Are the Orlando Magic a better team with the moves made?

[JordansBulls]

Are the Orlando Magic going to be a better team with the moves made?

PG Arenas
SG Richardson
SF Turkoglu
PF Bass
C Howard



Bench: Jameer Nelson, Q.Rich, Reddick, Anderson, Allen, Duhon, J Williams, Clark



Or were they better with Carter, Pietrus, Gortat?

[SUN]

Who's backing up Howard at the C?

[darth_federer]

Better talent but it remains to be seen if it will work out. Btw, I think Arenas comes off the bench.

[HTown_TMac]

Why does everyone think that Nelson will go to the bench?

[RaisingArizona]

Not sure. It'll be interesting to see.

[AIfan3]

Depends on what Arenas they get.. If it's the Arenas from a few years back, the guy that scored 60 on the Lakers, hell yes..

[Volcano]

maybe offensively..I dunno about defensively.

[fallacy]

They are a better team as long as howard doesn't get into foul trouble

[jmb987]

I like this trade for orlando. I think a change in scenery for arenas is exactly what he needs.

[jeff1624]

I think they put all to try and compete this season and totally forgot about the lack of flexibility the Hedo trade will give them in the future.. and it's not like they upgraded their talent with elite players either.

Hedo is done, he's been playing like crap ever since he left Orlando. What makes you think he'll automatically revert to the way he was before?

The upgrade of VC to Richardson is minimal at best and now they have no one backing up Howard at the 5.

Don't know what to expect, but Phoenix made out like bandits in this trade, even if they do have to trade Nash now.

[Wade2k6]

I don't think so. Richardson, Arenas, Turk don't play any defense. Arenas is a chucker who shoots a very poor percentage, and Turk is not good. Richardson is a slight upgrade over Carter, but losing Gortat will hurt (especially in the playoffs). What are they going to do when Howard gets in foul trouble during the playoffs, use Malik Allen? Plus they're taking on 2 more years of Arenas contract.

[Jeff23]

Rashard Lewis for Gilbert Arenas is a robbery by the Magic. A damn robbery.

[Blame Rasho]

As of today they are the 4th in the East... After this... they will be the 3rd in the standings.

The Suns on the other hand are 9th, and out of the playoffs. Will they become a playoff team at seasons end...it seems likely but not due to this trade but due to Portland perhaps falling off and other teams not quite there yet.

[ComeAtMeBro]

Depends on Arenas.

I think a change of scenery for him(and Baron) and particularly to Orlando( I would love to see a motivated Baron or Gilbert and both fit in Orlando real well), will do wonders. We'll see.

If Gilbert gets back to Gilbert, is more motivated, and understands they need him to be a star and he has a chance at redemption, they won this trade.

What's their actual SL?
Nelson
Gil
Richardson
Hedo
Dwight

Or

Gil
Richardson
Hedo
Bass or Anderson
Dwight

Either ways, who made the wrong move here; Hedo signing in Toronto or Orlando not signing him? Because clearly they value him at the price he came at, despite it being two years later.

[alexcuse]

I can't remember the last time a guaranteed playoff team made such big moves of multiple core players in the middle of the season. Any comparable trades in the past?

[Blazing_royale]

so what happens when Dwight Fouls out?

[AIfan3]

Otis hit the panic button. He probably was forced into doing it by Dwight. As good as Howard is, he's still immature and still lacks genuine leadership, he shouldn't have called out his teammates like he did to the media. I guess we'll see how he does leading this new group.

[ComeAtMeBro]

Nelson needs to go btw. Get a different 4 and/or backup 5.

[Benedict_Boozer]

I don't think so primarily because as Wade2k6 mentions, without Gortat backing up Dwight ORL could be in trouble against MIA/BOS/LAL. I'm surprised Otis Smith didn't try to secure another big man. That could prove to be a fatal flaw.

I do like Richardson over Carter though and Arenas is a better shot creator than Nelson. They will be undersized in the backcourt if you start Nelson/Arenas though - I don't think you can expect Arenas to check Wade/Kobe for example in a series, again that type of match-up issue could prove to be a disaster in the playoffs.

It's interesting though.

[JustDwight]

BIG UPGRADE. J-Rich is going to explode in Orlando and is already having a career yr in PHX. Hedo will be a mismatch for defenses and clutch in the 4th qtr and Gil wil be a star in Orl. I like!