Magic Acquire Brian Cook and Maurice Evans From L.A. Lakers

[Tough Break There 96]

quote:

Yes we filled the holes in our team for this year, I will admit to that. Was it worth filling those holes, no it wasnt. Giving up Ariza who has better Stats then Evans at a younger age and Trevors upside was not worth it at all. Would I rather see some one else out their on the floor then Foyle yes, but to give up Trevor for it no. We could have kept him until the trade deadline and gave him to a desperate team for some thing good in return, maybe a bad teams draft choice in the lottery.

 

Your better stats arguement is ridiculous.

[Greg Kite for Three! 0]

I knew this board would implode over the Trevor trade, but this is even worse than I expected. I know we all like to think of Trevor's limitless potential - that's what we do to make ourselves feel better about our team. But we have to face the reality Trevor is 22 years old now and my mother has a better jump shot. He has the reputation of a defensive stopper, but his fundamental defensive techniques are lacking. He commits far too many fouls and his gambles cause a lot of problems. His aggressiveness leads to the occasional steal followed by a run out, but he does just as many stupid things, like during the Hornet game when he fouled Peja after he feel for the pump fake. He cannot handle the ball with the exception of one or two dribbles to the hole, and he is the team's worst passer. Watch him try to feed the low post to Dwight. Not only does his defender sag off about 5 feet, but Trevor, even with his long arms, has almost no passing ability.

 

For the people that quote Otis's comments about Ariza being a core player for our team: What is he supposed to say, "This guy sucks we really don't want him."

 

For the people that wanted another trade: Why would a team take back the two or three players from our team you think are awful? And no, JJ and Ariza does not get you an ALL-NBA performer back in return. And NO, throwing in Carlos does not get the deal done.

 

The Magic realized we have a team that can win now. This trade helps us RIGHT NOW. No one can argue that without stretching the truth. The fact is NO OF US know what Ariza will be in a few years. Personally, I think a player that has had a ton of minutes in his fourth year of the NBA is who we thought they were. Ariza has been working on his jump shot for several years now and he still can't do it. I'll use two former Magic players that were both really hard workers as an example; both would have been all stars if they could hit a jump shot. First, Bo Outlaw. He could handle the ball (he was the default back up point guard for the Clippers for about half a season), could jump out the gym, and was one of the best conditioned players I've ever seen. He also couldn't shoot the ball from more than 4 feet away to save the free world. Second, Donald Royal. I can't tell you how many times I went to bed and dreamed Donald and Dennis Scott had combined to form one player. Donald never developed a consistent jump shot despite being an extremely hard worker.

 

There is no such thing as a defensive stopper. In fact it might be the stupidest thing we use as fans. The good players, Pierce, Kobe, T-Mac, even guys like Wally S. can light up the best defensive player when they are having a good game. Even Artest and Bowen (considered the two best defenders at the smaller positions) get lit up sometimes. So Trevor MIGHT play great defense, but he WILL kill our offense. As soon as Trevor enters the game his man will automatically either double Dwight or fall off of Trevor and zone Dwight. It's happened every game this season. We all got excited about Trevor last season when we saw some promising flashes, but that was in Brian Hill's offense that treated three pointers like the plague. We loved Trevor because there was always a chance he could be on a poster. Don't worry Mo Evans can do that too:

 

 

Finally, I love how some of the people on this board say they have never seen Cook or Evans play, then 4 pages later lament the trade because the players suck. Yes Trevor might become an all star, anything is possible, but based on the reality most guys show something by the time they are 22, the better odds are he will at best be a valuable role player capable of providing some heart and hustle...a lot like Bo Outlaw or Donald Royal.

[Goulet 0]

I have seen a little bit of Evans and I am looking forward to seeing what he can do with the magic. He seems to be able to create his own shot a lot better than Bogans and he seems more athletic than bogans. However im sure Bogans will continue to start because he has been playing good D and on most nights he has been knocking down his open looks.

 

I know Evans is listed at the same height as Bogans but it appears his wingspan is longer and on some nights I think he could play some back up SF if we need him to. I think he could do a decent job guarding another teams SF if they arent taller than 6-8. I hope he does get some decent time at SF because I would like to see JJ get some time and I really dont want to see Garrity as our back up SF.

[30Assists 342]

I'm a little late jumping into this one - just got home.

 

Interesting trade. Evans is a fair-sized guard, but I'm not sure how long we'll keep him around.

 

I've seen Brian Cook play, I'm sure, but I can't really remember how good he was. Is he a Bruce Bowen-like defender (not in that he's good, but that he plays position-defense that doesn't really ever show up on stat sheets)?

 

I can't imagine we'd give up a 'potential player' like Ariza for nothing, and Otis seems to have a good eye for talent.

 

Guess we'll see whether this turns out to be a great trade, if it's all there is, or if it turns out to be a colossal mistake.

 

So far, the Darko-for-Lewis trade has worked out pretty well for us, so I'm willing to give Otis the benefit of the doubt.

 

...Like I have a choice, right? I'm just a fan. *sigh* That's why he gets paid the big bucks.

[OsoTommy 0]

I'm happy for my boy Ariza. The best thing it could happen to him was to be traded to another franchise were he can get some decent playing time. Here, he was not even the sub for Lewis. When Rashard leaves the game then Hedo moves over to take his position and a second guard (Dooling) comes in to play sg. With LA he'll learn and have the chance to develop his game since his style of game is very similar to what the Lakers play. They play an orginized chaos (kinda like the Suns & Bulls) with lots of fast breaks and lots of movement on the court. He's the quickest and most explosive of all forwards in the team. Once he learn the basics he'll thrive there under Coach Phil Jackson. Good luck my friend! I can't blame Otis on this one since SVG was not using him. At least this time he got something.

[TheDarkSide 0]

If we are going for the win now, I think we still got some work to do. We can come out of no where like Detroit that one year. I still think we need to make another trade.

 

I think we can pull off beating Boston in the playoffs. I don't know about Detroit, I think they got our number. Every one else in the east we should be able to beat.

 

I really do think we can beat the Spurs, but not the Suns. We will see how good we are tommorow night

[SauceMoney 0]

I swear Otis has to be the dumbest GM out there. This trade is ridiculous. Ariza for Evans and Cook. OMG I swear first he overpays a shooter in Lewis now he give Ariza to Phil Jackson, a coach thats good at developing young talent for nothing. Evans is a good defender but sucks on offense and Cook is so inconsistent its ridiculous. Out of the 4 years in the league he havent had not 1 good season. Cook career averages are 6.6ppg 3.2rpg now Otis how is that a perfect fit for us? You gave Ariza away for nothing. Unbelievable. I swear this guy go out there and bring in another shooter and defender. Now Evans is ok cause hes similar to Ariza style for as hustling type player but Cook, come on Otis damm Cook. Give me a fking break. Worst GM of the year. We always give away our talent for nothing. Ariza is gonna be an allstar now. It happens everytime we give someone away for cheap. Im so pissed off about this shT.

[D-Guy 0]

If you can't see ariza as an offensive liability when playing with this current roster you are blind. He is just too raw for what we're trying to do and unfortunately plays the position that we have way better(currently) talent already. Ariza has a ton of potential but I bet he won't even start to see any of it until he gets that jumpshot in check. Magic killer in maybe 3-4 years....

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

Originally posted by Nyce_1:

WOW! Talk about being blind-sided.

 

Ariza was a fan favorite and he will be missed, but some of you are OVERVALUING him. It's unfortunate he couldn't crack SVG's system and rotation but Ariza couldn't shoot the ball well enough to be effective in the offensive scheme. We traded a bench player BARELY getting playing time for two decent players to add to our depth. WE NOW HAVE A BENCH.

 

I'm happy he's going home, to LA, where I hope he can see court time along side Mr. Byrant, but after 12 games, it was evident Ariza was being wasted on the bench. I want Trevor here more than anyone, but we gotta get players to fit what we're trying to do.

 

Evans brings the same things Ariza does but with more offense and less potential. (Remember that's what Ariza still is...POTENTIAL) Sure we MAYBE could've gotten more for Trevor but who knows?!?! Evans is a husler and will be a strong point on our bench. He's a scorer with decent-to-good defense. Watching him last season, I'd wish he was on the Magic.

 

Cook, is a shooter. We got our PF who can continue to give Dwight space. I think of him as a MUCH better Garrity (but then again, who isn't? lol). Cook has one of the quickest releases in the league and is an avg. rebounder. His defense isn't what I'd want in our backup PF, but we'll see what SVG can do with him.

 

We turned a lil' used player to two bench players SHOULD surely be in our rotation. What was everyone claiming our holes to be? Big man and backup SG. OH MY GOD, LOOK WHAT WE GOT IN THE TRADE!!! Stop acting like babies and relax. Let's wait to see how these guys play (most of you have never seen them play while I've caught a few laker games). We're taking a gamble and dealing POTENTIAL for two solid players to balance our bench.

 

I like the trade and I'm also glad to see Otis working the phones.

 

Jameer/Arroyo/Dooling

Bogans/Evans/JJ

Turk/Lewis/Evans

Lewis/Cook/Garrity

Dwight/Foyle/Augustine

 

Not too bad in my eyes. Woot Woot

 

 

Nyce post Nyce. Im bumping it cause I like it. Especially the part you highlighted:

 

WE NOW HAVE A BENCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Goulet 0]

Just want to add this, Evans has played 95 minutes this year and has 0 turnovers. It's a small sampling but thats an impressive stat

[Jareth Cutestory 678]

Too much to read here.

 

While I hate to lose Ariza, isn't almost like he wasn't on our team for this season to begin with?

 

Evans and Cook, eh, who knows.

 

Lets see what our team looks like the next game or two, then lets judge this trade. Players can go from one team to another and be a totally different player. Especially if its the right system.

 

All i'm saying is, let's not start any Fire Otis threads or anything. Let's just wait it out and see what happens.

[You're Fat, Pat! 98]

Evans and Cook better win us a championship...

 

 

the more i look at this, the more mad i get...

 

 

to be honest...(you probably wont like me for sayin this):

 

i hope Airiza dunks on D12 this year...like the nashtiest of his dunks...EVER...

 

 

just to show Otis what a moron he is...i cant stress enough that Otis thinks we're running for the title this year...aint happenin...we wont even win the East...much less the NBA...we're a team for the future...Evans and Cook are current players...Airiza is a player for the future...he was our future starting SG...

 

but no...throws all his eggs in one biscuit...and now we have to win a title in the next 2-3 years at the MOST...or this trade will look real, real silly...

 

 

so in the end, we got nothing for Steve-O...what a shame..