5 Orlando Magic stories to watch this offseason
Which free-agent guards return?Maurice Evans, Keyon Dooling and Carlos Arroyo all become unrestricted free agents this summer, and all three will go where the money is. Evans worked on the cheap this season ($1.5 million), and as a starter, he'll be looking to triple his salary. If Arroyo returns, he will be taking a huge pay cut (from $4 million), which he won't like. Dooling also will see if anyone else has interest, but he is the most likely to be back.Will J.J. Redick rust on the bench again?Depending upon their free-agent plans, the Magic either will dump Redick in a draft-night trade and try to save face, or they will find a way to play him next season. Sometimes coaches forget that they are in the entertainment business, and the fans should be heard.Does Marcin Gortat have a role?Strangest handling of a young Magic player in years. He played more games in the playoffs (8) than he did in the regular season (6). They let him rot on the bench all year -- giving him no experience -- then decided to use him in the postseason? They need to fix that blunder.Will Dwight Howard improve this much again?Howard became the best center in the NBA this season, but the Detroit Pistons spanked him in the playoffs, teaching him a valuable lesson. He needs to spend the summer honing one of those 12-foot jump shots. His power game is wonderful, but when the Pistons deny it, a Tim Duncan face-up would be great to have.Is FSN on Bright House coming?Although Bright House denied Magic fans the chance to see almost half the games by refusing to add FSN to its lineup, that situation should be fixed before tip-off in the fall. It's small potatoes for two corporate giants who put financial gain ahead of pleasing customers
posted by Big Figure @ 3:11 PM
5 Comments:
At 3:26 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Definitely a lot of questions that need to be answered by the Magic organization this off-season; next season, anything less than an Eastern Conference Finals appearance by the Magic, and the season will be considered a failure.
This offseason rates as one of the most important off-seasons in Magic franchise history in terms of making the right moves so the team can continue the improvement and success of this past season.
Hopefully, the J.J. Redick situation will be resolved one way or the other so it won't be a distraction next season. I'd like to see him get a chance in the regular rotation, but if he can't, he should be traded before next season starts.
It's going to be an interesting off-season following the moves the Magic make. I think we'll find out what kind of GM Otis Smith really is. He made a lot of the right moves to allow the Magic to become a 52 win team and to advance to the second round of the playoffs, but it will be that much tougher to continue the improvement for next season.
At 3:13 PM,
Big Figure said…
I agree,all eyes will be on otis this off-season. Povtak's article in the sentinel outlines some suggestions that have given me some perspective on just how much we could improve. The possibilities of free-agents,trades and the draft could really give us a different look going into next season. I guess with the draft up next we'll find out if otis wants to move up in the draft and who he plans to give up to do it. Personally i think if otis wants to re-sign mo evans then he needs to get something for JJ on draft day.
At 5:46 PM,
Big Figure said…
Hopefully the brighthose situation is fixed by the season start,two years of this would be a shame for the fans that live in orlando and cant even watch their own team. Mo Evans didnt really improve his worth in my opinion with his play-off performance,otis should offer something reasonable and if he doesnt take it we'll wish him well. I expect that keith and keyon will be back,but carlos i dont think will be back. Marcin played well enough that i see a spot on the roster for him,minutes are funny in this league but i trusted SVG in the way he was used all season,dwight rarely gets injured and foyle was better against the league from a veteran standpoint so during the season his minutes were low,but during the play-offs he showed poise and an ability to guard athletic bigs (and some very good one's in rasheed and bosh). When it comes to JJ,i think if mo,keith and keyon are here,at some point JJ will be traded,i cant imagine having a foursome at shooting guard(even though keyon will probably be the back-up point with carlos gone). JJ's gotta hope that one of the three leaves so that he can get into the rotation.
At 6:21 PM,
Big Figure said…
Looks like keyon will be back (obviously barring any crazy money thrown at him) which is good news,he played very well backing up jameer this year and was pretty much our only offense off the bench in the play-offs with keith struggling.
At 8:45 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Yeah, I agree about Keyon being back... he was a big spark off the bench for the most part and can continue in that role.
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