lol, u serious? the guy was on my fantasy team so i paid alot of attention to him this yr, he got a massive improvement on offense, and he actually had a couple of 40 pt games
I think he really wants to stay, but ultimately he will have no choice but to leave. The Magic aren't going to compete anytime soon and there's no way they have enough pieces to trade for Chris Paul, let alone create enough cap space to sign him.
Why would Orlando want Scola? You'd have to get a third team involved to get Orlando more young pieces. Plus we need to take on Turks contract. I think a deal involving Thabeet Pat Twill with Scola going to a third team is the way to go, we could give Orlando all young pieces. But I cant see a way we can take on Turks contract without giving up Lowry or Martin which is a no no if we want to convince Dwight to stay.
<!-- http://twitter.com/MagicInsider/statuses/64026711410475008 --> <style type='text/css'>.bbpBox64026711410475008 {background:url(http://a2.twimg.com/profile_background_images/155149154/sentinelpages.jpg) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}</style> <div class='bbpBox64026711410475008'><p class='bbpTweet'>Magic GM Otis Smith says Dwight Howard's contract extension is "on the table." Howard: "I haven't seen one." Come on, Dwight,<span class='timestamp'><a title='Fri Apr 29 18:02:12 +0000 2011' href='http://twitter.com/MagicInsider/statuses/64026711410475008'>less than a minute ago</a> via web <a href='http://twitter.com/intent/favorite?tweet_id=64026711410475008'><img src='http://si0.twimg.com/images/dev/cms/intents/icons/favorite.png' /> Favorite</a> <a href='http://twitter.com/intent/retweet?tweet_id=64026711410475008'><img src='http://si0.twimg.com/images/dev/cms/intents/icons/retweet.png' /> Retweet</a> <a href='http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=64026711410475008'><img src='http://si0.twimg.com/images/dev/cms/intents/icons/reply.png' /> Reply</a></span><span class='metadata'><span class='author'><a href='http://twitter.com/MagicInsider'><img src='http://a2.twimg.com/profile_images/1133273741/brianschmitzmug3_normal.jpg' /></a><strong><a href='http://twitter.com/MagicInsider'>Brian Schmitz</a></strong><br/>MagicInsider</span></span></p></div> <!-- end of tweet --> Well...
The worst thing about the Magic is that a bunch of their players are not only playing badly, but also locked into expensive long-term contracts. It's like replay of what Cleveland did in their desperation of keep Lebron.
It's their own fault for giving Lewis that contract, knowing he wasn't anything close to a max player.
that is the whole team!!! I'd rather stay in Orlando if I were Dwight, if they did that deal....Its like getting married then divorced, then getting married to the same gal again
This is partially true. Orlando is acting in the same way Cleveland's management group did to surround their star with talent but the BIG difference is Lebron kept signing short term contracts(well for stars) which forced the Cavs to make short term decisions. Dwight on the other hand will be coming off a long term contract - the Magic had an opportunity to grown a roster around him by taking more long term moves. Instead they chose the quick fix. Cleveland didn't really have that luxury.
I think he REALLY wants to stay, but is realizing that this team has no shot to compete any time soon, which frustrates him more than anything. Not sure why he said he hasn't been offered an extension, though I don't think it's that big of a deal. Watch the last 10 seconds of his exit interview sessions with the media: http://www.nba.com/magic/video/2011/04/29/042911howardm4v-1665291 He's frustrated as hell. I think he'll ultimately leave. But via free agency, not trade.
Not quite. We have some promising young players who could grow to be good in Lowry, Lee, TWill, and Thabeet, while we retain Scola who actually would play well in the post next to Dwight
Ummm, because they built that team around a defensive center with the ability to demand doubles from time to time and if Howard goes none of those pieces will work anymore. Think Cleveland when Lebron left. Bynum has his issues, but when healthy he is probably the 2nd best center in the league(more a commentary on how few good bigs are left in the league) AND he's still in his early 20s. If you were looking for someone to fill the hole left by Dwight, Bynum is really the only other guy who could come close...even if it depends on a bothersome injury history.
....not sure if you guys saw where Dwight called out Ric Bucher in the locker room after the elimination game.
Seriously? I like most of our players too, but let's be honest here. Lowry and Lee are decent role players - but they will never be much more than that. They may be more valuable in the right situation(surrounding a legit star) but I don't think either player is going to add to their game significantly enough that we have to reevaluate that. TWill and Thabeet are presently not good enough to be role players and the best case scenario is they do turn into them...but I'm not holding my breath on that one (especially for Thabeet). ....the thing is for the most part you know who you are and what your ceiling is after about 3 years in the league and all those guys are about at that stage and I don't think there is anything that suggest any of those guys will grow to be THAT much better than they are now. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.
I agree with the Cavs comparison. To me it smacks of desperate, visionless flailing around. The hefty overpaying for a non-all-star FA (Lewis/Williams), the random lateral move trades that brought in guys that weren't necessarily fits, etc. It's very difficult to argue that Smith has made Howard's cast better over the years. In fact, I just glanced over their roster....they're seriously paying JJ Redick $7.5M this year for 20 mins and 6.7 points a game off the bench? I'd also make note that this is a team that will be hit pretty badly if the NBA comes out with a hard(er) cap. $75M already committed to next season. Yikes. Oh, and....my reading is Dwight truly does want to stay and retire as a Magic....but badly wants Chris Paul or others to join him. If it finally sinks in that Smith can't make that happen, he's gone.
It's not like Orlando lost their best player to injury, that they've bounced so early can really say a cpl things. 1st is Dwight will go, but that won't happen til Otis goes, there's no way on earth their owner can have any trust in him anymore.
It seems like Smith has taken the view that it's okay to overpay for players who fit your system - as long as they are THE guys you need for your system. That deal for Lewis was more about him being the perfect fit to Howard's game than a reflection of his actual worth. The problem with Smith's strategy is he most certainly overvalued a lot of those guys(like Reddick) and that painted him into a corner because he can't remake that roster as easily now without taking on more contracts. It really just snowballed on him and I guess the owners didn't notice because they were winning. I'm envisioning another post Shaq collapse for Orlando soon....
