Magic ink Pietrus

[Brave Sir Rubin]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/b ... 0595.story

(for the sake of posting a source)

I couldn't find a thread about this, and being a Magic fan, felt compelled to make one.

The deal seems to be around 22M for 4 years, being slightly under the MLE per year.

This is a great sign for the Magic. We have been struggling at the SG position for years. Evans was inconstant, Bogans has no basketball IQ, and J.J, does not understand the meaning of the word "defense". Pietrus gives us a decent shooter who could easily be the 3rd scoring option and a guy who can guard star players.

The deal also gives us enough room to sign a veteran PF (any ideas?) for the minimum without having to pay any luxury tax.

Next move seems to be a sign and trade for J.Will, which would be wonderful. I'm not the biggest fan of J.Will's sloppy flashy play, yet we desperately need a 1 who's not 5"7. I'm sure that Williams will outplay Nelson for the starting role early in the season.

The lineup looks fairly promising:

Howard/ Gortat
Battie/ veteran PF/ Augustine
Lewis/ Hedo (6th man of the year?)
Pietrus/ Lee (considering that either Bogans, J.J., or both will be traded)
Nelson/ J.Will

Loosing Dooling, a defensive minded guard, is a little tough... yet he's no playmaker. Seeing Arroyo out of the team is great. He is a decent basketball player, but his style of play does not fit the Magic's more balanced basketball. Plus, it will quiet the damn Puerto Ricans down .

The East is getting more competitive, but I'm sure that the Magic can easily be a top 4 team this season, which guarantees us making the second round of the playoffs... and afterwards, who knows?

What I'd really like to see the Magic do is trade Hedo. I love Hedo, he's a wonderful player and a true finisher, yet he will surely exercise his opt-out clause after this season. Trading him right now, as his value is high, can prove to be extremely beneficial... since we are extremely likely to loose him otherwise.

Your thoughts?

[Drex]

Great signing, like you said, gives them a nice starting SG. Too bad they'll lose to the Sixers in the ECF.

[benji]

My first thought? Pavel is back? And why don't any of his posts mention about-to-be-bought-out Tinsley?

Agree on the last two points, especially moving Turkoglu while his value is inflated. I don't agree on this one:

I'm sure that Williams will outplay Nelson for the starting role early in the season.

I can't imagine Nelson being so bad he loses his job to Jason Williams.

I think the Magic should look into NBDL frontcourt options. They've entrusted way too much in Battie since that laughable trade sending Gooden and Varejao for him. Then they dropped that longterm deal on him? Why...

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Don't count on the Sixers so much, Drex. The team is in no way proven and Brand is injury prone... even though I must admit that it looks great on paper. I used to be a Sixer fan back when I was a kiddo, and I still do have some feelings for the team, and it's great to see them make such a strong move.... but only time will tell. The Magic, on the other hand, have got it going on.


Dear Ben, Tinsley will aways be a MVP to me!

Nelson just isn't near as consistent as the Magic would want him to be. Plus, he's not good at opening up the floor and creating plays... something that the team desperately needs. J. Will isn't one for consistency himself, but at least he's a true point guard. I'll be happy if they share minutes though.

Yeah, Battie makes little sense, but his contract is a mistake minuscule in proportion to the other plainly idiotic moves that the Magic's management managed to pull out of its ass over the years.

The NBDL would be nice, but still a risk. The Magic are a young team which lacks leadership. They desperately need that one veteran (and not Foyle with his broken English and shitty basketball poetry) who would give some sort of locker room presence together with a solid 10-15 minutes off the bench.

I wish we could sign D. Armstrong as a player coach...

[wazee]

Great acquisition for the Magic.. Pietrus is a great player.. Long, athletic, and can shoot the outside.. He can be the top wing defender for the Magic, along with Evans, and to fill the void on taht SG position..

It doesn't really matter who will start for them, either J-Will or Nelson, they are point guards and they are both inconsistent.. They would probably share minutes..

They have a better starting line up with Rashard in that 4 position, but I think he is weak on his defense, and would have the difficulty in guarding the bigger and stronger PFs.. But this would also give pressure on their opponents' defense.. All their player other than Dwight Howard can shoot the 3, so this would give them great spacing for Dwight Howard to dominate the inside.. The teams would definitely double Dwight, who has emerged as a dominating presence in this league.. and they need shooters cause they would definitely get open shots..

I agree that they really need that veteran big man that would bring leadership and experience.. a PJ Brown type maybe who can get rebounds and knock down short jump shots, and one who can defend post players to keep Dwght out of foul trouble..

JJ and Bogans are definitely in the trading block.. They have overflowing SGs on their roster.. They need a 3rd PG, and a back up big man other than Battie..

[shadowgrin]

Don't count on the Sixers so much, Drex. The team is in no way proven and Brand is injury prone

I thought you stopped smoking weed Pavel.

In Brand's nine-year career, ignoring the freak injury season last year, he only had 2 seasons where he played less games.
02-03 with 62 games and 03-04 with 69 games.
After those two consecutive seasons he had 81, 79, and 80 in seasons 04-07. If was to nitpick I would even include his 74 in 00-01 season but he followed that with an 80 in 01-02.

Welcome back, behave this time. Now where the fuck is Nick.

[NovU]

Baron Davis just signed for 65 million in 5 years to go to no-man's land. I bet he's happy now. Monta Ellis must be laughing.

sorry for irrelavance to the thread but is this finalized?

[Sam The Man]

Baron Davis just signed for 65 million in 5 years to go to no-man's land. I bet he's happy now. Monta Ellis must be laughing.

sorry for irrelavance to the thread but is this finalized?

Yes.
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3481717

[shadowgrin]

Ditto

http://www.nba.com/transactions/current ... tions.html

[wazee]

you can create a new thread for the Baron Davis acquisition.. there is also a thread for Elton Brand going to the Sixers.. This is "Magic Ink Pietrus" Thread remember?? LOL

[shadowgrin]

Fuck off.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

Wazee... I disagree with your logic for having Lewis at the 4.

First of all, Lewis is a natural SF... as simple as that. He is not comfortable and not compatible at the PF position.

Having him at the 4 does not pressure other teams in any way, it actually makes it easier on them. He's extremely undersized for a PF, which means that he rarely gets to penetrate and isn't a threat at the post. This way the teams can easily double Dwight, and force the Magic to rely on their 3 point shooting. (the Magic are a great shooting team, but you don't win games from beyond the line).

I'm not even going to talk about the defensive liability that having a SF playing at PF brings. Just watch any Magic vs. Detroit game from last season. Even McDyess' game looked as if he was 10 years younger.

Don't count on the Sixers so much, Drex. The team is in no way proven and Brand is injury prone

I thought you stopped smoking weed Pavel.

In Brand's nine-year career, ignoring the freak injury season last year, he only had 2 seasons where he played less games.
02-03 with 62 games and 03-04 with 69 games.
After those two consecutive seasons he had 81, 79, and 80 in seasons 04-07. If was to nitpick I would even include his 74 in 00-01 season but he followed that with an 80 in 01-02.

Welcome back, behave this time. Now where the fuck is Nick.

Yes, the freak injury is enough to make him injury prone. You cannot ignore it, no matter how hard you try.

I ain't hatin' on Brand though, don't get me wrong. He's a true PF in every sense of the word.

[Vintage]

Wazee... I disagree with your logic for having Lewis at the 4.

First of all, Lewis is a natural SF... as simple as that. He is not comfortable and not compatible at the PF position.

Having him at the 4 does not pressure other teams in any way, it actually makes it easier on them. He's extremely undersized for a PF, which means that he rarely gets to penetrate and isn't a threat at the post. This way the teams can easily double Dwight, and force the Magic to rely on their 3 point shooting. (the Magic are a great shooting team, but you don't win games from beyond the line).

Totally agree. Hence the problem: where does that leave Turkoglu? He was arguably their 2nd best player last year, and primary playmaker. I don't see him sliding to a 6th man role, (which would be ideal, as he could play 3 positions on the floor) not after his breakout season. But he's a tweener at the 2 and 4, and as such, he shouldn't start... What becomes of him?

[wazee]

Wazee... I disagree with your logic for having Lewis at the 4.

First of all, Lewis is a natural SF... as simple as that. He is not comfortable and not compatible at the PF position.

Having him at the 4 does not pressure other teams in any way, it actually makes it easier on them. He's extremely undersized for a PF, which means that he rarely gets to penetrate and isn't a threat at the post. This way the teams can easily double Dwight, and force the Magic to rely on their 3 point shooting. (the Magic are a great shooting team, but you don't win games from beyond the line).

I'm not even going to talk about the defensive liability that having a SF playing at PF brings. Just watch any Magic vs. Detroit game from last season. Even McDyess' game looked as if he was 10 years younger.

Ok.. I understand what you're trying to say.. But with their current roster.. I think that's the best possible line up and I think it will still work in the long run.. You're right about Lewis being undersized, but they don't have the options cuz like what vintage said, they have turkoglu.. and they don't have that big man who can slide into their starting PF spot.. With the roster they have, I don't even think they can get a quality big man, that can compliment with Dwight.. They can trade some players with the likes of bogans, evans or redick, but I don't think they can get a quality big man with these players.. If they do get a great PF, then they could contend.. The idea vintage pointed out about making Turkoglu come off the bench doesn't really make a difference, whether he starts or comes off the bench, he will probably end the game, and he would surely continue to contribute..

Anyway, Thanks for the point Brave sir Rubin.. I appreciate it..

[Patr1ck]

you can create a new thread for the Baron Davis acquisition.. there is also a thread for Elton Brand going to the Sixers.. This is "Magic Ink Pietrus" Thread remember?? LOL

I know your joking, but with the offseason transactions and rumors there is bound to be cross-talk of off-topic transactions. Leave the moderating to the moderators, thanks. Welcome to the forum, too.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

I think that it would be awesome to have Hedo as the 6th man. He'll still play his 30+ mpg, think of it as a 6-man starting lineup. They could also switch to the basic Dwight/Lewis/Hedo/Pietrus/Nelson combo whenever Battie gets too tired. This way the Magic don't have to rely as much on inconsistent bench players.

Wazee... I disagree with your logic for having Lewis at the 4.

First of all, Lewis is a natural SF... as simple as that. He is not comfortable and not compatible at the PF position.

Having him at the 4 does not pressure other teams in any way, it actually makes it easier on them. He's extremely undersized for a PF, which means that he rarely gets to penetrate and isn't a threat at the post. This way the teams can easily double Dwight, and force the Magic to rely on their 3 point shooting. (the Magic are a great shooting team, but you don't win games from beyond the line).

I'm not even going to talk about the defensive liability that having a SF playing at PF brings. Just watch any Magic vs. Detroit game from last season. Even McDyess' game looked as if he was 10 years younger.

Ok.. I understand what you're trying to say.. But with their current roster.. I think that's the best possible line up and I think it will still work in the long run.. You're right about Lewis being undersized, but they don't have the options cuz like what vintage said, they have turkoglu.. and they don't have that big man who can slide into their starting PF spot.. With the roster they have, I don't even think they can get a quality big man, that can compliment with Dwight.. They can trade some players with the likes of bogans, evans or redick, but I don't think they can get a quality big man with these players.. If they do get a great PF, then they could contend.. The idea vintage pointed out about making Turkoglu come off the bench doesn't really make a difference, whether he starts or comes off the bench, he will probably end the game, and he would surely continue to contribute..

Anyway, Thanks for the point Brave sir Rubin.. I appreciate it..

They'll probably trade Bogans/ Redick for a PG. Evans is a free agent and is no longer with the team or in the team's future plans.

Tony Battie is good enough of a player to start at PF.

[mvpshaq32]

A great lineup for the Magic, but I doubt Turkoglu will be coming off the bench. Battie is a great defensive player and on offense, he and Howard could command some double teams and work some plays out from there, but Hedo did too great of a job last season to have Battie start over him.
A potential big man they can lure in is David Lee with 1 year left on his contract. I remember I saw a report about the Knicks offering Lee for Felton, so I guess they're looking for a PG which is a deal the Magic could work out with them if they do indeed sign JWill and then they can move Battie to C behind Howard.

[Vintage]

A great lineup for the Magic, but I doubt Turkoglu will be coming off the bench. Battie is a great defensive player and on offense, he and Howard could command some double teams and work some plays out from there, but Hedo did too great of a job last season to have Battie start over him.

I think there must be a clause in every coach's contract stating that "doubling Tony Battie allows the Management to unilaterally nullify this contract".

There must be a similar clause in every GM's contract saying "trading David Lee for a pint-sized point guard allows the Ownership to unilaterally nullify this contract".

[Sauru]

Great signing, like you said, gives them a nice starting SG. Too bad they'll lose to the Sixers in the ECF.

the celtics get moved into the west for next season?

[wazee]

I know your joking, but with the offseason transactions and rumors there is bound to be cross-talk of off-topic transactions. Leave the moderating to the moderators, thanks. Welcome to the forum, too.

HAHA.. I know.. it just seems that no one ever talked about Pietrus in this thread when I posted that.. LOL

[GoHornets]

the celtics get moved into the west for next season?

If they can't resign Posey, don't worry about that, because they won't make the playoffs

[Drex]

the celtics get moved into the west for next season?

No, they got moved to the ECSF.

[Brave Sir Rubin]

This does not deserve a thread of its own...

But the Magic signed Anthony Johnson to come off the bench.

So kind of veteran leadership? I guess? I don't think that Johnson has ever been a regular started in his entire career. Isn't that somewhat like signing a professional loser?

All kidding aside, it's a pretty decent sign. Much better than throwing money at Marbury or even Tinsley.

Anyhow, I guess that this ends the PG talk.

Sign a veteran PF and we're off to loose to the Celtics in the conference finals? I sure do hope so.

[Andrew]

He started all but one of the games he played for Atlanta last year, 62 out of 77 games his rookie year and 53 out of 75 games a couple of years back. Aside from that, he's been a career reserve.

[The X]

Let's just hope JJ Redick can get traded away....or play....one or the other....