As for the Pistons' 2003 draft pick, it starts as far back as 1998.

In 1998, the Pistons sent Otis Thorpe, the team's starting power forward, to the Vancouver Grizzlies, the Grizzlies have only been established for two years, and they urgently need some stars to come and open the market, but you know, no superstar will be cold to the Grizzlies, and they don't have any attractive chips in their hands, so they went pragmatically, trading some players who are stronger than famous, diligent, pragmatic and easy to use, known as the "NBA's No. 1 blue collar" Thorpe entered the Grizzlies' field of vision, And the price is any second-18th pick from 1998-2003.

But here's the problem, the Grizzlies have a poor record every year, and the draft picks are very high every year, in 1998 they were the second pick, they selected McBibby, in 1999 they were the second pick, they selected Francis, in 2000 they were the second pick, they drafted Swift, in 2001 they were the third pick, they drafted Pau Gasol, in 2002 they were the fourth pick, they drafted Drew Gooden, and in six years, the Grizzlies changed their operating presidents three times, but they were not willing to send them away, and the result was dragged on until 2003, this time, There's really no need to delay, the NBA doesn't like this.

And the general manager of the Grizzlies at that time was Jerry West, and West, who learned the news, sat in his office chair with a dead face, and he wanted to die......

West's grief didn't last long, and it was the turn of then-Pistons general manager Joe Dumas to grieve as they traded this invaluable pick for Darko Milicic.

But all of this was an afterthought for all of you, and the situation at that time was that Milicic showed those abilities and potential on the international and European stage at that time, which drove every general manager into a frenzy, and the Mavericks head coach at that time, Nelson Sr., did not hesitate to risk being banned by the league for two games, and also went to Europe to watch Milicic play! When Milicic tried out for the Pistons at that time, even Joe Dumas, who had been immersed in the league for many years, was shocked, and Hamilton was full of praise for Milicic! Milicic is from Serbia, 213 cm tall and weighs 113 kg, which was a perfect center body shape at the time, with height, tonnage, not slow moving, good muscle lines, strong explosiveness on the inside, perfect technique, can shoot with both left and right hands, excellent card awareness, and good dribbling skills, can shoot three-pointers, can grab rebounds, this is simply another version of Garnett and Nowitzki!

After talking about technology, as well as mentality, at that time Serbia was in turmoil, Milicic's father was a soldier, it can be said that Milicic's childhood was spent in the war, listening to the sound of aircraft cannon Gatling every day, which made people feel even stronger in his heart.

After talking about Milicic, let's talk about the general environment at that time, when the NBA rose international fever, Novitzki selected by the Mavericks in 1998 and Yao Ming selected by the Rockets in 2002 are typical examples of the team's success, Dumas also wants to copy such an operation, not to mention that the Pistons at that time had a complete lineup, and there were suitable candidates for each position.

In this way, the sad Milicic entered the wrong team at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and met the wrong person, and this person was the old pedant, Larry Brown.

In the summer of 2003, Pistons head coach Rick Carlisle was out of contract and took up the coaching whip of the Pacers at the invitation of his good friend and Indiana Pacers general manager Larry Bird, who hired Larry Brown on a five-year, $25 million contract.

Larry Brown is a grandmaster-level mission in American basketball coaching circles, Popovich's mentor, and he is so great that he has entered the halls of fame in the NBA, ABA and NCAA before he has won a championship!

The previous Carlisle is a typical academic style of play, this Brown is the academic school of the academy, his motto is "play in the most appropriate way", he is strict with the players, and in a word, requires a very clear relationship between superiors and subordinates, to put it bluntly, that is, how I let you play, you have to play, when Brown coached the 76ers, he was stubborn, and finally parted ways with the unruly Iverson.

Brown has always been not very concerned about rookies, this has to be admitted, even though Milicic is the leader, but also from the end of the team's bench, Milicic, who has just joined the league, also performed well at the beginning, but no matter how he behaves in training, he will never be able to enter Brown's eyes, and he will not be able to enter the team's normal rotation at all, another scolding.

Everyone, Brown is not the kind of shrew that scolds the street, as a cultured person, he is extremely sarcastic and sarcastic, such as the opponent scored a goal on Milicic's head, Brown laughed,

Hey, do you make toilet paper in your house, why are you playing softer than toilet paper......

Etcetera.

Brown's attitude towards Milicic can't even stand Billups, and he defends Milicic in public, but he is not the main person of the team after all, to put it bluntly, there is no use.

The reason for Milicic's tragedy, Brown has a certain reason, and part of the reason is Milicic himself, he has never shown a real love for basketball, and he does not have the kind of traditional American players in his bones, the kind of ruthlessness that you beat me, I have to play another one back, and entering the league too early has a great impact on Milicic's mentality, Milicic was still very serious and diligent in training when he first entered the league, but he was depressed when he never got the opportunity, Coupled with a little money in hand, Detroit at that time was not bankrupt, it was an economic powerhouse in the United States, and the economy was developed, and Milicic was less than one

In the first season of his career, Milicic played only 34 games, averaging only 4.7 minutes per game, scoring 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds.

The starting five of this season are Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Big Ben and Memet Oku, Prince made a name for himself in last year's playoffs, and this season he is a stable starter, averaging 10.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, Hamilton is still a stable output of 17.6 points, Billups is averaging 16.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, and Big Ben is averaging 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.

The Pistons ushered in their own season in the middle of the season, and it may be the best reinforcement in team history, that is, Rasheed Wallace, Wallace was originally the star of the Trail Blazers, but the team has not developed much in recent years, so Wallace has not been interested in it, and Wallace bombarded NBA league president David Stern this season, accusing him of exploiting black athletes, this matter has caused a lot of trouble in the city, and the Hawks are also eager to get rid of this hot potato. This year is Wallace's contract year, the latter has made it clear that he will not renew the Trail Blazers after the end of the season, the Trail Blazers sent Wallace to the Hawks, got Rahim, and after just one game, Wallace was traded to the Pistons, which is a large three-way trade, the Pistons got Rasheed Wallace from the Hawks, third-year guard Mike James from the Celtics, the Celtics got guards Atkins and Lynch Hunter, the Pistons have a first-round pick this year, The Hawks got two role players for the Pistons, center Selvie Rebraxia and Bob Sulla.

Rebraxia is a high school forward, but the talent is mediocre, only an average of about ten minutes per game, Sura is a new signing of the Pistons this year, originally expected him to be able to support the guard line, but helplessly played not close to expectations, both of these are role players for the Pistons, the main rotation lineup did not hurt the bones.

The focus here is on Lynch Hunter.

Hunter is a rookie in the first round of the Pistons in 1993, although the ceiling is not high, but the victory is hard work, spent the first seven years of his career with the Pistons, is the team's No. 1 important rotation player, and is also the first little brother of Isaiah Thomas, Thomas in the later period, due to an ankle injury, has been playing and stopping, whenever Thomas does not play, he will definitely hand-pick Hunter as a starter, others cannot, and later after Thomas retired, The Pistons ushered in new leaders Grant Hill and Alan Houston, at this time Hunter, who was already the team's eldest brother, was also willing to play on the bench, giving up the starlight to these two young rising stars, hard work, and then later, Houston left the Knicks, Hunter started again, and struggled to maintain the last glory of the old Pistons, Dumas retired, took off his jersey, put on a suit, and sent Hunter to Milwaukee in order to get Owens, here, still a substitute, a season later, the Bucks in order to get Greg Foster, He sent Hunter to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he received a championship ring as the team's sixth man.

After the end of the season, the Raptors sent Hunter to Toronto in order to get the shooter Karim Rush, in August 2003, the Pistons sent Michael Curry, thus getting Hunter again, and then this year, the Pistons sent Hunter to the Celtics in order to get Wallace, and then, it was all predetermined, the Celtics did not keep Hunter, he was cut without a game, and a week later, the Pistons re-signed Hunter. In 2009, when he was in the Bulls, 39-year-old Hunter was the oldest player in the league, and the Bulls signed him only to teach the 21-year-old super guard, Derrick Rose.