What if Detroit drafted Carmelo instead of Darko?

[Big Boss]

It's impossible to say since Larry Brown was such a stubborn prick when it came to young players. He sabotaged the '04 Olympics because of his refusal to play LeBron, Wade and Carmelo, so he probably would have benched Melo for large chunks of his rookie season as well.

Long term though, that would have been a beastly squad. Carmelo had his best seasons with Billups in Denver, so you gotta think things would have eventually clicked in Detroit. That was a team of pros too, which would have been great for his development.

Facts

 

[CarltonJunior]

Even if they never would've traded for Sheed they would've been perennial contenders, even if they don't win a chip early in his career, I think that he makes the finals in '06 and '10 respectively just because of the state of the East during those times. I really don't see him missing the playoffs at any point of his career in Detroit, even with how poorly that team was managed.

Crazy that the Knicks had that flash in a pan year and fizzled out just like that.

 

[Ben.]

Prolly play limited minutes until LB left.