At 30-5, the Detroit Pistons look set for the future. Their starting lineup is air tight and their bench is vastly improved over last year’s squad, which narrowly lost a grueling seven-game NBA Finals. You’d figure team president Joe Dumars wouldn’t have a large to-do list as the NBA trade deadline approaches, but there is a move that he needs to seriously consider: trading Darko Milicic.

Milicic, the 7-foot pivotman from Serbia and Montenegro, was drafted by Dumars in 2003 at just 18 years old. Only LeBron James preceded Milicic to the stage in that draft.A veritable NBA All-Star team – including Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, Toronto’s Chris Bosh, and Miami’s Dwayne Wade – followed.

Each of those players became cornerstones for their teams, while Milicic receives only occasional playing time and hasn’t been especially productive in his limited minutes. Given that Dumars could have had any of those players, Milicic is, in the minds of many hoopsheads, one of the all-time biggest draft busts. (For my money, that title goes to LaRue Martin, drafted by Portland in 1973 ahead of Bob McAdoo, a scoring machine with a superior NCAA track record. McAdoo is in the Hall of Fame; Martin sat at the end of Portland’s bench and retired at 25.)

Darko sat at the end of the Detroit bench for two seasons while the Pistons were coached by current Knicks head man Larry Brown, but under new coach Flip Saunders, he’s getting a little more burn, averaging six minutes per contest in 19 games so far. In that time, he’s shown some real defensive ability, blocking one shot per eight minutes, though his offensive output is well below league standards. He shoots 42.3% from the field and has bricked five of his eight free throw attempts.

Is there really a market for a player like this?

Well, yes. Smart GMs are becoming acquainted with a concept John Hollinger calls “the second draft”: players who were too young and too raw to be effective when they entered the NBA, but after a few years still have gradually maturing – and marketable – skills.

The best example this season is Dallas reserve center DeSagana Diop. Diop arrived in the NBA straight out of high school in 2001 and spent four years at the end of the Cleveland bench putting up numbers that even Darko betters. Now 23,he was signed by Dallas in the off-season, and his game has taken a big step forward. Diop is averaging a respectable 10.6 boards and four blocks per 40 minutes. His offensive game still needs work (he’s shooting 45.2%, an atrocious number for a 7-footer who camps out near the rim), but Diop is paying dividends and he figures to improve for several years to come. Other players of this ilk include Portland center Joel Przybilla, Knicks center Eddy Curry, and Cleveland forward Drew Gooden.

It’s important to remember that young big men face the steepest learning curve in the NBA because until they reach this level, they don’t face comparably sized players with the combination of speed, quickness, and agility found in many NBA starting centers.

Second draft players will constitute an especially important part of the market as the February 13 trade deadline approaches and into the off-season.

The new 19-year-old age limit, which prevents most high schoolers from entering the NBA draft, caused a rush of players to declare for last season’s draft. As a result, productive college players were pushed to the end of the first round or even into the second.

Consequently, this year’s draft is expected to be very shallow. The free agent market this season is also somewhat weak, particularly since Pistons center Ben Wallace, the best available player, seems like a lock to re-sign with Detroit rather than test the open market. So teams that need talent in the short term will be looking for other avenues, which creates a market for players like Milicic.

Dumars has been a master dealer in midseason. Two years ago at the trade deadline, he made shrewd moves to add forward Rasheed Wallace and guard Mike James, who keyed the Pistons’ title run. This year his motive should be to maximize Darko while he’s still an asset.

Teams like Chicago, the Nets, and Orlando would be improved by the current version of Milicic and would likely pay a nice price for the rights to Darko 2.0. Chicago owns the right to switch firstrounders with the Knicks in 2007, which would certainly benefit the Pistons. The Nets own a Clippers first round pick. In addition, there are players on the trade market like the Clippers’ Corey Magette and Chris Wilcox and, of course, the Pacers’ troubled forward Ron Artest.

Dumars could use Milicic as a means to initiate a multiteam deal and acquire more immediate inside help or solid draft position in the near future.

Meanwhile, shrewd GMs in other cities should be looking to the end of their bench to see if there’s neglected talent that can be maximized in the weeks ahead.