Bhnole's Preseason Fiscal State of the Magic address

[bhnole 153]

With training camp nearly upon us and the roster likely set. Except for the possibility of maybe another reserve player being added through trade (Crittendon would be nice) or FA signing (Vets minimum only). It is a good time to look at the teams financial position and prospects with this current roster.

 

First let

[bhnole 153]

With training camp nearly upon us and the roster likely set. Except for the possibility of maybe another reserve player being added through trade (Crittendon would be nice) or FA signing (Vets minimum only). It is a good time to look at the teams financial position and prospects with this current roster.

 

First let

[Live or Die Magic 383]

Wow...Bhnole...now this is how you start a thread!

Awesome work and analysis. This should make for a lively discussion.

[Live or Die Magic 383]

quote:

Originally posted by bhnole:

The team will have a little more flexibility the following summer when Battie

[Mr Charisma 0]

Great post, bhnole. A lot of good information and a good bit of opinion.

 

A couple of variables that I see coming into play here:

1) Will Hedo give the Magic any indication of his intentions or money demands prior to the trading deadline. If Otis can get him to "tip his hand", then Otis' options become much more defined.

2) The Magic need to make some very serious noise this year. With the current contracts stretching the limits toward the Luxury Tax, it is going to be critical for the Magic to be able to pick up solid contributors with the Vet Minimum. If the veterans see the Magic as true title contenders, you will see the Kurt Thomas type players considering spending a year or two here chasing a ring.

3) We need to make good use of the TE that we received for Dooling by including it in a trade with Bogans or JJ for a quality player.

 

Oh, alright, I just added #3 for the purpose of sending DoM, Smack and KITNO into convulsions, so that they can explain for the 87th time how TEs cannot be combined with another player in a trade.

 

Assuming that Cook or Gortat show that they can truly play, I have to agree that Battie would be the best asset to ultimately move. Unfortunately, this team has a history of falling in love with a player so much that it affects their subjectivity in making personnel decisions (after all, we didn't need Ben Wallace anyway...). I can see Battie being given special consideration and being overvalued by our management (and, of course, they'll cite "leadership" and "intangibles" as their reasons for doing so).

[Anthony Engel 0]

Very interesting read, i agree with most of your oppinions and i am extremley nervous on what the deal w/ turk will be. i hope we can keep him, like you said at a cost of about what maggs got.

[bhnole 153]

Good points!

 

Since a lot of teams are more conscious of their spending, players are going to see fewer deals that blow all other offers out of the water. This will lead to other factors becoming more of an influence on player decisions.

 

*Can I win with this team?

*Do I like the town?

*Will I like my team mates?

 

With Dwight's cheerful personality and SVG (he is well liked by most players unlike our former coach), I expect us to be in a better position to land the Kurt Thomas's of the world.

 

As for Zaza, a big question for him is if he can't get paid here. Why not take a deal to go back to Europe when those teams are often willing to pay more? In fact our biggest problem with re-signing Hedo may come from a Euro team rather than another NBA team.

 

The Lux tax has achieved its goal of slowing down the rapid salary growth of the last decade. But the growth of the popularity of basketball on a world level (now second only to soccer) is rapidly bringing in competitors for talent from Europe. I fully expect those teams to start raiding US High schools for players that decide to skip college for a year and play oversea's for money before entering the draft.

[jack daniel 999 27]

Great thread BH..

 

I wish I knew as much as you do.

 

my worry would be about the Hedo situation...

 

it's a tough one.

 

Small ball is fine but it doesn't seem to work that well.

 

I think the Magic should still look for that PF that's going to give Dwight the help he needs to grow.

 

Somewheres the Magic are going to have to take a chance to solidify that position.

 

hopefully Cook - Gortat -Battie can do that for us this season.

[Skywise316 211]

Great thread Bhnole and also a nice add-on by Mr. Charisma..

 

Hopefully Magic Management has their eye towards keeping Hedo, and hopefully Cook & Gortat fulfill the promise all the other players have kept saying about them this offseason. If that's true, then it really is time to part ways with Battie for the sake of the almighty Salary Cap.

 

My expectation.. perhaps an optimistic one.. is that Pietrus and C. Lee will finally "shore up" our SG position and that our excitment after the Draft and Pietrus' contract signing will be shown to be warranted. If that ends up being true, then to stay financially responsible just like with Battie, I would definitely lean towards waving goodbye to both Bogans & Redick.

 

All that still leads us being that one young "physical enforcer" power forward away... one "Horace Grant" away if you will... but as long as the players come through as they're expected to, that should be the most logical path towards winning an NBA Championship.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

Thanks bhnole. Fun read.

 

I suppose I am in the minority but I hope we trade Turk. Why? I just do not see a core of Turk, Shard, and Dwight winning a championship. Ideally, I'd like us to keep Turk at a reasonable price but I don't see that happening.

 

This year will prove a lot. I really want to see Turk coming off the bench and Shard starting at the three. Can someone else in the starting five facilitate the offense?

 

Again in the minority, I also look forward to Battie's return. His physical front court play is needed in the worse way. With his return, I believe Howard's rebounding numbers will go down while Howard's points and energy will go up. More importantly, I believe we will improve as a team.

 

Ultimately, this team glaringly needs a young four to develop next to Dwight so that we can keep up with Detroit in the East. Is Gortat that guy? I have my doubts. Like Sky said, we need a Grant. Will that cost us Hedo? Probably.

[Rob 0]

I guess we will be playing small ball for now on. If its possible to keep Turk here then im pretty sure Turk will get his contract extension. We better hope that Lewis gets more physical at the 4 then. If we plan on keeping 2 small forwards in the lineup. Maybe Lewis and Turk can elevate their rebounding to help Howard more. Otis why didnt you get us Vince Carter instead of Rashard Lewis, dang.

[Rodriguez 0]

Good points guys thank you to: Bhnole, Mr. Charisma and Soulbro.