Minnesota Timberwolves: Darko Milicic Era Mercifully Over

Darko Milicic was the No. 2 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and even then there were questions about his ability.  The Minnesota Timberwolves are the latest franchise to experience his lack of skills and are now looking to amnesty him.

Milicic will somewhat unfairly be compared to the other players drafted behind him and that 2003 draft was a monster. Here’s the top five:

No. 1 – LeBron James
No. 2 – Milicic
No. 3 –  Carmelo Anthony
No. 4 – Chris Bosh
No. 5 – Dwyane Wade

For a while, Milicic had the last laugh as he and Wade were the only ones with championship rings but as we’re all aware, that’s now changed.

As a player, Milicic has one decent year year with the Timberwolves. In 2010-11, he averaged 8.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 24.4 minutes per game.

While those numbers look decent, the reality of the situation is that Milicic was horrid on offense and was quite foul prone on defense. He continually put up bad shooting numbers, including 55.7 percent from the free throw line.

Darko is a no-brainer for the amnesty clause. He’s owed $5.2 and $5.7 million over the next two years and has fallen out of favor with coach Rick Adelman.

Did I mention that casting Milicic off means the possibility of acquiring Nicolas Batum? Later Darko, you’re finally free.