Note: From the FanPosts - Ben

Hey guys, avid reader of the blog, finally joined up today.

To put it ignorantly, what is his deal? Can the Magic sign him for this year? Next year? Would they even want to? Was the hope when the Magic drafted him that he would develop for a year in Spain and then join the team? I remember being irate from the moment they drafted him.

This probably belongs in fan shots, are we sticklers for that rule here? I know at certain other Tampa Bay Rays related blogs, one of the admins will jump all over you.

As part of the Euroleague American Tour, CSKA Moscow will play the Orlando Magic on October 10.  Along with CSKA Moscow, other teams in the Euroleague tour include FC Barcelona and Lietuvos Rytas (from Lithuania), according to ESPN.com.  These teams will then go against the Magic, LA Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors and possibly the LA Clippers.

I personally would love to see this.  I try to catch Euroleague games when they show it on NBA TV and find the quick, uptempo style fun to watch.  It's also a great opportunity to spot international talent and learn about the players overseas in case they make it to the NBA.

Not exactly breaking or urgent news, but it is a nice innovation.  In an attempt to go paperless (for the most part), the Orlando Magic will have their 2008-2009 media guide on a 128MB flash drive.

From the Orlando Sentinel's Etan Horowitz:

The flash drive guides will be available to a select number of season ticket holders for free and they will also be sold for $10 to the general public.

But since most people who want to access the media guide information at a game won't be bringing a computer with them, printed copies of the media guide will also be available for $10.

The flash drive itself looks pretty nice, though standard; it's silver with a Magic logo.

Turns out that the Warriors did in fact match Azubuiki's 3 year deal that the Clippers offered.  What does this mean to the Magic?  Well according the to the Contra Costa Times, Evans hadnt officially signed yet with the Warriors yet either. 

The Riverside Press Enterprise reported [Evans] signed for three years, $6.4 million. But he has not signed the deal, the source said. The numbers were settled on before Evans backed out. Why? You’re right. He wants more money.

So, here’s the deal. If Evans wants too much, the Warriors will match Kelenna Azubuike, who plays the same position. If Evans takes the offer, they will sign him and let Azubuike go to the Clippers, who signed him to the offer sheet for three years and just over $9 million. The Warriors aren’t jumping too much higher, if at all. He certainly won’t be getting the deal Azubuike will. Evans turns 30 in November. Azubu ike turns 25 in December.

This all has to go down by Friday, the Warriors’ deadline for matching Azubuike.

So if the Warriors decide not to pick up Evans, what do you see the Magic doing?

One of the best insiders for the Dallas MAvericks, David Lord at dallasbasketball.com suggest that the Mavs should go after him.

The Mavs could trump Golden State's offer and make him a 25-percent larger offer, with a three-year, $8M deal starting at almost $2.5M, and use Eddie Jones' contract as the match in a sign-and-trade to gain the cap ability to add him.

Why would Orlando cooperate? Orlando – a legit contender in the East - might see Jones as a possible veteran contributor and inexpensive one-year replacement for Evans. (For what it’s worth, in DB.com’s conversations with Jones, he would love to find a way to be nearer his wife and children in Miami.) If that's not incentive enough, a payment of $2M cash along with Jones would clearly give the Magic a no-cost-to-them offer, and anything beyond that (a second-rounder, or more cash) guarantees the Magic something for their trouble even if they don't want Jones.

Given what the Mavs already has at that position, a plethora of SG spares, I dont really see why the Mavs make this move.  But I wanted to get see what ya'll thought about this deal above as well.

Watch out Orlando Magic fans I propose to knock your socks off. Are you waiting for it? (Normally I would just post this in Fanshots and go away, but I would rather fans see this quickly. It is after all a JJ Redick trade proposal.) So with all the hedging, and working to avoid a minimum word count, here goes. Prepare to be blown away.

Mikki Moore for Brian Cook and JJ Redick

Actually, in all honesty, depending on how much the Magic are looking for an active big who screams alot, Moore could fit in. He didn't miss any games last season (or not very many), and is a pretty good outside shooter who can hit that shot with consistency. He does have lobster claws for hands so beware throwing him the ball unless he can catch with the upper half of his body. He doesn't have shot blocking skills or tremendous rebounding ability. Mostly, as I said, he screams alot and can hit the shot from 18 feet. On the other hand, JJ Redick is no real prize either. (Hello, 11th overall? I'm not a Magic fan and I want to slap Otis Smith on that one.)

So what do you think? Feel free to comment in this thread here if you want to peruse the "trade Ron" fest that currently litters StR. There's a poll here if you like those also. Anyway, enjoy your day.

John Denton of Florida Today posted his Orlando Summer League impressions yesterday on ESPN. Here's the article:

Courtney Lee (20.2 PPG) was named to the First Team in the Orlando Summer League, as selected by over 2 million viewers of streamed video coverage. 

Marcin Gortat (12.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG & 2.4 BPG) was named to the Second Team in the Orlando Summer League. Gortat was especially a force on the defensive end, with games where he had 4 blocks against the Pacers and 3 blocks against the Bulls. 

Pretty impressive. Hopefully the good play will carry over to the regular season and each of these guys can make a positive impact in the rotation. 

One of the infinite transgressions that this team has levied against me, is a perpetual inability to develop their young talent.  Lets add JJ to that ignominious list and move on.  JJ has no future in Orlando.  He knows it.  The local media know it.  The fans know it.  And yet, Otis refuses to acknowledge it.  Nonetheless, whenever it is that reality hits Otis like a freight train and he comes to his senses, looks at his business card and gets down to doing what hes paid to, lets hope he moves JJ for one of Philly's excess bigs.

The Sixers were one of the worst outside shooting teams in the league and desperately need to add a three point bomber to relieve the pressure on Brand.  And we need more bodies inside, since theres no guarantee that Foyle will return for the vet's minimum and Rashard was playing out of position anyway.  Philly's got Reggie Evans, Jason Smith and Speights backing up Brand, and thats too many players backing up that position (unless they think Speights can also backup Dalembert at center).  If we can get Evans for JJ straight up (with other contracts thrown in for CBA purposes) that would represent fair market value.   The Sixers may not want a shooter at 2 since they already have Louis Williams (a combo guard) and Igoudala, plus last year's starter, Willie Greeen.  In that case, we should try to move Cook for Reggie Evans.  Cook is nominally a big, but hes only there to bomb away from three, a task he failed at monumentally last year, but maybe a change of scenery will do him some good.  If Otis can get Speights for JJ and Cook without giving up a first, that would be a major coup.

I don't know what value Bogans has, but he needs to be moved, if for no other reason than to give Lee a real shot at developing.

I felt this warranted its own discussion, considering how subjective the topic can become. I wrote in a comment a few days ago a rough outlier of how the East will look like next season, in response to the flurry of moves we've been seeing these last few days. To be clear, after Boston & Detroit, my list of teams was in no particular order. I just gave a quick assessment of what I thought each team will bring to the table next season, given a healthy roster and no freak accidents. 

So without further ado, I think we can all agree that ...

1.) Boston

2.) Detroit*

After that, the fun begins. Below are a list of teams and a quick assessment of what that team brings to the table in the Eastern Conference. With that said, how do you score it? I'll go in chronological order to avoid confusion ... 

Chicago - Add Derrick Rose. Potentially will lose Ben Gordon via trade ... nothing else, though, really changes. 

Cleveland - They have LeBron and a full season with Delonte West at the PG helm. Other than that, nothing dramatic has changed for the team. 

Miami - Add Michael Beasley & Mario Chalmers. The Heat also add a healthy Dwyane Wade. Whether or not they keep Marion for the full year remains to be seen, but nevertheless, this is a potential playoff team again.

Orlando - We went 52-30 last year and won the Southeast Division. We're going to lose Mo Evans, Keyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo but we gain Mickael Pietrus, Courtney Lee and possibly Jason Williams (?). For the most part, our roster remains status quo overall.

Philadelphia - Acquired Elton Brand. Adding a perennial 20-10 guy onto an exciting Sixers roster will do wonders for that team. If Louis Williams and Thaddeus Young can continue to progress, this can be a very dangerous team to deal with. Adding Mareese Speights via the Draft, who's proj. PER was 15 (lottery talent according to Hollinger) is impressive as well. 

Toronto - Acquired Jermaine O'Neal. Plug him in alongside Chris Bosh and you have a nasty front-court, if it stays healthy. Add in a full season with Jose Calderon at the PG helm and you have a potentially explosive team offensively. 

Washington - Retain the Big Three (Arenas/Butler/Jamison). However, the team remains relatively the same. It should be important to note that when the Wizards are fully healthy, this is a potential 50 win team. Bad luck and misfortune hasn't allowed people around the NBA to really see that from Washington. Maybe this year will be different?

Alright, there you go ... how would you score the East (#1-#8)?

*If you think we're better than Detroit, smack yourself in the face. Until we beat that team in the playoffs, I'm giving the six-time Eastern Conference Finalists the benefit of the doubt. 

From the FanPosts. My thoughts to follow. - BQR

Word is the Magic are going to sign Pietrus to the full MLE ... starting at 5.2 Mill. next season. 

From the Florida Today ... 

'The signing of Pietrus ends the Magic’s chase of free-agent shooting guard Corey Maggette and could end their chances of retaining combo guard Keyon Dooling. 

Pietrus is especially appealing to the Magic because of his ability to defend. He is a strong defender with a long wingspan, traits that appealed to Smith. Smith, who used to work with the Golden State Warriors, is quite familiar with Pietrus’ toughness and defensive grit. 

Smith said the Magic needed to upgrade their shooting guard position in order to make a dramatic improvement next season. He is expected to be the opening day starter at shooting guard.'

Chad Ford has Speights going to us at 21 in his latest mock draft (released today).  Halleluja!  I don't know if this is because Speights is falling, or because other players are rising to overtake him, but I would be hella-excited if we take any one of the big men in the 20-30 range over Lee or any of the other swingmen available that low.

Besides Speights, Ibaka looks like a stud down the road and looks like he'll  available at 21.  He looks like Dwight, and plays like Dwight, but has range out to 18--so he could play with Dwight at the 4.

I hope Otis doesnt pick Lee or any other wing (unless its Rush), just because we have a need.  Or even worse, pick a guard becaue Keyon might be bolting for free agency.  Although his recent words about the issue do not sound promising.  Backup points arent hard to find in FA.  Heck, we might even resign Carlos at 2-3 mil a year in the worst case scenario.  For whatever reason though, this draft has a lot of promising bigs--Speights, Hickson, Ibaka and even Ajinca and Jawai available at 20 and beyond.