- Oct 3, 2008
- 120
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[/h1][h1]Magic continue to remake roster, complete trade with Suns[/h1]
By David Aldridge, TNT analyst
Posted Dec 18 2010 3:46PM
The Orlando Magic decided not to stand pat on Saturday, blowing up a team with championship aspirations that had been in first place in the Southeast Division for most of the first month of the season. On the same day that the team sent Rashard Lewis to Washington for Gilbert Arenas, Orlando agreed to jettison forwards Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus, center Marcin Gortat, a future first-round pick and cash to Phoenix for veteran forward Hedo Turkoglu, guard Jason Richardson and second-year center Earl Clark.
All-pro center Dwight Howard is on board with all of the deals the Magic made, according to a source, feeling that Orlando did not have the same energy this season that it had had in the last couple of years. Howard can opt out of his contract after next season and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012, the same offseason that New Orleans guard Chris Paul would be free. That would obviously create a free agent frenzy similar to that of this past summer, when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade headed a star-studded free agent class.
The mega deals completely change the face of the Magic,who are sitting with a solid 16-9 record this season, and reunites Turkoglu with the team where he played his best basketball, helping lead Orlando to the Finals in 2009 at power forward alongside Howard. It also will reunite Arenas and Richardson, who starred together early in their careers in Golden State.
But Turkoglu has been a disaster ever since. He flamed out after signing a big free agent contract in Toronto, lasting just one season with the Raptors before being dealt during the offseason in a trade for guard Leandro Barbosa. And Turkoglu also struggled in Phoenix. The Suns had hoped he could play the hybrid power forward position that they've used to great effect in past seasons with Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. But Turkoglu never figured out a way to play with Steve Nash, and his energy was so low, a team source said, that he was beginning to drag down the effectiveness of backup guard Goran Dragic as well.
"It was almost like he retired," the source said.
The Suns had to do something, barely on the periphery of the playoff race in the west at 12-13 after making the Western Conference finals last season. Phoenix needs size, and the 6-foot-10 Gortat should be able to step in immediately and help inside. Pietrus had fallen out of favor with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, but seems tailor made to play the up-tempo style Phoenix loves to run with Nash at the controls. The gamble is with the 33-year-old Carter, who has not been the same high-flying player he'd been earlier in his career.
The hope is that the Suns can get Carter interested "in being a helluva player again," the source said, but the gamble is minimal because Carter's $18 million contract for next season is only guaranteed for $4 million next season.
The Orlando-Phoenix deal was first reported by ESPN.com.
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[h1]Wizards trade Gilbert Arenas to Magic for Rashard Lewis[/h1]
By David Aldridge, TNT analyst
Posted Dec 18 2010 4:13PM
The Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic are close to a trade that will send guard Gilbert Arenas to Orlando in exchange for forward Rashard Lewis, a league source tells TNT's David Aldridge.
The proposed trade was expected to be completed Saturday, perhaps before the Wizards played the Miami Heat Saturday evening in Washington and the Magic host the 76ers in Orlando.
The deal would rid the Wizards of one of their biggest public relations headaches in years. While Arenas helped Washington make the playoffs for the first time in a decade and became an All-Star playing alongside Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, his infamous suspension for bringing guns into the Verizon Center locker room last December as part of a prank and/or confrontation with then-teammate Javaris Crittenton cast a shadow over the franchise. Arenas was suspended by Commissioner David Stern for the final 50 games of last season and served time in a halfway house in the D.C. suburbs after pleading guilty to one felony count of carrying a pistol without a license.
Arenas returned to the Wizards this season and has played reasonably well, averaging 17.3 points and 5.6 assists for Washington. He would give Orlando someone who can create for himself and others off the dribble, something the Magic have sorely lacked this season as they has struggled at times against the league's better teams. And Arenas' close relationship with Orlando GM Otis Smith, who mentored Arenas while the two were in Golden State, has been well-documented.
Lewis is averaging his lowest point total in a decade for Orlando this season, scoring just 12.2 points a night on 41 percent shooting from the floor. He has struggled at times making the adjustment to playing more small forward this season than he has for the Magic; he thrived as a "stretch four" power forward playing next to center Dwight Howard in previous seasons, but the Magic has opted to give emerging forward Brandon Bass more minutes at that position this season.
The deal could save Washington at least $24 million; Arenas has four years and $80 million remaining on his $111 million deal signed two years ago, while Lewis has three years and $63 million left on the $124 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2007. But only $10 million of the $22.6 million he is owed in the final year of the contract, in 2012-13, is fully guaranteed. Lewis can increase the guarantee if he meets certain performance criteria between now and then.
Though rumors about an Orlando acquisition of Arenas have been circulating for weeks, the increase in intensity in trade discussions between the two teams was first reported Friday night by Yahoo! Sports.
Kindly delete if inappropriate..
[/h1][h1]Magic continue to remake roster, complete trade with Suns[/h1]
By David Aldridge, TNT analyst
Posted Dec 18 2010 3:46PM
The Orlando Magic decided not to stand pat on Saturday, blowing up a team with championship aspirations that had been in first place in the Southeast Division for most of the first month of the season. On the same day that the team sent Rashard Lewis to Washington for Gilbert Arenas, Orlando agreed to jettison forwards Vince Carter and Mickael Pietrus, center Marcin Gortat, a future first-round pick and cash to Phoenix for veteran forward Hedo Turkoglu, guard Jason Richardson and second-year center Earl Clark.
All-pro center Dwight Howard is on board with all of the deals the Magic made, according to a source, feeling that Orlando did not have the same energy this season that it had had in the last couple of years. Howard can opt out of his contract after next season and become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012, the same offseason that New Orleans guard Chris Paul would be free. That would obviously create a free agent frenzy similar to that of this past summer, when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade headed a star-studded free agent class.
The mega deals completely change the face of the Magic,who are sitting with a solid 16-9 record this season, and reunites Turkoglu with the team where he played his best basketball, helping lead Orlando to the Finals in 2009 at power forward alongside Howard. It also will reunite Arenas and Richardson, who starred together early in their careers in Golden State.
But Turkoglu has been a disaster ever since. He flamed out after signing a big free agent contract in Toronto, lasting just one season with the Raptors before being dealt during the offseason in a trade for guard Leandro Barbosa. And Turkoglu also struggled in Phoenix. The Suns had hoped he could play the hybrid power forward position that they've used to great effect in past seasons with Amar'e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. But Turkoglu never figured out a way to play with Steve Nash, and his energy was so low, a team source said, that he was beginning to drag down the effectiveness of backup guard Goran Dragic as well.
"It was almost like he retired," the source said.
The Suns had to do something, barely on the periphery of the playoff race in the west at 12-13 after making the Western Conference finals last season. Phoenix needs size, and the 6-foot-10 Gortat should be able to step in immediately and help inside. Pietrus had fallen out of favor with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, but seems tailor made to play the up-tempo style Phoenix loves to run with Nash at the controls. The gamble is with the 33-year-old Carter, who has not been the same high-flying player he'd been earlier in his career.
The hope is that the Suns can get Carter interested "in being a helluva player again," the source said, but the gamble is minimal because Carter's $18 million contract for next season is only guaranteed for $4 million next season.
The Orlando-Phoenix deal was first reported by ESPN.com.
------------
[h1]Wizards trade Gilbert Arenas to Magic for Rashard Lewis[/h1]
By David Aldridge, TNT analyst
Posted Dec 18 2010 4:13PM
The Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic are close to a trade that will send guard Gilbert Arenas to Orlando in exchange for forward Rashard Lewis, a league source tells TNT's David Aldridge.
The proposed trade was expected to be completed Saturday, perhaps before the Wizards played the Miami Heat Saturday evening in Washington and the Magic host the 76ers in Orlando.
The deal would rid the Wizards of one of their biggest public relations headaches in years. While Arenas helped Washington make the playoffs for the first time in a decade and became an All-Star playing alongside Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, his infamous suspension for bringing guns into the Verizon Center locker room last December as part of a prank and/or confrontation with then-teammate Javaris Crittenton cast a shadow over the franchise. Arenas was suspended by Commissioner David Stern for the final 50 games of last season and served time in a halfway house in the D.C. suburbs after pleading guilty to one felony count of carrying a pistol without a license.
Arenas returned to the Wizards this season and has played reasonably well, averaging 17.3 points and 5.6 assists for Washington. He would give Orlando someone who can create for himself and others off the dribble, something the Magic have sorely lacked this season as they has struggled at times against the league's better teams. And Arenas' close relationship with Orlando GM Otis Smith, who mentored Arenas while the two were in Golden State, has been well-documented.
Lewis is averaging his lowest point total in a decade for Orlando this season, scoring just 12.2 points a night on 41 percent shooting from the floor. He has struggled at times making the adjustment to playing more small forward this season than he has for the Magic; he thrived as a "stretch four" power forward playing next to center Dwight Howard in previous seasons, but the Magic has opted to give emerging forward Brandon Bass more minutes at that position this season.
The deal could save Washington at least $24 million; Arenas has four years and $80 million remaining on his $111 million deal signed two years ago, while Lewis has three years and $63 million left on the $124 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2007. But only $10 million of the $22.6 million he is owed in the final year of the contract, in 2012-13, is fully guaranteed. Lewis can increase the guarantee if he meets certain performance criteria between now and then.
Though rumors about an Orlando acquisition of Arenas have been circulating for weeks, the increase in intensity in trade discussions between the two teams was first reported Friday night by Yahoo! Sports.
Kindly delete if inappropriate..
