Archive for July, 2010

As Ken Berger of CBS Sports first reported yesterday, Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans. Berger originally reported that Paul’s list of desired destinations included the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com threw out a slightly a different list. Sources told Broussard on Thursday that the Knicks and Magic are on Paul’s list of preferred destinations, but the Lakers are not. Sources told Broussard that the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks are also in the running if Paul were to be traded. The Hornets are saddled with expensive contracts this season [...]

In honor of the budding rivalry between the Orlando Magic and Miami, today we’ll be taking a look back at the 1997 first round playoff series between the two teams. After being blown out in games 1 and 2 of their first round series against the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic came from behind to win game 3 and also captured game 4 before falling to the Heat 3 games to 2. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe [...]

The New Orleans Hornets fired Jeff Bower as general manager and just hired Dell Demps to replace him. Unfortunately or the Hornets, they still have solved their biggest problems – their superstar point guard Chris Paul is quite unhappy and per Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, he has let the new Hornets brass know about it. When Paul was quoted a few weeks ago as saying he’d be open to a trade if the Hornets aren’t committed to building a championship team, it was only a small hint as to the size of the chasm that exists between the franchise and [...]

It was originally reported that Matt Barnes signed with the Toronto Raptors for about $10 million over 2 years, but the deal is not done. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel discusses how Barnes is in free agent limbo. I asked Larry (Coon) if it would be possible for Barnes’ agent and the Raptors to restructure Barnes’ proposed contract to include a first-year salary of $1.92 million and a second-year salary of $7.08 million. That way, the Magic could sign-and-trade Barnes to the Raptors and Barnes would still earn $9 million over two years. Larry responded via e-mail that such [...]

George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel gives props to Dwight Howard. Howard has been working with Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon to improve his game this off-season in Houston. He even posted a photo of himself and the Dream on his Twitter account. Great move. As noted here before, if you develop any kind of outside touch, a little drop-step here and there, and it’s Game Over for the rest of the league. Frankly, Dwight needs a pick-me up to improve his game. His game really hasn’t improved exponentially since Patrick Ewing replaced Clifford Ray as the big-man coach with the [...]

Per Tim Povtak of NBA Fanhouse, Brandon Bass wants a bigger role or he wants out of Orlando. “I think they’ll do the right thing, whatever is the right thing — either play me next season or send me somewhere else. That’s what I’m hoping,” Bass told FanHouse earlier this week following the Summer Groove charity game in Miami. “I won’t go through what I did last season.” Bass played very little last season, despite being signed last summer to a four-year, $16 million contract, expecting to become a consistently-used power forward alongside center Dwight Howard. Instead, he went to [...]

J.J. Redick is very excited to be returning to Orlando. Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times says the Magic might have done the Bulls a favor in matching for Redick. The Bulls wanted Redick for the two-guard spot vacated by Kirk Hinrich, whom they traded, feeling new acquisition Kyle Korver is more of an off-the-bench swingman, not a starter. But is Redick worth that much to anybody? It’s true that in his four seasons in the NBA he has worked hard to develop a more rugged body and has shown he can pass and play marginal defense. But it’s possible [...]

If the 2008 Team USA Olympic team was known as the “Redeem Team”, then its 2010 version should be known as the “Green Team”.  When training camp began yesterday in Las Vegas for the 2010 FIBA World Championships, noticeably absent were superstars Dwight Howard, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.  In fact, there is not one returning player from the 2008 team.  This new squad will not be completely devoid of international experience for its first game in Istanbul, but it will certainly be a far cry from the 08 team led by Jason Kidd and his 56-0 record while wearing the Team USA jersey.  [...]

Per Marc Stein of ESPN.com, former Magic small forward Matt Barnes has signed a 2-year deal worth $10 million with the Toronto Raptors, making it the second consecutive offseason Orlando’s starting 3 has joined the Raptors. Free-agent swingman Matt Barnes confirmed on Twitter he is joining the Toronto Raptors on Monday night. The deal, which is scheduled to be finalized on Tuesday, will pay Barnes an estimated $10 million over the next two seasons, according to sources close to the process. Barnes was initially believed to be on the verge of signing with a title contender late last week — [...]

Here is what I’ve been able to gather regarding the Orlando Magic and free agency today. We don’t still know what is going to happen to Matt Barnes. Barnes reportedly has interest from several contenders, but his most lucrative offer may come from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers, who now lack a small forward, after a certain someone “took his talents to South Beach,” are very much in the running to land Barnes. Cross one potential addition to the Magic roster off. Former Magic guard Keyon Dooling, who was tied to both the Magic and the Miami Heat, signed a [...]