Magic may not afford big man
BY JOHN DENTON • FLORIDA TODAY • July 1, 2009
With Vince Carter's $16.3 million salary taking the Orlando Magic deep into luxury tax territory, the likelihood is that standout forward Hedo Turkoglu is long gone and any top-shelf help at power forward will be out of reach.
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Drew Gooden, anyone? Or how about other Magic castoffs from years past such as Juwan Howard or Steven Hunter? Or possibly even Chris Wilcox, Shelden Williams, Joe Smith or Rasho Nesterovic.
Or could Orlando reunite with Tony Battie, traded last week in the Carter deal -- if his contract is bought out by the New Jersey Nets?
In other words, any hopes Magic fans had of seeing a major upgrade at power forward in the form of Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess or Brandon Bass likely are gone because Orlando almost certainly won't have the financial wherewithal to attract such players.
With the July 1 start of the NBA's free-agent courting period hitting at midnight hours earlier, the Magic turned their top priority toward trying to retain backup center Marcin Gortat, a restricted free agent whom they can match any contract offer he receives if they so choose to so. But clearly, finances are tight now with Carter on board.
Orlando has $68 million committed to eight players with $50.2 million of it going to Rashard Lewis ($18.8 million), Carter ($16.3 million) and Dwight Howard
($15.1 million). Adding the required five more bodies to the roster will take the payroll to $75 million, some
$6 million above the projected luxury tax threshold of $69 million. That dollar-for-dollar penalty will take the Magic's salary commitment next season to about $81 million.
The Magic's only chances of landing Wallace or McDyess, it would seem, would have been to offer their entire mid-level exception ($5.5 million), but instead the team will break up the exception and use it to sign multiple players. In a double-whammy of sorts for the Magic, Wallace or McDyess could end up with Eastern Conference rivals Boston or Cleveland.
Being out of the running for Wallace, McDyess and Bass puts added pressure on the Magic to try and retain Gortat, the 6-foot-11 center from Poland who played well behind Howard last season while averaging 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds. He is a seen as a blossoming talent around the NBA and is expected to attract much interest because of his size and rebounding talents. The Magic would likely match any offer at $4 million a season, but might lose the center if another team offers its full mid-level exception ($5.5 million).
"There's no question we still need to get bigger. Even if we're able to re-sign Marcin, we'll still need another big (man)," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said."The minimum that you want to go into a season with at the (power forward) and (center) spots is five guys and you might even want a sixth."
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The Magic were pushed around physically and beaten on the boards by the Los Angeles Lakers, losing the championship round 4-1. The thought was that the Magic need more rebounding and toughness around Dwight Howard. And if the Magic added a starting caliber power forward the team could move Lewis back to his natural position of small forward.
Instead, Lewis will now likely stay at power forward and either Mickael Pietrus or J.J. Re will start alongside of Carter on the wings.
Warning him that the market could be lukewarm this summer with few teams s ing out big contracts, Orlando attempted to keep Turkoglu with a four-year extension onto his current deal. But Turkoglu turned that down, opted out of his Magic contract and started looking to secure a $10 million-a-year contract. Portland, Toronto and Sacramento are the favorites to sign Turkoglu, Orlando's leading scorer in the Finals at 18 points per game.
Van Gundy feels the addition of Carter makes the Magic significantly better because of his ability to create offense on his own. Carter gives the Magic another 20-point scorer and a creative, athletic playmaker who is a better passer than most realize.
And Van Gundy also believes the addition of power forward Ryan Anderson has been overlooked. Anderson, a 6-foot-10 power forward with 3-point range, was included in the Carter trade. Orlando sent Courtney Lee, Battie and Rafer Alston to New Jersey.
Anderson averaged 7.4 points and 4.7 rebounds last season, while hitting 36.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
Van Gundy pointed out that Anderson averaged as many rebounds per minute as Wallace and Battie last season and he made as many 3-pointers per minute played as Wallace at a better percentage.
"Anderson is going to be much more of an addition than people think," Van Gundy said. "He's a name that gets totally left out as if he were just a throw-in. The deal was made for Vince (Carter), but people are discounting what we got back in him. People got to know Courtney (Lee) and he played well for us in the playoffs. We certainly lost a good, young player, but we got back a good, young player.This is a guy who is three years younger than Courtney and he fits the way we play very. He's a good player who is a good fit. I'm not trying to make him out to be a star, but he's certainly at Courtney's level. That is sort of lost in the shuffle."
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...20/1002/SPORTS
In other words, any hopes Magic fans had of seeing a major upgrade at power forward in the form of Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess or Brandon Bass likely are gone because Orlando almost certainly won't have the financial wherewithal to attract such players.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...20/1002/SPORTS
Beat you to it
After me..I guess we're teaming up..Beat you to it
One down, two others to fight.
So with Orlando out of the running, Houston going after Gortat, and Cleveland seemingly going after Villanueva, is it pretty much between Boston and San Antonio? Am I missing someone?
According to Bucher LA
Portland? They could offer him more than us, but have less chance at a championship and haven't really been mentioned as a possible suitor. Who knows if he'd even want to return there anyway. I only bring them up because they like to screw us. Hopefully they're more concerned with Turkoglu or Odom.
TD vs. KG..
Portland would never get somebody from the JailBlazers days..they're very conscious about the image of the team..
Portland is maxing out their money going after Turkoglu.
Glad to hear it.
I've also seen Atlanta and Dallas mentioned ( http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130156 ), as well as Denver ( http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/9...free-agents-go ), though I don't know if any of those options are very likely.
Bleacher Report
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...ng-combination
Get your ass down to S.A. Roscoe!
Sheed in Boston backing up KG? Yeah that isnt going to happen. I wouldnt mind having a possible Sheed/Baby backup duo but I just dont see it. If Sheed is smart, he will chose the spurs. That is the best fit for him. Celts have other needs: Resigning Glen Davis, adding a wing player, and looking for a backup pg.
You guys aren't taking back Starbury? Seems like taking him back would be best for both parties IMO..
"Other options and rumors around the league; Although he'll have several pursuers, I heard on ESPN Radio that the most likely landing spot for Rasheed Wallace might be in San Antonio "
Probably a radio interview with Chris Broussard.
How do you feel about your guys letting Powe walk? I thought he would be resigned, knee injury and all.
Yeah that's what I thought
I am not too thrilled about it if we dont (and I dont expect it) land Sheed. I loved the energy he brought and it would have been very cheap to keep him. I hope Ainge knows what he is doing.
If Starbury accepts a cheap contract, I have no problem bringing him back. I guess I expect him to attempt to go to a team where he could start.
Yes, it looks like it is between Spurs and Celtics.
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