Veteran NBA forward Tayshaun Prince recently speculated the possibility of his old Pistons squad, the one already featuring the likes of Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace, being even better than what they were.
Prince believes the Pistons team, who went on to win the title in 2003-’04, could’ve won as many as four championships if the team decided to draft Carmelo Anthony in 2003.
He joined CBS Sports Digital on Thursday to discuss the matter:
“I think if we did take Melo, maybe two, maybe three, maybe four championships,” Prince said. “And then after my fourth or fifth year, now you have to decide what you want to do. But at least you know going in, if you take Melo we got a guy. And who knows, he comes off his bench the first year or two, or maybe they insert him into the starting lineup, whatever.
“But we knew coming in, if he could come in off the bench and accept that sixth man role, we’d be pretty awesome for the next five or six years before they make the decision if they’re going to keep me or him.”
The Pistons ultimately drafted Darko Milicic with their No. 2 pick, allowing players such as Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, David West and Carmelo Anthony to be picked by other teams. Milicic would later move on to become a massive disappointment, never truly living up to his potential and status as a top draft pick.
If the Pistons did select Carmelo Anthony, and he were to be paired with the lethal combination sported by the 2004 NBA champion Pistons team, well, perhaps we would’ve been able to see an actual “superteam” holding four or more stars before the present day Golden State Warriors.
