Would you welcome Rasheed on this team?

[captainrebel]

Sheed would be perfect for Orlando where he would probably play more at his true position, PF than he would at C. As a Piston fan I know he hates to play the C position. But you guys should be more concerned about your back court which got crushed in the series against the Pistons. You already have Lewis, Turk, Battie, Gortat and Garitty plus Agustin and Cook. Who do you propose to send to Detroit in exchange for Wallace? I would hate to think that Joe Dumars would trade Wallace to an eastern conference team that is already as strong as Orlando is.

[N4U|Redux]

50 win division champ team with a second round playoff appearance after a twelve year absence? I'll take that handicap.

Look, I like Lewis, but I'm talking about the "next level."

Lewis certainly helped us get to the "next level" from a borderline playoff team, but I don't think the team is capable of getting to a finals caliber team without changes -- changes his salary handicaps us from making.

BTW - Winning the southeast division = borderline playoff team in the western conference and a sweep in the playoffs. We barely escaped being swept in the semi's of the great east.

[magicfan217]

I have no Idea how it would work but sheed is an absolute perfect fit for this team. I dont care how old he is. Sheed can play. He's a threat inside and outside, and his defensive presence alone would lift our entire team up. Could you imagine and interior defense with Sheed and Howard? That's scary.


Again I have no idea what it would take to get it done. Im not giving them shard or hedo for him. They don't need nelson, and quite frankly we CANT trade nelson unless we are getting a comparable PG back anyway. My only guess would be that we would give them our pick and another player or two, but we don't exactly have young prospects sitting on our bench. If Redick (who I think would be a great bench player for detroit, him and stuckey on the second unit would be awesome) and our pick would do it (obviously there would have to be something kicked to make the money work).

In the end Dumars would never give us sheed for that kind of a deal because then detroit couldn't beat us. But it is fun to think about.

[DrunkOnMystery]

Most of you are forgetting that at this point, Sheed is a roleplayer, and here even more than Detroit, he'd have to accept that. The big issue would be whether or not he could accept that. If he could, he'd be a phenomenal pick up for Orlando. He is a true 4 who plays great defense, boxes out well, and has both range and a great post game.

The reality is that it won't happen(unless a third team gets involved), because the Magic have no assets desirable to Detroit. Not to mention, the Magic would be somewhat foolish to trade for a 13.6m expiring, unless there was a plan in place for an extension, which I don't think CAP rules allow for.

Still though, character issues are vastly blown up, both on this board and in general. What matters is quality of play, and Sheed is an elite 4.

[MagicFan149]

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Look, I like Lewis, but I'm talking about the "next level."

Lewis certainly helped us get to the "next level" from a borderline playoff team, but I don't think the team is capable of getting to a finals caliber team without changes -- changes his salary handicaps us from making.

BTW - Winning the southeast division = borderline playoff team in the western conference and a sweep in the playoffs. We barely escaped being swept in the semi's of the great east.

we barely missed going up 3-1 on a team that would of been one of the top seeds in youre almight west.... oh yeah and a little note we are in the eastern confrence..... but im sorry to shed a little light on youre post continue not being positive it seems to suit you well in this thread

[mhectorgato]

Look, I like Lewis, but I'm talking about the "next level."

Lewis certainly helped us get to the "next level" from a borderline playoff team, but I don't think the team is capable of getting to a finals caliber team without changes -- changes his salary handicaps us from making.

BTW - Winning the southeast division = borderline playoff team in the western conference and a sweep in the playoffs. We barely escaped being swept in the semi's of the great east.

A) The game we won, we blew em out.

B) And they barely escaped having us push the series to 6 or 7 games.

How many games were within a few points with less than a minute to go?
How many chances did we have to take a lead with less than a minute to go before resorting to fouling?

By my count, 3 of the 4 games they won fit that into that category.

I'm not minimizing their victories, but it was much much closer than "barely escaped being swept".

[MagicFan149]

[quote="mhectorgato"][/quote]

you make great points ... he doesnt want to hear that.. . blind hatred works better

[mhectorgato]

you make great points ... he doesnt want to hear that.. . blind hatred works better

imo, that's a bit over the top there.

I don't think there's hatred on N4Us part. We each have different opinions.

Unfortunately for him, his is just wrong and not based on fact. But he's got the right to have it though

[MagicFan149]

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imo, that's a bit over the top there.

I don't think there's hatred on N4Us part. We each have different opinions.

Unfortunately for him, his is just wrong and not based on fact. But he's got the right to have it though

maybe i took it too far .... but it just frustrating when people ignore things that are right in front of them

[N4U|Redux]

This thread doesn't need to be hijacked so I won't continue.

However, I'm certainly not the most prevalent Lewis or Magic hater; and I won't add anything nobody has heard by continuing the argument.

I enjoy finally having a team that could manage to fluke itself into the finals and get swept, that's OK...seriously.

However, yes, we only narrowly escaped being swept. That's not to say the game we won was not a great win, and that's not to say the games we lost weren't close -- the end results are all that matter, and it went down 4-1. Besides, we weren't up to snuff with Billups out; unless the importance of that is going to get spun out, or "ignored right in front of me."

Anyway, yeah, keep Rashweed out of here unless they take Lewis off our hands; probably even then.

[surflawyer]

As a MAGIC fan Ive been saying Rasheed is the perfect fit for some time now.

As an admirer of the Pistons ... well I would be looking at ways to give us Rasheed if it meant getting our #22. Without getting too in detail about it 2010-2011 is the LeBron sweepstakes and the Pistons (if they go into rebuild mode) are likely to be way under the cap with a core of Billups, Rip and Tayshaun. Their cheap contracts will be Afflalo, Stuckie, Maxiell and our #22 and their #29. Add in a MLE and a role player or two and if I were LBJ I wouldnt give NY a second look.

..... just a thought

[spinedoc]

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Look, I like Lewis, but I'm talking about the "next level."

Lewis certainly helped us get to the "next level" from a borderline playoff team, but I don't think the team is capable of getting to a finals caliber team without changes -- changes his salary handicaps us from making.

BTW - Winning the southeast division = borderline playoff team in the western conference and a sweep in the playoffs. We barely escaped being swept in the semi's of the great east.

I totally agree that this team needs changes. We didn't win it all, so yeah we need changes, but I disagree with the second part. Lewis is a big part of our progress. I don't see how now he becomes our handicap of reaching our goal, when it was his presence that got us as far as we did. What it means to me is, if the mle, draft, and LLE does not get us farther up the ladder, then Hedo will be the sacrifice, not Lewis. I don't want to get into the whole dance about Hedo vs Lewis, but I believe that Lewis is part of the reason for a more productive Hedo. We probably disagree about that, but what we shouldn't disagree on is that his contract dictates that Hedo is now the trade chip. Next year will be the test for us, and if by the deadline it looks like we may struggle again, Hedo is out of here. And it may even be sooner than that if something comes to us this summer. I believe we will have the assets to keep us moving forward, but we certainly are not alone. Take a look at Dallas, Phoenix, Cleveland, and now even Detroit, and the Spurs. The list is longer than that, but you get the idea.

[N4U|Redux]

I don't see how now he becomes our handicap of reaching our goal, when it was his presence that got us as far as we did.

He handicaps us because we'll be more hesitant to take on salary heavy players (example: this trade deadline).

What it means to me is, if the mle, draft, and LLE does not get us farther up the ladder, then Hedo will be the sacrifice, not Lewis.

That's a fine course of action too.

I don't want to get into the whole dance about Hedo vs Lewis, but I believe that Lewis is part of the reason for a more productive Hedo. We probably disagree about that, but what we shouldn't disagree on is that his contract dictates that Hedo is now the trade chip.

I don't disagree with you, Hedo as an individual talent is overrated on this board and Lewis is underrated. I love Lewis, just not the implications he has on our cap.

Hedo should be the primary trade chip for us, however, I lack confidence in Otis dealing him in a good deal.

We appear to be closer than you think spine .

[spinedoc]

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I don't disagree with you, Hedo as an individual talent is overrated on this board and Lewis is underrated. I love Lewis, just not the implications he has on our cap.

Hedo should be the primary trade chip for us, however, I lack confidence in Otis dealing him in a good deal.

We appear to be closer than you think spine .

Well, its got to be that fine USF education then. Seriously though, I don't see Lewis as killing our cap because we only have so many slots for big contract guys. Just like we had with Grant and Tmac, we aren't going to keep adding big time free agents and salary like the big market teams can and do. No matter who we got for that spot, we were going to be relegated to only adding players through the draft, mle, and LLE contracts going forward. Yeah, Lewis got a premium more than anyone thought he would, but to me its not really any different then the two star system that we have been running in the past.

[lovehoops01]

Ready for a shocker here?

If the Magic were going to take on any of these guys of so-called questionable character players (and that really depends on how you as an individual define it; I'm probably more forgiving than most), Rasheed would be the guy.

The reason: Rasheed Wallace has one of the highest basketball IQs in the game and is extremely talented. When he really is focused and wants to play, he can embarrass almost anyone.

The main reason I would be against it: When he really is focused and wants to play, he can embarrass almost anyone. Rasheed drives me crazy. He could have been one of the best ever in the game if he just had applied himself. But he goes on these walkabouts in the middle of a game when he gets frustrated or bored, and sometimes the things he doesn't do then cost his team wins. According to all the Detroit media, on the game-day shootaround before Detroit's must-win Game 6, Rasheed showed up late for practice, didn't work particularly hard once he got there and then didn't play even close to what he was capable of. Rasheed's Pistons teammates have always had his back about this type of thing, but in the end, it ended up costing them.

I also don't know how the Magic could acquire him this offseason. He is due to get paid $13.7 million next season. If they didn't trade Rashard for him, I don't think they could pull together enough contract dollars to make a deal. Even trading Hedo, they still would have to come up with $7 million more in contracts that the Pistons would want. And he will be 34 next season so I'm not sure if you want to trade away a lot of young talent for a guy when you're not sure how long he will play or if he will re-sign with you if you want him to.

He is intriguing, though. He could be the difference-maker. Or he could totally torpedo the entire franchise. It's easy for us to say it's worth the risk, but it's not our heads that are going to roll if it doesn't work out.

[1eyedjake]

Hell yes. Rasheed would fit our team structure incredibly well.