Archive for June, 2011

Per Alex Kennedy of Hoops World, the Magic targeted several all-star level players this offseason but were unable to acquire them. The Magic were in contact with the Phoenix Suns, Charlotte Bobcats, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers among other teams. They were targeting Steve Nash, Stephen Jackson, Andre Iguodala, Josh Smith and Andre Miller. Orlando wants to surround Dwight Howard with better talent to put a championship within reach and make sure he’s content as he approaches free agency after next season. Jackson and Miller were dealt on draft night and the Magic were in the running [...]

Ken Berger of CBS Sports was the first to break the story through twitter: BREAKING: Owners have informed players they are locking out. #NBA #lockout Adrian Wojnarowski reported the meeting between the players and the owners was cut a bit short: Meeting is over, and lockout will start at 12:01 AM. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download [...]

Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post has a writeup on yesterday’s presser: The biggest takeaway from the conference, for me, is that the team highly values both players. Based on the praise Van Gundy heaped upon them, I got the impression that Harper, the 6-foot-9 combo forward; and Liggins, the 6-foot-6 swingman, will indeed make the Magic’s opening-night roster. “I’ve been around a lot of young guys coming into the league,” Van Gundy said, “and their work ethic is right there with anybody’s.” Brian Serra has video of the presser posted here. J.J. Redick says he isn’t focused on starting, [...]

It’s hard to get excited about 2nd round draft picks.  It’s just reality.  For every Gilbert Arenas and Rashard Lewis, there are 15 Stanley Robinson’s. Rarely do these picks “pan out” and even if they make rosters, it’s not likely that they stick around longer than a year or two. So it’s no surprise that Orlando Magic fans haven’t exactly been rushing out to get custom-made Justin Harper and DeAndre Liggins jerseys. Something seems different with these guys though. They both have unique talents that can provide value to the roster and after hearing Stan Van Gundy speak glowingly about [...]

PlankMania 2011 is continuing at a rabid pace that threatens to take over the city.  Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas continued their #plankwar on Tuesday night by teaming up together to storm Downtown Orlando.  At one point, Gil goes rogue and strikes Dwight right in the heart.  It’s beautiful, it’s messy, it’s touching and it’s bold. It’s Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas’ Plankin’ In Yo FACE – Magic Edition. Planking may be the most ridiculous trend to hit the world since rappers started drinking pink champagne, but the bottom line result is that the Magic’s two most expensive assets are [...]

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports the Magic have assigned their rookies numbers. Harper’s jersey will read No. 32 and DeAndre Liggins No. 34 when they suit up for the Magic this season. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com) and is the co-host of the ESPN1080.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Can’t make this stuff. The “trend” of planking has now extended to professional basketball players. Check it. UPDATE: 3:55PM Dwight Howard is now making his presence felt in the planking game. PLANK OFF! To see Mr. Gilbert Arenas planking on a weight rack, click here. *** Brian Serra is the Prince of Planking for Howard the Dunk and the Founder of Magic Basketball Online. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Gilbert Arenas had some rather interesting tweets yesterday regarding his health: Good news..the knee is structurally fine..just never retrained the muscles to fire in sync..8hrs of re training..means really Freaky sore It wasnt arthritis from the cold..it was lack of muscle use..and over using wrong muscles…so otis WAS right..gotta get stronger legs So the lack of jumpin and explosiveness was do to not haven’t the leg power I once had..so I gotta get my beef cake 3000 on lol Really makes you wonder why no doctors or anyone on either the Wizards or Magic training staff figured this one out [...]

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel wonders if the drafting of DeAndre Liggins could lead the Magic to promote J.J. Redick to starter and forget about Jason Richardson: With Liggins and veteran Quentin Richardson, the Magic’s concerns about Redick’s defense in certain matchups might be alleviated. GM Otis Smith said he believes Redick is ready to be a starter — and the Bulls felt the same way last summer when they signed J.J. to an offer sheet. Smith was attracted to Liggins’ ability to defend and certainly his toughness. Liggins, raised in the Chicago projects, was in his early teens [...]

Although it wasn’t the type of trade that was rumored or Magic fans hoped for, the Magic pulled off a pretty good deal Thursday night. They sent their next two second round picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second pick of the second round (32nd) overall for the rights to Richmond forward Justin Harper. Harper wasn’t a well-known name for the majority of his college career. Harper burst on to the scene during the end of his senior season when he led Richmond to an Atlantic-10 Tournament Championship, earning his team a spot in the NCAA tournament. Richmond continued [...]