Orlando News

[phoostal]

I just heard this today as I was driving into work. Orlando GM will meet with TMac today or tomorrow to discuss his future with the team.

According to the GM Weisbroad, TMac wants to stay in Orlando and the feeling is mutual from Orlando. The conversation is going to be about him opting out next year. If TMac tells them that he is going to opt out then the Magic are going to trade them this off season. This is coming from Weisbroad.

Now they also may to try to trade him during the season. Right now they are leaning towards the off season. They want to get draft picks and clear cap space.

Almost in any trade scenario a team will have to take a bad contract or two. For example, J. Howard, D. Gooden, R. Gaines, possiblly G. Hill.

From the conversation I don't think the Magic are going to accept a trade of Terry and the 17th pick. It would probably take the 5th or 6th pick with Terry. This also could depend on how many bad contracts we take back from Orlando.

FYI, Johnny Davis isn't going anywhere. They like Johnny and are going to ride him out at least another season. This maybe the kiss of death. But, when he did take over they did give him a guarantee 2-year contract. If they fired him they would be on the hook for another year of his salary.

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[TheDude]

i wouldn't trade the TERRY AND HOWARD or Smith because I really feel either of those two guys are going to be superstars so losing Terry to me wouldn't be worth it. We did that with Gasol/Reef and it turned around and bit us.

I say see if they'll take Terry, Milwaukees pick, we can pick up a bad contract like Grant's(who then miraculously plays as an allstar another 3 years with no health problems- yeah right) and a handshake.

[Diesel]

IF Orlando decides to keep Tmac...

You better believe that they will probably look to trade their first round pick if it's not Okafur for an established player. Tmac wants improvement.

I would suggest that we may be able to offer JT/future first for a bad contract & #1. This would be my dream come true. Howard and Smith or Okafur and Smith.....

The problem...

We probably lose Negotiations (reasonable) with Jax. But hey, we're rebuilding.

The bad contract is probably Hill. We have the money to eat his contract. I wouldn't want it because he's never going to play again... But You never know...

What does losing Hill do for Orlando?

Well, this year, with Hill... They are right on the cap. IF they traded Hill for JT and didn't take on any 1st rounders, they would have 6 million to work with... Maybe 9 million if they don't keep Stevenson...

Now, think about free agency. They could make an offer to Kobe!!!

Imagine that team:

JT/Kobe/Tmac/Gooden/Howard.

Say what you want... That team could win!

Now, even if they needed more to work with.... What if they offered Hill/#1 overall for Diaw/future first....

That would 3effectively give them 12-13 Million to over to Kobe. That's an offer I think he would take.

We'd have:

JT/Jax/Josh/Howard/Pryz...

[phoostal]

I would rather have McGrady than making a trade to not get him. Yes we would have all these high schoolers. But I would like to have a proven commodity in McGrady. A top 3 to 5 player in the league. We would still have draft picks and money under the cap. Go after McGrady!

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[Diesel]

Well, the winners are those folks who can spot talent and draft it....

Who is to say that Josh Smith won't be better than Tmac?

Who is to say that Dwight Howard is not the next KG?

Who is to say that Okafur is not the next Duncan?

It's good to have proven commodities like Jax... However, it's even better to be able to spot talent... Like Sac-Town does.

[RLHawk]

I think there are 2 possible paths for Orlando to take with regards to rebuilding.

Option 1: Build with youth!

Orlando has no cap space, and will not get any. No one willtake on Hill just to get the #1 pick since the people who have cap space also have to build a team (with more than 1 player). So instead they decide to go with youth. They need cap space (to fill in a roster) and draft picks or young talent.

We offer JT/#15 this year/#1 (unprotected 2005) for McGrady. This gives them roughly $6-$9M in cap space. They then have the #1 pick this year for Okafar. The #15 for a SG. They use the money to build some depth and athtletism and play this year with JT/JR Smith/FA/Okafar/Howard

We resign Jax and end up with Duhan/McGrady/Jax/Howard/Pryzbilla (I know I hope the balls bounces right)

Option #2 Build around McGrady

In this case they try to clear cap space to sign Kobe or Martin. The problem is they only have the #1 pick to play with. If they can get a team to take Hill's contract for the #1 the more power to them. The challenge is that not meany teams that have the cap space, want to rebuild with only youth. Chicago has proven that doesn't work that well. I know you can look at Denver and Cleveland, but they have other players as well.

I would love for them to choose option 1, but I think Orlando is in trouble. They have no cap room, 1 player and other players noone wants. There other players of any caliber all play the same position and the best players in this draft play the same position (Okafar/Howard). If they draft Okafar, they will be the same team next yr as this year. Okafar/Howard/Gooden are all PF. So they will end up with TMAC/Okafar next year as the only players on the floor.

[phoostal]

Who is to say these guys are the next Garnett, McGrady, and Duncan? No one. How do you know it doesn't end up like Curry or Chandler? Or even Miles(better than the other two, but not a superstar).

McGrady is still young and a superstar. That's a fact. Take him. Use some of our other draft picks and cap space to help build around and go from there. We are not talking about getting an aging veteran that only has one to three years left in his career. This guy has another 8 years left.

Take him now. The only way I don't do it is if McGrady says he will still opt out at the end of the year. I would restructure his contract so he couldn't opt out and add more years to it.

I would much rather have McGrady than two unproven guys. Yes, those guys maybe stars when it is all said and done. But, guess what you are going to have a top 3 to 5 player for the next 8 years. That is a guarantee, barring injury.

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[Diesel]

If this is your thinking, then why draft at all... Has there ever been a team that gave up all of it's draft choices for established veterans??

Hmmmm...

#3 pick for Shareef.

#8 pick for Big Dog.

Hmm... How's that working for you?

It's just too hard to miss out on the next guy that turns the league around. It's like Cleveland trading their #1 last year for Iverson... Doesn't make much sense now...

Smith has been called by his HS coach the best player/ahtlete he's ever seen... He coached Mello, Stackhouse, and a few other notable players in this league...

Who's saying that he will be the next Tmac? A lot of people..

[phoostal]

I'm not talking about Reef and Big Dog. They were never considered one of the best players in the league. TMAC is period. Those guys aren't even on the same radar screen as TMAC.

We aren't talking about Iverson either. He is beaten down and on the downside of his career. We are talking about TMAC guy that will still be good for another 8 years.

Why have a guy like TMac when you can have the real thing? Do you want a Gucci or a knock off? People usually want the real thing.

Did I ever say trade all our picks? No. Maybe Knight works some Magic(no pun intended) and only has to cough up Terry #17, a couple of seconds. As well as taking Howard or another contract.

We are still in good shape we keep the 5th or 6th pick. We still have one second round pick and we still have some cap space. We aren't getting older in the deal, we are adding younger pieces and still have cap space. Next year we will more space when Hendu and Crawford come off.

There is nothing wrong with that deal. I would much rather go that way than draft 3 high schoolers. Who knows if they mesh together? What sort of veteran leadership will they have around them? A lot more questions with them.

Just get TMAC. We will still be young and in good position to add pieces around him.

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[cyman3]

"Just get TMAC. We will still be young and in good position to add pieces around him."

- if its possible to get TMAC w/o Grant Hill and givin up BOTH resigned Jackson + Terry... i'm for it!