Looking Back at the Darko Trade

Darko Milicic made his long-awaited return to Detroit last night, returning to the Palace of Auburn Hills for the first time since the Pistons traded the former second overall pick to the Magic last year. Orlando also received Carlos Arroyo in that deal, sending Kelvin Cato's rotting corpse expiring contract and Orlando's (top-five protected) 2007 first-round pick to Detroit.

Darko got a mixed reaction from the Palace crowd, though the jeers certainly outweighed the cheers. From the Orlando Sentinel:

Viewed as a draft bust from the decorated class of 2003, Milicic exited Detroit after two-plus seasons with a sizable chip on his shoulder. As the enemy, he was greeted by hearty boos and scattered catcalls. When he let a pass skip through his legs, a la Bill Buckner, the crowd broke into a sing-song "DAR-KO" chant.

"I thought there were going to be haters, guys who don't like me," Milicic said. "That's part of it when you buy a ticket. They come to talk. They can't play. They come to talk and get drunk and yell. The crowd here is tough."

It was an underwhelming performance, as Darko finished with seven points on 2-9 shooting with seven boards and two blocks in 32 minutes. In hindsight, the Magic are currently ahead on the deal, but not by much. Darko Milicic has shown glimpses of potential in regular playing time, but it's still not clear if he's worth the hefty contract it will take to keep him this summer. And while Arroyo has been popular among Orlando's large Puerto Rican fan base, his production has been uneven as a backup and he hasn't always been able to stick in the rotation.

As for the Pistons, well, Cato's cap space wasn't enough to keep Ben Wallace in Detroit, so it's easy to write off the deal as a disaster ... but we can't really pass judgment until we see what fruit the draft pick bears. Remember, the only reason the Pistons had the second overall pick in the 2003 draft in the first place was a long-forgotten Otis Thorpe trade made with the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1997.