Franchise408

This too. I still think the notion that Grant "owed" us to stay with the Magic is quite ridiculous. And people make a lot of assumptions about how Phoenix would have made a sign & trade deal, but would they really? An older vet with a bad history of injuries? And you think another team would wanna be giving up something to acquire that? I somehow doubt the demand for Grant Hill would have been high enough that would could have insisted on a sign & trade.

These. And the whole notion that Grant Hill "owed" us to sign a vet minimum deal to stay, yet all these same people criticizing him for not signing were wanting him gone the whole time anyways. Although I'm the one who brought up McGrady. I don't care how bad his supporting cast was, there was no reason for Tracy McGrady to act the way he did on his way out of town. Especially after the organization gave him everything he wanted and traded him to Houston to play with Yao Ming, and he still kept whining.

I think it's funny that this fanbase bashes, boos, and ridicules Grant Hill who suffered from issues out of his control, and did everything in his power to get back on the court but simply had the worst luck ever seen in the NBA, all because he didn't re-sign with us for a vet minimum and this fanbase feels "owed" something, but idolizes Tracy McGrady who whined and cried his way off the team, bashed the organization every step of the way, admitted to quitting on the team and not putting forth effort, and then played the victim card when the organization catered to his wishes and traded him to the team that he wanted to play for. One of these players earned my respect. The other one lost it.

I know the feeling, but look at it like this: The same thing happened when T-Mac left, and the Rockets owned us for a couple years. We struggled while the Rockets made the playoffs. But while the Rockets kept getting bounced in the 1st round, the Magic continued to rebuild, getting to 2 ECF's and 1 NBA Finals. Dwight may have the first laugh, but I still expect the Magic to have the last laugh. If we can rebuild, and get back to the big dance before the Lakers, as they constantly struggle, that will be worth it in the long run.

What did Kobe said?

Granted, I was in Jr. High with Shaq left, so my comprehension of the situation is much different than that of Dwight's, but at least with Shaq, he didn't string the team and fans along for 2 years, always talking about every other city and team he could be playing for, only to bash the city and organization every step of the way on his way out of town. Dwight Howard went full T-Mac on us, and ramped it up to 1000. At least Shaq just left as a free agent to bigger and better things.

I think it's sad that the mindset amongst the fan base is essentially rooting to lose. I don't care about draft picks or any of that, I want wins. And I unfortunately missed the game, but I am very excited to see the Magic start on a high note with a win. Never root to lose. That mentality is for losers.

There is never a reason to tank. 1.) top draft picks are never guaranteed 2.) getting the top draft pick isn't guaranteed for losing You play to win the game. Anyone who purposefully tanks should be removed from the league.

So you boo a guy for being injured? Yea, like I said, classless.

Nope, why would I? NBA players get paid millions. That's how it goes.

Grant Hill doesn't deserve it at all. I find booing Hill to be completely classless of the Orlando fanbase, and one of the few things that embarasses me as a Magic fan.

I get that not every team is gonna be good every game, and I get that a team likes ours right now is not gonna be good, and I accept ping pong ball possibilities as a nice consolation prize for that. But that's not what I will cheer for. I will cheer for our team to overachieve and try to get that 7 or 8 seed. I will not cheer for our team to lose so we can -maybe- get a better pick (ask the nets how that whole ping pong ball thing worked out) to get a player that may or may not bust (Greg Oden anyone? Kwame Brown anyone?). The vibe in this forum is that the fanbase will be angry to see us win and make the playoffs, which is ass backwards.

Agreed. And then what? Were gonna have a fanbase pissed off cuz the team made the post season??? No. Screw that. I don't buy into that "draft picks over playoffs" philosophy. The goal should always be to make the post season, no to get a higher draft pick which means nothing anyways unless LeBron James is what you get out of it.

How have having high draft picks worked out for New Jersey, Milwaukee, Golden State, Sacramento, Washington, Toronto, Minnesota, and plenty of other teams? Unless you get a LeBron James, Dwoght Howard, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant caliber player, the NBA is not a "build through the draft" league. There are far fewer examples of successfully built teams via draft (San Antonio, Oklahoma City - one of those teams has no championship) than there are successfully built teams via trades / free agency (Lakers, Heat, Celtics, Pistons), and countless examples of perennial lottery teams that never get better (Golden State, Sacramento, Washington, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Toronto, New Jersey until they played the free agency game...)

Better that than winning less than 30 games a year. Sorry, im not on the "tank for ping pong balls" bandwagon. I get that we are rebuilding, and that were not gonna be good for awhile, and I also get that a rebuild takes time and im gonna support henny and the Magic in doing that. But im going to root for them to win every night, and hope for playoff appearances, not ping pong balls, when 1.) #1 picks aren't guaranteed and 2.) college prospects aren't guaranteed to be good.

I agree, I don't hate Otis either. Perhaps every move he made wasn't great, but he did put together the best squad in franchise history, and the 2008-2009 season was our most successful season in franchise history. And I can pretty much see the logic in every move he's made since then, even if they didn't work out. It may still be for the best that he's gone, but I don't carry the hatred for him that many here do.

Rashard Lewis will forever be one of my all time favorite Magic players for what he did for us that season and post-season. I'm very much torn on Dwight. On one hand, what Dwight is doing is the worst a Magic player has ever treated the franchise and fanbase. On the other hand, I still feel more forgiving towards him than Tracy McGrady. I really still haven't forgiven T-Mac for the way he treated the Magic during his departure. Maybe it's because Dwight is technically still on the Magic roster, and deep down inside I'm hoping for a scenario to play out to allow him to stay. And Shaq? Maybe it's because I was a 13 year old kid living in San Jose, CA, but Shaq leaving didn't really bother me so much like T-Mac and Dwight did, save for the pain of losing a beloved superstar to the Lakers.

Had me believing we could actually make the 0-3 comeback. It also held my first trip to Orlando to go to a game at the O-Rena, something I waited my entire life for, to go to game 5 of the ECF. The Orlando Magic treated me with absolute class as well, and I had a great experience in the city of Orlando. Greatest night of my life as a sports fan.

This is what I have been saying. Why have teams? Why have franchises? Just let all the players go out to the park, and then LeBron can say "I pick Dwyane Wade!", and Dwight can say "I pick Deron Williams!" and Carmelo Anthony can say "I pick Amare Stoudamire!"... and then instead of franchises, they can all just go shirts vs. skins on the playgound, and instead of getting paychecks, they'll just get sponsorships which is all they want anyways. And I kinda really wanna make the drive from Nashville to Orlando again to be a part of it.

Moves have been made all throughout Dwight's tenure, from getting rid of a disgruntled Tracy McGrady, and bringing in Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Cato, making moves to bring in Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson that same year, to making salary cap moves like trading for Penny Hardaway's expiring contract, making a big free agent splash with Rashard Lewis who, along with Dwight, Jameer, and Hedo were the focal point of an Eastern Conference Champion team, to attempting to fill a weakness on the squad by bringing in Vince Carter, as well as other moves like Arena, Richardson, and Hedo again, which perhaps didn't work out, and even getting involved in the Chris Paul sweepstakes that never panned out, but were all done with the intention of addressing weaknesses on the team and improving. And if Dwight stuck it out with the Magic at the end of this upcoming season, it is my understanding that we'd be in a bit better cap situation to start making moves once again. But he wants to go open up a brand new arena in New York alongside Deron Williams... Dwight wants to be like LeBron. That's it. Brooklyn won't be able to make any moves there. Their cap is completely locked up for years. It's all about the media and the hype for Dwight. It's not about winning. Agreed 100%. This is all about being like LeBron for Dwight. He wants to be the big face in a big market that the media just absolutely loves and adores.

I can't give any more positive feedback for the day, but this post is 100% correct. The last sentence is also why I don't totally hate Otis Smith. He made some decisions that didn't work out, but he was constantly trying to make us better. And for what it's worth, he did assemble the best team in franchise history. Some things he did didn't work out, and it's probably for the best that he's gone now, but every move he made was some kind of attempt to get us better. He never tanked, he was never cheap.

Oh come on, I just traded Jason Richardson and Glen Davis to Boston for Kevin Garnett. If I can do it in my game, we can totally make trades like that in real life!!!

He was a part of a team that was built, that already got past Boston and LeBron. Recently as well. Maybe if he'd stop being a whiny little girl, Orlando could overcome some of these obstacles. Again, it's all about him. "Me me me" is all that's coming out of his mouth. "Dwight" wants that team that can get past Boston and Miami - well if he'd shut the eff up, stop crying, and extended, the Magic will be in a position to overcome all of that in a couple years. If he really wanted to be on a team that could get past Boston and Miami, then he wouldn't have a problem going to a team like the Lakers, Thunder, Mavs, Bulls, Celtics, etc... but no, he wants to go to Brooklyn. Brooklyn, a team that really wouldn't be equipped even with him to get past Miami. Why would that be? Maybe because the Nets are opening a nice new New York arena, his agent is affiliated with the Nets, and Dwight Howard wants to be the nice big face hanging from the side of the New York arena. I guess having one fancy arena built for him wasn't enough... This. This so much. He feels so bad for a fanbase that he wants nothing to do with. :facepalm: And yet, we will have the space needed to start making moves at the end of the year...

No he doesn't. He's a selfish ***** that only wants to follow in the footsteps of LeBron, forming a "superteam" in a big market to get all the merchandising. He doesn't care about winning, he doesn't care about the fans, he cares about himself and only himself.

Your name and this post are a perfect match.