Magic traded away Rashard Lewis to the Wizards and received Gilbert Arenas.
Magic traded away Vince Carter, Mikael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, 2011 first round pick, $3 million to the Suns and received Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, Earl Clark.
Magic just had a fire sale and completely reshaped their lineup. Traded away two starters in Lewis and Carter, and an overpaid backup center, Gortat for three probable starters in Arenas, Turk and Richardson, and another back up center in Earl Clark.
First things first, I feel really happy for Marcin Gortat. He was stuck in bench purgatory behind Dwight Howard and may actually get some meaningful minutes in Phoenix behind or maybe starting in place of Robin Lopez.
Let's deal with what the Suns were trying to do with this trade:
Hedo Turkoglu for the most part this season was the Suns' starting power forward. Turk is a natural SF/SG and going against the top PFs in the league wasn't getting it done. He also has a horrible horrible contract, paying him $10-12 million per year for the next four years (He'll be turning 32 in March). Jason Richardson is currently in the last year of his deal that pays about $15 million. He was having a solid career in Phoenix. Why didn't the Suns want to re-sign him? Because the Suns are officially in rebuild mode after Amare Stoudemire left this summer for New York. With no scoring all star quality big man, and a replacement of Hedo Turkoglu, the Suns said forget this, let's start over.
So they unloaded Hedo's horrible contract and Vince Carter's expiring contract ($17 million this year and a TEAM option of $18 million next year, which more than likely they will not use, making Vince a free agent). They also got Mikael Pietrus who is getting paid $5 million and has a player option of $5 million next year, which if he takes up, is still better than paying Hedo $11 million. And Marcin Gortat who is getting paid $6 to $7 million for the next four years.
Numbers aside and in plain English, they saved themselves millions of dollars for the next 4 years. They can now start rebuilding a team that may or may not include Steve Nash who is on contract for this season and next season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
What were the Wizards trying to do in their trade with the Magic:
Well this summer, they drafted John Wall with the number 1 pick AND traded for PG/SG Kirk Hinrich when they already had gun slinger PG Gilbert Arenas. Their current forward situation wasn't anything to brag about either. They were starting Al Thornton and Andray Blatche. So simply enough, they got rid of a Gilbert who had worn out his welcome and had a horrible contract that he never even close to lived up to for a power forward who can shoot the three, but also has a horrible over paid contract. Now John Wall can fully take over this Wizards team and have a power forward who can stretch the floor on offense.
And just FYI, Rashard Lewis is getting paid $20, $22, $23 million for this and the next two seasons. Gilbert Arenas is getting paid $17, $20, player option $20, $22 million for this and the next three seasons. This is a good trade for the Wizards. And here's to a safer locker room, cheers!
Finally, the Magic:
I've written a lot about the Magic and their bad decisions, and this is no different. They got rid of Rashard Lewis who had a bad contract, yes, but in exchange they get Gilbert Arenas who has an even worse contract for longer years. when they already have an all star (granted it was an injury fill in all star) quality point guard in Jameer Nelson!? If Gil comes off the bench, that's gotta be a record of highest paid bench player in the history of sports. And if he starts over Jameer Nelson, well that's gonna be one disgruntled bench player. So I guess they'll start them both, since Vince Carter was playing the shooting guard position.
But will Jason Richardson then come off the bench?Jason Richardson can play the small forward spot. But what about Brandon Bass and Hedo Turkoglu? Who is this team's power forward? If they play Hedo at the 4 spot, Dwight Howard is gonna have a lot of help defense on his shoulders. Hedo got torched in Phoenix by PFs, let's see if the trend continues in Orlando.
Possible lineup?
PG - Jameer Nelson / Chris Duhon SG - Gilbert Arenas / JJ Reddick SF - Jason Richardson / Hedo Turkoglu PF - Brandon Bass / Ryan Anderson C - Dwight Howard / Earl Clark
Don't get me wrong, that's a lot of offensive power right there. But it's undersized defensively and quite frankly, NOT GOOD defensively, outside of Dwight Howard. We'll definitely see if this is enough to keep Dwight Howard happy. I will say this though. I think the addition of Hedo Turkoglu will help. He's another option who can run the point position on some plays to maybe take advantage of some other small forwards around the league. That is my bold position. He's played in this system before, he can pick it up where he left off.
(Photo from Yahoo) The second round of the playoffs is over as THE CAVALIERS (as a team) were beaten by the Boston Celtics in 6 games. LeBron James didn't lose the series, the Cavaliers did. Boston was the better team. You know what's crazy though? Somewhere in Boston, some hardcore Celtic fan who was probably screaming "NEW YORK KNICKS!" as LeBron was shooting free throws has possibly the last headband LeBron will ever wear as a Cavalier when he flinged it into the crowd as he was leaving the Boston Garden. EBAY!?!?! How much would that go for? I say thousands.
By the way, doesn't this series kind of prove that the NBA isn't fixed? Playoff Performance of the Ages: Rondo in game 4. 29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists. Game changing plays. Twice he was on a fast break for a layup with LeBron trailing him to do one of his patented volleyball spike blocks against the backboard. Rondo goes up for the layup, LeBron follows, Rondo passes behind his back to a trailing Tony Allen for a dunk.
I'm pretty sure this happened twice but this was the only clip I could find. Either way, it was amazing. He was also hitting his open jump shots for the most part.
But hey, at least LeBron clapped hands with the Celtics. All I know is LeBron is going to enter the world of Kobe. Not the championship world, but the summer of constant questions, media and drama that Kobe faced when he was taken out of the playoffs by the Suns in 2007. Not a happy time for Laker fans, will not be a happy time for Cleveland fans... unless he re-signs. But here's the thing. LeBron, if he re-signs with the Cavs, will the Cavs be that much better? Look at this: LeBron was $15 million this year. He's going to command 28-30$ million dollars with his new contract he will sign. Shaq's $20 million comes off the books this summer. Everyone else except some third stringers barely making any money at all is on contract for next year. Therefore, if he signs with the Cavs, they'll use Shaq's money to get LeBron that gigantic 30$ million dollar contract.... AND THE TEAM WILL REMAIN THE SAME (except for possibilities of a trade) (no picks in the draft this summer).
So the Cavs will be what we saw this year minus Shaq. They'll have Antawn Jamison for two more years (who should be getting a lot more grief than LeBron right now- DIDN'T SHOW UP), Mo Williams two, maybe 3 more years (player option 3rd year), Anderson Varejao until 2014, Daniel Gibson for 3 more years, Delonte West for another year... you get the picture.
But hey, I'm not going to speculate where he goes. Your guess is as good as mine. But I do know that the places with the most cap space to sign him to that 30ish$ million dollar contract are: New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards, Sacaramento Kings, and the Chicago Bulls. Any other team he wants to go to would have to be done through a sign-and-trade so teams wouldn't kill their profits with luxury taxes. So I'm not going to speculate, your guess is as good as mine, and as good as ESPN's... think about that.
In other series that have been over for awhile -
(Photo from Yahoo) Lakers vs Utah - Well I expected a little more out of Kirilenko's return in game 3, but he played 17 minutes, and then 12 minutes in game 4.
Carlos Boozer put up some decent numbers but he also had some critical turnovers right underneath the basket in crunch time of both games 3 and 4. Either way, he'll get a nice pay day from a team desperate for a change. My guess is the Golden State Warriors.
Ego alert - I was correct in my prediction for the series:
The Lakers will now take on Utah who will be a much easier opponent than the Thunder for the simple question of, who's going to guard Kobe? Rookie, Wesley Matthews? Ronnie Price? Andrei Kirilenko says he hopes to be back by game 3, and he can play defense on Kobe but we'll see what kind of defensive stopper shows up after that calf injury.
And Kobe did have a much better shooting performance than in the first series. Wesley Matthews had some nice plays on Kobe, but ultimately couldn't stop him. In the 6 games against the Thunder, Kobe shot respectively: 31%, 43%, 34%, 50%, 44%, 48%. In four games against the Suns, he shot respectively: 63%, 45%, 54%, 48% all while topping 30 points every game.
Oh and they had no post offensive or defensive game. Pau Gasol dominated as he should have. What's funny is that he won't face a decent post defender for the third straight series against the Suns-- I'm looking for him to put up great numbers again. The Jazz will get Okur back next season, and hopefully they start Millsap in place of Boozer. Oh, they could also win the NBA draft lottery as they have the Knicks' pick, no matter where that pick falls. That would be interesting. By the way, the lottery is on May 18th. Good luck to your team.
Ron Artest's twitter account got into it with Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson, picking his fights wisely brushed it off and didn't start any drama. Ron Artest shot 4-7 from 3 point range the next night. Moving on...
Game 3 Funny Moment, Derek Fisher steals the ball and is on his way to a fast break layup, only CJ Miles swats it out of bounds to make the crowd go crazy. That's not the funny part, listen to Marv Albert:
"OH MILES, WITH THE TAYSHAUN BLOCK!"
Of course he's referring to Tayshaun Prince's block on...
Reggie Miller! Marv Albert's commentating partner! Oh way to remind Reggie Miller of a game saving block in the second round of the 2004 playoffs! Quick history: the Pistons were up by 2 points and with 15 seconds left, Reggie could have tied it, but Tayshaun blocked it away, taking a 2-0 lead to Detroit. Ahhh, Marv.
Regarding Fisher being a traitor to the Utah Jazz - Uhh Jazz fans, do you really think Fisher coming off the bench is going to make you a championship team? At the time, the Jazz were better than the Lakers. This is the summer when the Jazz made the Western Conference Finals, and the Lakers were beat in 5 games to the Suns. Bynum sucked. Kwame Brown was the 3rd option behind Lamar Odom, Fisher was but a light upgrade from Smush Parker. He didn't do it to be on a better team. Fisher cut $8 million dollars to sign with the Lakers. He didn't do it for money. If Fisher was on the Jazz. Jazz fans would complain about Fisher the way LA fans complain about Fisher. The Jazz fans just needed someone to boo.
(Photo from Yahoo) Phoenix Suns vs San Antonio Spurs - I expected MUCH more from the Spurs. I even expected them to beat the Suns! Instead the complete opposite happened and they were swept. Game 4 featured a one eyed Nash still dismantling the Spurs defense... I'm pretty sure the better team won.
Here's something to take note of, the scores for each of the four games: All Suns wins- 111-102, 110-102, 110-96, 107-101. The Suns were consistent. They say they've worked on their defense, but the Spurs averaged 101 points this entire season.
Some questions the Spurs have, what to do with Tony Parker and George Hill? What to do with Richard Jefferson? Both Parker and Jefferson have one more season on contract at $15 and $13.5 million respectively. Those are expiring contracts they could trade away to a team looking for cap space for... 2011? Oh yeah, it was this summer that was the big off season sweepstakes. George Hill was starting quality in the first round against the Mavs. But so is Tony Parker, if he didn't get injured.
One issue they don't have to worry about anymore is Manu Ginobili- he was extended through the 2013 season. But the Spurs know how to draft so I'm sure they'll get some talent next month with the 20th and 49th pick (Tony Parker 28th pick, George Hill 26th pick, Manu 2nd round 28th pick, DeJuan Blair 2nd round 7th pick).
How will the Suns-Lakers series go? I predict a Lakers victory in 6 games. I see the Suns as a better version of the Thunder but with still no post presence. Amare and Nash do pick and rolls for days but I think Gasol, Kobe, Ron and Lamar can move and rotate well enough to at least slow it down a little bit. And again, who will guard Kobe? Jason Richardson and Grant Hill? They'll be better than Wesley Matthews but not better than Durant. I predict another efficient scoring games by both Kobe and Pau Gasol. Let's see if Ron Artest worked on his 3 point shooting during his week off.
(Photo from Yahoo) Orlando Magic vs Atlanta Hawks Atlanta was coming off a 7 game series with the Bucks and the Magic had swept the Bobcats a week earlier. Bibby couldn't hang with Jameer Nelson. The Hawks fans booed their team. Atlanta was swept out of the playoffs.
So what's next for the Hawks? Big FA name alert: Joe Johnson. Straight up Free Agent. Not a player option or anything. He decides where he wants to go and for how much. The Hawks have the money to sign him to a max deal and the core group of guys that can get him to the playoffs again, but is it a championship contending team? I think this is a bunch of freakishly athletic guys like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Al Horford who can put up good numbers and play good defense. But in the playoffs, Horford was a bit undersized to handle Dwight Howard. Mike Bibby made 7 field goals for the entire series. The team has no bench besides Jamal Crawford and his behind the back cross over. And they fired their coach!
Atlanta has gone a long way from their terrible years in the early part of 2000s. They have some decisions to make this off season. Unfortunately, their core group of guys aren't as talented as championship contending teams' cores.
Which brings me to the Orlando Magic. 8-0 in the playoffs so far getting a lot of rest. Yes they played playoff teams, but they swept who they were supposed to sweep. Their test is here. The Boston Celtics, who they beat last year (Celtics were without KG). We'll see if Jameer Nelson can keep up with Rondo. I know for sure Rondo can keep up with Jameer. This Orlando team is weird though. They shoot a lot of 3 pointers. Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes, Mikael Pietrus, JJ Redick can all hit from deep and they can all get hot. But I predict that the Celtics will be able to defend. I also think Perkins, Rasheed and Glen Davis can body up Dwight Howard a little better than Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
I honestly don't know who'll win this series but if I had to, I'd go with Orlando, by a hair. They get hot from 3 point line and just put take teams out. Dwight Howard protects the paint and limits any 2nd chance points with his rebounding. Vince Carter seems to be playing high quality basketball right now. But like I said, Boston could just as easily return to the Finals with Rondo playing out of his mind, Ray and Pierce hitting from outside and KG hitting those crazy fade aways. It will be a good series. That's all my thoughts on the second round and predictions for the third round, thanks for reading.
During the summer, RBTB chastised Orlando's decision to match Dallas' offer and resign Gortat for $34 million for 5 years as a back up center to Dwight Howard. An excerpt:
Matching Dallas' offer to Marcin Gortat makes absolutely no sense. It is of course, due to the long playoff run and extra exposure that Gortat received. Announcers were raving about how he's a great back up Center for Dwight. And he got to cash in with a a hefty $34 million and 5 years and a chance to start in Dallas. Now he'll ride the bench for 5 more years behind Dwight Howard. Here are some facts: Gortat for the season averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 minutes per game for 63 games. In the playoffs, he scored in double figures ONCE against Philadelphia in a game where Dwight Howard was suspended, forcing Gortat to start. Against the Lakers in the Finals, he scored 4 points in 4 out of 5 games. In the fifth game (game 3 - the only Orlando win), he scored ZERO points in 4 minutes.
You just don't pay 34 million dollars for someone who produces so little and will only stay a bench player (aka not get any more minutes than he did last season). At least in Dallas, he had a chance to START or get A LOT more playing time. Even Gortat was upset about Orlando matching the offer! This is not to take anything away from Gortat who may have all the talent in the world. But what good is that talent if it's going to ride the bench and only play 12 minutes a game? That's a lot of money for little production. But so goes the extra exposure that a deep playoff run gets you where, if you're in a contract year, you are almost bound to get a big raise. It happened to Sasha Vujacic last year. But he at least averaged some solid numbers for the season.
Well the Magic are 21 games in and after a win against the LA Clippers where Marcin Gortat played a solid 5 minutes scoring 2 points, an update is in order.
Gortat's season averages last year (63 games): 12:35 minutes, 3.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, .2 assists, .3 steals, .8 blocks, .4 TO, 56.7% FG, 57.8 FT, 1.8 Fouls.
In 19 games this season (out of the 21 the magic have played): 15:35 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, .1 assist, .3 steals, .9 blocks, 1 TO, 51.7% FG, 65% FT, 2.2 Fouls.
Quick summary: More minutes, less rebounds, more turnovers, lower FG%, higher FT%, more fouls.
And since everyone loves the PER analysis, his last year PER number was 17.0, this year it is 9.6.
Quote the big man himself: "I love the organization, but I'm not going to stay here being a back-up player and playing five minutes a game," Gortat said. "I hope people understand that. I know I can have a bigger role on another team." (Orlando Sentinel).
We all know Gortat can play. That's why the Magic resigned him. But they might as well have signed a DJ Mbenga type player (who gets paid less than a million for one guaranteed year) if Gortat is gonna be putting up Tony Battie type numbers in bench warmer minutes. Dallas is doing well enough without Gortat, but there are plenty of teams out there who could use (emphasis on USE) Gortat's talents. But we'll save that for a later post. Until then, may Gortat find more playing time and may Orlando come up with all of the excuses in the world to convince themselves that these numbers and production is worth 34 million over 5 years. Again, DJ Mbenga gets $900,000 this year...
Orlando Magic sign Jason Williams out of retirement for one year and $1.3 million. After trading away Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie to the Nets for Vince Carter, the Magic were left with their PG position players at the start of last season with all star Jameer Nelson and Anthony Johnson. Between the baseline reason why the Magic felt they needed a playmaker in Jason Williams? Nelson and Johnson were the PGs before Rafer came. But when Nelson went down, Alston helped them get to the finals. Perhaps a playmaking guard off the bench is VITAL to the team's success when Nelson is on the bench. But if Nelson goes down and Williams leads them to the Finals... maybe Stan Van Gundy sticks with what gets him there this time around.
Quentin Richardson traded for the fourth time to the Miami Heat for Mark Blount from Twolves. Q Rich isn’t good. Isn’t going to be the sole reason Wade stays in Miami. With a PER rating of 11.6 and averages of 10.2/4.4/1.6 and 1.7 3ptm (4.6 3ptA), Q Rich isn't the Ying to Wade's Yang. Which is why you read between the baselines. Q Rich is in the last year of his contract and in the Free Agent class of 2010, the Heat will have $9.35 million off of their plate to get Wade some REAL help. Mark Blount is also in the last year of his contract but owed $7.9 million. So with Q Rich, they have more money to get rid of (?) for the FA class of 2010.
And what’s the deal with writers reporting that because two players are good friends, they will automatically be happy and have a good season? This happened two years ago when Kevin Garnett was almost a Laker and one of the selling points was that 3rd team pg bench warmer Shammond Williams was his cousin. Just because they are cousins, that will be the deal maker? (By the way, KG didn't go to the Lakers even when his COUSIN WAS THERE, who got cut from the team that year, anyway).
Leon Powe signed with Cleveland Cavaliers. Of course he won’t be able to play until after the All Star break. But this is a very nice addition if and only if Powe is able to play at the level he played at during the 2008 Finals. Powe provides energy and skill and can create problems for other teams. But he also has a knee issue. He signed for 2 years for the minimum a 3 year player can get. His reasoning, trying to get his knee back in shape and sign for more money in 2 years. This is probably why the Celtics didn't re-sign him. They’ll probably put a lot of money toward retaining Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins anyway and they'll need the roster space and can't afford (playing wise) to have a player take up roster space to sit on the bench. Cavaliers are thinking they need all the help they can get at a price they can afford for a playoff run to please King James.
The Clippers waived Mark Madsen. And if you read RBTB’s previous post regarding the Clippers, you’ll see that although Madsen is a “good locker room guy” (whatever that means), he was due 2.8 million that came off the books next year. If they could get him off the books sooner, even better for the Clippers. Good for Mark too because I doubt he'd get much playing time (even though he hasn't had decent playing time for almost his entire career) behind Griffin, Camby, Kaman and Deandre Jordan. But these are the fragile fragile big men of the Clippers we're talking about...
Amare Stoudemire is 50/50 about returning to the Suns next year. Can you blame him? The Suns aren’t good anymore. Steve Nash, Amare, Grant Hill and Jason Richardson is not greater than or equal to Steve Nash, Amare, Grant Hill, Boris Diaw, Raja Bell and one of Shawn Marion or Shaq. Amare hasn’t cemented anything about his legacy other than All Star appearances and a rookie of the year award. His future in Phoenix looks dim.
The Atlanta Hawks signed Joe Smith (his 10th team). Terms weren't disclosed but it would be safe to assume it's the league's veteran minimum like Jason Williams of the Magic ($1.3 million/1 year). Joe Smith is ol' reliable and averaged 6.6/4.6 last season for the Thunder and Cavaliers. He'll likely average the same in Atlanta behind Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
Those are the facts. And that's a couple ways to read between the [base]lines.
(Photo from NachoFoto) Orlando has been busy this offseason, but did they make some front office/financial mistakes (regardless of the talent they brought in)?
FACTS:
Hedo Turkoglu opted out of his final year with the Magic and signed with Toronto.
Jameer Nelson is back from injury and will return to his position as starting PG (and was selected to the all star game but couldn't play due to injury).
Contracts and ages/seasons for these new players:
Vince Carter: Owed $16.3 million for 2009/2010, $17.3 million in 10/11, and team option $18 million for 11/12. Carter is a 32 year old going Guard/Forward into his 12th NBA season.
Ryan Anderson: Owed $1.3 million for 2009/2010, team option $1.4 million in 10/11. Anderson is a 21 year old Forward/Center going into his 2nd NBA season.
Brandon Bass: Owed $4 million for 2009/2010, and $4 million for two seasons after that, with a player option for $4 million in 12/13. Bass is a 24 year old Forward going into his 5th NBA season.
Marcin Gortat: Owed $5.8 million for 2009/2010, $6.3 mil in 10/11, following years: $6.7 mil, $7.2 mil, $7.7 mil. Gortat is a 25 year old Forward/Center going into his 3rd NBA season.
Matt Barnes: Terms not yet listed but is signed for 2 years. Barnes is a 29 year old Guard/Forward going into his 7th NBA season.
Read between the baselines:
First things first: Why didn't the Magic re-sign Turkoglu? Turkoglu signed for 5 years and $53 million with Toronto. Instead, Orlando decided they want to pay at least $33 million for two guaranteed years for Carter. With Turkoglu in the lineup, the Magic got to the NBA Finals. Granted the Celtics probably would have beaten them in the playoffs had they been healthy (Kevin Garnett was out), but the Magic had a steady rotation and a game plan. Now they have Vince Carter, which could not work out at all. With Turkoglu, they for sure knew they would make a deep playoff run. Now without Turk and Courtney Lee (who started at SG) they have Vince Carter.
Second things second: The Brandon Bass signing makes sense. Bass will get some significant playing time at SF and had two successful seasons in Dallas. Last year he averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in only 19 minutes a game. He's a banger who should fit in well with Dwight Howard playing alongside him. He's undersized at 6'8", but he's a physical player who can do some good things against some of the better PFs in the Eastern Conference.
Third things third: Matching Dallas' offer to Marcin Gortat makes absolutely no sense. It is of course, due to the long playoff run and extra exposure that Gortat received. Announcers were raving about how he's a great back up Center for Dwight. And he got to cash in with a a hefty $34 million and 5 years and a chance to start in Dallas. Now he'll ride the bench for 5 more years behind Dwight Howard. Here are some facts: Gortat for the season averaged 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12 minutes per game for 63 games. In the playoffs, he scored in double figures ONCE against Philadelphia in a game where Dwight Howard was suspended, forcing Gortat to start. Against the Lakers in the Finals, he scored 4 points in 4 out of 5 games. In the fifth game (game 3 - the only Orlando win), he scored ZERO points in 4 minutes.
You just don't pay 34 million dollars for someone who produces so little and will only stay a bench player (aka not get any more minutes than he did last season). At least in Dallas, he had a chance to START or get A LOT more playing time. Even Gortat was upset about Orlando matching the offer! This is not to take anything away from Gortat who may have all the talent in the world. But what good is that talent if it's going to ride the bench and only play 12 minutes a game? That's a lot of money for little production. But so goes the extra exposure that a deep playoff run gets you where, if you're in a contract year, you are almost bound to get a big raise. It happened to Sasha Vujacic last year. But he at least averaged some solid numbers for the season. Anyways...
Fourth things fourth: The Barnes signing is a solid pickup. He's a good athlete and can spread the floor with his 3pt shooting. Something they lost when Hedo left.
When it comes down to it, the Magic really bolstered their lineup this year, perhaps with the intent to keep up with the other top teams making moves (Spurs/Richard Jefferson, Lakers/Ron Artest, Celtics/Rasheed Wallace, Cavaliers/Shaquille O'Neal). The main questionable front office move is the retaining of Marcin Gortat for such a steep price for someone who didn't prove that much worth during the season or the playoffs, and will continue to produce at such a pace, thus making him continue to not really prove that worth. In Dallas he had a chance to prove that worth, but Orlando freaked out and matched their deal.
Please watch this video and listen to how the announcers speak so highly of Gortat after he gets some stats by getting some VERY easy rebounds and playing some solid defense. By the way, this is pretty much all he did for the entire game 1: 3 minutes of some easy rebounds and a nice dunk off a pick and roll with Jameer Nelson, something any pick up basketball player at a park can do.
Probable starting lineup for the 2009/2010 season:
PG: Jameer Nelson SG: Vince Carter SF: Mickael Pietrus/Matt Barnes/Brandon Bass PF: Rashard Lewis/Brandon Bass/Ryan Anderson C: Dwight Howard/Marcin Gortat
Those are the facts. And that's one way to read between the [base]lines.
