Magic will look to lock up Milicic
Sports:
According to this article Darko's agent says he likes playing here. Other interviews have indicated he finds the nightlife non-existant. One other interesting tidbit found elsewhere: Darko & Kasun come from the opposite sides of the Yugoslavia civil war. Kasun has been quoted it would be dangerous for it to be known that he is a friend of Darko's. Don't expect Kasun to be here next year...
"Milicic's agent, Marc Cornstein, said the Serbian has never been happier than he's been with the Magic, calling it 'the perfect marriage.' He said Milicic is eager to continue playing alongside Dwight Howard because the two complement each other so well, and he wants to remain in Orlando long-term." -- Florida TodayIt will be a busy off-season. Darko can be extended, Ariza should be resigned, and Stevenson has to announce whether he will opt-out or come back for $3 million next year.
According to this article Darko's agent says he likes playing here. Other interviews have indicated he finds the nightlife non-existant. One other interesting tidbit found elsewhere: Darko & Kasun come from the opposite sides of the Yugoslavia civil war. Kasun has been quoted it would be dangerous for it to be known that he is a friend of Darko's. Don't expect Kasun to be here next year...
posted by WeRDevos @ 8:52 AM
11 Comments:
At 10:25 AM,
Big Figure said…
Everything sounds good,if deshawn decides to opt out,it may open up a spot in the starting line-up for grant at the two (provided he can come back from the hernia),b/c hedo wont be moved to the bench this time,that would be a starting line-up worthy of winning a championship,Jameer,grant,hedo,darko & dwight,i think thats the second best starting five in the east behind detroit!
At 10:30 AM,
Big Figure said…
And the fact that otis (possible new GM),darko (new deal/extension) and trevor (new deal) are all gonna be taken care of feels good,like we're finally going in the right direction as a franchise,recognizing the positives and rewarding poeple accordingly,something we (prior GM's)always failed to do!
At 10:38 AM,
Big Figure said…
Oh yeah,interesting to see that BSchmitz says,mario,travis,stacy,grant & our "06" lottery pick,are all up for grabs,and that mario,travis & stacy wont be asked back,which mario,travis and stacy have no value anyway for that matter,but grant and the lottery pick are deffinitely attractive to some,its gonna be interesting to see what happens!
At 1:36 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I agree with pretty much all of that except one thing, Grant Hill... Grant Hill's name being mentioned as even a possible starter for the Magic should be a sin for an Orlando fan. That spot needs to be filled by someone else. Grant either needs to go away, or at best work at becoming 6th man of the year for next season. His starting days are over, and I don't care if he comes back for 2 months looking like Grant Hill of 99. We've all heard that story for 6 years, been there, done that, NO MORE. He's getting older, he's hasn't been healthy for us yet, so the biggest role he deserves on this team is a bench role, and that might be pushing it.
At 2:49 PM,
Big Figure said…
OK,i can agree with that,then the question becomes,with deshawn possibly testing the market for more money (our only starting caliber shooting guard),wouldnt it be smart to trade grant and the pick now for a veteran shooting guard to replace deshawn in the line-up?,b/c if we dont,keyon will have to start (and thats a considerable drop off defensively at that spot),with grant then filling a sixth man role!
At 2:57 PM,
David said…
One article says Diener gone, a second mentions he's agreed to play in the summer league. Augmon has been told he is gone. Kasun is 100% gone. Outlaw will only be signed again as a non-guarantee minimum fan fav.
Stevenson is sounding full of himself and sounds like he will opt-out. That will be interesting to follow. He is due $3 mil next year and that seems (to me) what he is worth. I'm guessing it would be hard for the franchise to swallow a big raise for him at the expense of the 2007 idea of signing a big time player. Otis seems cautious about Stevenson and was also quoted talking about the other 8 without mentioning Stevenson. I believe he would be smart to not opt-out, help lead Magic to a high seed in the playoffs, then test his value.
Ariza is also sounding full of himself but he is a restricted FA. The minimum the Magic can pay him next year is $744,551. He is probably hopeful for something like the 3 year $8.2 million the Magic payed Stevenson. I think it's likely he will be back, either with a one year or three year deal. Where else will he be guaranteed to be part of the rotation?
Diener would gladly sign on for another year at minimum which for him will be $664,209. If the Magic keep all nine key guys, plus Hill & Garrity that still leaves 4 slots to be filled all of which need to be cheap guys or draft picks.
Kasun claimed he wanted to come back, but also claims to have an offer from Barcelona for $2 mil/yr. Good luck to him, that's an awful lot to pay someone just for being tall.
I don't expect Magic to use the MLE this summer. But a trade for a low-cost, coachable young guy might happen for a combination of draft picks and expiring contracts. I believe it is legal to sign your own veteran free agents to non-guaranteed contracts and trade them during the summer. So Diener & Kasun could be used that way.
At 3:00 PM,
Big Figure said…
I guess it all depends on deshawn,if he choses to look elsewhere and someone pays him,hopefully he does well where ever he goes and his time was appreciated,but there will be a whole in our line-up at the starting two position,and currently BSH has only three guys that can fill that spot,none of which are true shooting guards (keyon,grant,trevor),so deshawn's gonna make up our mind for us,if he leaves,we'll be in the market for a starting shooting guard,with grant,mario & our pick as bait!
At 3:21 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I really believe Grant Hill & Pat Garrity hits their maximum trade value in February.
Hill: $16.9 million
Garrity: $3.5 million (est.)
Stevenson $3 million (if no opt out)
Trades must fall within $125% of the combined salaries traded for plus $100,00. That makes the trade ranges as follows:
Hill: $13.4mil/yr to $21.2mil/yr
Garrity: $2.7 to $4.45
Stevenson: $2.3 to $3.8
All 3: $18.6 to $29.3
They really have a lot of flexibility to get something done. Players that could be traded come February could include:
Ray Allen $14.6 (Seattle sucks)
K. Garnett $20 (Wolves suck)
P. Pierce $15.1 (opt out on '07 could force trade)
Shaq $20 mil/yr (Shaq old, Miami not in cap trouble)
J. O'Neil $18 (Pacers in cap hell, need to rebuild)
Even if Magic don't want these guys other younger/better package of teammates could come to Magic by adding a 3rd or 4th party.
Magic could be in the same place Pistons were in '02 when they pulled off the 'Sheed trade.
At 5:01 PM,
OVERWADED said…
The Magic have alot of options as of now, so I'm not worrying about what Deshawn is planning. I don't think anyone is going to drop big dollars on him. At the same time, I think he can get a little more than we're paying him. With the draft and trade possibilities, we should be able to land someone to fill that role pretty easily.
At 7:02 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Nice research on all the salary numbers, guys.
It's going to be an interesting off-season to see what the Magic do, that's for sure.
At 10:15 PM,
Ken said…
If Stevenson can find a team to pay him 3 mil a year he'll be darn lucky. Yes, he played well this year for us, but we still didn't make the playoffs and i think that is what hurts his value the most. And to be honest, he is rather streaky when it comes to his offense.. Even if the Magic had made it into the playoffs as the 8th seed and lost in 4, his value would rise. But that didn't happen. I say, he should stay, give us a whole season of what we saw the last few weeks of this season, and then take it from there, but thats just me...
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