Orlando Magic News for August 28th: Ranking Dwight Howard, "Outing" Oklahoma City, etc.

by Ben Q Rock on Aug 28, 2008 6:56 PM EDT in News Comment 11 comments

Erick Blasco of Bleacher Report lists the league's 30 best centers. Our very own Dwight Howard ranks second, behind Yao Ming, in large part due to his lack of offensive moves. Blasco also calls Howard out for poor court awareness on defense. (Hat tip: Canis Hoopus)
As you might imagine, Dwight's proud to be an Olympic gold medalist. John Denton has the details. (Hat tip: SLAM)
The Magic are proud of him, too. Check out the splash page of their website.
The Magic's drafting of Fran Vazquez in with the 11th pick in the 2004 Draft may go down as one of Otis Smith's greatest blunders. Not only did he select a player who has yet to join the team, and who probably won't until next summer at the earliest, he passed on several good-to-great players in the process. As we know, Danny Granger is one such player. Tom Ziller explains what makes him a rising star, and why he's due for a breakout season, in his NBA Top 50 series at FanHouse. For what it's worth, Granger's 44th.
The Oklahoma City NBA franchise, long-rumored to be named the Thunder, will officially announce its name and colors at a news conference next week. The Magic had a role in the confirmation, as The Lost Ogle found a goof on the team's website whichlisted their December 5th game as "vs. Thunder." Oops. (Hat tip: TrueHoop)
SLC Dunk user "clarkpojo" believes the Magic would be wise to ship J.J. Redick and Brian Cook to Oklahoma City for Chris Wilcox. I like the idea, at least from our perspective. It clears out the logjam at the two-guard and strengthens the power position at the same time. If only the Thunder had a decent, affordable young point guard to add to the deal...

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I thought one of the conditions of the Sonics’ move to OKCity was that they keep the team colors and name. Like, they’d be the OKCity Sonics. Did I make that up?

Not that I ever knew what the hell a Sonic was anyway besides a hedgehog.

by TheGiantSquid on Aug 28, 2008 8:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

it’s the other way around, Seattle keeps the name and colors

by magic fanatic on Aug 28, 2008 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly.

If Seattle gets another NBA franchise, they can use the Sonics’ name, colors, etc. That’s how I understand it, anyway.

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by Ben Q Rock on Aug 29, 2008 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ohh okay, I see. I probably just skimmed the article and misunderstood who was keeping what. Thank you!

by TheGiantSquid on Aug 29, 2008 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They also get to keep the championship banner and the retired numbers. If they make Stern happy, it will ideally be like the team never lost the team. Sort of like what happened with the Cleveland Browns.

by magic fanatic on Aug 29, 2008 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like the idea of Wilcox and Foyle on the second line balancing each others game. In fact, Wilcox makes Donny’s job much easier in not having to cover a large amount of paint in the way that Battie can keep Dwight from having to double.

JJ would be a superstar in the middle of the country.

!Nerd Up

by nerditry on Aug 28, 2008 10:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Foyle providing the D, Wilcox with the O. What I worry about is Wilcox’s focus: he’s been known to take some nights off. However, isn’t a sleepwalking Wilcox a better bet to grab a rebound than an alert Brian Cook?

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by Ben Q Rock on Aug 29, 2008 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs