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Hedo Turkoglu rejects Blazers, ends negotiations
[Ed. note: bumped to front page. This is some weird news. Discuss it here - BQR]
The Oregonian has learned that free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu has rejected an offer to sign with the Trail Blazers and has ended negotiations with the team.
He will leave town tomorrow morning.
More to come.
40 minutes ago
Marie
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Evaluating The Centers Using Statistics
by erivera7
on Jul 3, 2009 6:00 PM EDT
in Evaluations
0 comments
| Marcin Gortat | Dwight Howard | |
| Games Played | 63 | 79 |
| Minutes Played | 12.6 | 35.7 |
| 1 year adj. plus/minus | -8.06 | +1.04 |
| net plus/minus | -12.5 | +8.7 |
| statistical plus/minus | -0.03 | +3.67 |
| PER | 17.2 | 25.4 |
| WARP | 3.1 | 21.0 |
| Win Shares | 3.4 | 13.9 |
As Ben alluded to in the past, we know the storylines for each player on the Orlando Magic. Instead of regurgitating the same information again, I decided to take a look at the statistical production of the centers during the regular season.
This will conclude my evaluations.
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Sources: Hedo Turkoglu has reached an agreement in principle to become a Portland Trail Blazer.
Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith Discusses Rasheed Wallace, Marcin Gortat, and Hedo Turkoglu with the Orlando Sentinel
by Ben Q Rock
on Jul 3, 2009 12:22 PM EDT
in News
51 comments
Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith speaks to the Orlando Sentinel about free agency. Ordinarily, I'd FanShot this story, but there's so much good information in here that I'll make an exception. Highlights:
The Orlando Magic have contacted Rasheed Wallace's agent and likely will not match the Dallas Mavericks' pending offer sheet for Marcin Gortat and want perhaps one last chance at re-signing Hedo Turkoglu.
Smith disputed reports that Wallace was making a visit to Orlando, although he said "it was possible" a some point.
Smith agreed that Wallace, a veteran 6 feet 11 power forward, would be a nice "fit" alongside center Dwight Howard, but "it just depends on what Rasheed wants to do."
Gortat, according to reports, has committed to sign the Mavs' offer sheet, with Howard's back-up apparently commanding a mid-level contract starting at $5.6 million.
[....]
"Those numbers are a little rich for a back-up center, a guy playing behind my best player (Dwight Howard)," Smith said. "If it's 5 (million), it puts you in a situation (financially) that you don't recover from."
As far as Turkoglu is concerned, he is being given the full-court press by the Trail Blazers and visited Portland on Thursday. Reports say that the Blazers could offer Turk a five-year, $50-million contract. The Toronto Raptors are also said to be in play for Turkoglu, 30, a versatile small forward who played the past five seasons in Orlando.
Smith said the it would be "a long-shot to get something done" with Turkoglu, but added that he had spoken with Lon Babby, Turkoglu's agent, and they agreed to talk before Turkoglu accepted a contract proposal with any team.
Good news on all fronts, I gather. Rasheed would give the Magic some toughness on the front line, and fits Magic President Bob Vander Weide's desire for his team to employ a "cranky" power forward. Marcin is a tremendous player, but simply not worth the financial hit the team would take for keeping him, given how many minutes he'd play. And I know there's virtually no chance of a deal with Turkoglu happening, it's at least a positive that Smith and Babby are on the same page. Former Magic players Keyon Dooling, Maurice Evans, and Darko Milicic expressed dissatisfaction with Smith's handling of their free agency in previous years, so we're seeing some improvement on that front.
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A Tour of the Orlando Events Center Construction Site
by Ben Q Rock
on Jul 3, 2009 12:00 PM EDT
in News
3 comments
Thursday morning, the Orlando Magic conducted a tour of the construction site of the Orlando Events Center, their new arena, for the media. At 9:46 AM, Alex Martins, the team's Chief Operating Officer, rounded up the assembled media at the corner of Church Street and Garland Avenue and led them down Church toward Division Avenue and the construction entrance (pictured above). Martins was a study in contrasts, as he paired dress slacks and a collared shirt with well-worn work boots and a hard hat.
Make the jump to read about the tour, and for several photographs of the construction.
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[Rasheed] Wallace will visit San Antonio and Orlando next week, according to a source, before making up his mind. Wallace is not likely to visit Cleveland.
David Aldridge of NBA.com says Orlando is on Rasheed Wallace's travel itinerary. He'll also visit San Antonio, having already heard the Boston Celtics' pitch.
UPDATE: Marcin Gortat Signs Offer Sheet with Dallas Mavericks; Orlando Magic Unlikely to Match
by Ben Q Rock
on Jul 3, 2009 10:14 AM EDT
in News
51 comments
They say everything's bigger in Texas. Things are about to get bigger in the Dallas area, as the Mavericks have tendered Orlando Magic free-agent center Marcin Gortat an offer sheet for the mid-level exception. Gortat is a restricted free agent, which gives the Magic the right to match any offer he receives in order to retain his services. However, Magic GM Otis Smith has said throughout this offseason that he would not match an offer to Gortat if it were more than $5 million. The mid-level is valued at just over that amount, meaning Gortat's days in Orlando are at an end unless Smith changes his stance.
UPDATE (this paragraph only): I goofed. This is what happens to people if they put too much stock into Smith's public comments. Monday, he said he wouldn't match anything over $5 million. However, Tim Povtak reports that Smith said, "At this point, we're matching everything that comes back to us," as recently as Wednesday. Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD also hears that the Magic will match the offer, which he believes "may be a huge mistake." What it comes down to is this: is Marcin Gortat worth up to $11 million a year? An annual salary in the $5.5 million range is more than fair for his services, but the matching luxury tax payment would severely limit the Magic's options as they try to fill-out the rest of their roster. Orlando will exceed the tax threshold no matter what it does, so it seems more wise for it to try to split its mid-level on two players in order to get a better value.
UPDATE 2 (this paragraph only): Today, Smith tells the Orlando Sentinel he won't match the offer.
Gortat, 25, played 2 seasons in Orlando, but was only a regular rotation player last year. He averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in just 12.6 minutes per game backing up Dwight Howard, the Magic's All-Star center.
Gortat gives the Mavericks a solid backup to the veteran starter Erick Dampier, 33, whose contract runs for two more seasons.
We've expected that Gortat would go to Texas, but not to Dallas. When the free-agent negotiating period opened at 12:01 AM Wednesday, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey met with Gortat at the center's Orlando home. It's likely he also offered Gortat a mid-level deal. Ultimately, Gortat found Dallas' situation more appealing than Houston's, inking the offer sheet with the Mavericks instead.
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Evaluating Dwight Howard
by Ben Q Rock
on Jul 3, 2009 10:00 AM EDT
in Evaluations
1 comment
This week, 3QC will take a look back on each Magic player's 2008/2009 season. Each day focuses on one position: Monday for point guards, Tuesday for shooting guards, Wednesday for small forwards, Thursday for power forwards, and Friday for centers. I'll evaluate each individual player at that position at regular intervals throughout the day, while Eddy will make a general survey of the position later in the afternoon.
Dwight Howard concludes this year's player evaluations.
| Dwight Howard | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. 12 | Center | |
| Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Blocks Per Game |
| 20.6 | 13.8 | 2.9 |
| Points Per 36 | Rebounds Per 36 | Blocks Per 36 |
| 20.7 | 13.9 | 2.9 |
| PER | Rebound Rate | Block Rate |
| 25.4 | 21.8 | 5.9 |
| FG% | 3FG% | FT% |
| 57.2% | 0.0% | 59.4% |
| eFG% | TS% | |
| 57.2% | 60.0% | |
All statistics in this table from Howard's player page at basketball-reference. Career-high statistics highlighted in gold. | ||
Another season, another career-best performance for Dwight Howard. The media hype of Howard, that he's a glorified Tyson Chandler who is too nice to ever win anything, is absurd. Focus on his dunking if you like, but also acknowledge that he's refined his post game somewhat--he still has a ways to go--and is without question the best defensive center in basketball. A year ago, his baseline spin move wasn't as polished as it is now. This is a guy making progress. And that people consistently trash him, well, it doesn't make much sense.
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