godfather

Speaking as a Cavs fan, Eyenga was not that bad of a pickup. He clearly has talent, he's a highlight reel, but he definitely is pretty raw, and I don't know if he'll ever develop into much. His basketball development didn't start until very late for him. I don't think started playing organized basketball until he was like 16. If he ever blossoms, that could be one of the better parts of the trade. The guy does have talent, there's just no telling if he'll ever make the most of it.

I still maintain, regardless of how many titles he won, the best of Shaq just died when he left. I feel the same is true with Dwight. The guy already is developing back issues. Eh, the Lakers have one year to make him happy. GOOD LUCK to that! I'm not convinced he'll stay there. Kobe 34, Nash about to be 39. Lakers are gambling big time. If they don't win it all, this really can blow up in their face, and leave them with nothing moving forward.

I can't recall too many players having better rookie seasons than Tristan. He's not going to be a star, but he definitely is capable of being a really solid player like a Noah, or a Tyson Chandler. Tristan will definitely rebound, and block shots at a high level, he just doesn't understand proper positioning yet. His offense is definitely a bit of a weak spot in his game. But he's very quick, and athletic, and scores a lot of garbage points. Dion Waiters was top-5 on Ford's big board, it only seemed like a reach. But when you break it down, it really wasn't. One, we had no use for Robinson (we already have Tristan Thompson and Andy), and two, a lot of teams around the league had mixed reviews on Barnes who is not capable of creating his own shot, and tends to disappear during stretches of the game. The Cavs worked him out, they didn't come away impressed. They originally were very high on Barnes, but his workouts gave them great pause for concern. The jury is still out on those two players. My bet both will be fine contributors moving forward. Maybe that makes me seem like a homer, but I don't have any problem with those selections. Also I wanted to point out on Tristan. He DID struggle a bit early in the season coming off the bench. He wasn't getting a ton of minutes, because he was playing behind Andy, and Jamison, and he started losing confidence, and was a mess. When Andy went down, our rotation at center was very weak. We basically had no one. So eventually we decided to start Tristan, who clearly is a power forward. He had a lot of ups and downs as you'd expect, because he was playing out of position, but really start coming on later in the season. Started recording many double double games, and becoming somewhat of a force. He held his own pretty well, playing a position he's never played before in his career. This season he'll finally be able to start, and play at his natural position. Most his rookie campaign was at center, which easily explains some of the ups and downs he had. Like I said, he was literally all we had once Andy went down. Our other 7 footers were complete garbage.

A Cavs fan here, I just want you Magic fans to know that things will pick up for you guys again. Your superstar, much like our previous one is now gone. It might feel as if your sports world is over, and it might have you sick to your stomach, but things will look up again. I understand some fans are very upset about the trade, and feel they didn't get much. I'll admit, I was a little surprised they didn't get more as well. But really the Dwight Howard trade was never going to make or break your rebuilding process. It just wasn't. Just be happy you got something out of it. Hey, three first round picks is pretty good either way. Afflalo can play. Some think the Nuggets did great with the 'Melo deal, and will point to that on why the Magic should have gotten more. At a value point, yeah, but look at that franchise. Are they going to compete for a title anytime soon? No. They're stuck in the mud. They'll be good enough to be a playoff team, never good enough to win a title. The Magic should not be thinking about competing right now. Your team needs to hit the bottom. We got basically NOTHING for LeBron James, and our rebuilding process couldn't have gone better since he has left. Yes, we are still a bad team, but we've already acquired a franchise player to build around, and plenty of young talent players from draft since. This is the best way for the Magic to rebuild. It will be painful to watch come next season, but you're already on the right track. You got to go all the way down, to get back up. Good Luck!