conley.

[color=darkblue][b]I see what you saying now. Their depth will probably end up depending on if they still make a move to sign or trade for a SG like a Barnes, Udoka, Pietrus or Navarro. If they make the deal to grab Navarro and pick up Etan Thomas or Brendan Haywood as well for someone like Swift, one of those two players would definitely be able to help out in the frontcourt. I'll be excited to see how Lowry plays out and its going to be interesting to see if Conley can earn his starting spot over him.

Darko in 1st game on EC against Russia.

9 PTS, 9 REB, 1 ASS, 3 BLK.

^

Pretty close to the numbers I'd expect him to put up this season in the NBA, maybe 8/9/1 + 2 blocks.

A bust indeed.

^

Pretty close to the numbers I'd expect him to put up this season in the NBA, maybe 8/9/1 + 2 blocks.

A bust indeed.

It's only one game, and it's not an NBA game. We'll draw conclusions about the 'bust' tag when it's 10 games into the NBA season

It's been 4 seasons now though.

2.5 seasons of being on a bench in Detroit. 1.5 seasons of playing alongside Dwight Howard. Numbers aren't everything either. He's shown that he has the raw talent to play well and if given an opportunity, might one day be able to lead a team.

Don't forget he is around as young as Bron and Melo. Just hasn't had the same opportunity as guys from his draft class like Bron, Wade, Melo, Bosh.

As for playing for Serbia, it's only one game as cyanide said. He will improve. He was only 2 for 13, so he just wasn't making his shots. I didn't see the game but did he get targeted by the Russian defence? Nonetheless, Andrei Kirilenko shat on them with 24 and 12.

Darko still isn't a bust and i feel that he will be meaningful to the Grizzlies. They signed a good player.

For me, he's gonna have to be at least 20/10 player for a couple seasons and back those up with performances close to that to not be considered a bust.

Numbers may not be everything, but look at this (best seasons (current age)):

1. LeBron James - 31.4 PPG | 7.0 RPG | 6.6 APG | 48% FG (22)
2. Darko Milicic - 8.0 PPG | 5.5 RPG | 1.1 APG | 45% FG (22)
3. Carmelo Anthony - 28.9 PPG | 6.0 RPG | 3.8 APG | 48% FG (23)
4. Chris Bosh - 22.6 PPG | 10.7 RPG | 2.5 APG | 50% FG (23)
5. Dwyane Wade - 27.2 PPG | 5.7 RPG | 6.7 APG | 50% FG (25)
6. Chris Kaman - 11.9 PPG | 9.6 RPG | 1.0 APG | 52% FG (25)
7. Kirk Hinrich - 16.6 PPG | 3.4 RPG | 6.3 APG | 45% FG (26)
8. TJ Ford - 14.0 PPG | 3.1 RPG | 7.9 APG | 44% FG (24)
9. Mike Sweetney - 8.4 PPG | 5.4 RPG | 0.6 APG | 53% FG (24)
10. Jarvis Hayes - 10.2 PPG | 4.2 RPG | 1.7 APG | 39% FG (26)

If guys like Michael Sweetney and Jarvis Hayes are widely considered draft busts, then Darko is most definately one. I know he's still young and has alot of time to grow and mature, but he hasn't showed any reason why he will turn his career around so far.

Again, numbers aren't everything, but they do show how incredibly far behind Darko is. If you wanna go by actual comparison rather than numbers, Darko is just a agile 7 footer who can block shots, basically. The majority of the other guys drafted in the top 10 are legit stars in this league.

He played 23.9 minutes a game.

Per 40 minutes: 13.4 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.9 bpg.

Not super great but that's not far behind his team mate Dwight.

Per 40 minutes: 19.1 ppg, 13.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 2.1 bpg

Darko only started 16 out of 80 games. For the role he played in Orlando, I wouldn't say that his numbers were all that bad. Numbers aside, Darko is an agile 7 footer who can block shots. He's not just that, he has good range and form on his jumper and has good passing skills for a big.

How many shots do the others get? Per 40 minutes, LeBron gets 20, Melo gets 23, Wade gets 20. Bosh gets 16.5 a game but that's only because he gets 15.9 shot attempts in 38.5 mpg. Darko gets like 6 shots when he plays 23.9 mpg. That's a big difference - 15 minutes per game less than Bosh.

And yep, I think Darko is capable of getting 20, 10, 4 and maybe 2-3 blocks a game. This came up in a conversation between me and The X and we both agreed that Darko has the skills to get there.

He's got a lot of time left and he hasn't been a bust at all. His defence was very much needed in Orlando and he complimented Dwight Howard. And he's certainly made more of an impact than guys like the Kandi man.

Last edited by Fresh8 on Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

I agree that Darko is probably a bust by now, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to pin that on Darko himself, but rather on the Pistons for seriously over-estimating his ability. If he had been drafted in the late lottery, no one would be on his case right now. It's not up to you where you get drafted, and from what I've heard/read, Darko works hard to improve his game. He was merely drafted well above where he should have been. And maybe some of the pressure of being drafted ahead of Melo, Bosh, and Wade has affected his game, but he is still a solid player. Being an "just agile 7-footer who can block shots" is a valuable commodity in the NBA, and as such he'll continue to find employment in the league, and I don't think it's out of the question that by the time it's all said and done Darko could be a 15-point, 8-rebound, 2-block type of player.

So, if bust means not living up to your draft position, then Darko's a bust. But if it means not living up to your own potential, then Darko's on his way to being a solid player. He'll never be a dominant scorer, but that's OK.

I guess you don't think Kwame Brown was a bust either. Afterall he provided some pretty good post defence for LA this season.

In reality, he's still a bust. Just like Darko is so far.

And I don't think those stats are close at all, a 6 PPG differential is the gap between LeBron James and Ben Gordon, or Leandro Barbosa and Tracy McGrady/Dirk Nowitzki. As for the rebounding, it's the same gap between Ben Wallace and Vince Carter, or Kevin Garnett and Drew Gooden.

Darko was drafted based on potential. The Pistons have any glaring team needs. There are often arguments on whether Melo would have gone down the same path as Darko if he were drafted by the Pistons.

Darko was just drafted to a team that didn't need him until maybe now.

It's up to him now to build himself a reputation for being a good NBA player.

Being paired up with another Euro big man, I think it will help him a lot. It's true that Pau and Darko play a little similarly in that they have similar strengths. I don't think this will make it worse for Darko but I feel this will be what helps Darko become a better player.

Darko's always been a solid player but just hasn't landed in the right places.

I guess you don't think Kwame Brown was a bust either. Afterall he provided some pretty good post defence for LA this season.

Yes, pains me to admit that Kwame Brown is a bust. He just never lived up to the billing of being the number 1 draft pick. But he showed flashes of why he was taken at that position and can still be a solid player in this league.

With Darko, I think he is better than Kwame and will be mroe than just a solid player.

And I don't think those stats are close at all, a 6 PPG differential is the gap between LeBron James and Ben Gordon, or Leandro Barbosa and Tracy McGrady/Dirk Nowitzki. As for the rebounding, it's the same gap between Ben Wallace and Vince Carter, or Kevin Garnett and Drew Gooden.

Difference is that Darko starts off the bench. Dwight starts the game. The plays are set for Howard more than they would be for Darko. IF Darko was 'the man', he would do just as well.

Last World Championships, he led Serbia in rebounding, blocked shots and was second in scoring and assists. He had 16.2 ppg, close to 10 rpg, nearly 3 bpg, and nearly 2 apg. That was when he was one of the 'leaders' of the young side. Before you complain that a scoring average of 16.2 ppg is low, it really isn't for that kind of compeititon. Games are lower scoring and the style of European basketball makes scoring amongst the top players a lot more even. It's more of a team game and he was amongst the leaders in all the categories mentioned above. It shows that when given an opportunity, he can play very well.

And sure, it may have been one game but Darko matched up against Pau Gasol and finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocks. It still shows he has what it takes to be a good player. More than what Kwame Brown will be unfortuantely. - I must add, yes I undertsand that the international game is different to the NBA game.

Last edited by Fresh8 on Tue Sep 04, 2007 12:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I guess you don't think Kwame Brown was a bust either. Afterall he provided some pretty good post defence for LA this season.

In reality, he's still a bust. Just like Darko is so far.

Again, it depends on what bust means? Does it mean he didn't live to his draft position? then yes, Kwame's a bust. But if it means "hasn't been a productive NBA player", then no Kwame has not been a bust. Again, he was drafted way too high for his skill set, and the blame for that should go to the management of the team that drafted him, not on the player himself (provided that player has actually worked to get better, which Kwame certainly has).

Don't get me wrong. I hate Kwame Brown. But you really need to define "bust" before you can apply it to people. And personally, I think bust means players not living up to their ability. Both Kwame and Darko have so far played close to their potential, they simply do not have the skills to be dominant or star players.

Don't get me wrong. I hate Kwame Brown. But you really need to define "bust" before you can apply it to people. And personally, I think bust means players not living up to their ability. Both Kwame and Darko have so far played close to their potential, they simply do not have the skills to be dominant or star players.

I guess it isn't not as much as playing close to their ability per se. A bust player is a player who has not performed close to the ability that people feel they would perform at, at the time of judging them prior to joining the NBA. But to be fair to the players, when judging a bust, you need to take into account all the factors that may affect his performance.

Yes, Kwame was a bust, because he was not ready mentally to play in the NBA. He was ready physically. Mentally, he wasn't. That affected him and how he would improve his individual game. Your mental ability to play the game is just as important as say your jumper or defensive skills, so that's why I would call Kwame (as much it kills me) that he was a bust considering where he was picked and the expectations laid upon him.

With Darko though, it was the fact that he was stuck on a team behind very good forwards in Detroit. He had a coach in Larry Brown who never trusts young players (look at the Athens Olympics...) and was stuck on the bench for a veyr long time. When he went to Orlando, he had to play second fiddle to Dwight Howard. These factors were out of his control and have no bearing on his actual basketball skill (Which I must say that full extent of 'skill' has not been seen from him).

And with your idea that the Pistons just picked him too early.. if they kept Darko around, the loss of Ben Wallace wouldn't have hurt them as much and Darko would finally have his chance to shine. Both parties just weren't patient with each other.

Some think that if Melo went to Detroit, he might have evnetually knudged Prince out of his starting spot. However, that's after Melo went to Denver. If Melo went to Detroit and never got his chance to shine, he may not have gotten off the bench either. The NBA is very much, like all spots, about making the most of your opportunites to make a name for yourself.

I agree that Darko is probably a bust by now, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to pin that on Darko himself, but rather on the Pistons for seriously over-estimating his ability.

You draft players in order to win a championship. Drafting Darko gave the Pistons a championship.

If they had Bosh, if they had Melo, if they had Wade back in 2004. Do they make that Sheed deal? If Darko puts up a solid Kwame level rookie year and doesn't get hidden miles away on the bench, do they make that Sheed trade?

With a Bosh or Melo, do they dare add a Sheed to the lineup adding to the logjam? Both Wade and Melo would be on the bench behind Prince and Rip/Billups. This changes every single move the Pistons do after their drafting, and those players developments.

I agree with blaming teams, not players. It was Jordan who rejected sending out Brown for Elton Brand. It was Jordan who passed on Gasol because he didn't like Toni Kukoc. It's not Kwame Brown's fault teams don't know what the hell they're doing when they're scouting players.

I agree that Darko is probably a bust by now, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to pin that on Darko himself, but rather on the Pistons for seriously over-estimating his ability.

You draft players in order to win a championship. Drafting Darko gave the Pistons a championship.

If they had Bosh, if they had Melo, if they had Wade back in 2004. Do they make that Sheed deal? If Darko puts up a solid Kwame level rookie year and doesn't get hidden miles away on the bench, do they make that Sheed trade?

With a Bosh or Melo, do they dare add a Sheed to the lineup adding to the logjam? Both Wade and Melo would be on the bench behind Prince and Rip/Billups. This changes every single move the Pistons do after their drafting, and those players developments.

I agree with blaming teams, not players. It was Jordan who rejected sending out Brown for Elton Brand. It was Jordan who passed on Gasol because he didn't like Toni Kukoc. It's not Kwame Brown's fault teams don't know what the hell they're doing when they're scouting players.

Good points. I don't necessarily agree that drafting Darko got them the chip. True, with say Bosh on the roster, maybe they don't trade for Sheed, maybe they do. It's hard to say. Bosh was good in his rookie year, but not Sheed-good. So it's a tough thing to predict. But I don't think anyone will disagree that drafting either Wade, Melo, or Bosh would put the Pistons in a better situation now than they are in reality. Maybe if the Pistons didn't have Sheed's contract/retarded nature, they'd have been able to re-sign Big Ben. And isn't a roster of Ben Wallace, Billups, Prince, Hamilton, and Bosh/Wade/Melo in much better position to compete for a title than a lineup of Sheed, Billups, Prince, Hamilton, and who Nazr Mohammed? Not saying I would trade the Pistons 1 title for a slightly better chance at a few more, but it would certainly put them in a better spot now. And it's not like Joe D knew Darko wouldn't live up to expectation and that he'd be trading for Sheed. So it was kind of a happy mistake.

Bosh was good in his rookie year, but not Sheed-good. So it's a tough thing to predict. But I don't think anyone will disagree that drafting either Wade, Melo, or Bosh would put the Pistons in a better situation now than they are in reality.

Do you really think that Wade/Melo/Bosh would have got minutes ahead of Prince/Rip/Billups? If Milicic couldn't get minutes in his position, the other three wouldn't have either because the Pistons were at least two deep at each guard/forward position (from memory).

And isn't a roster of Ben Wallace, Billups, Prince, Hamilton, and Bosh/Wade/Melo in much better position to compete for a title than a lineup of Sheed, Billups, Prince, Hamilton, and who Nazr Mohammed?

If they hadn't traded away Darko, wouldn't the Pistons be in a better position with Sheed, Billups, Prince, Hamilton. Who's to say that Melo/Wade/Bosh wouldn't have disappeared into nothingness like Darko? As I've said before, you're thinking of those three players as they are after they landed on teams that needed them and could afford to give them shots, touches and minutes. Think about if they were drafted by Detroit and never got a chance to play. Would we know them as we know them now?

And it's not like Joe D knew Darko wouldn't live up to expectation and that he'd be trading for Sheed. So it was kind of a happy mistake.

What expectations didn't Darko live up to? It wasn't like he was drafted to contribute right away. He was a project drafted on potential. Both Detroit and Darko decided to end their relationship prematurely. Unfortunately, that bit the Pistons back up the ass when Ben Wallace left for the Chi.