The 2008 NBA trading deadline is Thursday, February 21st, at 3 PM EST. 3QC is keeping tabs on the Magic's involvement.

• Gary Washburn of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer joined the Magic/SuperSonics trade rumor discussion extravaganza by writing this piece, entitled "Thomas' Future Uncertain Now," in which he writes, "And at All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, there appeared to be interest in [Kurt] Thomas by a few teams, including the Orlando Magic, which is in need of a power forward."

  Washburn mentions Carlos Arroyo, Keyon Dooling, and Pat Garrity, saying a combination of two of those three players could be used to pry Thomas from Seattle. (Hat-tip: poster TheFalcon at MagicMadness)

  My original Magic/SuperSonics proposal involved Arroyo, James Augustine, Keith Bogans, and J.J. Redick for Thomas and Delonte West. I'd like to revise that trade: Arroyo, Augustine, and Bogans for Thomas. It doesn't appear as though Smith wants to trade Redick, and there's no real reason for us to want West when we already have one undersized combo-guard, Keyon Dooling.

• Meanwhile, Will Brinson at FanHouse discusses a Thomas-to-the-Magic swap as part of FanHouse's Trade Machinations series. He concludes:

  Will it happen? Yes. Yes it will. The only hold up here -- I would imagine -- is whether the Sonics and Magic want to consider anything that might involve either J.J. Redick or Chris Wilcox. Well, that and the full compensation for the swap: draft picks, etc.

• Brian Schmitz cautions the Magic not to include Dooling in any trade before the deadline... unless it yields Udonis Haslem. I agree with Schmitz for the most part. Keyon has indeed been our best, most consistent bench scorer. We need him more than we need Arroyo, who is actually fairly similar to Jameer Nelson. If we can only re-sign one guard with an expiring contract this summer -- Arroyo, Keith Bogans (if he opts-out), Dooling, and Maurice Evans are the players whose contracts will be up for renewal -- Dooling has to be the pick. He may not run the offense well, but he gets to the basket and converts. I'd hate to see him go, even in a deal for Haslem.
  • For what it's worth, Heat scribe Ira Winderman thinks Haslem would be a great fit in Orlando, "a utilitarian power forward to handle the dirty work." He doesn't suggest any potential deals, however.
• Interesting discussion thread over at John Denton's forum, in which readers debate the merits of rooting against the Magic tonight and tomorrow night in hopes that successive losses to Detroit and Toronto would force Otis Smith to make a trade. I'm opposed to rooting for my team to fail for any reason, but especially when there's no guarantee of a reward. For instance, when a cellar-dwelling team tanks its season, there's a tangible increase in the odds of it winning the draft lottery, and thus improving its fortunes. In this situation, it's not a given that back-to-back losses before the trading deadline will make Otis get on the phone and make a deal.
• UPDATE: From this diary entry I posted at Sactown Royalty:

  Poster "BriceC0815" at John Denton's Magic board posted a link to this page at another board (PG-13 for language), which details some Magic/Kings trade rumors.

  • Brad Miller and Francisco Garcia for Carlos Arroyo, Keith Bogans, and Pat Garrity. (Trade Machine)
  • Kenny Thomas and Garcia for Arroyo, Bogans, and Garrity. (Trade Machine)

  Very interesting, but I don't see why Sacramento would make the Miller deal. Sure, it'd free-up some salary, but I doubt [Kings GM] Geoff Petrie would make any trade in which he gives up the two best players in it. The Thomas deal makes more sense for Sacramento, but even Otis Smith has to realize that Kenny Thomas is no-good...

  ...right?

  [....]

  • UPDATED AGAIN: John Denton, as usual, is on the case. He checked with Otis on the validity of the rumor, and Otis told him there was no chance the Magic would take on Miller and his large salary. Denton added that his sources within the Magic organization indicated Orlando will not make a trade with Miami anytime soon.

Speaking of trades: the Jason Kidd-to-the-Mavericks deal is done, and Mavs Moneyball has this indispensable timeline of events leading up to its completion. Kudos to Wes for keeping tabs on the situation.