• 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...

Most of us were perturbed that Otis Smith didn't make a trade yesterday. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. As John Denton tells us, the Seattle SuperSonics were asking for Carlos Arroyo, Pat Garrity, and three (!!!) future first-round draft picks in exchange for Kurt Thomas. Okay, as much as I would love to have a legit, veteran, playoff-proven power forward in the middle for us, there's no way a 35-year-old guy is worth two expiring contracts AND three draft picks, especially when we almost certainly wouldn't re-sign him anyway. So I don't blame Otis for not pulling the trigger on that deal.

Regarding Chris Wilcox, Seattle's other expendable big man: he's playing like total crap lately.

• From SuperSonicSoul on Wednesday:

  [A]nd Chris Wilcox proved - once again - that anyone who thinks he is ready to become an above-average power forward is sorely mistaken. Big Weezy showed he was still in all-star break mode by contributing 6 (!) points and 4 (!) rebounds in 30+ minutes, while his counterpart, Hakim Warrick, finished with 22 points on 18 shots.

• And from Ball Don't Lie today:

  Seattle's getting better, and it's nice to see a SuperSonics rotation that is relying almost exclusively on the young talent this team is trying to develop, but it was a pair of vets that wouldn't allow Seattle to turn the corner. Chris Wilcox could have fouled LaMarcus Aldridge out by the third quarter, but his head wasn't into it on Thursday, and Wilcox mustered only two points and two rebounds in 14 foul-plagued minutes.

Yeah, it still stings that Joe Smith got traded -- could we have gotten in on that deal? -- but given that he's playing absolutely out-of-his-mind right now, we probably wouldn't have had the goods to acquire him.

For what it's worth, ESPN.com's John Hollinger went back and graded every trade in the NBA this season. He gives us a B for trading Trevor Ariza for Maurice Evans and Brian Cook:

Could the Magic have tried harder to find a role for Ariza? Probably. Was upgrading their situation at the 2 more important than fitting Ariza's non-shooting ways into their space-the-floor system? Absolutely [....] [A]lthough I like this trade a little better from L.A.'s end, this is another deal that clearly helped both teams.

Maybe Otis knows what he's doing after all.

Less than 24 hours until the trading deadline. Will the Magic make a deal? It seems less and less likely as each hour passes, despite the fact that tomorrow might be the Magic's last chance until 2013 to upgrade their roster significantly.

• John Denton got Otis Smith to comment on the recent trade rumors involving Seattle and Sacramento. The whole article is well worth your time, but the high points are:

  • I really think staying the course is a pretty good idea for this team right now. I see no sense in changing your direction just because teams in other cities have decided to do that this season with trades. We like our team;

  • Otis cut a scouting trip short so he could focus on the trading deadline;
  • He's had discussions with Seattle regarding Kurt Thomas and Chris Wilcox;
  • He denied the rumor which stated he spoke with Sacramento about Brad Miller, and added the only player the Kings want from us is Hedo Turkoglu;
  • He questioned why people are clamoring for him to trade for a power forward when he already dealt for Brian Cook earlier this season.

  Those last two points raise some questions. First, if he never spoke to the Kings, how does he know they only want Turk? Second, how can he not realize that Cook is a power forward in name only? Jeez, Otis. We need rebounding, and the Cookie Monster (rebound rate: 9.6, only slightly better than Pat Garrity) certainly doesn't provide that.

• A diligent fan at Denton's Magic board read in a chat with ESPN.com's Chad Ford that the Magic are the leaders in the Kurt Thomas Sweepstakes. Ford says the holdup in the deal is Seattle wanting the Magic to include a future first-round pick. As much as I'd love for the Magic to get Kurt Thomas, SuperSonics GM Sam Presti is insane if he thinks a 35-year-old forward/center is worth a package of expiring contracts and a first-round pick. Otis Smith needs to look elsewhere for big-man help if Seattle continues to insist on a first-round pick...
• ...although, given our history of questionable draft picks (Ryan Humphrey?! Steven Hunter?! JERYL SASSER?!), maybe losing one wouldn't be so bad.
• 82games has a list of sortable "clutch" stats, where "clutch" is defined as "4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points." Unsurprisingly, our crunch-time leaders are:
  • Points - Hedo Turkoglu
  • Rebounds - Dwight Howard
  • Assists - Carlos Arroyo
  • Steals - Keith Bogans
  • Blocks - Dwight Howard
• Brian Schmitz says the Magic have the Southeast Division wrapped-up. Not to be outdone, Brendan Sonnone of Believing in Magic thinks we still have a shot at winning the East. He writes, "Basically, there is no one in the East that can be considered better than Orlando, because the Magic have gone toe to toe with 'the best.'" Surely going 4-3 against the two teams ranked ahead of us in the standings is good, but it doesn't warrant saying we're "the best."
  • For what it's worth, here's a week-by-week graphical representation of the Southeast Division so far this season. We've had the lead basically from the get-go, and Washington's recent slide has strengthened it. Kinda strange that, in spite of our recent strong play, our win percentage to begin the week was near a season-low. Strange and disconcerting.

Trade news as it happens. Don't forget to comment on tonight's Magic/Raptors game in the open thread. If the Magic make a huge trade and you want to break the story here at 3QC, you can always discuss it in the diaries.

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.

• John Denton of Florida Today spoke to Otis Smith over the weekend. Here's some of what Otis said:

  If I can find a bigger body who can play, well then great. But it has to make sense for us because I'm not doing a deal just because some other teams are dealing.

  Denton believes the Seattle SuperSonics have made Kurt Thomas and Chris Wilcox available, but that Smith hasn't been able to put together an attractive enough package for them. My belief? Otis will make a deal before the deadline, even if it's a minor one. Carlos Arroyo will probably be the bait.

• Thanks to TexSUN for posting NBA dunk contest highlights in the diaries.
• Regarding the Superman dunk: I didn't think it was that great. The costume and pageantry really sold it; the dunk itself wasn't impressive. Hell, of the four dunks Dwight did, it ranked third. The tap dunk and behind-the-backboard windmill were more difficult.
  • The Superman nickname is going to haunt Dwight and the Magic for a while, especially when the green-clad Celtics do a number on us in the playoffs. Prepare for Kryptonite-themed headlines...
• Division Rival Watch: The Hawks obtained Mike Bibby from the Kings over the weekend. Bibby is only slightly better-than-average, but he basically assures the Hawks a playoff spot. Atlanta is a possible first-round opponent for Orlando, so we need to keep an eye out on how they fare the rest of the season.
  • Bibby, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford... that's a pretty good team.
• MagicManEvan started his own Magic blog over the weekend. It's called Bold 'n' Blue. Check it out.
• UPDATE: Forgot to mention this note in the first update: Marcin Gortat turned 24 years old on Sunday. Happy belated birthday, Marcin! Here's hoping you see some playing time before your 25th birthday.

We've got the Pistons tomorrow night. See you in the preview thread later.

File Photo by Red Huber, the Orlando Sentinel

Otis Smith has finally seen the light.

The Magic's General Manager told reporters, including John Denton of Florida Today, that he is indeed looking to acquire a power forward before the playoffs:

"It would be really nice to have another big body, but quite frankly we've played really well with what we've had," Smith said. "You'd be crazy to not want to help your team get better. But you have to do something that's going to make sense and not just because you feel like you have to make a move."

I wrote earlier this week that power forward was the Magic's weakest position. Let's take a look at which power forwards might be available, and what it might take to acquire them:

• Reggie Evans, Philadelphia 76ers:
  • The Good: Based on rebound rate, he's the best rebounding power forward in the NBA.
  • The Bad: He doesn't do anything else, and he's an exceptionally poor free throw shooter. Additionally, his contract runs for another four years.
  • What It Would Take: The 76ers are better than their record indicates and have plenty of young talent. However, they're pretty thin up front, so trading Evans would be difficult for them to do.
  • My offer: Keyon Dooling, J.J. Redick, and the draft rights to Fran Vazquez for Louis Amundson and Evans.
    • Why it works for us: The Magic need rebounding, and Evans is an exceptional rebounder. Amundson is a throw-in to make the salaries match.
    • Why it works for them: Dooling and Redick can provide solid backup minutes to two-guard Willie Green, whose current backup is the woefully inept Gordan Giricek. Additionally, Dooling's expiring contract combines with Giricek's to give the 76ers a bit more cap room this summer, which they earmark to re-sign restricted free-agent Andre Iguodala. Fran Vazquez sweetens the deal and gives the 76ers a decent backup power forward whenever he chooses to leave Europe.
• Chuck Hayes, Houston Rockets:
  • The Good: He's a fantastic rebounder (16.0 rebound rate) for his size (6'6"), even in the big-man-heavy Western Conference. Think of what he can do out East!
  • The Bad: Like Evans, he's a non-factor offensively. Like Evans, he's also a poor free throw shooter, connecting on 27% (!) of his attempts this season.
  • What It Would Take: Not much, which is surprising given the Rockets' eagerness to re-sign him last summer. He's regressed a bit and is losing power forward minutes to rookies Luis Scola and Carl Landry. The Dream Shake, the best Rockets blog on the internet, has an entire section entitled, "I like you, Chuck Hayes, but I like winning more."
  • My offer: Carlos Arroyo for Steve Francis and Hayes.
    • Why it works for us: Hayes can give us 15-20 solid minutes a night. Honestly, I feel better about our chances with him in the lineup than I do with Brian Cook, who is two inches taller but a much worse rebounder. Francis, who is out for the season, is a throw-in to make the salaries match. The Magic would buy him out.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is much more consistent than any of Houston's other point guards (Rafer Alston, rookie Aaron Brooks, Mike James) and can distribute the ball well.
• Joe Smith, Chicago Bulls:
  • The Good: Although not much of a rebounder, he's leaps-and-bounds better than Rashard Lewis in that regard. He also has good range on his jump-shot; that is, he won't hog the painted area from Dwight Howard
  • The Bad: There are indeed better rebounders available.
  • What It Would Take: Not as much as one might think. The Bulls want to make a playoff push, and the best way for them to do that is to upgrade their point guard rotation. Chris Duhon may have scored a career-high 34 points Thursday night, but he's still Chris Duhon.
  • My offer: Arroyo and James Augustine for Smith.
    • Why it works for us: In addition to getting a solid, reasonably priced (~$10 million over 2 season) veteran, the Magic free up a roster spot by trading two players for one.
    • Why it works for them: I'll let Matt from Blog-A-Bull explain:

      The Bulls don't get a 'prospect', but would I really want [J.J.] Redick? I'd rather see if they could re-sign Arroyo cheap enough to where bringing Duhon back is definitely not an option.

• Kurt Thomas, Seattle SuperSonics:
  • The Good: He's a strong, powerful banger of a big-man averaging 7.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for a woeful Seattle team in the midst of rebuilding. He boasts a robust 18.8 rebounding rate and defends the post well. He's in the last year of his deal, which is worth approximately $8 million.
  • The Bad: At 35-years-old, he's creaky; indeed, health is an issue.
  • What It Would Take: This part is where it gets tricky. Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling are two solid trade assets, but they're both point guards. The SuperSonics have a log-jam at that position already, and there's no reason for them to add to it. Additionally, there's no incentive for them to want to trade Thomas' expiring contract when they can keep it and let it come off their own books.
  • My offer: Arroyo, Augustine, Keith Bogans, and Redick for Thomas and Delonte West.
    • Why it works for us: Thomas bolsters our frontcourt for the rest of the season and for the playoffs, and West can play combo-guard a la Keyon Dooling.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is a huge upgrade over West and has an expiring contract to boot; Augustine and Bogans also have expiring contracts, and Augustine would instantly become Seattle's third-best big man (after Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox, ahead of Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene, and Robert Swift); and Redick is a sweet-shooting prospect who would get the chance to flourish playing ahead of Damien Wilkins.
• Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks:
  • The Good: He's a tall, versatile four/three with decent range. He's also an underrated rebounder.
  • The Bad: He's having the worst season of his young career, and his contract runs for another two years.
  • What It Would Take: Probably not a heckuva whole lot. He's losing minutes to Yi Jianlian and the Bucks don't seem too impressed with him.
  • My offer: Augustine and Redick for Villanueva.
    • Why it works for us: We get a solid "buy-low" option without giving up anyone who sees significant playing time.
    • Why it works for them: Redick instantly becomes the Bucks' backup two-guard; he won't lose minutes to Charlie Bell (having arguably the worst season in NBA History) or to Awvee Storey, that's for sure. Augustine has a small expiring contract and provides the Bucks with the sort of hustle coach Larry Krystkowiak admires.

Which of these deals sounds most appealing to you?

The Magic's Dwight Howard hauls in one of his twelve rebounds in Orlando's 106-73 victory over hapless Seattle.
Photo by John Raoux, the Associated Press

I guess winning ugly is better than not winning at all.

The Magic overcame their own sloppy play to rout the Seattle SuperSonics, keeping the beleaguered franchise winless in 8 games this season. Rashard Lewis, who came to Orlando via a sign-and-trade deal from Seattle, torched his former mates for 22 points in just 29 minutes. Dwight Howard helped Orlando with his 7th double-double in 8 games this season, posting 13 points and 12 boards.

Let me just assert this fact: it's not that we played well enough to win this game, but rather that Seattle played horridly enough to lose it. A team has to be trying really hard to lose when it forces 26 turnovers and still loses by 27. Then again, it's hard to win when your opponent hits 10-of-25 three-pointers, as Orlando did tonight. So I'll give us some credit there.

The player of the game is obviously Rashard Lewis, who rebounded from his awful showing against Phoenix, which included missing 11-of-14 shots, to score 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. That makes 7 good games out of 8 for Rashard Lewis, which is encouraging.

But the player who impressed me the most was Trevor Ariza, who took over Pat Garrity's role as the first forward off the bench for us. He responded with 11 points and 11 rebounds, his fifth career double-double. More importantly, he was not content to settle for his jump-shot, driving aggresively to the basket against Seattle's zone defense. He only made 3 of his 8 shots, but made up for it by converting 5 of his 6 free throws. If "The Razor," as Magic radio play-by-play man Dennis Neumann likes to call him, can be relied upon to bring that intensity off our bench every night, other teams are going to be in trouble.

Oft-unheralded Keith Bogans also deserves some recognition for his performance tonight. KeBo, soon to be a part of at least one of my fantasy basketball teams, scored 16 points and hit 5 three-pointers; he was feeling it from beyond the arc, to put it mildly. Perhaps Brian Schmitz should reduce the 14-1 odds of KeBo being traded before the deadline; he's too valuable to this team to give up.

Keith Bogans. Valuable. Who knew?

As for Seattle... I have no idea what they're doing. I guess they'll be good in a few years once Kevin Durant improves his shot selection, but right now, they're a team that has a ton of talent on the wings (Durant, Jeff Green, Delonte West) but only two good young bigs (Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox). Kurt Thomas is a good player, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and isn't part of their long-term plans. And their depth at center is atrocious: Bob Swift is always hurt, and Johan Petro is spectacularly awful; it pained me to watch him clank jumper after jumper in garbage time tonight.

Okay, I like the Sonics, and I hope they stick it to their slimy owner by staying in Seattle, but they are just a bad team. When we turn the ball over 26 times, we should be the team losing by 27 points. Wow.

The Magic are obviously happy to win a game, but they cannot repeat tonight's performance tomorrow against Cleveland and expect to defeat the defending Eastern Conference champions.

	vs.
0-7		5-2
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
FSN
Probable starters:
Luke Ridnour	PG	Jameer Nelson
Kevin Durant	SG	Keith Bogans
Damien Wilkins	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Chris Wilcox	PF	Rashard Lewis
Robert Swift	C	Dwight Howard

25 words or fewer: The winless SuperSonics come to Orlando to face the Magic and their former teammate, Rashard Lewis.

Know your enemy: Seattle may have a horrible record, but they have lost close games to Phoenix, Utah, and Detroit. In other words, they aren't awful.

Useless information: The SuperSonics left Orlando unhappy after their lone visit last year; Hedo Turkoglu nailed a game-winning jumper for Orlando at the buzzer.

Bullet points:

• Tim Povtak wrote this piece about Lewis' history with Seattle for this morning's paper. I have no idea why he calls Lewis a guard/forward. When has 'Shard ever played a guard position? Not last year, and only a fraction of his total minutes the year before that.
• Who the heck is going to guard Kevin Durant? He's a 6'10" shooting guard. Rashard and Hedo match up with him size-wise, but they are not good defenders. Keyon Dooling and Keith Bogans are our best on-ball defenders, but they are 6'3" and 6'5", respectively; they aren't tall enough. That leaves Trevor Ariza, an outstanding defender who, at 6'8" matches up with Durant the best. Let's see if he gets more burn tonight.
• According to Accuscore, the Magic have a 70% chance of winning tonight.
• Dwight had 22 points and 20 rebounds against the Knicks, then followed that up with 33 points and 17 rebounds against the Suns. Considering the Sonics' lack of interior defense, he should post some beastly numbers tonight.
• Speaking of beastly, here's a clip of Dwight rejecting Seattle's Luke Ridnour last season.
• Chris Wilcox is the SuperSonic who worries me most. He's a big, strong power forward having a career year: 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. I wouldn't be surprised if he went for 20/12.
• The SuperSonics are 26th in offensive efficiency and 27th in turnover rate. The Magic need to capitalize on this young team's mistakes if they went to win.
• Y'know, we could play off Kevin Durant and just let him shoot. He's a miserable .389 from the field this season, and it's taken him 144 shots to score 152 points.