http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=12767Gortat Pricing Himself Out of Orlando? With the Orlando Magic's successful season – successful in the fact that they are in the Eastern Conference Finals (and leading) and are silencing all the doubters, not that they are finished – they are going to have some offseason questions. When you have a season like this it's usually a good thing to keep the team together, and the Magic have two key free agents: Hedo Turkoglu and Marcin Gortat. Turkoglu has an Early Termination Option in his contract it's a given he will exercise; if he did not he would be on the books for one more season at $7.4 million. Gortat will be a restricted free agent who made only $711,517 in 2008-09. Both players have become integral parts of the team in this postseason and while that's not a surprised with Turkoglu, it is with Gortat. Because of the team's desire to keep the roster together, Turkoglu will now likely get the contract he has talked about desiring. Up until recently the Magic were hoping they could negotiate that number down, but the team's success will force their hand.
But what about Gortat? He was a forgotten man much of the season, playing just 12.6 minutes in 63 games (after just six games as a rookie) and averaging 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds on 57% shooting. Those are solid numbers in those minutes, and the Magic liked what they saw enough to want to keep him, but they were hoping Gortat could slide under the radar and they could lock him up for a few years at minimal dollars. That hope is just about dead. His per game numbers in the playoffs are similar to those of the regular season (except for the 74% shooting), but it's the way he has produced that is bound to catch the eye of general managers and coaches across the league. He runs the floor, he's tough, he rebounds, he has a couple decent moves around the hoop, and he plays fantastic defense. In the game starting center Dwight Howard missed against Philadelphia after getting suspended for throwing an elbow at Samuel Dalembert, Gortat filled in with 40 minutes, 11 points, 15 rebounds, and two assists. Orlando has even experimented a little with playing Howard and Gortat side-by-side in limited minutes, instead of simply trading the players when one goes to the bench. Any fan can see how much interest Gortat will draw on the open market simply by listening to the announcers when watching the games on TNT – they love him. But what does all of this mean to the Magic?
It means the Magic have $63 million committed to their roster for 2009-10 should Turkoglu opt to terminate his deal. If they sign him, add about $10 million to that. They can match any offer to Gortat due to his restricted status, but they are already in luxury tax territory at that point. Plus, that $73 million is for just 10 players, so if they add Gortat's contract they need to add at least one more player just to have a full roster. (They could waive Rafer Alston, whose contract is not fully guaranteed, and save some money, but that doesn't seem likely at all.) Orlando does not have a draft pick this year, but are rumored to be looking into buying one. But what is Gortat's value? They are quite a few teams who might want to add a center to their roster, up-and-coming teams like Oklahoma City and maybe even good teams like Dallas and San Antonio. History shows us that teams will overpay for size - especially if that size has flashed talent - so given that it's hard to think Gortat's free agent value is less than the Median Level Exception. In fact, teams looking at Gortat will probably be the exact same teams that are looking at New York Knicks restricted free agent big man David Lee – but Gortat should be cheaper than the rumored $10 million per year Lee will be seeking. What do you think? Is the MLE too much for Gortat? Not enough? Would you like to see your team spend that much money on him? And Magic fans, what's too much to match? Or do you keep Gortat (and Turkoglu) no matter what?
