5 biggest NBA Draft busts in history

How did the Detroit Pistons convince themselves that Darko Milicic was the right choice with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft? While LeBron James went No. 1 to the hometown Cavaliers, Detroit missed on four to five great NBA players by going with the Serbian big man at No. 2 in the 2003 NBA Draft.

Carmelo Anthony went No. 3 to the Denver Nuggets, Chris Bosh went No. 4 to the Raptors, and Dwyane Wade went No. 5 to the Heat. These are three of the best players to have played in the NBA the last 12 seasons. The Pistons could have gone with either Chris Kaman or Kirk Hinrich, who went No. 6 and No. 7 respectively, and would have gotten a productive role player for the next decade to put on their team.

Though Detroit would go on to win the 2004 NBA Finals in Milicic’s rookie year, had the Pistons made a more wise selection, they may not have the longest active playoff drought in the Eastern Conference. Detroit wouldn’t have likely had a down period after the Richard Hamilton/Chauncey Billups era in Motown came to a close.

Now that Milicic is in the midst of his kickboxing career at 31 years old and a few years removed from professional basketball, going with him at No. 2 was one of the worst draft picks ever in NBA history. They essentially picked a 15th man on an NBA roster instead of three Hall of Famers and two high-end rotational players.

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