Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

NBADraft.net | State of the Cap: Orlando Magic

posted by WeRDevos @ 1:54 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At 2:44 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Nice link, WeRDevos. Pretty thorough and accurate summary of how things are shaping up for the Magic.

    The article stated that Tony Battie isn't doing enough to earn his keep. Even though his numbers aren't there for some games, he still sets a great example for the younger players with his hard work and all-out effort, which is why the Magic re-signed him. I'm sure he'll be a key player off the bench next season.

    It says a lot for the Magic front office that they have set up the Magic so well for the future, with their salary cap and their roster.

    The unknown factor in all this is how Brian Hill will coach next season... will he stay out of the way and let the players do their thing like he did the last 5 weeks, or will he resort to a more restrictive approach like in his past since the stakes and expectations will be higher. But BHill has the respect of the players, and he realizes that this has the makings of a very special team.

     

  • At 5:35 PM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    1. Before Battie was signed I was worried he was going to get one of those crippling $40 mil/5 yr kind of deals. Tall guys get extraordinary money in the NBA -- look up LaFrentz, Dampier, Blount, Dalembert and other tall average guys. 4 years $22 million isn't so bad.

    2. I thought Turk went from way overpaid to earning his keep last year -- once he was forced to start. Night in and out he was typically one of the 3 or 4 best guys on the court.

    3. I'm dissappointed that Darko is playing in the European championships this summer. All those tend to do is wear players out and doesn't do much for their NBA games. I would prefer he spend the summer playing 2 on 2 in D.Howards driveway. Turk is skipping the Euros this year.

    4. NBADraftnet has JJ Reddick falling to Magic at 11. If that were to happen he may turn out to be a good backup SG to come bombing in off the bench. He could really help kill teams trying to double DH down low.

    5. I'm guessing this is the offseason that will be limited to trying to talk Stevenson out of opting out, trying to resign Ariza and filling out the roster with cheap one year contracts. Stevenson is the wild card. If he opts out, his contract has to be filled somehow.

    6. If Ray Allen were either younger or had a shorter contract I'd be rooting for a big salary dump trade from Seattle. I think he could be a perfect fit in Orlando.

    7. B.Hill isn't unknown, merely mediocre. Right now it's up to Otis, or whoever is GM, to avoid signing another coach-killer like Francis who could grind all this progress to a halt.

    8. I think it would be fascinating to know what went on between Otis and Hill late last year. Otis went public a few times, without being overly critical, with statements about Darko not getting enough minutes and Ariza not playing at all. ESPN reported a few times that the front office wasn't happy with Hill over those kind of playing time issues.

     

  • At 5:41 AM, Blogger Ken said…

    Very kewl article. I was sort of thinking the same thing as the article stated about TBattie at the time they resigned him. But like mike says, he's a veteran leader who sets good examples for the younger guys and who isn't a lockerroom distraction. He may not be a preimier scorer in the league, but he comes to play every night and dosn't quit on his teamates. And in todays NBA, guys like that can be hard to find.

    The big question mark for next year is going to be brian hill. For the moment, the players seem to like him. But brian hill dosn't have a great track record with former players. They start out liking him, and then, well, you know the story. Hill likes to rule with a iron fist and expects everyone to hang on his every word. He is also notorious for wearing his players down with his consistant practices long into the season. Just look at the way they players responded when he promised them the next day off after a game. If he can learn that sometimes it's not what you do, but what you don't do, and learn to have a little more faith in his players and their abilities, and dosn't turn our younger players against him, he could have a very sucessfull season.

     

  • At 12:56 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I enjoyed the article. Like you guys, I didn't agree with the comments on Battie. Although, I'd like to see Battie come in and play a little differently next season. I hope he is coming off the bench for Darko and Dwight. But I want him to play a bruiser role. That is one thing this team has been lacking, someone who will come in and knock guys around, lay them out when they think they're going to get an easy dunk. Battie could fit this role perfectly. I know B Hill would support it. In one of interviews once the season was over, he said that was an area that needed to be addressed. Of course the other was another wing man that has some range. JJ Reddick is a nice name to hear there... The draft is still a little away, but it should be interesting. Regardless, I'm not worried about the Magic to much this summer. I'm happy that Otis will be running the show. It'd be nice if they could get Franz to come over and join this young team, but it sounds like his girlfriend is Doug Christie's wifes sister...

     

Post a Comment

<< Home