triplefive

why excitement for 2014 free agent class? http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents/ who realistically are we going to get from that list that will really upgrade this team? The only ones worth mentioning are james, bosh, wade, anthony (all would have to use ETO, which I seriously doubt) and the others arent good enough or will be much older.

Just curious -- say we do trade dwight and lets say he does what he does where ever he does and somewhere down the line he wants to come back to orlando (lets hypothetically assume on good terms etc) and we had the ability to make it happen. Would people say no? I ask this for purposes of discussion because when I hear Howard could be a laker, I think back to 2004 when we got the #1 pick and drafted howard. We were about to get rid of t-mac that summer and if I recall correctly, that was the summer when shaq got traded. I remember hearing some rumblings of lakers willing to take our #1 pick (howard) and other players and we could then try to pair shaq with tmac but the emotions were so high (anti-tmac, anti-shaq) that there was no way this was going through (in addition to all the ra-ra of ppl excited about rebuilding with howard). I think if we took a step back and thought things through at that time, we could have pulled the trigger on that deal -- prob would have given us a title as tmac and shaq were both very dominant then. Its just something about this houston deal that worries me. I understand where everyone is coming from about "hitting the reset button" etc etc. I feel like we've been through this before, after the loss of shaq penny then tmac. And I'm as frustrated with howard as everyone else but there is just something that doesnt sit right with me about giving away the #1 center in the league (which no matter what deal we do, is just giving him away). I feel like we are getting emotions involved again (like not wanting shaq back). At that time I could care less if we took him back, I want this damn city to win a title! I'd give up 10 years straight in the lottery to taste 1 championship today. Which is why I'm also somewhat frustrated when I see houston willing to role the dice on him. What will they do differently that we can't do? Just as houston knows he has no better offers to really walk towards, it would be the same here, and we would be in as much position to add to the team as much as they would. Maybe its just years of bitter taste from management, but its still hard to believe they will get it right if we start another youth movement. And to be honest, even if Rob does everything 100% to his ability, who is to say all these young guys will get along? We keep looking to OKC but I think they are more an anomaly, bc Durant is such a good, glue guy, as is Harden. Westbrook already has been reported to have some attitude problems. When we had shaq penny and nick, it ultimately came out that they didnt all get along. Look at shaq and kobe. Marbury/Garnett. Jim Jackson/Jason Kidd/jamal mashburn; stackhouse/iverson. That Dallas analogy scares me the most. 3 great young guys and they all caused so much headache they wound up getting traded for pennies on the dollar. Who is to say that if we amass all these great guys going forward that we can keep them together? Given our history, we can screw that up too and it doesnt even have to completely be management's fault.

Sounds good on the surface except for the fact that by the time the team is any good again, the players will wind up leaving. Sorry for the pessimism, but this team hasn't done anything to prove to me otherwise that it wont happen again. This whole discussion reminds me of the last FA we lost (T-mac) and how when howard emerged, we all felt he was the humble duncan type who would never do this to us again. Well, if he can change (and the hometown kid Tmac could change) then anyone can change. Id still feel better having something come back to us that we can have as a strong foundation (eg bynum).

I'd rather take my chances with bynum playing and leaving (or even howard staying then leaving for that matter) rather than be tied down to brook lopez. Good god, we might as well have just kept otis

A couple of points -- on Howard's end -- silence will speak volumes with this latest "rumor/source leak/whatever" so if we dont hear something thats pretty telling. In either event, I do like the idea of holding for expiring contracts -- we seem to do better with free agent signings than draft picks anyway. The draft can be too risky and you might get stuck with a marginal player or role player type thats on a guaranteed contract so you're stuck with player X. If it wasnt for a decent FA class next season, I might agree with the picks bc you could say you could give those guys time to play and MAYBE they would turn into trade chips but why waste an opportunity to get good fast? We all saw (barring unlucky injury) how our fortune changed rapidly in 2000 by signing tmac/hill (same with the heat recently). At least with FA, you know what you are getting and a "known quantity" is easier to plug into a plan. Despite all this hoopla, orlando with its warm weather and tax friendly situation will always be a FA destination. Put it this way, in the entire history of the franchise, how have we done in the draft? Maybe 3 franchise changers / elite players in the entire history of the team (20+ yrs, shaq/penny/howard). We've had other decent players, mostly role players at best. Some of our other better players have come in through free agency (tmac/hill/lewis) so why not just go that route? Plus if howard is so adamant about not being in orlando, maybe he will sit out this season, and thats even better for us so we can get a draft pick thats higher than any other trade and we could keep it or turn it into another player while preserving a huge amount of cap room. You never, know, this whole situation is so bizarre, he might wind up signing for us during the season lol. The thing is though, that DeVos always seems to cave in about trying to accomodate his players that want to leave (eg getting Penny his wish to play for phoenix, tmac for houston). I just hope they dont do the same for howard for the simple reason that he needs to be sent out west, nowhere in the east, the last thing we need is any obstacle down the road for our title. One last comment -- trade demand seems to imply that the back really isnt as injured as its being portrayed. While I may very well be wrong about that statement, it says a lot about a)lack of shrewd planning on howard's part or b)greed of his agents to get more $$$ by shipping him to a more lucrative market b/c why throw out millions in guaranteed money by signing an extension with the magic -- if he is traded to team X and winds up being injured, will they show him any loyalty? Prob not, so I guess we'll see what happens

But let's not forget that the "model player" Tim Duncan was this close to leaving the spurs for us back in 2000, would he be viewed in the same way had he signed with us? After all, if hill was healthy or we teamed him w/mcgrady, he prob would have won even more titles...

Agreed, but how much of it can be contributed to boosting contract status if he plans to opt out.....?

I dont think we'll go the draft pick route if we trade him, just my feeling. I think expirings maybe, but not even sure about that. I think this is all because of Devos. The guy got that taste of being soooo close back in '09, he's had the itch to win it ever since. I think he didnt realize our time would come back then and I honestly think he's determined to get that title ASAP bc of his age. I feel that in 2007 or 2008 if this drama was occurring, dwight would have already been gone. But Rich Devos saw what dwight did for us in 2009, and I suspect he feels like a sort of father figure to dwight (maybe) given that he was drafted right out of high school, I think Devos wants to make it work. This also would explain the motivation to go after a Bynum deal over a Lopez deal, even if that one had a draft pick. While many would like to start over and rebuild, I dont think Devos has the time for that, he wants to get this going in the next season or two, and thats why he might just still fire Stan if it keeps Dwight around. Just my 2 cents..... But here's another question I'll throw out there -- would you side with Devos' thinking -- would you be willing to fire Stan (to please Dwight), maybe bring in whatever players, maybe do things in a slightly unpleasant way, to get 1 title (even if that meant the team got blown up right after and we were horrible for years afterwards?) Or would you rather have a good team for several years that would be competitive, maybe contend? I think with the heartaches from this team over the years, I would swallow years of bottom feeder status for 1 title and bottom line is, if we want that title in the next 2-3 years, finding a way to work with Dwight is the best way to probably do it

Thanks, honestly, long time lurker on the forums but big time Magic fan for years. Just as frustrated with everyone else with the whole situation, but just very scared somehow our FO will screw this up. Regardless of individual opinion on whether Dwight is right or wrong, there is just a whole lot of stuff that I just dont feel comfortable about with the higher ups running our operation. A lot of personal frustration as well in how the Magic announced that 1) season tix renewals came a week or so after the "opt-in"; 2) news of dwight's herniated disc is leaked after the 6pm deadline to renew season tickets to guarantee playoff "play then pay" promotion and 3) season ending back surgery after playoff tickets went on sale. Maybe just my feeling, but seems more than a coincidence on all that timing. Quite possible magic docs knew more than they let on but were scared to say anything too soon? The way our front office behaves, its almost like a jilted lover, we are so scared to screw things up after the whole Shaq fiasco. I think thats why leaks came up throughout the season -- they were deliberate, I think the team really needed a pulse of how fans, esp season ticket holders, felt about losing dwight. I think the team really was prepared to trade but also was at the same time very very scared of the backlash in ticket sales for next season, esp with our new arena. If we kept quiet the whole season and dwight never said anything (which very well could have happened, if otis never mentioned dwights initial trade request publicly) and we either traded him or lost him in the summer, the fans might not have understood all the issues behind the scenes. Hence, the team's way to let all the facts come out? who knows, but lets see how Martins handles things this summer I guess...

The plan should be the same for next year regardless of the Dwight situation. Set up for the cap room. Tempt him with the right free agents, he'll be fine. If he walks, we sign other free agents. I'm not confident on our draft history anyway, we just wind up losing players. The main changes needed this summer, in no particular order are: 1) get rid of Duhon; 2) get competent scouts; 3) get competent GM; 4)get player & coach to co-exist or replace coach; 5) get competent medical staff & trainers. Ironically, it may be more in Dwight's best interest to get an extension done this summer. He's the injured one, he needs to have security of a long term contract. The magic now, however, should be more wary of a grant hill part 2 scenario (i.e signing the guy long term only to find out he gets hurt the end of next year etc). So it might be better to take a wait and see approach for next year to make sure he's healthy before you drop a big $$$ contract down on him. Because we already know how it feels to have a big contract injured player. And I doubt we would be intelligent to have an insurance waiver put into his contract. Look at the knicks with stoudamire. He's practically untradeable. So again, waiting might be the best option long term for the magic. If you make the moves to create cap room for next summer, and you still lose him, you still create a window to make some other moves more easily. As far as the plane/jet things go, I agree with the majority of the posters. However, the organization needs to step things up and not be cheap. That means they should always put forth a first class setup. Players talk and word gets out and these kind of things make players want to play for your team. Why do you think Dallas is always in the mix when it comes to players going there as free agents? This has been noted since Cuban took over that franchise. No one ever wanted to go there before. While you or I cannot comprehend Dwight's thinking as an average fan, these players like the privacy of a private jet etc. So while one may say, why not just pay it out of your own pocket Dwight?, it definitely creates a more alluring appeal to these stars when they see the organization "take care of them" and like it or not, thats what works. Teams need to make $$$ and the only way to do that is via deep postseason runs, to do that you do need the right personnel.