Stars "eye" Orlando - (NBA Insider, Povtak)

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

STARS EYE ORLANDO

 

Point guard Jason Williams of the Miami Heat isn't the only one who will go into free agency this summer hoping the Orlando Magic will give him a call. With the Magic having so many guards in the final year of their contracts -- and with center Dwight Howard locked in for many years -- there are players all over the league hoping for a ride to Orlando.

 

Shooting guard Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers will be another one looking to see what the Magic will do, which is why he smiled last week when he was asked about opting out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent this summer. Maggette has an option to make $8.2 million with the Clips next season, but all the losing now seems to have worn him out. If Elton Brand leaves this summer, he might do the same. The Magic probably could get him for the mid-level exception ($5.5 million) if they extend it out for five years. Maggette started his career in Orlando, but he was traded after one year during the salary cap purge of 2000.

 

His parents moved here from Chicago when the Magic drafted him, and they have remained here. For years, he has flirted with the idea of coming back if the opportunity presented itself. And this summer, it may.

 

"We'll sit down this summer and see where it goes," Maggette said before the Clippers were pounded by the Magic last week. "We're not going to the playoffs, so we'll have plenty of time to make that decision. My parents will be happy wherever I play."

 

 

Good news!

 

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-povtak1808mar...411851.column?page=2

[ball junkie 277]

quote:

STARS EYE ORLANDO

 

Point guard Jason Williams of the Miami Heat isn't the only one who will go into free agency this summer hoping the Orlando Magic will give him a call. With the Magic having so many guards in the final year of their contracts -- and with center Dwight Howard locked in for many years -- there are players all over the league hoping for a ride to Orlando.

 

Shooting guard Corey Maggette of the Los Angeles Clippers will be another one looking to see what the Magic will do, which is why he smiled last week when he was asked about opting out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent this summer. Maggette has an option to make $8.2 million with the Clips next season, but all the losing now seems to have worn him out. If Elton Brand leaves this summer, he might do the same. The Magic probably could get him for the mid-level exception ($5.5 million) if they extend it out for five years. Maggette started his career in Orlando, but he was traded after one year during the salary cap purge of 2000.

 

His parents moved here from Chicago when the Magic drafted him, and they have remained here. For years, he has flirted with the idea of coming back if the opportunity presented itself. And this summer, it may.

 

"We'll sit down this summer and see where it goes," Maggette said before the Clippers were pounded by the Magic last week. "We're not going to the playoffs, so we'll have plenty of time to make that decision. My parents will be happy wherever I play."

 

 

Good news!

 

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-povtak1808mar...411851.column?page=2

[davcivic 11]

This is good news. It will only get better if we continue winning. Maggette would be a nice addition to the team. Is having too many offensive weapons ever bad? I guess it could be if you have no defense, but I think it would be ok.

 

I wonder who else will come out.....J Will....dont want him

[Live or Die Magic 383]

I think that last night's game was a statement game, and how we continue to roll will affect our free agency fortunes.

 

Adding Corey Maggette as a our shooting guard would be pretty exciting, especially at the MLE. Defensively, he is adequate, but offensively, he's been extremely aggressive lately.

 

A good, young PF....can he be far behind?

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

I'm guessing we would let evans go without trying to re-sign him if we were able to pick up Corey for the MLE?

 

I would rather let Bogans go, but he will beunder contract, unless we trade him to someone else, resign Evans and use him off the bench?

 

Either way, it's nice to hear people 'excited' about potentially playing for Orlando!

[DustinMyselfOff 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Live or Die Magic:

I think that last night's game was a statement game, and how we continue to roll will affect our free agency fortunes.

 

Adding Corey Maggette as a our shooting guard would be pretty exciting, especially at the MLE. Defensively, he is adequate, but offensively, he's been extremely aggressive lately.

 

A good, young PF....can he be far behind?

 

There's a lot of PF's in the draft!

 

This would be awesome. I feel like this guy is a baller and SVG is proving that he can teach people D.

[davcivic 11]

quote:

Originally posted by Live or Die Magic:

I think that last night's game was a statement game, and how we continue to roll will affect our free agency fortunes.

 

Adding Corey Maggette as a our shooting guard would be pretty exciting, especially at the MLE. Defensively, he is adequate, but offensively, he's been extremely aggressive lately.

 

A good, young PF....can he be far behind?

 

If only we could actually draft talent(and keep it)....I wonder if Franny Vazquez would be interested in coming now that we are winning?

 

The question after this is...what do we do with our Forwards? Hedo and Shard....keep the lineup and sub in a real PF depending on matchups? Or send Hedo to the bench?

 

I like what we have. Shard has been decent to good at the PF, when its just not working out Cook gets some minutes. I think having a better PF do Cook's role would be good while trying to keep Hedo and Shard in the starting 5....

 

We'll see, but the good stuff is just starting to hear those rumors and seeing orlando on the map again.

[30Assists 342]

That win was huge, especially when we didn't collapse when we were down. As for Corey, he's good and all, but does anyone else, especially after last night, think that LeBron would look REAL good in Magic blue and white?

 

A davcivic: move Hedo to SG, 'Shard to SF. I'm not sold on bringing in another tweener guard. Magette's pretty good, but is he what we need?

 

From my understanding, we're fine at SG and SF. What we need is a PF or, possibly, a PG (although the PG play has been pretty good lately - even last night where I though 'Meer was getting owned, he still got 7 assists with only 3 turnovers).

 

Or LeBron.

[Live or Die Magic 383]

The chances of us getting LeBron James are pretty slim. He may opt out and leave Cleveland, but there are going to be plenty of teams and "buddies" clamoring for his interest. But to answer your question: he would look AWESOME in Magic colors!!

 

Dave, I hear you about the lineup problems. Ultimately, for Dwight's sake, we need a true PF next to him. The question would then be do we ask Turk to be a pro and go to the bench, assuring him that he will still get his 35 minutes?

 

Or do you forget about Maggette and move Turk to the 2-spot, keep a true PG in the lineup, but give much of the ballhandling duties to Turk? For opposing coaches, it would be a matchup nightmare, but defensively for us....well, that is still the rub!

[davcivic 11]

I've thought about that a lot..Hedo as a SG...but I'm not sure how that would affect his performance, having to guard for the most part, the other team's best player and having to be our go to guy.

 

I would definately give it a shot.

 

I guess we will have to see all the options in the offseason and find out what's better.

 

Our SG's are solid when you combine them as one. We don't really need scoring from the position with our current lineup.

 

There's going to be a lot to do this offseason. Many decisions, a lot of players are FA, etc...

[fiad06 0]

OMG.

 

 

Dwight

Rashard

Hedo

Corey

Nelson

 

Best line up ever!

[Live or Die Magic 383]

I think the idea of getting a player of Maggette's caliber sounds good until you start to consider the lineup possibilities.

 

Last offseason, our need was a "go-to" scorer. Well, Turk has pretty much taken that role. This need is no longer as important.

 

A better PG would be great, of course, but again, with Turk's playmaking abilities, we could go a bit longer without addressing that need.

 

But a true PF is still pretty darn important! The trickle down effect of filling that hole is pretty substantial, especially defensively. If Brian Cook, Tony Battie, and Adonal Foyle are the Magic's front court bench next season, we are looking extremely solid!

 

As for the current SGs, I think that Maurice Evans is as close to a "must sign" as we can get at the position. No knock on Keith Bogans, but given the choice, I'd rather keep Evans.