Not true, they don't want to keep him bc they know he doesn't want to be there. Orlando is trying to get something for him rather than just let him walk for nothing, hell even a 2nd rounder will get him from Orlando. Magic have Biyombo, Vucevic, and Gordon who's minutes are being taken by Ibaka. Orlando tries to play Gordon at the wing where he is terrible compared to the 4 spot where he is more comfortable. Ibaka is not in the Magics future but Gordon def is and he can't grow if his minutes are being taken by Ibaka. And you are right that Ibaka isn't a good rebounder but also is playing terrible D which can all be the cause of loosing. Last year he was great at defending the paint so the D is there however what's the point in defending when NO ONE ON THE MAGIC DEFEND not even Biyombo and they are especially not winning. I'm also not sure how you got $50 mill between Serge and Anderson bc Anderson will be making $19 mill next year and Ibaka is NOT eligible for the $30+ mill payday since he has to be with a team at least 3 years to be eligible for that kind of money. He probably gets $20 mill and if we get him at the deadline and he performs like he did last year I def will pay him that bc you can EASILY trade Anderson to a team looking for shooter such as LAC who he would pair GREAT alongside DJ. Don't be surprised if LAC do a Blake for Anderson in the summer. LAC are not happy with Blake and they don't seem to be going anywhere soon with the current roster. Plug in Ibaka and Blake down low and you pursue a 3 man that can defend and create/shoot more consistently than Ariza (I.e Snell, Igoudala, Otto Poter, Inglés, or McAdoo) and you have yourself a team. A roster with: C-Ibaka ($20 mill projection) F-Griffen ($25 mill projection) F-McAdoo ($8 mill projection) G-BEV ($6 mill) G-Harden ($28 mill) Key Reserve: Gordon ($12 mill) Harrell ($1 mill) Capela ($2 mill) Dekker ($1.7 mill) KJ ($3 mill) Ariza ($7.8 mill) Brew ($7.5 mill) Oniwaku ($500k) This is about $110-115 mill in cap but of curse you would get rid of the salaries of Ariza in a possible Griffen trade to LA and also get rid of Brews contract for hopefully Ibaka from Orlando along with maybe KJ and Harrell. If so that eliminates $19 mill from your books. This will also allow us to resign Nene but seeing that his buddy Ariza is gone I doubt he sticks around. I don't want Ariza in this system anymore bc he is starting to become more and more of a liability. We need shooters and defenders and the starting five is long and can shoot and defend. Go look up Mcadoo's HL and tell me he would fit great in MDA's system!
You lost me with Ryan Anderson for Blake Griffin. NO WAY that happens, those two players are worlds apart. It would be a terrible deal for the Clippers.
Not sure why "getting the band back together" is a good enough reason. He just walked away from a team with Ibaka on it and he didn't even give Harden enough respect to have an interview with the Rox
Nice find. No, I didn't scribble down the names of the players their GM mentioned as available. Not at all. In any case, those names have already been bandied about in the media, but this would seem to confirm some names. Gallo, ay? Nenê was trying to convince Gallo to come to Houston, if I remember correctly from Codman (who's buddies with Nenê). Not that Gallo would need much convincing, what with Italian League legend coach D'Antoni here.
Great find @larsv8 @ROXTXIA I absolutely hope NeNe can somehow sway a Gallo trade. My absolute ideal trade target; that's actually realistic given our assets.
@larsv8, great find on that Magic info. All feels very believable. The part about Vogel trying to please everyone, I seem to remember reading that was one of his faults in the past. Interesting. I really going to be interested to see if some team swoops in with a lowball offer for Hezonja. Could be a nice upside gamble.
I would be more open for a hezonja trade than an Ibaka trade, mainly because Ibaka is a guy you can sign in the offseason. Trading for ibaka and losing core assets is just dumb when all you have to do is wait half a season to convince him to come to Htown. KJ+Dekker+1st for hezonja I think Vogel doesnt know what he's doing offensively Hezonja would blow up on our team.
Slow down, i would love to take a flyer on Mario (and i also agree on Ibaka) but that's overpaying right there, he has talent but wasn't able to earn decent minutes in two years, i mean, it's still a gamble, KJ + 1st (or two 2nd rounders?) and we can talk
Hezonja is going to be nasty. He's Orlando's best talent. They should be building around him. Put him in this system and he'll go nuts.
I'm having trouble following this. How many DNP-CDs does this guy have. Like two dozen this year....three in a row. And they moved Oladipo, so he really has no excuse this year, no? Seems to be having trouble even breaking into the lineup on a bad team.
Hezonja in Orlando is kind of baffling. On one hand I keep hearing reports he has an attitude problem, thinks of himself highly and doesn't want to pay his dues. On the other hand, he is in Frank Vogel's defensive system which I think is the last place that Hezonja needs to be to allow his talents to flourish. MDA's system looks tailor made for Hezonja's strengths to me. Then again, would he get nailed to the bench ala KJ?
