Its time for the Magic to rebuild completely

[mhectorgato]

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight wants to leave the Magic.

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight still wants to stay with the Magic.

[BadMofoPimp]

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight wants to leave the Magic.

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight still wants to stay with the Magic.

Dude, Dwight said it himself a few times. I will take Dwights word over no name sources any day of the week. Don't buy into the media speculation. That is what they get paid for to create controversy and drive people to their websites.

[mhectorgato]

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight wants to leave the Magic.

FYI. Not one single Legit Source stated that Dwight still wants to stay with the Magic.

Dude, Dwight said it himself a few times. I will take Dwights word over no name sources any day of the week. Don't buy into the media speculation. That is what they get paid for to create controversy and drive people to their websites.

Do you have link to him saying he will sign an extension and stay here?

I trust his words as far as I can throw him at this point. I don't believe that he waived his opt out because he Orlando.

Unless he emphatically says "I am going to resign" to a national news outlet, we have no idea of what he's going to do.

[aleZ]

Because most people get the lifelong relationships wrong isn't cause not to believe in them.

That doesn't change it's not human nature but something forced by the system: men (and women) seek change be it by honest means or by cheating. Now, I don't wanna derail the topic so I'm gonna end all analogies here but you catch my drift.

The more I hear about Dwight, the more it sounds like he's "tied" to the Magic in a bad way. It's been back and forth since last year: he wants out/re-signs but just for one season and now we're back to square one. If he really loved this team, he could've signed a longer contract.

[cedric76]

if OKC lose the final

we d need to find a way to get harden ( sign new contract)+ibaka for D12

then do hedo+JJ for Ariza+okafor+10

[p0peye]

Unless he emphatically says "I am going to resign" to a national news outlet, we have no idea of what he's going to do.

Unless he signs the extension papers, we should assume he's leaving.

[drsd]

Dwight Gonna Prove Ya'll Wrong!!!

There are at least 24 other teams out there attempting to rebuild with the Thunder model. That is a lot of competition. Managment understand that the only way to guarantee victories is to keep Dwight. Fortunately, teams are run by pros and not fans influenced by the media.

To add, "all" the Magic need to do is resign Howard and trade for a disgruntle star. It's that simple (sarcasm implied).

Seriously, this is how Boston gained two pieces of their big three, and they lucked into the forth piece for the big four.

It is not unreasonable for Orlando to flip Nelson and Anderson (SnT) for Deron Williams (SnT). Such a trade is transformational for the Magic. Can Orlando build a title contender around Howard and Williams? Of course! The starting point would be (I always waive Duhon in these thoughts):

Williams/Smith
Richardson-2/Redick
Turkoglu/Richardson-1/Liggins
Davis/Clark/Harper
Howard

Orlando could then trade a couple of Richardsons for a combo-big that can play good Center minutes (Okafor), draft a Marshall-type with the new #10 pick and a Terrence Jones-type with the retained #19, and sign a scoring vet wing with the FA money (let's call it Crawford).

Your 2012/13 Orlando Magic:

WIlliams/Marshall/Smith
Redick/Crawford/Jones
Turkoglu/Liggins
Davis/Clark/Harper
Howard/Okafor

This is a solid and deep team. What's not to like? And all of the above is entirely reasonable for the new GM, (so long as i) Howard resigns AND ii) Williams demands Orlando).

..

[MJallday59]

I don't think this is about basketball anymore. This is about $$Money$$.

The Magic organization need to show Dwight how he can make a lot of money outside of basketball. Dwight has 4 kids and counting and I'm sure the moms are getting paid. Heck, the way he's going he'll be Shawn Kemp 2.0

In short, Dwight's current lifestyle doesn't fit the Orlando - "Family Friendly, Super Positive" image anymore and that's not a bad thing per say. He sees Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Paul & Melo and of course he wants a piece of what they have. Can he get that same lifestyle in Orlando? I don't know...but if the Magic want to keep him, that's what they have to sell him on.

[Skin]

Dwight Gonna Prove Ya'll Wrong!!!

There are at least 24 other teams out there attempting to rebuild with the Thunder model. That is a lot of competition. Managment understand that the only way to guarantee victories is to keep Dwight. Fortunately, teams are run by pros and not fans influenced by the media.

To add, "all" the Magic need to do is resign Howard and trade for a disgruntle star. It's that simple (sarcasm implied).

Seriously, this is how Boston gained two pieces of their big three, and they lucked into the forth piece for the big four.

It is not unreasonable for Orlando to flip Nelson and Anderson (SnT) for Deron Williams (SnT). Such a trade is transformational for the Magic. Can Orlando build a title contender around Howard and Williams? Of course! The starting point would be (I always waive Duhon in these thoughts):

Williams/Smith
Richardson-2/Redick
Turkoglu/Richardson-1/Liggins
Davis/Clark/Harper
Howard

Orlando could then trade a couple of Richardsons for a combo-big that can play good Center minutes (Okafor), draft a Marshall-type with the new #10 pick and a Terrence Jones-type with the retained #19, and sign a scoring vet wing with the FA money (let's call it Crawford).

Your 2012/13 Orlando Magic:

WIlliams/Marshall/Smith
Redick/Crawford/Jones
Turkoglu/Liggins
Davis/Clark/Harper
Howard/Okafor

This is a solid and deep team. What's not to like? And all of the above is entirely reasonable for the new GM, (so long as i) Howard resigns AND ii) Williams demands Orlando).

..

The Nets aren't gonna send us Deron.

Only a team under the cap far enough to steal him away outright will force the Nets to do a S&T.

[drsd]

The Nets aren't gonna send us Deron.

Only a team under the cap far enough to steal him away outright will force the Nets to do a S&T.

If Deron WIlliams tells the Nets to trade him to Orlando or he will walk as a FA, then he will get traded to Orlando. The alternative for Brooklyn is nothing. For Williams, this is the only way he can become a Magician, as you correctly point out that the Magic cannot sign for him.

..

[jvalanciunas]

Magic recieve

Joe Johnson 18 million
Josh Smith 12.4 million

Hawks recieve

Turkoglu (his contracted is only partialy guranteed after this season for 6 mill)
Redick (expiring deal)
Nelson or Duhon (depends on jameer if he opts in he becomes expiring, if not duhons final year is unguarnteed)
Brad Miller (fully unguarnteed deal)

i don't understand Orlando fans who say " Magic would never trade Dwight to a team in the same division"

and then turn around and plead and beg for Josh Smith or Joe Johnson.

doesn't make any sense. so Orlando wouldn't trade with a division rival but Atlanta would? or Atlanta is in Orlando's divsion but Orlando is not in Atlanta's division

[Bensational]

The Nets aren't gonna send us Deron.

Only a team under the cap far enough to steal him away outright will force the Nets to do a S&T.

If Deron WIlliams tells the Nets to trade him to Orlando or he will walk as a FA, then he will get traded to Orlando. The alternative for Brooklyn is nothing. For Williams, this is the only way he can become a Magician, as you correctly point out that the Magic cannot sign for him.

..

all that has to happen is Brooklyn need to sense that they're going to lose Deron to Dallas for nothing, and they'll start exploring s&t options to see if they can get something back for him.

[SparksFly87]

Sixers offer Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddues Young , 15th pick and VUcevic for Dwight Howard.

[Cigamodnalro]

Sixers offer Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Thaddues Young , 15th pick and VUcevic for Dwight Howard.

And what do you offer for Turkoglu?

[Optimus_Steel]

If we do end up trading Dwight as I suspect we will, then we cannot make the same mistake we made when we traded Tmac for Francis, Cato, and Mobley. We need talented young players with flexible contracts, not overpaid veterans past their prime because we would get too good too fast, thus not allowing us to stockpile talent. The Hornets made that mistake after the lockout when they traded Paul to the Lakers and Stern and the Owners saved them from it. Now they have the #1 pick and a good young player in Gordon intead of a low lottery pick due to a mediocre record with guys like Scola, Martin and Odom. Although because of Dwight's large salary that may be difficult work out, ultimately a veteran or 2 with a large salary would have to be involved in some way.

[Skin]

We shoudln't trade Dwight unless it's for another championship caliber player who the team can build around. Period.

But nobody is doing that, so only WITH him do we have a chance. Without him, we're looking at at least another 10 year rebuilding plan. There are no Dwight trades that will keep us in range for title contention. But as long as we have him, we have a chance.

The problem is, this team is built incorrectly in some parts. We need to refocus our roster strategy yet still use Dwight as our foundation.

The 4 out, 1 in philosophy is flawed. It's a mirage. It shows flashes of working brilliantly, but it can never be counted on. It'll work when the shots are falling, but it's too unreliable to be a system that can be expected to achieve championship caliber success. If we have bench players that can give us those looks, then yeah, that's ideal. But for it to be our base system and our starters are cookie cut for it, then we ultimately will fail.

I am not a fan of bringing Ryan Anderson back for that very reason. Not only will he cut into our salary cap at a huge expense, but he's the wrong type of starter that this team needs to have at the PF next to Dwight. Hey, I love his 3 point shooting as much as the next guy... but I would rather invest in simply signing FA Steve Novak, the Knicks 6'10 Forward who shoots the lights out and wouldn't be commanding half the salary that Anderson will probably ask for, nor would he be looking for a starting spot. Having someone to come off the bench to help us spread the floor at the PF position is great to have as it gives us that ability to run the 4 out, 1 in look at times. Having it is not the problem. Having it as our base, is.

Rather, let's add a PF who would give us a Twin Towers type look in the post. We've seen that have success in the past. Bynum/Gasol... Robinson/Duncan... etc. I don't think there is a better bet to go with if you're trying to build up a powerhouse. To this day I wish we had kept Chris Webber and paired him with Shaq! But anyways... The NBA, being a copy cat league that it is will always look at the latest and greatest, so teams are now currently trying to duplicate the Heat and Thunder model, but that isn't the only way to go...

Plus, it may even play to our advantage. Sure finding a good PF/C big man like that to put next to Dwight isn't easy, but the opportunity may present itself to us.

The Draft

1) Fab Melo. Melo is a shot block extroidinaire with a nice natural offensive touch that extends outside of the paint. Not an elite athlete, but he plays with good hustle and energy that is infectious. He will likely be avaiable at 19. He would form a formidable duo with Dwight in the post, as he's a very aware passer (watch that clip below), his success isn't limited to being within 3 feet from the rim and teams would face all kinds of trouble trying to score inside or grab rebounds with Dwight and Fab on the blocks. He can also give Dwight rest as a backup C.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKyP3Por3xI[/youtube]

Terrence Jones - Not an ideal "twin tower" type player. But he's erasing question marks in draft workouts about whether he can be a solid PF in the league. Better post defense than PJ3, but still likes to hang out on the perimeter more than he should.

Perry Jones - Again, not an ideal "twin tower" type player. Could work, but he's mostly a SF in a PF's body. Post defense needs work (mostly a weakside help defender), but he does have attractive offensive abilities.

Free Agency

1) Jason Thompson. Here is a FA who is looking to spread his wings. Trapped in the dog house in Sacramento, JT has always performed well in the minutes given to him. The presence of he and Dwight in the post is very intimidating. Any wing trying to drive through the paint will have to think twice before coming. He could also play Center in a pinch.

2) Anthony Randolph. He is a FA who would be a cheaper get than trying to keep Anderson. The 22-year-old has already played for three different teams in his four seasons, but for various reasons has not gotten a real shot at playing time. He hasn't topped 40 games played since his rookie year. A lack of talent certainly isn't the cause. Over his career, Randolph has averaged 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per 36 minutes. Last season he posted a higher PER than All-Stars Rajon Rondo and Andre Iguodala. We've only seen the tip of the iceberg from Randolph. A team with room to give him significant playing time would do well to unleash Randolph's tantalizing potential. Another guy with the size and skills combination to be a good twin tower pairing with Dwight. His drawback is his lack of a killer instinct/drive/commitment.

3) Marcus Camby. The rebounding and shot blocking veteran is available in FA, but he's asking for a 3 year deal and doesn't really provide enough offensive ability to be a force on that end of the ball.

4) Fran Vazquez. Yes, I said it. He and Dwight together is more of a dream than a reality, but if he came over... mmmm... the possibilities!!!

This post isn't intended to be a full rebuilding plan because it's already starting to become a full wall of irritating text. But I did want to make the point that I think it would be better for us to build a twin tower duo and get away from the 4 out, 1 in philosophy. It's much more sustainable, reliable, and much more imposing defensively.