Here are some approximated dates/figures that could mean something in any potential CP3 to Orlando trade. I will need more knowledged people to comment on their exact dates/status for these:  

-The TPE expires on July 9th I believe, a date to look at.

-Marcin Gortat can still veto a trade to anywhere until this July 13th or 14th, I think?

-Chris Paul and Gortat have BYC status until July 8-9th too I think?

-James Posey has a 10% trade kicker that, unless partly or fully waiveable by Posey himself, could make him untradeable with the Magic's TPE (est. 6.8mil + 100k allowance limit= 6.9mil TPE. And Posey's 2010-2011 contract is 7.125mil with trade kicker factored in. It can be done I think, but Orlando may have to promise Posey some legal benefits later on.) (Hat tip to MagicfaninTN  for telling me about Posey's 10% trade kicker, and the potential problem in TPE'ing him). I do speculate tho, that TPE'ing Darius Songaila may be highly appreciated by NO.

For the salary numbers I used and trades I worked up, I used ShamSports.com

After the jump is the rest of my post.  It's a loong fanpost guys!, but I broke it up into three parts each separated by a long black line: 1) Why NO might/should trade CP3 to Orlando. 2) My CP3-Orlando trade scenario. And, 3) A potential plan at how Magic will acquire CP3 after 2 seasons via FA.)

Continue reading this post »

Sorry, It has to be said. Every playoffs, Dwight defends even more cautiously and yet gets called for even more fouls. In the playoffs, when wing players get more aggressive and physical with their driving, the refs call it looser on them, but SOMEHOW deem it necessary to call it stricter on big men like Dwight?!!?!

Dwight played only 28 minutes tonight..

against an opponent who RARELY posted/iso'ed their centers or any players up on Dwight. (Imagine if Shaq were a 'Cat and had a couple post ups on Dwight so refs could make up (for the most part) even more foul calls...)

Also, take these cold, hard facts into consideration..

Gerald Wallace averaged 11 points on 32% shooting in 3 games and 45.7 MPG against the Magic in the regular season. That's his 2nd lowest PPG and 3rd lowest FG% when compared against the rest of the 28 teams in the league. Only Boston (another team with good big men) forced Wallace to lower PPG and FG% than Orlando and Dwight..

While Dwight averaged 40 MPG in 4 games against the Bobcats in the regular season. Dwight averaged more MPG against only 2 more teams this year, two Western teams; New Orleans and Dallas.

So I can only say, in summation,

REF, YOU SUCK. (And that I hope the NBA consults with the Refs about this)

I wasn't there in person, nor am I patient enough to wait until the typically excellent OPP Game Recaps. But there was some things I saw in this game that point to possible future changes in the rotation on the basketball floor, and in the trade front thinking. 

It was an ugly game, and many times I felt like the Magic were going to lose. But the Magic have this resiliency to them that truly makes them special. I was observing, and there's been this trend for awhile on it already too, how the Magic have been shifting to get out of their slump and work into an elite form as a team. A game like this against the Celtics, past champions with a better current record than the Magic, is one game but still very telling of where the Magic are now and where they are headed. So I picked up on some key developments.

• There's one hole on the Magic defense as a team, but overall and in general, the Magic can really, really defend. With all the offensive struggles and turnovers the Magic had tonight, the Celtics could not produce well enough offensively. And they shot 47% from the floor and 46% from 3 land too... I had been wondering if the Magic lost too much defensively this year to win a title, but I don't think so anymore.
• That one hole on defense, of course, is the backcourt. It's been disappointing. Beyond the defense, the two starters in the backcourt have also not been there consistently or well enough on offense. 

1. Mickael Pietrus said he was gunning for an All Defense selection, but I have not seen, from my eyes, much more, if any, focus on that end. He's let some easy things get by him recently. I still consider him the best defender, but if he is not focusing and working truly hard, he may keep getting 7 minutes a game like tonight. 
2. Jameer Nelson is a scorer, he says so himself. But he hasn't been effective nor healthy enough in scoring this year. I'm not too worried about his defense because I know he's not fully healthy and I've seen him been a solid average on that side too before, but I believe it's become increasingly difficult for Jameer as the PG to start up or positively influence any ball movement. I love his skillset as a player and can still see him being in the Magic long term, his 10 point spurt alone showed he's capable to still score and create ball movement because he was attacking and being aggressive. But the Magic may clearly need another strong PG always because if Jameer is slumping or unhealthy in general, it can be ugly. I saw this tonight when Jason Williams was the game-closing PG on the floor. He matched Jameer's two assists (a testament to how bad the ball movement can still be for the Magic at times this season so far) and had two fewer turnovers in eight less minutes of play time. But J Will was still the game closing PG in the critical stretch despite nothing special at all in his stat line. I believe this is all attributed to the fact that J Will knows how to run the team slightly better and more confidently than Jameer. That SVG trusts J Will more also. So that's what I took from the interesting development in this game. 
3. Matt Barnes is still not that great, or sometimes even good, of a defender, but he's tough and does pretty much everything else well. I liked his standing up for Dwight in the 1st quarter. I also love JJ Redick's shooting, IQ, and pure hustle. He defends on his hustle and quickness alone tho, he has not enough length or athleticism to do it consistently great. I would still like to upgrade one of these two players' minutes into someone who is a great defender, and if I had to base it off of tonight's game, JJ would be in the rotation and Barnes wouldn't despite his regular rebounding contributions. 
4. The Magic's Vince Carter era has been short so far. It has had it's highs and lows. VC started off the season as a scoring machine and in decent enough efficiency levels. But he keeps getting dinged up with minor injuries and is, in my mind, losing his confidence. SVG is using him less and less, and VC is scoring less and still somehow scoring less efficiently at the same time. He had a few decent games recently in his current slump, attacking the hoop more, posting smaller usage rates for the team, etc... but I think he's been overall not good enough for the Magic... yet. This is the hardest player to gauge for the Magic too. One second he's in this slump and we all dislike him and want to trade him, but another second later he could be in the playoffs making big plays healthy and confidently. I can't ultimately say if the Magic should hold onto VC for the longterm and keep developing his on court chemistry with the team's. But I will point out that, going back to defense here, I believe the Magic cannot afford a defensively weak SG as much as a defensively weak PG or SF. PG's run teams, and there are some incredible starting PG's for teams out there, they're going to score and make ball movement always. SF's play a lot of roles, but in general, do not score as much as the team's guards or premier low post options. Watching many SG's like Ray Allen go pretty much perfect from the field against VC (and to certain degrees, the other Magic backcourt players- JJ, Barnes, MP) is horrible and a big reason to their defensive slippage. I think Turkoglu was a better defender and was given the luxury of defending SF's on a regular basis. This allowed Jameer, Alston, AJ, Lee and Pietrus to guard the backcourt, and all were above average defenders statistically and a big factor to league leading team defense. It is not working out with VC guarding SG's this year. If the Magic replace VC with another star, by decreasing his role or trading him in the future, I contend it can no longer be a defensively weak SG. It must be a defensively good SG, and should preferably be a SF player. A PF changes the whole entire system, but should theoretically work. Tonight, VC played 29 minutes, did not play the game-ending stretch because JJ was more reliable overall and trusted by SVG, and took a highly ineffective team leading (tied with Rashard) 13 FGA's. Perhaps it's time to try VC defending SF's more. I know Barnes is more of a SF/PF, but VC's lack of quickness really hurts him on SG's like Ray Allen and he might've had more luck with Paul Pierce and SF's in general, who uses craftiness and power more than quickness. I know VC's switches onto SF's a lot when the Magic go with JJ-VC lineups and such, but making it happen permanently could prove beneficial. 

• The "Play the Twin Tower's" movement is back. There's always been a contingency of fans who have called for more of Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat pairing together in the frontcourt. And it has been rated statistically inferior to other lineup options in it's small sample sizes in the past too. But tonight, it really worked out to me. Gortat was used heavily with Dwight and played 27 minutes with 8 boards and 3 blocks. He was used in the game-ending stretch as well and was effective there and everywhere else in the game. With this current Magic team, Bass was brought in to do that but was not as defensively successfully, then the Magic did not try it enough with Gortat until tonight. I know it put Rashard at SF, but he pitched in a game leading 23 points on efficient shooting, and was not making any glaring defensive missteps. And as I said before, the Magic can afford less defensive SF's/PG's than SG's in general. Turk was no special defender either and it worked out excellent defensively for the team anyways. I just think there may be something to the twin towers this season, because Gortat and Dwight can prove to be very dangerous defensively together, and it may help the team overall more (perhaps reining in the over-dependence on 3's?). If this became a positive trend or permanent, Gortat would be here for the long term too, so imagine how that dramatically changes the trade front.
• Dwight is getting better. I haven't always subscribed to the idea of force-feeding Dwight. His stat lines always have great FG% but he can't always receive incoming passes and gets a lot of turnovers too. But against LA and tonight with BOS, Dwight has really shown a better ability to hit his hooks and finish offensively thru any means necessary. It's time to start making sure that Dwight always ends up with the team leading FGA's, because it should likely mean more team wins and making an already dominant player somehow better. 

I hope these thoughts seem enlightening to some fellow fans and that they can elaborate further upon them or anything new I did not catch onto this game or recently. 

Ok, so I gathered some trade thoughts and ideas below. It's a bit long, but I've bolded the trade targets and put them all in separate paragraphs. I hope you enjoy reading them and have some thoughts to share like which ones you liked, disliked, which ones could be improved, etc. 

Continue reading this post »

Hey guys, I've been looking at players that could fit the Orlando Magic's style and see if I could make a sensible trade for both sides. Unfotunately, this particular player does not fit with the TPE acquired from S/T'ing Turkoglu (something I would prefer to use, so as to not lose player assets). That's ok in this instance however, because this particular player is very much worth it and this trade idea will likely be my best even if I write up a few more trade ideas in the future.

My criteria for the Magic in a trade is to come out with a defensive wing presence. Mickael Pietrus is such a player, but he's been left solo after Courtney Lee was traded last summer. I believe the Magic have gotten weaker defensively in the backcourt (understandibly with CLee, Alston gone, the injury to Jameer this season, new players still trying to get into a good groove with the team). I believe JJ Redick and Matt Barnes are either simply ok defenders or slightly above average.  

And finally, the trade and my reasoning follows after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

Hey guys, I thought we might be able to pass some boring off-season time by posting some key important things our Magic team will need to do to grab that first championship this upcoming season. Here's some of mine, and in order of priority:

1. Defense. Team Defense.

SVG stated that his priority will be getting the re-shaped team into a total defensive focus. SVG and the camaraderie of the Magic has made a seemingly average defensive team on paper turn into the first rated defensive team last season (Oh, and that one dude.. Dwight helped alittle :P ). SVG says it will take time with Lewis out 10 games, and the offensive chemistry needing to mesh just perfectly that the defense is what will win games early on and the defensive focus should/will be there all season long.

It doesn't have to be the first rated defense again, but it has to remain among the tops of the league for the Magic to grab a championship.

Grabbing Barnes, Bass and retaining Gortat really makes the frontcourt stronger defensively.

But will MPietrus, Vince, and Williams* be as consistent defensively as Lee, and AJ* was.

We can take solace in the fact that Pietrus and Carter rise up to the occasion in the playoffs tho. Pietrus was the 3rd or 4th best overall Magic playoff performer and the best wing defender for the playoffs. Carter is underrated defensively, I'm pretty sure Vince is a better defender than Hedo too.

Watching your own teammates giving it all on D is also a great motivator for chemistry, team defense, and even playing unselfish offense as SVG made a point of also in his recent Williams press conference. This will remain the biggest priority always really, a great defense is an always consistent force and getting stops are huge.

2. Meshing the new players in. Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams, Ryan Anderson.

Jameer, Lewis*, Dwight are the only remaining starters left. JJ and CLee saw alot of starts in the playoffs despite Pietrus getting a majority of the minutes at the spot.

SVG gushes that this team has seriously improved passing-wise, alluding to Vince, Barnes, and Williams mainly I think, and thus should help them all mesh in with the team easier.

I suspect the main starting lineup will be Nelson, Carter, Barnes*, Lewis and Dwight. With Pietrus* and Bass getting near starter level minutes as the lead bench players.

If Nelson and Lewis/Dwight keep playing the Pick and Rolls as unselfishly and effectively as they did last season, the truly dynamic Vince Carter will easily take in Hedo's position as the other main PR'er (Jameer and Vince) and play it more effectively.

Barne's has a good 3pt shot and can drive and dish like a point forward too.

Bass statistically has one of the league's top % midrange J's for big men, taking Battie's role and excelling at it in every facet (and probably getting more PT for it too).

Williams has already said it, he is not a threat on the floor when Dwight and Vince are on the floor commanding attention. Williams will take advantage of that with great passing, 3pt shooting, and some drives.

Anderson may be the man out of rotation luck, but meshing in as a rebounder and excellent 3pt shooter is the two biggest things needed from that spot, and that's what the 21yr old brings already.

It may take some time for the Magic to mesh in offensively, especially with Lewis out 10, but there's too much weapons, team chemistry (yes, already), great coaching, and time (training camp, preseason, 82 games) before the real stuff starts. Magic will be the most dangerous offensive team.

3. The returning player's play/improvements. In order of importance: Dwight, Jameer, Lewis, Pietrus, Gortat, JJ, AJ.

Dwight already dominates games in defensive fashion (I mean.. 9 blocks in one Finals game?!), and his offensive repertoire is getting hacked for being worse than it really is.

But it still needs alot of work. At some point, you just got to kind of accept Dwight may always have Shaq-like FT skills, but you dont see Dwight giving it up yet (still shoots hundreds of FT's a day). Improving FT's would be so huge. First off, improved FT shooting would probably up Dwight's PPG to like 24PPG or more. And more importantly, a late game playoff situation cannot be Hacked-a-Dwight'ed anymore. It would be rendered useless as Dwight would hopefully be a decent FT shooter by then.

Improving his post game should be tied first with FT improvements. Keeping the ball up, adding some more post moves, playing face up more (which I liked alot, saw alot of potential there to get better and be unstoppable there), and improving his hooks could drastically cut Dwight's high TO rate and make him somehow a bigger post threat than before.

A last thing is adding a decent midrange shot would do wonders for Dwight. If he can make them at a fair clip by playoffs time, he will become an even bigger face-up threat (I consider his face-up attack the best way to go, particularly with more offensive skills), because he is quicker than every other big man and would be able to strike with the shot or with the quickness and post moves. He shouldn't try to take more than 3-6 midrange J's a game, his post moves are more valuable, but the other teams finding out that the "universal keep Dwight from getting deep post position" rule is now much less effective will make Dwight an unstoppable force on both ends now, not just the defensive end.

Jameer played tremendous before the midseason shoulder injury. His TS% and shooting %'s were among the very, very top of the league. He was the clutchest player and a perfectly in-sync floor general with the rest of the Magic. The perfect West coast trip, a momentary Top #1 NBA seed status, and simple observation would show that Nelson was really the driving force to the Magic. The subsequent injury later on, and the days until Rafer arrived, showed how bad it was without Nelson. Rafer led the Magic to the rest of the season in a lower team win % than Nelson.

So it goes to say, Jameer needs to come back with a vengeance and at a consistent and high level to lead the Magic to the championship. He doesn't have to shoot mind blowing %'s again, but they should be above average or near those levels again. Nelson has really been playing near that All Star level since about the last few months of 2 seasons ago. SVG has turned Jameer into a great PG from then and onward. He may take some time to get back into game rhythm, but Nelson will be in tip top form and the driving force of the Magic again.

I was going to start worrying about Lewis' age, 30, and health. But the 10 games out effectively ends that concern. He'll be fresh and healthy for the whole season I suspect. He is the most consistent Magic player and an underrated defensive force. He just needs to keep doing what he does, keep the 3pt shots and %'s high. I also really liked his drives and post game he showed alot of in the Philly series. He is an excellent all around talent that can strike in anyway. Just keep being consistent is all Lewis needs to do.

Mickael Pietrus was the best wing defender in the playoffs for the Magic, and his 3pt % and offense also rose in the playoffs. He was clutch and an elite tight defender who would tire out the more amazing opposing wing players (LBJ) and make them less effective. He was everything Otis signed him for last summer and more.

But where was it consistently in the regular season? He had some nagging injuries going in and out of the injured list and he is inconsistent sometimes, but atleast we know he will not feel pressure and rise to the occasion in the playoffs. And still, having MP healthy and consistent in the regular season also would be a big help in acquiring the best seed and the huge homecourt advantage for throughout the playoffs.

I'm already on the JJ bandwagon, well almost.. He really improved his defense and he's become somewhat of a PG in terms of passing ability and facilitating atleast. He's become quite a duo with Marcin Gortat in PR's and passing too. Continued improvement in defense and other areas would be good, but the real thing nagging at me, is if JJ can get to shooting more and at better %'s than last season. Everyone's key to stay on the floor and get PT is if they keep playing good defense or not, but for the most bizarre reasons ever, I think his key is actually if he can just shoot more, and better. Especially when used situationally like this, JJ can be huge for the Magic.

I question AJ's aging and how much slower he may get. And he's not keeping up with the quicker PGs out there, but he is a great defender. His shooting %'s are good too, so if he can keep the defense and shooting solid again, he should be fine. He is a solid backup PG.

Gortat staying steady. I don't think he should be playing PF too much. He is a C and Bass is a good defender. He just needs to keep being a great rebounder and doing all the right things and being in the right spots like he's been doing. Just stay consistent again.

I'm essentially thinking all we need is the returning players to simply play as good as last season. But I think JJ, Jameer, Pietrus, and Dwight can easily all improve from last season. Dwight will be the biggest player by far to want to see that improvement from, and I think we will see that.

So those are my top 3 Keys to the Title for the Magic. What do yall think will be Key(s) to getting the Title for the Magic this season?

Hey guys, I wanted to get a check on what y'all think Manu's health is at right now?

Is he working out now? Or rehabbing?

How many games do you expect out of him this season?

Will he be playing at his prime level too? 

Id love to know as Im in Fantasy league, but also greatly admire the Spurs team. And Im sure this post might be a good checkup to Manu's health situation for his real journey in helping the Spurs get a title. 

Yes, there is a love and hate relationship when it comes to Magic fans and former point guard Carlos Arroyo. You either love or hate him usually. You either see his inconsistencies and spotty defense only, or you see his good shooting style, good offense and crisp PG play that had challenged Nelson and Dooling's PG play at times and had been rewarded at times with a starter spot from as recent as 2 seasons ago and earlier. You might be a Puerto Rican fanatic, or you might be annoyed by the crazy latina fans at games. So what has he done since then? I know only a basic story. 

Carlos Arroyo left before the beginning of last season to play overseas for the Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv team. Arroyo started off great and a few PR fans couldnt help but leave his statlines on Magic boards as a sort of "this is what you missed out on Magic" statement. Yes, what would Carlos Arroyo be if he didn't have a disagreement with the coach, which has happened with former Magic coach Brian Hill in the past- but not with SVG, or as far as I can tell for there was none or was handled very professionally, and after missing some play time, came back in mutual reconciliatory feelings to lead the team to winning the championship while having a stellar season and winning the MVP award. Arroyo is 29, 30 yrs old and is right smack dab in the middle of his prime right now. 

Earlier in the week, a PR online news article stated Arroyo was returning to the NBA FA market, and already has a mystery team heavily interested in him. He is being bought out of the Israeli team to return to the NBA.  

http://www.primerahora.com/diario/noticia/baloncesto/accion_deportiva/cerca_carlos_arroyo_de_volver_a_la_nba/315838

In fact, Arroyo said he was close to signing with a team and that he didn't want to give any more details about it until it was official later in the summer. He is going to Las Vegas to meet with a team. Now, there are 21 out of 30 teams in the Las Vegas Summer League, but every team is actually at the event for atleast scouting and talking. Orlando Magic's scouts are there, and so is GM Smith, and some FO people I would guess. So there is every reason to believe it could just as easily be the Magic as any other team at Las Vegas. The article goes on to talk about what teams it thinks might be logical or good fits for Arroyo. That about sums up the article, besides some news on the PR's national basketball team and some of it's activities this summer.

So who is this mystery team that's close to signing him? And what are some reasons that it could potentially be the Magic? 

Now, this is perfect timing. Arroyo has been a starter, a fan favorite, a championship winner, the MVP winner, and even had to go through some tough issues with his coach before apologizing and coming back to favor, all in one season. Arroyo has had quite a crazy but also very fulfilling season. He is in his prime right now, but at 29, 30 there's not exactly any more hidden upside and he knows it and has no problem with it. He knows he is talking about the backup PG spots with his suitors, or his one close mystery team and he's ready for it. This is not a situation where Arroyo expects to start anymore, and if he is in the Magic's targets list, this would be painfully obvious with Jameer Nelson's stellar play the last 2 seasons and especially this past season, where Nelson was extended by the Magic for the starters job and achieved an All Star status. There's no misconceptions here, Arroyo knows his role, he is a backup PG permanently here if he were to join again. He is at a age where he is also nearing the declining stages too, so his maturity is culminating at an all time high. He would love to add a NBA championship to his achievements and is ready to do everything necessary the team wants.   

In fact, outside of the coaching clashes of his past, Arroyo has had little negative history with SVG, and has never been a chemistry problem for teammates in the NBA. Instead, this is actually one of the best chemistry moves for the Magic, as Arroyo has spent many seasons with the Magic and there are still many teammates from that team 2 seasons ago. They are very familiar with each other and Arroyo remains good friends with some of them and other NBA players. The team bond is there already. Here's a look at Arroyo celebrating with Dwight on one of his more historic alley-oops as it was a game winning play against the Spurs.   :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6EHymC25RM

 Resigning Arroyo would also bring many fans, because he is a fan favorite player and because of his nationality. I don't need to tell the newly luxury tax paying franchise what that brings. Lots of tickets. Lots of merchandise. Lots of money. Magic retain the free agent rights of Carlos Arroyo. I don't know if the rights can be waived or will be dealt away in a super minor deal if its another team that grabs Arroyo, but that seems to suggest something else that could potentially help Magic resign Arroyo. 

On a basketball side of things, Arroyo has alot of familiarity with the Magic system and plays. He has PG'ed the team for many seasons in the past, and it has not changed much since that 2 seasons ago. He brings a solid offensive game, that was at many times, as good and comparable a shooter and penetrator as Nelson. He is a good floor general for the offense, particularly at a backup capacity. He is still very quick and can play heavy minutes consistently, giving AJ rest if he's overplayed, which can be at times past 15 minutes or 3 straight games of heavy playing. He gives a different look than AJ at backup too. I'd imagine SVG would use whichever backup PG calls for the situation, as I think Arroyo is a much better PG than AJ for the offense. If the guards aren't too quick tho AJ is very much better than Arroyo for defense. Tho Magic have not been killed by Arroyo's defense in the past either. Just expect about the same or slightly less defense you get out of Nelson. As long as Arroyo hustles and plays 100% hard, SVG will have no problem.

I've always thought Arroyo as a nice floor general whose best aspect is shooting. He's a great shooter and that's something SVG encourages for the team's shooters. Arroyo does not change the style of play much at the PG spot between Nelson and him. One of Magic's biggest priorities right now is PG depth and having someone to relief Nelson and AJ at above a replacement level would be a big plus. If the Magic and Arroyo's camp agree to a vet minimum salary (Arroyo receiving vet min would be likely), then at that price I would be very hard pressed to find any better PG's out there for the Magic.  

PG- Nelson, AJ, Arroyo, Robinson

UPDATE:

http://www.elnuevodia.com/atentoboston-594738.html

Super short translation: Blazers have shown past and current interest. 76ers show interest, have him on their FA list board if a sign-and-trade of Andre Miller is completed. Celtics and Magic starting to show some legit interests too.

The Celtics and Magic interests into Carlos Arroyo were reported by the site HowardTheDunk.com

International teams Unicaja de Malaga and Olympiakos may show interest.

In the league of Israel, Arroyo averaged 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.2 steals while winning MVP as his team won the championship.

In the campaign of Euroleague, Arroyo averaged 14.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. El equipo llegó hasta la fase octavos de final. (Think that means final eight of Euroleague playoffs).

Hedo Turkoglu going to the Raptors leaves the Blazers as practically the last big cap spender (a few other big cap spenders are rumored to be conserving for another summer) and the Raptors heavily thin at the bench. This means the FA market still has some quality players, but the money left over is small from the teams, and the Raptors MIGHT entertain Sign and Trade ideas with Orlando. After all this is Raptors last big chance to keep Bosh long term and getting Turk is a big plus, but if they devastate their bench, the big plus is just a small plus. Raptors need to renounce about 3+ players to make this work. It makes sense to S/T with Orlando so that Toronto is not outright signing Turk and thus not needing to renounce players. What they trade varies from a big Trade Exception to players like Parker or even Marion (good fit?). If renounced , these players could be picked up by MLE parts and Toronto's previous interests are more open as well like Linas Kleiza supposedy. The S/T is better tho for both teams, Raptors get depth still and Orlando gets a TE or a player or two with no spent MLE yet. Should these two teams do a S/T? Anyone on the Raptors of interest? Any other FA's should be pursued, or be pursued in a 3 way with Orlando, Toronto, ..... ?

Dwight in the middle, and the rest outside making plays like pick and rolls, spotting in a corner or cutting, passing, and shooting. This is the Magic's general way of doing it on offense, and it worked so well a 23 yr old center lead the Magic to the Finals with that lineup system. As it stands, the rotations:

Nelson/AJ OK, VC/JJ OK, MP/ ??, Lewis, Anderson, Dwight/ ??. 

We are missing a backup big, particularly to backup Dwight, but thats a 10-15 min. job, no big deal so spend very, very little on. SVG has alrdy talked about Ryan Anderson and how bringing him in behind Rashard doesn't change the offense at all, when last season brining in Battie or Gortat changed the offense. I don't know how serious SVG was about Ryan backing Rashard up, as GM's/Coaches love to gush about incoming players and what they will bring but then they dont play at all or as effective as expected. However, PER, stats, and Anderson observers could agree with SVG because Anderson has performed good in his first season and backing up Lewis is not only realistic, but absolutely preferred. This is a rookie who arguably had as good a regular season as C. Lee.

That leaves a SG/SF Magic should be taking a look out. They could even be lured with starter minutes and a full MLE, because Mickael Pietrus, a FA SG/SF pickup by GM Smith last summer that performed very well in the Magic's Finals run. has thrived starting and coming off the bench and could take the majority minutes towards the end of games anyways. As well as playing a backup to the 2 spot, the minutes are plentiful for Mickael Pietrus. I have not been looking at many SF's who would fit into Magic's system. But I can start off a few names who should fit in great.

Linas Kleiza- Rumored to be expecting only the MLE, maybe can be lured to less of it if he comes to the Magic. A 24 yr old SF who is a streaky 3pnt shooter at 34% but will likely improve. He is a fair defender too who would get to body into perimeter players for better defense knowing Dwight is behind him. His best skill is high IQ for passing and understanding intricate systems like Orlando's, as well as a strong driving game where he can even take contact and still finish. A great ability to know he can hit 3's, but slash to the rim vey well if need be, or pass around if need be. Denver would like to retain him, but he doesnt fit in with the one on one and loose offense system, the Nuggets are at the tax level without resigning Dahntay Jones or Birdman and as such may not be willing to match near MLE amounts.

Grant Hill- Has expressed desire for only two teams, Pho and Orl. Knows the Magic players, a locker room plus. Was healthy last season, and played at a great level of play. He can still do alittle of everything well, and is obviously a great team player. He would probably take the vet' minimum too. He might be nice to start too, as he likes to get into game rhythmn by starting and his high IQ would potentally mesh easier with the starting lineup than MP's. Altho, MP would still garner most of the minutes as the game wore on, or just start himself instead as he is the best defender now.

Ron Artest- Has expressed desire to stay with Houston, even with Yao's questionable future. But if he changes his mind, he'd be a great fit with the MLE for him and a ring later on. Defensive stopper, and offensively versatile, with a tough attitude that would hopefully rub on the Magic. Ron is mostly a pipe dream here though.

Any thoughts on pursuing a SF instead of a PF to help maintain the Magic's unique lineup? Any specific SF's who need to be of interest to the Magic? Or is a shooting styled, offensively versatile PF who "shouldn't" intefere much with Dwight's offensive spacing still the best option?

Lettin Turk go now, Battie and Alston next summer only puts the Magic under 5-6mil CAP, so they can only outright sign a FA in that category. An idea we've been throwing around the last few days because it was presumed to allow outright signing of a superstar, which is false. This is why you need to resign Turk period. Theres some interesting sign and trade ideas out there where you can convert that 20-24MM of Turk/Alston/Battie to a superstar or swap Turk by himself, but thats complicated trades unlikely to happen, most or all of which are not worth it at all imo.
Thats why Im starting to look at vet PFs, low level FAs to trade exception/trade for. Also Lewis is the cap killer for the Magic’s cap situation, so trading him would be good, but might plunge the Magic into rebuilding for however many seasons the incoming player(s) contract(s)’ lasts. Trading Lewis is not a Zach Randolph/Marbury/Tinsley situation because Lewis is a tough working All Star and clutch sharpshooter, but it would be almost as hard as along those lines. Once again, very, very likely better to keep him imo. Seems alittle foolish to break up either forwards from the Magic team that just made a Finals run.

Given that, Iv gone ahead and thrown some crazy trades out there involving Lewis for half-fun, half-serious looks at. Iv gone ahead and started discussions about them in other team blogs from this SBnetwork. Take a look at the two:

http://www.slcdunk.com/2009/6/16/911976/offseason-questions-a-trade
Trade involves losing Lewis only and taking the main FA incoming for 2 seasons more before giving a huge salary relief. We've alrdy talked about him alittle bit (AK-47!) in previous comments. Here is a scouting report on him:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=434
After I read that, it sounded a much better fit to the Magic than I thought before.

This is the other:
http://www.clipsnation.com/2009/6/17/912410/3-way-trade
Trade involves losing Lewis and Nelson. Taking Baron Davis and Tracy McGrady. Before you freak out, think about it alittle. Baron Davis is an upgrade on Nelson IMO. Here is his scouting report:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/players/hollinger?playerId=194
As you can see, Baron is clearly a top defensive guard on top of the impressive nearly 2 SPG, 8 APG, and 15-17 PPG. A look at Baron's level of intensity when playing is correlated directly to how good the team is that season as well, its a hard to measure stat but seems true on the surface. So playing with the Magic would have him in tip top shape and focus. (hopefully)
Now about T-Mac... I have no intention of him playing for the Magic at all! I dont want him taking 1 minute from C. Lee's playing time. I want him, becuase he swaps out with Lewis' LONG- term contract and gives the Magic 22.4MM for about 19.7 MILLION in CAP ROOM in 2010 summer! Thats just 1 (reiterating, just 1!) "rebuilding" season (this next season) so that Tmacs contract comes off the books (the next summer, the summer of BIG Agents, and the summer of new Arena opening, With Dwight/Lee/MP/Turk-if the Magic want to resign or not/Baron core too. Then, that truly means the Magic are fully capable of out-right signing a superstar contract, and some left over after!

What do you guys think? (funny side note: iv traded every magic player outside of dwight in one trade or another haha) Amend/change the trades if you like, or add a new trade completely regarding Rashard Lewis.

 Hi Clippers Nation. I have an interesting 3 way trade, and wanted to see if the Clips fans here thinks its good.

Teams Involved are Rockets, Clippers, Magic.

Rockets receive Marcus Camby and Tony Battie.

Magic receive Tracy McGrady and Baron Davis.

Clippers receive 08-09 All Stars Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis.

Rockets would like the quality big men because they are expiring contracts like TMac for similar amounts of big money, while giving them the frontcourt depth they'd like and keeping Yao 100% healthy.

Magic would like Tracy McGrady... no they wouldn't like a reunion, but they would like his big expiring contract to allow the Magic some cap breathing room again after next summer. Baron Davis is a question mark due to injuries and focus, but could potentially be a great fit with the Magic, possibly more so than Nelson.

Clippers would like to dump Baron Davis' (who I've heard is unhappy in LA, plays without focus&intensity too much,  and is a rumors trade target) big long term contract and get the much cheaper contract of Jameer Nelson. Nelson averaged 16.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 3.5 RPG last season on incredible 88 FT%, 50 FG%, and 45 3PT% shooting. Rashard Lewis is one of the elite shooting SFs of the league as well, is a slightly above average defender, and has a multi-faceted game headlined by his sharpshooting. Lewis would start at SF obviously, and the Clips could move Thornton to behind where he is still learning the other aspects of the game giving the Clips great depth there. And by dumping Camby, they make room for Griffin to play heavy minutes starting at the 4 most likely, and Kaman at 5, with Randolf as depth.

Nelson, Gordon is a young and great starting backcourt. Lewis/Thornton, Griffin/Randolph, Kaman/DeAndre headline a 2 veteraned, 1 rookie starting lineup, with 2 good young players at 3&5 backups, and the offensive-minded Randolph behind 4 until his big salary comes off the books for the Clips.

What do you guys think? Should the Clippers bite on it?

Im wondering who is staying and leaving from the Jazz this summer? Okur, Boozer, Millsap, AK47, Korver? Which players do the Jazz fans want to keep, and the Jazz team seem rumored to want to keep? Atleast in terms of priorities, or can the Jazz just resign every impact player this summer?

If the Jazz traded AK47 (Who Iv heard has lost alot of impact switching from PF to SF because of Millsap/Boozer) and Harpring (a 10 min. player at 6.5mil) to the Magic for Rashard Lewis and a 500k-800k 1yr Magic player, the Jazz would gain about 4.4-4.5mil extra salary room immediately this summer to help resign both Boozer, Millsap or the other impact players. I dont know if it'd be enough because of the above questions I have, but I'm pretty sure it'd be enough wiggle room. Rashard Lewis is a combo forward, but a natural SF. He are his latest season numbers: 17.7PPG, 5.8RPG, 2.6APG, 1.0SPG, 44%FG, 40%3PT, 83%FT.

Scouting report: Rashard Lewis is a deadly shooter, and at 6-10 it's extremely difficult for defenders to challenge his shots. That ability also makes him a post threat against smaller defenders, but with the move to the frontcourt and the presence of Dwight Howard in the middle, we rarely saw that in Orlando. (side note: this bumps his PPG down abit, along with being a 3rd-4th option most times, but is very capable of 20+ PPG seasons esp. back in his natural SF spot) Lewis is a good driver, but its an uncommon part of his game, as he likes to take mostly jumpers and 3's at good accuracies. He likes to create a shot without dribbling by making a jab move and then going up with his sweet jumper. Lewis has also had a career high in APG last season, by using his length and improving his passing and court vision. Defensively, Lewis will never be an elite performer. However, his length is an obstacle for opposing shooters, and he's made much more concerted efforts in his last two seasons to become a slightly above average defender. His ability to defend power forwards at least somewhat competently was an underrated reason Orlando's system (using two SFs together w/ 1 center, no PFs) worked last season.

I think Lewis would be a great fit for the Jazz, with Millsap and/or Boozer inside and Williams wreaking havoc everywhere, Lewis' clutch shooting alone out on the perimeter is a great compliment. Everything else seems like gravy. He has a long term contract after that, thats not necessarily pretty I admit, but the reason why i suggest is because Lewis is still an absolutely amazing player; without him no Magic finals run this year, he has hit clutch shots all playoffs long until LA when the whole Magic sucked, he'd space the floor with sharpshooting and not be a defensive liability at all, esp with his length. And it should serve the dual-purpose of giving the Jazz enough salary space to resign whoever they want this very summer, as I made the trades as close to the mathematically possible lines for salary surplus to the Jazz.

Like it, don't like it, be intrigued by it, let me know about that trade, and have fun talking about it. And if anyone can answer the Offseason questions too please, Id much appreciate.

Im not as tuned into the Raptors' needs and wants as much as I am with the Magic. And perhaps this trade will not be liked by either side. But for the sake of summer fun and pretend GM'ing, I've come up with a pretty comprehensive trade between the two teams. And as I played around further with these ideas, I came up with a very, very good trade for both sides (I would like to think so atleast). Here it is below followed by details as to why both sides would do it.

Magic send to Raptors Hedo Turkoglu on a new 8-13mil per yr contract, Marcin Gortat on a new 4-5.5 mil per yr contract, a future 1st round pick or two as see fit by both sides, Rafer Alston on his last yr of contract at 5.3mil with a partial buy-out option, and Courtney Lee currently on his cheap rookie scale contract.

Raptors send Marcus Banks, Patrick O'Bryant or other filler as needed to finish trade, a future 2nd round pick, and Chris Bosh.

Why?

Lets look out for the Raptors here first. The big reason first, Chris Bosh does not want to sign an extension this summer, out of all the big agents in "the" 2010 summer, Bosh is rumored to leave the Raps more than the other respective stars of the league. Is it true we'll never know, but the Raptors are internally debating to get the most out of him through a trade instead. The Raptors are also rumored to be interested in Hedo Turkoglu, and will have better chances to take him if the Pistons dont throw big money. Turkoglu is a sharpshooter SF who can obviously also playmake very well. He seems to be a very good fit for the Raptors. Raptors are likely to prorate Shawn Marion and he will not lose minutes because Bargnani/Gortat/Turk/Marion are pretty interexchangeable in those 4 spots. Or the Raptors can let him walk as he is a FA now. Their choice. I like the first one for depth, lineup versatility, and toughness Marion gives though.

Here's where Raptors cash big on young pieces;
The Raptors are desperately needing Toughness and Rebounding. I heard this phrase alot concerning what the Raptors needed before. Side note: Critics say this about the Magic too lol. With Marcin Gortat, the Raps will have a legitimate starting center who had one of the highest rebounding rates in the league along with a good pick and roll game and offensive skills down low. No injury history and  just 25 yrs old. This moves Andrea Bargnani, the PF/C who finally exploded offensively into a great player, to a PF spot. This is great because quite frankly Bargnani is still not a good defender, esp. at the Center spot!

With Courtney Lee, the Raptors may finally end the SG quest. Despite being just a rookie, Courtney Lee took over the starting SG spot for the Magic by alittle over the halfway point of the regualr season, and was the key defender the Magic used to stop most other teams' best players. He also was a leading scorer for the Magic in the 1st round series until a face injury, coming back to guard LBJ and Kobe in later rounds, playing with high poise, good defense, and scoring efficiently. The future is very bright for Lee and this was a component of the trade I was most hesitant to add to be honest. He looks like he is going to be able to easily increase his offensive role in the future, and the Raptors can stop chasing one of Parker or Delfino who are much pricier, are less defenders, and have less potential than C. Lee. The Raptors can still draft a SG and create a good SG dilemma or fill the Marcus Banks void with a PG from the PG-rich draft.

The one or two future 1st rounders obviously go towards the drafting young talented pieces along with the Raptors' own picks or to be used as trade chips as however they see fit to use the picks.

Rafer Alston lead the Magic to the Finals as a starter, and is ready to accept a backup role he has said publicly. He is a true PG with great passing and defense. He is on his last yr of a 5.3mil contract that will give the Raps some cap flexibilty. They can also do a partial buy-out on his contract to save money right away if they so choose. The bigger cap relief here is that the Raps are essentially dumping the bad, long-term contract of Marcus Banks for an expiring contract of a better PG.

There's the Raptors side of it, they are getting tougher and younger at the same time. Getting more cap flexibility and more draft picks. Great returns on Bosh, and I would very much daresay a 1st round/2nd round playoff threat.   

PG- J. Calderon/Alston and/or draft, SG-C.Lee/Parker and/or draft/Marion, SF-Turkoglu/Marion, PF-Bargnani/Turkoglu, C-Gortat/Bargnani.

On to the Magic's end of the trade;

The obvious, big thing here is the Magic get Chris Bosh to play with Dwight Howard and the Magic. On top of it, Bosh is a PF who can put Lewis at his natural SF spot where he is always more comfortable than now. Bosh is a high post operating player who won't get in Dwights way in the deep post much. Bosh also has high fouled rates like Dwight but combines it with a high FT % (Hmmm, what an interesting strategy... he makes his FTs!). Bosh should still post better defense than the out-of-position Lewis, and another added bonus on offense is Bosh's strong ability to pass out of double teams.

Magic do take some risks in still drastically restruncturing their system on offense mainly. Plus, Bosh has only played more than 70 games per season just once in the last 4 seasons because of repetitive minor injuries. Quite frankly tho, the benefits and potential greatly outweigh the risks to me.

The Magic would be abit hard pressed financially. I imagine they'd be in luxury for a season or two actually, and the bench depth could get skeletal. But once again, benefits and potential greatly outweigh here. Magic need to go all-in here and show they take good risks and get it done like GM Smith did with Alston at the very deadline this last season. To finish the trade the Magic would also be taking a future 2nd to cheaply fill out the roster and hope for another golden find like they did with C.Lee this last season, a cheap big like Patrick O'Bryant (and/or other filler) to make the numbers work exactly and add another big to the Magic roster (Hey,a big is a big, use his fouls or something!). 

The Raptors would also get to dump the bad, long-term deal of Marcus Banks onto the Magic to make the numbers work and get cap flexibility. The Magic have to take some lumps with the good, but Banks is supposedly a decent defender and shooter, and past history indicates that if Nelson is the only good PG on the roster he will be at his best with the added job security. Anthony Johnson is always the good'ol reliable backup here too if Banks fails at the backup job.

There's the Magic side of it, losing some money, depth, and youth in return for some pieces, a 2nd rounder, and the one and only, Chris Bosh! Would be a risk I would forever love the Magic for bodly taking,  and end up very, very probably giving the Magic their first championship soon.

  PG- Nelson/ AJ/Banks, SG- Pietrus/JJ Redick, SF- Lewis/Pietrus, PF- Bosh/Lewis/Battie, C- Howard/Battie/OBryant.

Let me know your ideas and thoughts on this trade, especially if your a fan, or person of knowledge, for the Magic or Raptors! Im sure I have some mistakes and small holes on a overall very good trade proposal. Check out the poll too.

Except for some missed critical FTs, Turkoglu played a great game. He was the best Magic offensive player, but when I see the 2nd half collapse of Magics offense in the last Game 4, I feel that is the cause of loss more so than these later specific moments like missed FTs from multiple players, bad defensive close outs, missed shots, etc.

Doing a pick and roll with Turk is one of the Magics best plays, but all I was seeing in that 3rd and 4th was the Magic PGs bringing the ball up the floor, giving it to Turk at the top of key, and running to dissappear in a corner, effectively making a 4 on 5 situation. What happened to Jameer? Going from slicing up the Lakers defense in dribble penetration from the regular season games to being so invisible now. When Rafer Alston was attacking the paint all the time in the 1st half, the Lakers defense gets out of thier comfort level. Every teams defense gets uneasy when there's some driving and dribble penetration. How can the Lakers not defend a Turk pick and roll poorly when it happens every offensive possession. There are fewer passes, and the defense knows more or less what to expect from the most repeated play in Magic history! It makes it harder for the Magic frontcourt to score with all the defense on it. Can the PGs get some confidence and do something? Can SVG call plays for the PG to get them going and keep them involved all game? Because something was wrong with the Magic offense that last game, and it might have been over-using the Turk pick and roll play making the PGs spectators.

My boy Dwight is the best defensive center in the game period. Less can be said about his offense, but how can we really blame him? USA obligations past 4 summers or so, and a great Lakers defense that doubles and triples him ALL the time.. He is fast approaching more playoff foul outs than Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'neal who have played about 170 more playoff games each than Dwight, and most of these are total ticky-tack or inconsistent calling..

But Dwight is playing really good and mature through it all, he is not showing much frustration, or as much as from earlier series.

I think its time for Dwight to forget about the foul calls on him, and play his game, play to his strengths. He needs to play defense like he knows he's getting 22 rebounds and 5 blocks. He needs to run the floor faster, he is the fastest big on both teams period (and his teammates need to recognize and pass to that). And he needs to keep making clutch free throws, because he has already been making them in critical moments and overall.

He needs to play more all-out efforts because he is the most athletic big out there, while keeping conscious of fouling as best as possible. If he fouls out playing like this, I say he went all-out 'till he had nothing left in him, that he played with the most effort of any Magic player like a franchise center-piece could lead by example with, and if the refs dont call the stupid fouls, Dwight will be there the whole game with a make-up "Defensive Player of Finals" award afterwards.

On his offense, I don't know what Dwight can do here. He can stay patient and keep doing good pass-outs, or sometimes I see like he might have the baseline spin move or a face-up drive if he moves fast right away, then size up the situation and allow the doubles/triples come faster (altho sometimes they come just before Dwight even gets the ball... so dont know). I aso want to talk about how Dwight lowers the ball in his hands too much. You know exactly what Im talking about. Its a good 'ol patented Magic moment where we scream why did Dwight just repeat this TO and ranks right next to Turk's infamous "why no effing foul call while I TO the ball" layup?!?! (Altho to be fair, we havent seen that Turk drive much at all lately) Perhaps the Magic can employ more Dwight pick and rolls and hit Dwight rolling down from a top of key passer? When the wings bring it out near the corner, it becomes so obvious they will pass in to Dwight! Mix that up.

I think all Dwight needs to do is play his defensively best for the Magic to win, but what's some thoughts about Dwight or his struggling offense?

Rashard Lewis is always a very consistently good player on both sides of the floor, and doesnt deserve this flak like the more inconsistent Turk and Dwight.

But, this is supposed to be a mismatch on both sides, so Lewis needs to Wake Up, he needs to be aggressive with drives, post ups, demand the ball, shoot more, and especially do pick and rolls with Turk to exploit thier mismatches and get them out of a defensive comfort zone. Lewis got the Magic to the Finals with steady aggressive play and clutch shooting, he needs to take it all the way home now.

Ok, two things first.

I fully expect the Magic to win the series against the Cavaliers tonight or Monday night at the Q. If the Cavaliers win the series, they are the better team.. for now.

There is no corporate/NBAratings ref officiating conspiracy. Just inconsistent reff'ing throughout the games and unfair calls, whether missed or misinterpretted by the refs. They are people and they try their best. My best theory is that they are blinded by LBJ's legitimate Legendary skills and thus most calls are indeed most (or all) likely in LBJ's favor. And given that Dwight is no pretty offensive powerhouse at times (for now..), they feel more free to call it on him. Now to make it worse for the officiating refs, both Dwight and LBJ are total whine babies way too often with the reff'ing and need to both take it down a notch or altogether stop it.

But here's where I finally get to the mainpiece of this fanpost which this NBA.com Rob Peterson http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5700037939 points out.  

We have another fanpost on TQC http://www.thirdquartercollapse.com/2009/5/29/892767/188  that looks at LBJ's amazing rate of FTAs with even less playoff games than the others in NBA history. But thats not EVEN the big problem when concerning the Magic and Dwight Howard.

Its that Dwight Howard as quoted by SVG on the same date as this fanpost (saturday, before game 6 of magic-cavaliers)- "I don't think there's a player at his level in the history of the league who has been called for as many fouls," Van Gundy said. "He's fouled out four times in 31, 32 or whatever it is playoff games (editor's note: it's 31) and Tim Duncan has fouled out six times in a 190 playoffs games."

[Further taken from Rob Peterson's article, ]

Actually, Duncan has only fouled out of four of his 160 postseason games, which is amazing in itself. Shaquille O'Neal has fouled out of 11 of his 201 postseason games!

By comparison, Howard has already fouled out of three of the five games this series!

"He doesn't get the benefit of any call," Van Gundy said. "Anything close is a foul. For them it's good strategy because right now, any contact, straight up-and-down or not, it's a foul."

Ok, so Shaq called SVG a Master of Panic earlier in the regular season after flopping on Dwight and being jokingly chastized by SVG for it. But on his Twitter Shaq has predicted the Magic would win by 30 against the Celtics in Game 7 (Which ended up pretty close to his pred.), wrote something along the lines " I told you", and now after Magic's Game 1 win on the Cavs, Shaq twittered "Ok orlando I c u." Is he softening up his stance on SVG and Dwight (who Shaq doesnt have much respect for yet)? Or is he simply observing his very first former NBA city and team? Or is this Shaq's way of trying to get signed up by the Magic, and later become an owner/GM of Magic like he stated he would like to do a few months ago? :P