Hopefully for Darko Milicic, a trade to the Orlando Magic will serve as the career kick-start the former Detroit Pistons human victory cigar so desperately needs. Otherwise, the 7-footer is destined to be remembered as the Ryan Leaf of the NBA.

Unfortunately, the chances for Milicic aren't good. Given the history of the No. 2 draft pick and its karmic relationship with those picks around it, Milicic’s career might have been doomed from the start.

The similarities between Milicic and the two-word synonym for “draft bust” are striking. Like Leaf, Milicic was picked No. 2 behind a highly hyped No. 1. Like Leaf, Milicic was seen by many pundits -- and even those within his sport -- as having the potential to be perhaps even better someday than that highly hyped No. 1. Like Leaf, Milicic quickly got exposed as not ready for prime time, and as a result his name became a walking punch line.

Most athletes who reach the pantheon of first-name-only status -- such as Milicic’s draft compadre LeBron -- do so because they’re great. Milicic became “Darko” because his failure has been so great. In Detroit, the end of a blowout wasn’t garbage time; it was Darko Time.

To be fair, Milicic, unlike Leaf, has not been known to berate or scream at reporters, heckling fans and his own teammates. He’s never been accused of being a malingerer. And fans have embraced him, rather than turned on him. However, it’s easier for fans to forgive Milicic being a bust when, in his two full years in Detroit, the Pistons won one NBA championship and two Eastern Conference titles.

Being a bust as a No. 2 pick isn’t just a matter of your own struggles. It’s also contingent upon those drafted around you, especially immediately after you, being wild successes. (Just ask Sam Bowie.) It’s not so much LeBron James, the top pick in the 2003 draft, looking good that makes Milicic look bad. It’s also that Milicic appears to be the booby prize in one of the greatest NBA drafts ever. The draft order immediately after Milicic went Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford. (Heck, even No. 9 Mike Sweetney, who’s lately fallen out of favor with coach Scott Skiles in Chicago, would be a step up.)

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Milicic, unlike those other players, wasn’t really needed to step in right away, and perhaps that might have blunted his progress. A middling team such as Orlando is going to be able to get him some consistent minutes night after night, the kind Milicic, or any other player, needs to have a chance to get comfortable and develop in the NBA. Then again, Leaf got playing time early, and look what happened to him.

But whatever Milicic does in Orlando, it might be that karma is not destined to be kind to him.

The history of the NBA (and the NFL) drafts show that it’s rare when both a No. 1 and No. 2 pick turn out to be superstars. The last big 1-2 punch in the NBA was in 1992, with Shaquille O’Neal, followed by Alonzo Mourning; other exceptions included Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, and Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

In fact, history shows that if a No. 1 pick turns out to be a franchise player, the No. 2 is destined to be a footnote at best. If you have a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then you must have a Neal Walk. To get a Magic Johnson, you must follow with a David Greenwood. For every Bill Walton, a Marvin Barnes. For every Tim Duncan, a Keith Van Horn. For every Peyton Manning, a Leaf.

If James had been a bust, karma would have shined a warmer glow onto Milicic, because this relationship works the other way, too. Bob McAdoo was a No. 2 pick, behind LaRue Martin. Earl Monroe was taken after Jimmy Walker. Mike Bibby after Michael Olowonkandi. Bill Russell after Si Hughes.

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