I saw this thought on another forum.

Gortat for Lee in December if Lee signs a one year deal with NY, which is appearing more likely by the day.

I've always loved Lee, for one, so understand that this post comes with a serious mancrush.  That aside, we're talking about one of the best rebounders in the NBA at any size, that's got some good athleticism.  He can finish, and play pretty decent D, and he's young.

NY likes Marcin Gortat.  That much has been previously attested to.  They need a center.  Eddy Curry is one of the biggest (in literal and figurative terms) emabrrassments in the NBA.  Too harsh?  Remember where he was drafted, and watch him fade into history before his 6th year in the NBA.  It's not going to be because of a career ending injury either.

I think the contracts will probably look similar.  My question is, how would Lee fit.

74% of his shot attempts are inside shots (82games), and he doesn't shoot the three... at all...  He shoots .355 on his 2 pt jump shots.  He was a more prolific (3 per 48 for Lee, 1.9 per 48 for Howard), but less efficient (2.6 Ast to TO for Lee, 3.4 for Howard) passer than Dwight.  He does pick up 10% of all available rebounds, but, all in all, I don't see him helping much on the offensive end with Dwight in the game. 

 His per of 19.07 puts him 9th among power forwards, ahead of Paul Millsap, Chris Anderson, and David West, but comments around NY indicate that he's a hindrance on defense.

With those thoughts in place, I'll make the case that the Magic should look elsewhere, despite the hypse, and his great rebounding numbers.

We've all been looking close at the FAs and thinking about how much it would take to sign them.  I'm starting to wonder what the actual pool of money out there looks like.  Lets have a look at the teams in the east, and what they're planning to sign this summer.

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In no way shape or form are any of these options being discussed between the Magic and any of these teams, to my knowledge.  I've simply compiled a list of desirable backup big men, and a list of teams that could use Rafer's services.  Let's match em up, and then shoot at the results until a picture makes sense.

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Pretty sure it was in the second quarter (I'm on a business trip, so I couldn't DVR the replay.)...  Pietrus took the hit on his way to the hoop and Rondo got a good leap for what looked like a block, in addition to the foul.  Replay indicated that the ball touched glass before Rajon trapped it.  The goaltend was not called, and Pietrus missed both free throws. 

Had it been called, arguably, the Magic would have won the game.  A day or two after the NBA botched a late game foul call for the Mavs, this looks pretty ugly to me.  Just sayin...

I was truly inspired by squids opinions on the matter.  =)  I'm not nearly as worked up over it, but that's because I pretty much stopped actively watching the game before it happened, then DVRed back and forth over the incident in slo-mo a few times to make sure I knew what happened.

I'm a little annoyed with Skip for doing something so silly.  (And honestly, it was silly.  If you're going to hurt someone out of frustration, whether that frustration is from getting dogged or from get dirty elbow, shove the guy, or throw him into a scorers table.)  But, I'm not surprised.  Skips been known to participate in knuckleheaded activity before.  I believe he had some trouble with the law towards the beginning of this season in Houston.  It's my impression that his behaviour in Orlando has been considerably more mature than in previous stops during his career.

I'm more annoyed with Eddie House.  His comments after the game were unnecessarily inflamatory.  I saw an elbow from my angle.  I don't think it was a planned elbow.  I think he was going to run into Skip either way, because he didn't realize where he was when he turned around, but decided to rub it in when he did.

And even though the little roller disco punk didn't have anything to do with today's incident, I pretty much despise Rondo's attitude, and the way the NBA has empowered him, and the rest of the Celtics, to live off of this gang mentality.  I don't remember much from the Bad Boy lakers years, other than who was involved, but I've noticed some pretty nasty flagrants this year, and Boston has been at the forfront of the majority of them.  I was incensed that Dwight got suspended for his elbow and Rondo got off for a slap on Brad Miller and the Heinrich incident.  I'm not saying Dwight shouldn't have been suspended, it was clearly an elbow aimed above the shoulders.  I'm saying Rondo has been clearly far more violent than any other player in this years playoffs, and it's out of control.  I fully expect this issue ot come up during this series, and if the league does not stop it now... 

Is he overpaid?  Considering that he's a borderline all-star and compared to other players of equivalent talent and experience, probably.  Is he worth it?  Based on his performance last night, I'd say yes.  We have to remember that Lewis changed his game quite a bit when he came to the Magic.  He plays around Dwight now, not vice versa.  I'm of the opinion that he's an equivalent talent with his former teammate, Ray Allen.  I think both fellas proved they can still get it done when faced with a depleted oster around them last night.

Bring on the Bulls!