Courtskils

Good Post NBR! Let me first off say I am not pissed that Rashard Lewis is on the Magic. I am a Magic fan and hope this team can win the championship, however I am pissed about everything else this summer. I am first pissed about Rashard Lewis's contract and how people defend it by stating you always overpay to land a big free agent. Big free agents ARE Top 10 players in the league, at least top 20, right now Rashard Lewis is neither. Look at old bad contracts like Erik Dampier, he was the best big man available so the Mavs had to overpay, he barely plays 25 minutes. This is not baseball people, overpaying in basketball severly impacts your future because of the salary cap. Everybody was against bringing in Vince Carter during the deadline because we had to "give up part of our future" to get him. Well Darko is gone, who was part of our future. Rashard Lewis's contract will forever affect our free agency. The MLE for the next 6 years, does anyone remember how bad that killed the Magic's ability to get better? Look at the lakers for ex: they are doomed to never win a championship because of the inability to bring in extra talent. If Howard and Lewis come up short then they have no chance at adding good talent. Battie and Turkoglu come off the books together and if Lewis had a deal like Ben Wallace, most likely the Magic would have been able to make a run at another player. And look at the deals everyone signed this offseason. Look at Chauncy Billups, Darko, Vince Carter, Gerald Wallace, Nocioni, can anyone really say the teams had to overpay for those players? NO. The Magic were the only team with significant capspace to sign Lewis and were the only team willing to overpay that much. Otis Smith bid against himself. This talk about Lewis going to Houston is comicle. Who did Houston have that Seattle would want in a sign and trade. Nobody, unless it was Yao or TMac. Otis Smith got played, and then even upped the anty by throwing Seattle another draft pick just to give Lewis an extra 30 mil, again see Ben Wallace, overpaid but at least his contract declines year over year. Otis Smith tells Darko he is the #1 priority. Then renigs and goes after Lewis. Otis Smith's ego got the best of him. Darko had the right to be angry. Otis Smith said he would refuse to overpay Darko, but he's willing to overpay Lewis, that is another slap in Darko's face. Otis Smith now has no cap space to bring in any other free agents and he didn't even fill positions. They needed more size and the needed additional big gaurds, they got neither. They got a guy who is in the same "mold" as Turkoglu, Ariza, and Hill. Can anyone blame Hill for heading for the Hills he's a smart guy he can see the disaster unfolding. Otis Smith trades draft picks for cash this year. The few hundred thousand you could have taken off Rashard Lewis's contract and gotten some future talent. Another horrible move, if the franchise is that strapped for cash, then why overpay Lewis. Darko Milicec deal turned out horrible. Everyone commeded Smith for this 1 1/2 years ago, but as Smith declined to give Darko an extension the Pistons end up with Rodney Stuckey. There were so many good moves by so many teams this summer it's stinks that the Magic are at the bottom. Toronto got Carlos Delfino for 2 2nd rounders, and the Magic got cash for theirs. Stan Van Gundy came to coach a team with 2 great young bigs, now he has 1. If the Eastern conference was still the same as a year ago, this may look like a good move. But losing Grant Hill and Darko Milicec and adding Lewis does not make the Magic a championship caliber team. That is all my frustration for now, I hope Otis Smith can salvage the off-season and work some deals. He has proven to be a horrible poker player. Just because you have a good poker face doesn't mean your a good player. Let's go Magic, win the East. Just because I don't like the moves doesn't mean I won't cheer for the Magic, moves are criticized and I think its comfortable to say the Magic have not scored an A this off-season.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing people say just give Otis Smith a chance just, wait. I don't care if the Magic win the NBA title he has proven by no means that he is a good GM. He just signed a player to play wing man to Dwight Howard to the richest contract in league history and who was Otis Smith bidding against? Himself. No other team had the cap room to sign Lewis straight up, Smith got played by Lewis's agent. Not only then, but Smith trades a second rounder just so Lewis can have an extra year and increased raises. What has Rashard Lewis proved to get the richest contract in NBA history. Lewis was arguably only the second best free agent in the league. Chauncy Billups was considered the gem, and he signed for $12 mill a year. Vince Carter was arguably the third and he signed for $15 a year. Both those players have accomplished much more than Lewis and Lewis yet gets $20 million per season. Then Smith has the audacity to put down Darko for wanting 9-10 mil per season. Is Darko half the player as Rashard Lewis? Heck if Otis Smith is giving this kind of money away I might ask for a a mil just for being a fan. Dwight Howard's wingman is the richest player in the league, and the richest player in the league is not even a top 20 talent. Then to give Lewis an additional $30 million and not even unload Garrity or Arroyo for extra cap room is down right insanity, plus you give Seattle a pick. I could hear Otis Smith on the phone now to Seattle, would you like to sign and trade Rashard Lewis for a 2nd rounder, because since we play next to Mickey Mouse we would like to give him an extra $30 million. The worst thing about this contract is it makes Rashard Lewis untradable. Unless he becomes Kobe Bryant like nobody will ever consider taking on this huge contract. It is way to risky for a player who has proven only to be second tier. If Rashard Lewis was a free agent next year, does anyone think he would command anywhere near this type of contract in next years class?

He better win an Effing championship anything less is a failure

there was plenty of supply ray allen, vince carter, jason richardson. all these guys are getting pennies on the dollar compared to rashard lewis. This contract is ridiculous for someone who has proven nothing in the NBA. The Magic could have even been a 3rd party and gotten a trade exception to use later, similiar to what seattle just got from us and golden state got from Charlotte. To go and just give this guy everything he wanted was ridiculous. If another team in the league wanted to sign him for $120 million then they should of let him go. The Magic were bidding against themselves. The only other way Lewis could have gotten that money was through a sign and trade. How does anyone in here think Otis Smith is a great GM?

Does anyone know if it started yet. I can't get any feed to it. Thanks

did they talk about contract details, length, etc. Did they talk anything about left over cap space? Someone had to have seen this interview.

can anyone give a recap?

Does anyone know if it started yet. I can't get any feed to it. Thanks

Everyone was worried about overpaying for Vince Carter. And people aren't outraged at the idea of paying Rashard Lewis a second rate all-star $126 million. He's 28, Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, and every other top star in the league won't even have contracts this valuable. This will be bigger then Garnet's deal.

While it looks like both Augustine and Gortat may find a spot on the Magic roster I don't think either can fill the void of Darko. What big men can the Magic look at to bring in? The great thing about the Magic this off-season is that they can dangle to possible starting positions to lure free agents, SG and PF. The downside is the Magic have no money to pay anyone (unless this sign and trade comes back). So who should the Magic go after? I think Joe Smith should be the prime target, he can hit the mid range jumpshot and would provide more veteran leadership. Also, isn't $8 million of cap space worth a first round pick? Dooling and Arroyo would help the Magic next year but I doubt either one of them would be back the following, so I don't think they carry much value to the Magic.

While it looks like both Augustine and Gortat may find a spot on the Magic roster I don't think either can fill the void of Darko. What big men can the Magic look at to bring in? The great thing about the Magic this off-season is that they can dangle to possible starting positions to lure free agents, SG and PF. The downside is the Magic have no money to pay anyone (unless this sign and trade comes back). So who should the Magic go after? I think Joe Smith should be the prime target, he can hit the mid range jumpshot and would provide more veteran leadership. Also, isn't $8 million of cap space worth a first round pick? Dooling and Arroyo would help the Magic next year but I doubt either one of them would be back the following, so I don't think they carry much value to the Magic.

Orlando has a great Asian population, ever been to UCF? J/K. I think Orlando would be considered a great landing spot for any foreign player. It is the tourist capital of the world which means great exposure. Watching Yi in the summer league, I think he has silenced all the critics. While his play has not been great he has shown he has all the skills. He is definately not a 2 gaurd, he is a solid 3. After watching him play, I bet all NBA teams have put a call into Milwaukee. I don't understand why the Hawks did not take him. The kid can play and he's got an enormous financial upside. The Bucks won't get rid of him, but it's nice to think about it.

The first half of the first game worked perfect, i hope this game is the same. I doubt it though, countdown clock gives me hope.

This sucks. I'm waiting to see our Magic hopefuls and get teased. Are there any other websites or anything to go to that might work?

I would of never signed R. Lewis and never would of resigned Darko Milicec. Instead I would of used the 16+ million in cap room to sign 3-4 mid level quality players. Add in Pietrus and Nocoini for ex. A vet big man, and maybe a young underachieving big man. This would of made the Magic much deeper ready to run and would have a lineup that on any given night you would have 7 players capable of dropping 20-30 pts. This team would be deep stockpiled with tradable assets (always nice to have that when the cap is maxed out). Instead Otis Smith feels that Rashard Lewis is in the same league as Kobe, Duncan, Wade, Lebron, and a few others who can almost single handidly carry their teams. Otis Smith I respect your opinion as you are in the position for a reason. If it were me, I would be building depth. I always look at the Spurs system, no max players except for Duncan, build as much quality around him as possible.

Why does everyone ride Otis Smith's jock? The only thing people know about Smith is what they hear on TV. I don't know him, so why is my opinion discredited. I am not impressed with his moves as GM that doesn't mean he can't earn the respect.

I would of never signed R. Lewis and never would of resigned Darko Milicec. Instead I would of used the 16+ million in cap room to sign 3-4 mid level quality players. Add in Pietrus and Nocoini for ex. A vet big man, and maybe a young underachieving big man. This would of made the Magic much deeper ready to run and would have a lineup that on any given night you would have 7 players capable of dropping 20-30 pts. This team would be deep stockpiled with tradable assets (always nice to have that when the cap is maxed out). Instead Otis Smith feels that Rashard Lewis is in the same league as Kobe, Duncan, Wade, Lebron, and a few others who can almost single handidly carry their teams. Otis Smith I respect your opinion as you are in the position for a reason. If it were me, I would be building depth. I always look at the Spurs system, no max players except for Duncan, build as much quality around him as possible.

How about neither..... I would rather of let Darko walk and use all the cap space to bring in depth. Mikael Pietrus, Joe Smith, Nocoini and another cheap man, like Travis Outlaw. The team would of been deep, great defensively and ready to compete in the East and has a lack of egos.

The Orlando Tragic The magic are in serious contention to become a mid-level career franchise. Anyone who think a Lewis/ Howard tandem will ever get to the finals needs some serious mental help. The Magic MUST add another all-star quality player to their arsenal. Look at some of the previous championship caliber teams. It would be OK if they kept Darko and Hill as you could hope Redick, Milicec, or Ariza can turn into the third wheel, but banking on Redick or Ariza seriously lessens the change. Hill could provide just enough fire power to let these other guys mature. The Magic have dilemmas such as losing Darko Milicec for nothing, losing Grant Hill for nothing, and having no cap space for the next 5 years. You can argue all you want about Hill and Milicec

Ya, I'll be the first one to give him credit. His recent track record is saying otherwise. Right now I'm not convinced and either is anyone else on this board.

Oh and why I'm at it, name a better deal for Kobe Bryant. Tons of capspace and tons of young talent. If Kobe Bryant was ever to be trade which I doubt he ever would, this would be one of the best deals on the table. Nobody will trade there best asset for Bryant. And if they took big contracts back they would stay in mediocrity for a long time. This gets rid of Kobe and Lamar's contracts and Brown's expires last year. You have a nuclues of Farmer, Walton, Sun Jue, Yi Lian, Redick, Bynum, Milicec, and Ariza along with Cap Space to sign two All-Stars for ex: Marion and Arenas. I don't think anyone can come up with a better scenario for the Lakers.

Ya we will be much better because Stan Van Gundy is god. Otis Smith has done nothing to impress me. He is all talk. Creative financing. How creative do you need to be to renounce rights to Hill and Darko to sign Lewis?

22 points added. Big deal, you just lost Grant Hill for nothing and as of today Darko is walking for nothing. How can anyone call this is a successful off-season right now? It all started with the Billy D. fiasco and continues in a downward spiral. On top of that you didn't even add a single player through the draft. New York, Toronto, and Charlotte all made their teams better without losing any talent. The Bobcats will likely get Wallace back as he will be in the same situation as Darko, the MLE is all that is out there to get. As of today, Otis Smith is doing a bad job, the off-season is not over, so I'll keep some hope.

I'm not seeing any Magic right now, maybe the frustrations are setting in a little early, Otis Smith does have one week.

The Orlando Tragic The magic are in serious contention to become a mid-level career franchise. Anyone who think a Lewis/ Howard tandem will ever get to the finals needs some serious mental help. The Magic MUST add another all-star quality player to their arsenal. Look at some of the previous championship caliber teams. It would be OK if they kept Darko and Hill as you could hope Redick, Milicec, or Ariza can turn into the third wheel, but banking on Redick or Ariza seriously lessens the change. Hill could provide just enough fire power to let these other guys mature. The Magic have dilemmas such as losing Darko Milicec for nothing, losing Grant Hill for nothing, and having no cap space for the next 5 years. You can argue all you want about Hill and Milicec