I would have much rather have Gooden then Juwan. However, I think Tony Battie is the better defensive presence. They have enough Offense with Steve/Cuttino/Turkalu/Garrity with Ben Gordon and Josh Howard off the bench Battie and Kato on the front line is pretty good.
I guess Cato has even more reason to be gloomy as his starting role might have been relegated to Battie.
Yea, they're pretty good...BACKUPS! Battie & Cato may form the worst starting 4/5 combo in the league next year. At least they'll be able to use up 12 fouls against Shaq. Steve & Cuttino are really gonna have to carry the load next year without any offensive firepower in the frontcourt, which is probably not a good thing for Orlando.
Gooden: 6-10, 242lbs 12 ppg, 6.5 rpg Tony Battie: 6-11, 240lbs 7 ppg, 5.7 rpg The only reason I can see for this trade by the Magic is that Battie can double as a center. Other than that, it's silly for them to toss Gooden away so quick. They had an above-average backup for both forward positions with him. Now, they better hope Hill can play because I know Hedo isn't a consistent 38 min player. What makes this really amazing to me is that the Cavs got Varejao by also agreeing to take a worthless Hunter. Varejo could impress people in a year or two. Evan
Here they go again, every trade to occurs that doesn't involve us is basically CD slipping up and letting another one get away. Look, we aren't going to be involved in every freaking trade that occurs. And I don't think Ben Gordon and Josh Howard play for the Magic.
What needs? He's already assured the local media that Lue or Ward will be sufficient for the starting PG position
Dont forget about #1 Josh Howard. All these guys are athletic shot blockers. Remember the pre-Yao Rockets? We owned the Eastern conference. Now the Orlando Rockets are looking like a deep team . Also adding a non-scoring PF/C will only increase the offensive output of Steve/Cuttino
Steven Hunter was a free agent, they did a sign and trade with him. The Cavs didn't take him off the Magic's hands. Hunter being in the deal had nothing to do with Varejo.
Terrible trade for Orlando. Terrible! They HAD to have been able to get more for Gooden than Battie. Battie will be a nice backup to Cato in Orlando and will add toughness to their frontline, but Gooden at his age had to be able to net more than Battie. As for Cleveland, GREAT save! I mean Gooden is no Boozer, but at least they get a YOUNG serviceable PF that can grow with the team. I LOVE it from Cleveland's end! As for Orlando, once again they get 50 cents on the dollar in their trade.
To make matters worse I just made my signature Sign Damon Jones and Steven Hunter today and now I have to change it again. But seriouly, this proves Weisbrod or whatever his name is is still the worst GM in the league and not Paxon. This makes up mostly for the Boozer fiasco
The article says AGREED not finalized. So what happens if Steven Hunter doesn't want to play with the Cavs? Wouldn't that ruin the deal just like how the Knicks & Warriors AGREED to a trade for Dampier and then was ruined by the Van Exel trade?
Let's get this staright. Josh Howard plays for Dallas, and Dwight Howard was drafted by Orlando this summer. As far as the Rockets Eastern dominance, that was several years ago pre-rules change, and I don't really see how that will translate into Orlando contending in the East. 2 ball-dominating guards + an 18 year old rookie + 2 backups starting on the frontline do not exactly make for a good team.
First, why would they want Battie when they already had Cato? Second, Battie has more trade value than Gooden? Two bad trades in a row, plus a bad contract signing (Turkoglu). Now I don't blame Steve for not wanting to play for that organization.
You can argue that this would be a bad trade for Orlando because they give up argurably the best player in this deal (Gooden). Gooden is an athletic young PF who can score. He used to be one of the best rebounder in college (which hasn't translated to the NBA level). However, he's quickly becoming a poor man's SAR because of his inability to play defense and have an impact on the outcome of the game. Gooden is not the great role player that Boozer is, but he should be a good enough replacement at PF for Cleveland. (Thinking about that, how did Boozer drop to the second round while Gooden was picked 4th overall?) From Magic's point of view they need another serviceable center on their roster. Remember Shaq has moved to Southeast division. Battie is strong enough and tall enough to play center, and he's quite athletic. People here overrate Steven Hunter too much. He's no more than a cap filler and will be out of the league next year. Varejao once was considered a good prospect. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm. However, his stocks kept dropping the last couple of years. The knock on him is that he is more of a tweener and isn't particularly athletic.
I figure the Magic's thought process is that they have all the offense they need with Francis, Mobley, Turk, Howard, Hill, Bogans, Nelson, Garrity, now with Battie they add defense and rebounding.
It was a joke But if you ask about needs, we are WEAK inside. Yao cannot handle major minutes, so who will back him up? a bunch of short PF's? I am more worried about a backup Center, then the PG situation. We can get a Damon Jones type for cheap if necessary, but decent (defensive) Centers are hard to come by in this league. We were very bless to have a 1-2 punch of Yao & Cato.
