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

[triplet1984]

I think they should have waited on getting Arenas.

WIth the Hedo trade they basically put back together their Finals crew that beat Cleveland. Mismatch central on the wings with Hedo + Lewis.

[Luigi]

Having Turkoglu and Arenas on your roster is risky. You don't even know if they are going to suit up and take their job seriously. Losing Pietrus and Gortat is also scary, those guys helped you have championship caliber defense.

Richardson is going to do better than Vince. He's tougher and a more consistent shooter for their 3 ball offense.

I hope it works out for Orlando.

[MitchellUK]

J-Rich doesn't need the ball.

Its Arenas, Nelson, and Turkoglu who make up the cluster-****. All of them can shoot, yeah, but all of them love having the ball in their hands and dribbling around everywhere.

Maybe it will work, who knows. They had to do something. I would have held off on Arenas/Shard though, especially after losing Gortat. Now who is their PF, Bass and Andersen? They traded 2 of their top 3 frontcourt players for perimeter players. I get why they did it....but I don't get why they did it.

That could well be the case. One thing about them is as much as they may like the ball, they are all very good spot up shooters. If SVG can find a way to spread the ball-handling duties amongst them, then we could see a fairly deadly offensive system in place. Of course, that, like most of the other "ifs" in these scenarios (Arenas coming to the Magic with an aggressive mindset, Turkoglu re-discovering his game in Orlando), is a big if.

Honestly, I am not worried about Bass or Anderson at the 4. Bass has been outstanding this season. Anderson provides the stretch 4 option while still being energetic on the boards. Neither of them can do much worse than Rashard who, as much as I like him, has disappeared this season.

[Luigi]

Honestly, I am not worried about Bass or Anderson at the 4. Bass has been outstanding this season. Anderson provides the stretch 4 option while still being energetic on the boards. Neither of them can do much worse than Rashard who, as much as I like him, has disappeared this season.

I forgot about Anderson. He's going to enjoy playing more minutes.

[ballhawk1]

I don't think Daniel Orton and Earl Clark are legitimately groomed enough to back-up Dwight Howard. I would use Brandon Bass off the bench to back-up Howard at center. Insert Ryan Anderson to play alongside Howard.

Funny how Vince Carter was suppose to replace Turk in Orlando but was later traded for Turk...By the way this not the same Turk that played for the Magic a few seasons ago, like some people are saying, this is a more out of shape and older Turk.

Also, none of the guys the Magic acquired today are adequate defenders, a problem Dwight Howard is having with the current (former) roster is the lack of adequate defenders on the roster. Trading Pietrus, easily Orlando's most adequate perimeter defender does not contribute to the cause.

Why are the Magic going after Arenas if they acquired J. Richardson and Turk? Why is Otis Smith still infatuated with Gilbert Arenas? Someone said Arenas off the bench..why on God's green Earth would anyone want a $100 Million player to come off the bench?

[No Offense]

I like it for Orlando, but I don't think it makes them significantly better.

Gilbert Arenas needs a change of scenery and Rashard Lewis was horrible after he stopped taking PEDs. This is a high risk/high reward move but it could really work out for them if Gil can stay healthy and keep his head straight.

It also gets rid of the log jam at PG for Washington and John Wall can be The Guy there.

I like the Rashard/Gil trade I love, but I really don't get the other aspect of it. They aren't getting past Boston or Miami with this trade, but I think it will be a more entertaining team to watch and a good storyline if Gil can stay on the court and sane.

[taii1234]

Wow that is a HUGE trade. Orlando is back, welcome back to the Magic Hedo!

[Atmanne]

Van Gundy just said that Nelson won't be coming off the bench

[UGA Hayes]

Put me in the it depends on Arenas camp. That being said, If their is a team in the league that can absorb Arenas poor defense its Orlando with Dwight Howard defending rim. Orlando is already a way above avg defensive despite pretty poor defensive personnel outside of Howard, so it might not be the worst idea in the world to add someone who creates his own shot. But he is having a pretty horrid season offensively so far. Noone seems to want to raise the possibility that he is never going to to get close to what he was before the knee injuries.

[magic1fan]

i like it for orlando. i think arenas has alot left in the tank,and he was just pouting in washington njot trying. i think hedo proved that players are better in systems,and he was alot better in orlando's system. j rich is still one of the better finishers in the league. the magic definately got better,and from some of the comments it sounds like some people are scared.

[Pomme]

I like the Shard for Gilbert. Other than that, its downhill. Why would magic wants hedo back after seeing his performances in toronto/phx.

[TheRightAnswer]

Turkoglu>Rashard Lewis. Rashard Lewis' only skill was hit shooting ability and he hasn't been able to do that thus far. Plus, he choked in the playoffs last year and probably would have choked again. He just sucks now. Turkoglu isn't as good as he was a couple of years ago, but he can still pass, which is something the Magic didn't have.

Rahcardson> Carter. Not as complete players, but as shooters. Richardson is a lights out 3-point shooter who will take and make a lot of threes for the Magic.

Arenas gives the Magic another guy who can create his own shot. He'll probably come of the bench as a sixth man, and I can see him excelling in that role. Plus, he'll hit threes, guarded or wide open.

The Magic get worse defensively on the perimiter, but when you have a guy like Dwight, you can afford that.

The Magic will be a lot better after this trade. I would pick them over the Heat, but I think they're behind the Bulls. 3rd in the East.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

Its just such a blah series of trades to me. Before, they were a shaky 3rd best in the East that would have to fight off a good young Chicago team and was getting a bit stale. Now, they're a solid 3rd best in the East, that STILL might not be better than Chicago if guys like Gil and Hedo don't gel properly, AND at their best probably still don't beat Boston (leaving out Miami to avoid homerism).

I just don't see them as leapfrogging anybody, even if they did marginally improve, and on top of that they now have WAY more salary committed long term. Essentially, short of another shuffling the deck type trade (which I see this one as), this team is as good as it gets for Dwight, so they'd better win or at least show they're almost there this season.

[SOUL]

Its just such a blah series of trades to me. Before, they were a shaky 3rd best in the East that would have to fight off a good young Chicago team and was getting a bit stale. Now, they're a solid 3rd best in the East, that STILL might not be better than Chicago if guys like Gil and Hedo don't gel properly, AND at their best probably still don't beat Boston (leaving out Miami to avoid homerism).

I just don't see them as leapfrogging anybody, even if they did marginally improve, and on top of that they now have WAY more salary committed long term. Essentially, short of another shuffling the deck type trade (which I see this one as), this team is as good as it gets for Dwight, so they'd better win or at least show they're almost there this season.

With Noah out, the Bulls have Rose and Boozer and nobody else. They are a good team, obviously, with Noah back but it's going to be tough.

Either way it's going to be tough beating the Heat.

[Andrewchos]

Only bad part for the Magic was losing Gortat.

The rest of the trade is in Orlandos favor imo.

Arenas has the potential to be great, Richardson is a fine replacement for Carter, and Hedo back in the day was great on Orlando so if he can gets back to playing that role its probably overall a winning trade for the Magic.

[NickAnderson]

I can see the 4th quarter play by play now.

Hedo turns the ball over :30 left 89-90
Howard misses 1 of 2 free throws 3.95 secs left 89-90
Howard misses 2 of 2 free throws 3.95 secs left 89-90
Arenas misses 1 of 2 free throws 2.34 secs left 89-90
Arenas misses 2 of 2 free throws 2.34 secs left 89-90
Richardson misses fastbreak dunk FINAL 89-90

[Kc17]

The biggest black mark on the trades for Orlando is Hedo. People act like he wasn't given the ball enough in Toronto, when in reality he got the ball A LOT and just couldn't produce. Perhaps going back to Orlando will help him find some of the motivation that may have been lacking on Toronto and Phoenix, but his contract is just ugly and I personally believe he's on the decline.

I do think people are sleeping on the acquisitions of JRich and Arenas though, Richardson is having a great year, and I still think Arenas is good.

[gino_giode]

The biggest black mark on the trades for Orlando is Hedo. People act like he wasn't given the ball enough in Toronto, when in reality he got the ball A LOT and just couldn't produce. Perhaps going back to Orlando will help him find some of the motivation that may have been lacking on Toronto and Phoenix, but his contract is just ugly and I personally believe he's on the decline.

I do think people are sleeping on the acquisitions of JRich and Arenas though, Richardson is having a great year, and I still think Arenas is good.

People forget that he excelled in the year Jameer went down. More specifically, he excelled as SOON as Meer went down. And since Rafer wasn't a ball dominant PG, Hedo had the ball often, wayyy more than in TO and PHX. THere's absolutely no way he'll go back to his old self on this new Magic team.

Too many ball handlers/scorers. Otis panicked, and he's in love with Hedo. But apparently Hedo waived a year off his contract to get out of TO? So Otis feels better.

[Kc17]

No, Hedo only waived his trade kicker.

Still 4yrs/44 million left of the contract, I think.

[Chris435]

they got better with J-Rich coming on board... the other 2 are wild cards