Have the Magic gotten better or worse this off season?

[carrao45]

No. They got worse. In fact, the Orlando Magic are the Epic Fail of the summer. You don't let go of 2 starters the summer after making the NBA Finals.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Most people in this thread say VC is an upgrade, but not on that team methinks. The beautiful thing about Turk is that he can do it all and loves to distribute the ball - that can't be said of VC. I say VC is a downgrade, not in terms of talent, but FIT.

Bass replacing Gortat is pretty much a wash, Anderson for Battie is a win (I really like Ryan Anderson - swap Bonner for him in a heartbeat), losing Alston is a win, losing Lee a loss.

Why reshuffle a team that, if they hadn't choked at the line, could have led the Finals? They should have kept the team together and made another run with Finals experience under their belt. Their best attribute last year was chemistry - will the new squad find that? I say not to the same extent.

Weaker.

[Chieflion]

I say they have become a tiny bit better. Vince Carter is a talent upgrade and will play harder in a winning team. Although they have lost Lee and Turklogu, they got Bass who can play the 4 and shifted Lewis back to his real position at the 3. They also acquired Ryan Anderson. Until Gortat is officially on the Mavs, then I will make a further comment.

[spurspokesman]

No. They got worse. In fact, the Orlando Magic are the Epic Fail of the summer. You don't let go of 2 starters the summer after making the NBA Finals.

Epic fail cuts it. Right on.

[Bob Lanier]

Most people in this thread say VC is an upgrade, but not on that team methinks. The beautiful thing about Turk is that he can do it all and loves to distribute the ball - that can't be said of VC.

Sure it can. Carter is not an egomaniac or a chucker - he's always been perfectly willing to pass.

[thOOdee]

slightly worse.....when you lose a 6'10 guy like turk who is clutch and can dribble along with a solid role player in lee it would be hard to bounce back. even w vince in the line up. One of those allstars who hasnt proven anything needs more touches and when you play teams ala lakers, that 6'10 height from turk really helps when defending the kobes of the nba. gortat replaced w bass is not too much of an impact but def worse.

[Culburn369]

slightly worse.....when you lose a 6'10 guy like turk who is clutch and can dribble

Hedo's been a dead stick since his Sacramento days when the Lakers busted his crack. He, Predrag & the Maloofs ain't ever gotten over those ass thrashings.

But, that just the way it is. Shoulda never walked from Horry. And you know Adelman begged CWEBB not to out of the timeout.

Just shows to go ya.

[Culburn369]

Sure it can. Carter is not an egomaniac or a chucker - he's always been perfectly willing to pass.

And, and, and, where's the rest of it, Lanier? You know where you Detroit posters always finish each post by thanking the Spurs for kicking your ass in the 2006 Finals.

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

Sure it can. Carter is not an egomaniac or a chucker - he's always been perfectly willing to pass.

Not an egomaniac? Really?

We shall see.

[bostonguy]

I personally think they have gotten worse. That bench is pretty weak. Johnson/Red /um who the is their backup small foward?/Bass/Anderson. They need a backup center and 2 backup wing players. They are really thin for depth wings. Anthony Johnson is doable for backup pg duties and I think their backup bigmen will be fine if they sign a center.

[JamStone]

There is some notion that the back-up wing position will be hard to fill. I think that's not true at all. First of all, the Magic have a lot of flexibility in that regard because they have guys like Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter who play other positions but are capable of playing some minutes at the small forward position. Plus, the Magic still have Pietrus, who may or may not start depending if the Magic decide to move Rashard Lewis back to small forward. They do need another back-up wing or two, but even right now, they could be fine if they had to go without picking up an additional wing.

Moreover, there are a bunch of free agent swing men that may end up becoming cheap because of the state of NBA teams economically, how most of those teams with cap space already spent money, and very few teams willing to spend the MLE because of next summer.

Players like Marquis Daniels, Jamario Moon, Matt Barnes, Linas Kleiza, Desmond Mason, and Keith Bogans can all end up being players that will end up taking much less than the MLE to play for NBA teams if they don't go to Europe. And, unknown players teams take chances on could end up being diamonds in the rough, just like players like Jamario Moon or Anthony Parker or Trevor Ariza ended up becoming when given a chance to play. The back-up SG/SF spot shouldn't be much of an issue for the Magic.

The back-up center positions, however, does need to be addressed. They still have time to find a decent back-up center. There are a few out there that might be had for cheap as well. Jamaal Magloire, Melvin Ely, Mikki Moore, Jason Collins are just a few names that any NBA team might be able to sign for really, really cheap.

[TJastal]

They lost Lee and Hedo you say?

I don't think that hurts as much as people think.

As long as Nelson stays healthy for the whole season and they find some kind of replacement for Gortat or match offer for him, they will be fine. Not only fine.. they'll be even better than last year. , I'm going to go out on a limb and say way better even. Ok, fine, I'll just say they are going to win the East next year if the above conditions are met.

With the signing of Bass and the FA pickup of Ryan Anderson, the magic have become way more versatile in the frontcourt. Bass is a guy who will give that team some bulk that they are desperately lacking in the paint, and allows Shard to move to the 3. Ryan Anderson will surprise a whole lotta folks this year with his offensive repertoire. This kid is gonna make magic fans forget Lee in a hurry. As nice a player as Lee was, most of the time you have to give up good talent in order to get something in return (unless your the lakers, then you get Pau Gasol for a box of toothpicks and a couple of old roaches at the bottom of the ashtray).

Oh yah, the magic also got this guy named Vince Carter in that trade. Is he going to bring Vin-sanity to Orlando? I think so. This guy has been waiting around his whole career to play on a winner. He's going to go into the season with his guns blazing. @ the ppl who think he cannot replace Turkeylou. He'll do everything Hedo does only better. And then do a few more things that Turklou could only dream of doing. Carter is a proven bonafide scorer in the league, where Turk is at best inconsistent. The magic will know they can count on 25 from Vince any night if thjey need it. With the offensive weapons they have, they will rarely need that much. But just having a guy that can give you that any day of the week will be a big plus for them.

I also think Red will break out of his slump and give them some solid bench play, he's due. Too good a shooter not to.