Anything is possible, sure. But I hope you can understand how pointless it is to talk about something that is so unlikely to happen its not even funny. If he turns down or is turned down by the few teams that can pay him money, if Orlando happens to not want him (which would boggle the mind why they wouldn't want him considering they just signed a Lewis and can make some noise in the East), if he can't find a S&T deal with one of the other 25 teams that are also trying to get him, and if that doesn't happen- if he turns down most of the other teams that would gladly offer the full MLE to him, then we have a really good shot at getting him. I understand that keeping your options open is a good thing. But we aren't the general manager. He can keep his options open and we can still not talk Darko signing with us for the MLE. Lets get some S&T scenerio's going. Battier straight up for Darko? I think they would do it. Would we do it?
Well from what has been buzzing,Darko and his agent want no more to do with the orlando magic,so either some team over pays him and doesn't care he only did 8ppg and 5 rbg or they tell him he isn't worth more than the MLE and we get lucky and persuade him to come here because this would be the best place for his abilities. But according to this article he won't be back with the magic Milicic's agent blasts team Marc Cornstein says Otis Smith lied and pledges Darko will not play for Orlando. The Magic withdrew their offer that kept Darko Milicic a restricted free agent on Tuesday, and now his agent says there is 'no chance' that Orlando can sign him. The brief basketball affair between the Orlando Magic and Darko Milicic apparently has ended in a bitter, nuclear breakup. After the club withdrew its qualifying offer to him on Tuesday, Marc Cornstein, Milicic's agent, said there was "no chance" of Milicic playing again for the Magic "as long as Otis Smith is the Orlando Magic's general manager. "There's no chance. Put it in big capital letters." Cornstein called Smith a "liar" and said his dealings with Milicic were "deceitful, disrespectful . . . a disgrace." Smith released the following statement after learning Cornstein blasted him and the Magic: "Our goals remains the same: to sign a free agent and try to retain Darko. It hasn't changed." Things have apparently changed for Milicic. He is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team, but Cornstein says Darko doesn't want to play for the Magic -- even if they can trade players to create more salary-cap room on his behalf. Cornstein said he was particularly upset about how Smith informed him Tuesday of their decision via an e-mail. "This is how I found out," Cornstein said. "That's how he conducts business." Cornstein said that after the Magic failed to contact him when the free-agent signing period began, "Darko said he didn't want to play in Orlando anymore. He didn't want to be there in the end because they didn't want him there." The Magic said that Milicic, 22, was a priority and talked about teaming him with center Dwight Howard. According to Tony Dutt, Rashard Lewis' agent, the Magic were working on a sign-and-trade deal with Lewis' former team, the Seattle SuperSonics, trying to trade players to make room to re-sign Milicic or sign and trade him elsewhere because they could match any offer. Apparently Smith can't make it work, and the Magic now risk losing Milicic for nothing. He, along with point guard Carlos Arroyo, was acquired from the Detroit Pistons in 2006 for a first-round pick and center Kelvin Cato. The Magic pulled its qualifying offer in order to use the cap room to sign Lewis, who orally agreed to a five-year contract Monday. "If Otis had been a decent human being and said that Rashard Lewis is the player we want the most, even if we have to sacrifice Darko, my reaction would not have been happiness. But I would have said, 'I appreciate you telling me,' " Cornstein said. "Instead, the guy told us Darko was a priority, and he lied. . . . All stuff that goes around, comes around." Perhaps there was more behind the Magic-Cornstein relationship. He represented Fran Vazquez, whom the Magic selected No. 11 in the 2005 draft, but remained in Spain. Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.
Well, that takes away one option most likely. There are still the 20+ teams mentioned in that other article a couple pages ago that have asked about him. Only a couple teams can flat out sign him. But there are plenty that would do a sign and trade, including Houston IMO. And don't let the stats fool you. Big guys get paid in this league. Especially this offseason when over half the teams are in need of a PF or C and Milicic can fill both roles, and the other half are sporting PFs or Cs that are old and busted or are just plain worse. I'm telling you, sign and trade. We need to unload one of our gaurds (or Battier and move Tmac to the 3, which would accomplish the same thing), and maybe one other player (or Sura's expiring) and get Darko that way. We are jammed at the 1 and 2. One of our guys is going to get shafted if we can't make a trade.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Magic can sign and trade a player that they gave up the rights to. Thus, the only way to get Darko would be to sign him directly and all we can offer is the mid-level exception. Whether it makes sense or not (based upon his mediocre play so far), he will likely get more than that from someone else.
At least morey should make a effort to try and sign him,even if it is a long shot,you would have a better chance with darko than rashard lewis.
milicic should change his name to matt! this guy plays like a dorito. he looks like he got his haircut at tonys for fi dolla! his game reminds me of a 76 jeep. get some talent. we need the sheed or timmy t. or artest. no weak players. im sick of wasting my time watching the rox screw up. i could have done a better job than gundy so i am hoping morey and adl know what they r doing. FYI stro put his nuts in darkos mouth!
Great, concise, eloquent, and well thought out post. You, sir, have certainly made your point. Kudos.
This is the reality that the organization and most fans are in deniel about. And you can't blame them, because there appears to be no quick fix. The fantasy view is that by some stroke of luck, an All Star caliber of players falls in their lap. Yao will likely get better if he stays healthy; TMac has seen his best days. Budget "bandaid" players will keep the ship afloat. The West keeps getting better and the Rockets seem to be running in place. Only "bold moves" will advance the team. Personally, I think trading one of the big two is likely the best solution, but as you say, probably won't happen.
People said the same things about chauncey billups before joe duamrs signed him and in a different environment playing in a system that complimented his talents he excelled and became a all star and finals mvp.Darko is only 22 years old and in this system with adleman he would get a chance to display his versatile abilties as a big guy that when you initiate adelman's offense from the high post he can fake the pass off high screen and roll or he can face up and hit the 15 footer. He also in this same position can hit back door cutters and move the ball to open players. People don't understand that in this new system the big guy's are key in getting the offense moving. In sacramento the offense ran through valde divac and chris webber, brad miller and later on even kenny thomas. Darko with his ability to hit the 15 footer, take the basketball off the dribble will enhance his game 10 fold.He'll be even better than brad miller who put up multiple triple doubles and before coming to sacramento wasn't known to be a player with a all around game. This is a new system guy's like chuck hayes,joe smith and some of these other dudes adelman don't fit in adleman's game plan and even if he is forced to play them he will find away to sit these guy's on the bench and go small.Scott pollard was frustrated at times in sacramneto because adleman is notorious for not playing guy's that do dirty work. Adelman played darious songalia more minutes in than kenny thomas. Adleman would sit doug christie because doug wouln't look to score. Instead he played jim jackson who came to the team in the middle of the seaso.Adelman likes 5 guy's who can score on the floor at all times even if they don't play any defense.
Great post. The rockets need to be trying to win the whole darn thing right now. Tracy mcgrady's body isn't going to hold up too much longer. He and yao need to be trying to win next season. This why they need to do everything that they can even if it is long shots, getting the team better right now. They need a good power forward. No joe smith's,no chuck hayes's no mikki moore's and other junk players just to fill in the holes. They need to try to win now, no more spare parts.
Who do you suggest and how do you suggest we obtain them? It's amazing that some of you seem to have forgotten that we had the fourth best record in the league over 82 games last season, quite a bit of that without the best center in the league. Yes, I understand we didn't get out of the first round, but it's not like we lost to a terrible team. The way some of you post you'd think we finished 30-52 last season.
You want post season success even if you are trying bring more excitemet to the city with this team. You need better players and if you are trying to get out of the first round we need upgrades over chuck hayes and some of the other positions. The playoffs are a different season,teams get the whole week to prepare for you and devise plans to stop things that gave you success over them in the regular season,when maybe you caught them on a back to back or they fell into your lap because they played the previous night trying to stop steve nash and when you faced this particular team the next night they were still in mental state of trying to defend steve nash when it is now yao ming and mcgrady.Talent and chemistry prevail in the playoffs
As to Darko, personally I don't want a big dufas with questionable motivation. From the day he was drafted I have heard the word "potential," but since that time, he hasn't done much.
So, the only reason we won that many games was because of our opponents being tired? Ooooohkay. I know we need/want post season success, but let's not act like we got swept out of the playoffs. We played the fifth best team in the NBA last season to seven games. Had we had a reliable third scorer (along with someone to stop Boozer a little bit), we would have won that series and probably would have made it to the WCF. We've addressed the first problem and still have three months to address the latter. This team is not far off if we stay healthy. And you still didn't give me who you want instead of those realistic options and how we're going to get them.
Darko from day one has palyed in the wrong systems. Larry doesn't play rookie's, so he is drafted and he automaticlly sits on the bench. No chance to develop because of lack of playing time and then to top it off he is playing behind to all stars in rasheed wallace, ben wallace and antonio mcdeeys. He goes to orlando he is in a system with brian hill who wants to control tempo and walk the ball and when he is here, he is playing with dwight howard whi is the featured guy who get's all the touches. In get's in adelman's system and he will be 100 times better.You need complimentary coaches and players,you need chemistry and I don't think Darko had chemistry with thise other systems. They said the same negative things about chanuncey billups early on in his career.
Playoffs and regular season success are two different ball games. Phoenix suns are a perfect example of running up the score in teh regular season and when the playoffs come it's their lack of size,lack of mental stability and heart that keep them from the NBA finals.
The jazz are overrated,they played their game more deliberate, they out executed the rockets defense but still there is no reason that houston shouldn't have won the series even with the lack of third scorer.
I posted a link on the last page (or maybe it was 2 pages ago) from ESPN that said that Orlando's actions only made him unrestricted. They still have Bird rights and can sign him for more than the MLE even if they are over the cap. Orlando CAN sign and trade Darko to another team. Darko wants money, and I'm sure Orlando would rather take some talent back in return than let him go for nothing.
