Off-Day Open Thread: What if the Magic's New Additions Disappoint?
by Ben Q Rock
on Sep 10, 2008 5:00 AM EDT
in Off-Day Open Thread
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John Hollinger doesn't think much of the Magic's moves this summer. In his exhaustive look at each free-agent signing by every NBA team this summer, he writes the following of the Magic's moves:
Mickael Pietrus inked a four-year, $23 million deal to become Orlando's defensive stopper. Last season, he fouled so often [ed. note: 5.5 fouls per 36 minutes] it's inconceivable he could stay on the court long enough to have much of an effect, but the Magic won't be playing him at power forward in crazy smallball lineups. Nonetheless, this seems like the classic "midlevel curse" contract -- Pietrus never was much good at Golden State and was signed as much for potential as for production.
[....]
Orlando inked Anthony Johnson to a two-year, $4.2 million deal to be its backup point guard, but his game slipped in the latter part of last season. In all likelihood, he'll be a major dropoff from the Keyon Dooling-Carlos Arroyo pairing that held the job a year ago.
[....]
Orlando's Adonal Foyle is a great guy and a decent third center.
Let's assume Hollinger's right, and Orlando's newcomers fail to match or exceed the production of their predecessors. The question, then, becomes the following: will the production of the Magic's "core four" of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson, and Hedo Turkoglu be enough to offset the lack of production of the newcomers?
Right now, it's too early to tell, and it's entirely possible that Pietrus and Johnson play quite well. But the subject is one the Magic, and their fans, need to consider. Given the upgrades Cleveland and Toronto made, as well as the healthy return of Washington's stars, a spot in the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket is no longer a certainty.
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Dwight looks better every year and Jameer should be better as well, we will be in the top half of the east bracket. Anyway, Hollinger is a garbage NBA writer. Sometimes I don’t even think he watches the games but instead just checks the box scores in the morning. Anything he says means nothing to me so I’m not worried about our off season moves.
With that said, they still need to move Bogans or Reddick.
by magic fanatic on
Sep 10, 2008 4:39 PM EDT
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their offseason moves certainly didn’t make them better, i’ll say that. should have traded turk, as his value will never be higher. we definitely need to make a trade by the deadline, though.
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by mhetrick14 on
Sep 10, 2008 6:37 PM EDT
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I think Turk is gone by the deadline unless Otis can figure a way to dump a TON of salary before then.
by Ben Q Rock on
Sep 10, 2008 8:58 PM EDT
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Hedo = System Player ?
I think Hedo Turkoglu will be seen by opposing team’s GMs as a system player. As someone who’s reliant on playing in a certain type of offense in order to be a top level player as opposed to the high level role player he’s been for most of his career.
With that in mind I think it will be extremely difficult for Otis Smith to make a trade that offers better value than Hedo offers the Magic as a player.
by NBR on
Sep 13, 2008 12:44 PM EDT
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System player
That much might be true. Brian Hill shackled him and made him take jumpers all day. But now that Stan Van Gundy has freed him, and coaches know how to use him better, that fear may subside.
by Ben Q Rock on
Sep 13, 2008 7:59 PM EDT
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Part of the “third quarter collapse” inherent to the team was the inability to get stops when they needed them, I think that Pietrus even playing 25 a game will be a huge help.
by PSmith7 on
Sep 10, 2008 7:54 PM EDT
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exactly, this guy won’t ever be expected to guard Dirk, Boozer, or Amare like he was in Golden State. He won’t be expected to put up huge numbers either. All he needs to do is stop opposing sg’s from setting season highs in points when they play Orlando. If he can do that the team will improve and it will be worht the money.
The fact of the matter is this, Pietrus will not put up big numbers in the box score. Therefore people like Hollinger will always write him off. What he will do is help us out at a position in which we sucked defensivly at last year. Orlando will go to the Eastern finals this year and the addition of Pietrus will be a big reason why.
by magic fanatic on
Sep 10, 2008 8:23 PM EDT
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Understandable criticism
Pietrus is the ideal 2 for a Magic lineup that has Lewis playing the 4, and this is one point that many are missing. He shoots the three about as well as Bogans or Evans do, and he rebounds with the Top 2’s in the league, which is HUGE for this team. That is MP at face value and probably worth the contract right there. What is a bonus is that he is already a solid wing defender with the potential to be a LOCK DOWN guy. If he is then watch out.
The second point that people miss is that the Magic were filling two roster spots for one role player, that being Dooling/Arroyo to fill the back up point guard spot. With Johnson we get both skill sets wrapped in one player. This will bring more consistency to Nelson’s playing time, and I think this is going to be a big year for the little guy. Plus it will allow either Lee or Redick to see more court time by filling in for Dooling’s lost minutes. I am willing to bet that both Nelson getting more PT and either Redick or Lee finding a role on the team will go a long way into making this offseaon a huge boon for the Magic, as much as because of what we lost as to what we gained.
'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12
by Eyriq the Red on
Sep 11, 2008 11:53 AM EDT
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