I was looking through the NBA headlines today at ESPN.COM, and I came across one in particular that interested me:
"Artest hopes for trade from Kings, will act as own agent."
As a fan of the Orlando Magic, this didn't interest me because I want the Magic to trade for Artest; we already have Turkoglu and Lewis as small forwards who at times are forced to play out of position, no need to have another small forward swapped in for one of them to play out of position.
This interested me because the article stated that the front-runner for Artest appears to be the Lakers. The Lakers, as in the same guys that last year made a big trade to get Pau Gasol. This trade would give them Gasol, Bryan, Bynum, and Artest in the starting lineup.
Of course, this may never even happen. What upsets me is that it is conceivable. And realistic.
And why is that a problem?
The Magic just seem afraid to think so big. A starting lineup of Howard, Lewis, Turkoglu, Pietrus(???), and Nelson will NEVER win an NBA championship. In fact, I am willing to state that it will never win a conference championship, either. Last year, I was content to see Lewis and Turk start together. It was better than what we had, and Turkoglu really proved himself this year. But, that doesn't mean we can't improve. In fact, I wouldn't even mind seeing Turk at the off guard spot if we can pull in a new, legit power forward, and not Tony Battie. Though I do say he is definitely a legit backup, he is NOT a championship caliber starter.
We have redundancy in skills between Lewis and Turkoglu in the regard that we have two 6'10" guys who are better suited to perimeter play than to banging inside. Neither are rebounders.
And that is ok. That is their game. What is not OK is that we maxed out with them in the lineup together last year. Why aren't we being named in trade rumors? We need either a good solid power forward with a mid-range game and solid rebounding skills, or a better shooting guard than Pietrus.
The obvious candidate for trade is Turk. I love Turk, and I love what he did, but let's face it- he is worth more now than he probably ever will be, and this is his last year under contract. Let's work out a sign and trade for one of the free agents or another player.
Elton Brand was out there. Missed him. Maggette was out there. Missed him. We are sitting back on our laurels signing mediocre players while the rest of the league is stockpiling legitimate starters. Look at the Lakers and Celtics, and tell me honestly we can compete with either of those teams with our roster.
We can't.
At least go out and figure out a way to get Vasquez over here already. He has said he wants to come. Make it happen. Take a chance SOMEwhere.
And don't trade away Reddick. Please. I am sick of seeing talented players on the Magic roster not get a chance with us before proving themselves with another team. (see: Maggette, Billups, Wallace, and now Ariza. And that is a short list. Let's not even talk about the players we didn't draft that we could have. . .) The Magic have to be one of THE worst organizations in the league when it comes to developing and/or recognizing young talent on its own roster.
The Magic are going to have to take some real chances and make some REAL moves if they are ever going to get beyond the conference semis. Why? Because thats what champions do. Just ask the Lakers and The Celtics. Last summer, Danny Ainge could have been content with the addition of Ray Allen, but he wasn't. He went and also added KG. The Lakers could have been content with waiting for Bynum to come back from injury and help them this year, but they weren't. They also added Gasol. The winners win more because they work to win. The losers continue to lose because they fail to think like winners; they just want to stop losing. Otis needs to start taking some real chances, and shoot for the moon if he wants to play with the big dogs in the NBA. He started to when he signed Rashard, but that move alone simply is not enough.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
