Orlando Magic are after Brad Miller as well

http://www.clickorlando.com/magic/24076330/detail.html

Local 6 Sports Director David Pingalore learned Monday night that the Magic are seriously considering signing Chicago Bulls free agent center Brad Miller.

The Magic can't sign a free agent until the NBA free agency period starts July 1.

The reason for such a move: the Magic are shopping the services of Marcin Gortat, the backup center to Dwight Howard who signed a $34 million deal last year.

Pingalore is also being told that Gortat is on the trading block with Vince Carter. Where they might end up is still unknown.

Pingalore's sources said that Washington could be a destination point as the Magic are trying to work a trade for guard Gilbert Arenas. Pingalore was also told that if Dwight Howard is OK with Arenas playing in Orlando, the trade will go through.

It seems the Magic have given up on getting Chris Paul from New Orleans because the Hornets' front office is not responding to the trade proposal from the Magic.

So, the Magic sign Gortat, an excellent backup center, to a longterm contract last year at the MLE; he performs exactly as one would expect from him (solid fundamentals, good defense, smart offense albeit with little to no range and can't create his own shot) and now they're dissatisfied?

Wanting to get rid of Vince Carter? Sure, he's a world-class choker, but Gortat did everything expected of him.

I don't understand this if it's true.

bob

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Bob,

You might feel differently if you'd been reading the Magic forum during the Celtics-Magic playoffs. They were roasting Gortat and pretty much saying he messed the bed against the C's.

I recall being surprised at how soft he played in that series. Couldn't get to the basket, didn't provide much of a defensive presence, and pretty much took up space much of the time—to the point where I almost assumed he had an injury.

However, one series does not a career make. But I have the feeling that the Magic are a little flighty in their personnel decisions. In some ways, they almost seem to have a "Hey, let's try this" mentality. A guy gets one shot; and, if an immediate championship doesn't ensue, he's in danger of being jettisoned. The notion of developing a core with some good chemistry and fine-tuning it over time seems foreign to them. They seem to want the big splash.

I never understood why they got rid of Hedo, because I thought he was their difference-maker. He created offensive matchup problems, could play pretty decent defense, and handled the ball quite well. Now Carter seems to be on the one and done track; and there's even talk they'll get rid of Nelson. They seem bent on experimentation rather than development. Hey, maybe they'll just happen to hit the right forumula one of these days. Otherwise, good luck to them with that philosophy.

Sam

Sam

Sam wrote:Bob,

You might feel differently if you'd been reading the Magic forum during the Celtics-Magic playoffs. They were roasting Gortat and pretty much saying he messed the bed against the C's.

I recall being surprised at how soft he played in that series. Couldn't get to the basket, didn't provide much of a defensive presence, and pretty much took up space much of the time—to the point where I almost assumed he had an injury.

However, one series does not a career make. But I have the feeling that the Magic are a little flighty in their personnel decisions. In some ways, they almost seem to have a "Hey, let's try this" mentality. A guy gets one shot; and, if an immediate championship doesn't ensue, he's in danger of being jettisoned. The notion of developing a core with some good chemistry and fine-tuning it over time seems foreign to them. They seem to want the big splash.

I never understood why they got rid of Hedo, because I thought he was their difference-maker. He created offensive matchup problems, could play pretty decent defense, and handled the ball quite well. Now Carter seems to be on the one and done track; and there's even talk they'll get rid of Nelson. They seem bent on experimentation rather than development. Hey, maybe they'll just happen to hit the right forumula one of these days. Otherwise, good luck to them with that philosophy.

Sam

Sam

sam,

I can't say I'm surprised by the reaction by the Magic forums. Those LARGE one-size-fits-all boards will have more than their share of basketball-illiterate yammerheads who dominate the discussions with over-the-top proclamations that suck even the reasonable posters into their Theater of the Absurd. But I'm going to work on the assumption that the Orlando Magic brain trust doesn't spend much time reading those boards and certainly (hopefully!) have minds of their own and they are the ones doing the shopping.

There's something to be said for having "a way". The "Boston Celtic Way", the "LA Laker Way". It's like a stable college basketball program. It allows everybody who enters it to have some idea of what they're getting into and what will be expected from them right from the get-go. Orlando's flopping about like a fish on a dock trying to figure out their "way" and it's getting painful to watch.

I understand their wanting to make "a big splash". They haven't had any bragging rights since Shaq left and they were in the Finals last year. They were close, they know it, and they thought they had the final pieces in Carter, Pietrus and Barnes (the last two being the designated Kobe/LeBron/Pierce-killers) and they ended up with egg all over their faces. But man oh man this is like watching someone give birth to someone else's triplets and, if they don't like the way the last one looked coming out, they'll go back to the gurney for quadruplets and hope that'll do it.

bob

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Well put, Bob

My Florida friends all found fault with Orlando fending Hedo off to the far North.