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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Dooling, Garrity Exercise Player Options

By Matthew Gardner June 20, 2007 Orlando Magic players Keyon Dooling and Pat Garrity have exercised the player option in their contracts, opting to return to the team next season instead of becoming a free agent. Dooling played in 66 games for the Magic during the 2006-07 season, averaging 7.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg and 1.7 apg in 21.7 minutes per game. Dooling recently told the Orlando Sentinel he was excited about the Magic's hiring of head coach Stan Van Gundy. Dooling played under Van Gundy during his only season in Miami in 2004-05. "I learned more from one year with Stan than I did in my first four years in the league,"' Dooling told the Sentinel. "He'll be a great asset to the team. [His hiring] only made me more excited about coming back." Originally selected in the first round (10th overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft by Orlando (his draft rights were traded along with Corey Maggette, Derek Strong and future considerations to the L.A. Clippers in exchange for a future first round pick), Dooling has appeared in 393 regular season games during his NBA career. Garrity is the longest tenured player on the Magic roster, having spent the past eight seasons in Orlando. Last season, Garrity saw action in 33 games, averaging 2.2 ppg and 1.3 rpg. For his career, Garrity has averaged 7.6 ppg and is better than 40 percent from three-point range in 521 career games. Garrity joined the Magic on August 4, 1999 when he was acquired in the trade that sent Anfernee Hardaway to the Phoenix Suns. The fourth-year option of his contract was picked up by the Magic in 2000 and he was then re-signed as a free agent on July 24, 2002. After a standout career at Notre Dame, Garrity was selected in the first round (19th overall) on the 1998 NBA Draft. His Draft rights were traded by Milwaukee with the draft rights to future MVP Dirk Nowitzki to Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to Robert Traylor. However, Garrity was quickly traded again on Draft night, this time going to Phoenix as part of a package that sent another future MVP, Steve Nash, to Dallas.

posted by Big Figure @ 2:00 PM  

10 Comments:

  • At 2:10 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Orlando Magic—Future Beasts of the East? When LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers upset the Detroit Pistons to make the NBA Finals, analysts and fans alike jumped on the Cleveland bandwagon.

    The Cavs, the popular thinking went, were ready to dominate the East for years to come. But before we hand King James the crown, we might want to consult the Orlando Magic about it.

    And yes, I know: The Magic? The team that finished 40-42? The team that hasn’t won a playoff series in ten years? The team that's plagued by the curse of the Shaquino?

    Believe it or not, Orlando went 2-1 against the Cavs in 2006-07—and they only lost by three points.

    What's more, the Magic were 1-1 against the Spurs, joining the Heat as the only Eastern Conference playoff team to post a combined winning record against Cleveland and San Antonio.

    Even a cursory look at the Magic's roster reveals the makings of something special. The team is centered around Dwight Howard, who may be the best young big man in the NBA. And while skeptics criticize Howard's supporting cast, the truth is that there's plenty of talent in Orlando.

    With his athleticism and defensive skills, Trevor Ariza might be a future star—especially if he can develop a jump shot. Jameer Nelson has his flaws, but is also a natural leader and could be a scoring threat in a new offensive system. J.J. Redick has the potential to become a deadly outside scoring threat—a lesser Reggie Miller, even. Add Darko Milicic, who could well develop into a quality center, and you have a starting five to rival any in the East.

    And don't forget: The Magic just added a winning coach in Stan Van Gundy, who should help his young players find their offensive niches while preaching the paramount importance of defense.

    The Cavs, on the other hand, don't have much going for them besides LeBron James. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is 32. Larry Hughes can't be counted on. Drew Gooden is extremely inconsistent. And Anderson Varejao is a (restricted) free agent.

    Orlando’s roster is younger than Cleveland's and only getting better. And last year, head-to-head, they were the superior unit.

    To top it all off, Orlando has more than $10 million to spend this offseason. While teams like the Heat, the Nets, the Wizards, and the Pistons lose stars to free agency or old age, the Magic are primed to make the jump to the next level.

    In another season or so, Orlando should be able to compete with—if not dominate—any team in the conference.


    So yes: Before you hand the East over to the James and Co., consider the underdogs. At the very least, the Magic look ready to put up a fight before they go bowing to the King. Bleacherreport.com

     

  • At 2:13 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I thought this was an interesting article that we all should see. Also dooling exercizing his option is ok with me,but garrity i dont know about. I'm about ready for garrity to go and open up that roster spot to a young player who can help us,i wonder if even though he exercized his option can he still be subject to not making the team being waved or cut during training camp?

     

  • At 4:05 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Yeah, it's nice that Keyon is going to be back. I respected his overall game a lot better later last season when Brian Hill played him at his natural position of pt guard. His defense will always be an asset for the Magic.

    Can't say that I'm excited about Garrity returning. Can he possibly regain his shooting touch after shooting so poorly the last couple seasons? One of the few good things that Brian Hill did last season was that he rarely played Garrity in meaningful game situations.

    I think that a change of scenery would be best for Garrity. As Big Figure mentioned, maybe Garrity still could be waived or cut in training camp. We'll see what kind of chance Stan Van Gundy gives him in training camp.

     

  • At 4:08 PM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    The Magic have options with Garrity. They can keep him on the roster and pay him, cut him and pay him, buy him out and cut him (his salary stays on the books against the cap) or try and trade him and his salary to a team looking to make a salary dump.

    Teams looking to cut salaries for this coming year and the future include Phoenix (they could possible want to dump Raja Bell or Marcus Banks if they want to keep Shawn Marrion) , Seattle (If they keep Lewis than everyone else is likely available), Detroit (Nazr).

    The tough question is what's worth more: the open roster spot you get from cutting Garrity, or the chance to trade him to a team looking to dump a longer term contract.

     

  • At 4:14 PM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    This gives the Magic 11 guys currently signed with 4 roster spots available:

    Valuable Players: Howard, Nelson, Ariza

    Less Valuable Players: Turk, Arroyo, Dooling

    Potential: Redick

    Little Value: Battie, Garrity (contract has some value), Augustine, Bogans

    Free Agents: Darko, Hill, Diener, Outlaw

     

  • At 9:32 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    For shooters, consistent shooting is all about practice. I don't know why Garrity cannot regain his shooting touch since he has no obvious injury, because if he does get it back he could be be a rarity of a big man shooting 3s.

     

  • At 8:09 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    Even if he's shooting well Garrity is a huge liability on the court. His defense is non-existant. He has no footwork or strength and just gets pushed aside or they go around him like he's a statue.

    According to 82games.com statistics he is (again) the worst Magic player.

     

  • At 7:00 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I don't think Garrity should move onto another team. I think he needs to move onto another career. He has never looked worse than he did last season. Regardless what happens to his contract, he should probably just consider retiring as he's playing days look to be done.

    As for Dooling, I'm glad he'll be coming back. Having a guy like him around can never be a back thing.

    Don't even get me started in regards to the Cavs. They are the worst team to ever play in the NBA Finals. But they also had the easiest road to the Finals I can recall. They beat a lottery worthy team in the Wizards who had both of their all-stars out. Then they got to play a .500 team in the 2nd round. And finally in the 3rd round, they played their 1st respectable playoff team. And to me, it looked like the Pistons beat themselves more so than the Cavs beating them. Of course then they played a truly great team in the Spurs who totally exposed the Cavs for the chump team they are.

    They need to go ahead and hold that “King” title from James. He had one great game in the entire playoffs, and every other one was average. I’m just glad they lost, because I wasn’t going to be able to take many more “better than Jordan” comments.

    Beyond all of that, they ruined a pretty entertaining playoffs. It’s crazy how the first 2 rounds were so entertaining, and it only got worse as it went on. The only reason I watched the Finals was because I knew that the basketball season was ending. But it was really painful to watch. The Spurs were bored. They didn’t even have to try to beat the Cavs.

    As this relates to the Magic; I think the Magic are a better team than the Cavs as it stands today, especially after adding Stan as our coach. Because now, the argument could be made that the Cavs have the worst head coach in basketball. Regardless who we add in free agency, I’m looking forward to next season.

     

  • At 8:07 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    OVERWADED, your comments regarding this season's NBA playoffs were right on the money.

    The Cavs had their chance this season, due to favorable playoff matchups and an outstanding series to upset the Pistons, but severely collapsed in the finals due to a superior Spurs team. It could be several more seasons before the Cavs are contenders to reach the finals.

    In the last 10 seasons, 8 different Eastern Conference teams (CHI, NY, IND, PHI, NJ, DET, MIA, and CLE) have reached the finals. The only Estern Conference teams to reach the finals more than once in that span are NJ (2002, 2003) and DET (2004, 2005).

    I'm convinced the Magic will be an up-and-coming team the next several seasons and, sooner rather than later, will be a solid contender for the Eastern title under Stan Van Gundy.

     

  • At 6:53 PM, Blogger Ben Q. Rock said…

    Glad to see Dooling back. As far as Garrity is concerned, I kinda wish he'd just retire already. It's nothing personal against him, but he literally has nothing to contribute to this team anymore.

     

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