Archive for November, 2011

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel caught up with Orlando Magic General Manager Otis Smith Wednesday:  “I think you have to look at everything,” Smith told the Orlando Sentinel when he was asked if he’d consider trading Howard. “I don’t think you can take anything out of consideration. I think, one, you have to talk to your player first. We have to figure out where his head is, not where everyone thinks his head is, and just more figure out where he wants to be. And then you have to make the best decision of what’s in the best interests [...]

Dwight Howard continues to be the hottest commodity in the NBA. Brook Lopez, two first round picks and the chance to dump Hedo Turkoglu is the latest offer that has been reported by ESPN.com’s Chad Ford and Marc Stein. At first glance, the offer may not seem too bad. It’d be great for the Magic to be able to unload Turkoglu’s contract. Per ShamSports.com, Turkoglu is owed $11,015,850 this season and $11,815,850 for the 2012-13 season. If you combine that with the amnesty clause that would allow the Magic to dump Gilbert Arenas and the $19,269,307 he’s owed next season, you could [...]

Per our buddy Alex Kennedy of Hoops World, Earl Clark would like to return to Orlando: Earl Clark recently played in Dwight Howard’s charity game that featured current Orlando Magic players taking on former members of the team. Clark suited up for the current squad, even though he’s a free agent and his future is up in the air. While he’s not currently under contract with the Magic, he has been working out in Orlando. He enjoyed his brief stint with the Magic last year and has made it clear that he wants to re-sign with the team. “Definitely, I [...]

Per Marc Stein and Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the New Jersey Nets are preparing a big offer for Dwight Howard: The New Jersey Nets are prepared to offer a trade package featuring Brook Lopez and two future first-round picks to acquire Dwight Howard before the Orlando Magic center becomes a free agent in July 2012, according to sources close to the situation. Sources told ESPN.com this week that, to sweeten the proposal, New Jersey would likewise offer to take back the contract of Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu, who has three seasons left on his contract worth just under $35 million. [...]

    In today’s edition of OTIS SMITH SPECULATION SPECTER, I take a look at the Amnesty Provision that will be included in the soon to be ratified CBA and what that provision means to the Orlando Magic. am·nes·ty - an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole. Also known as, you owners are idiots and chose to sign your players to contracts that were significantly higher than anyone else in the league was willing to offer. Basically, it’s a cap lifeline being thrown to organizations. Fortunately for Magic fans, this handy provision [...]

Thanks to Bodog for sending me these odds. Odds to win 2012 NBA Championship  Miami Heat                                9/4 Los Angeles Lakers                   5/1 Chicago Bulls                            7/1 Oklahoma City Thunder              15/2 Dallas Mavericks                        17/2 Boston Celtics                           12/1 New York Knicks                       20/1 Orlando Magic                           22/1 Memphis Grizzlies                     25/1 San Antonio Spurs                     25/1 Portland Trailblazers                   30/1 Atlanta Hawks                           50/1 Los Angeles Clippers                 50/1 Denver Nuggets                         75/1 Houston Rockets                       75/1 New Jersey Nets                        75/1 Phoenix Suns                            75/1 Utah Jazz                                  75/1 Indiana Pacers                           100/1 Milwaukee Bucks                       100/1 New Orleans Hornets                 100/1 Philadelphia 76ers                      100/1 Detroit Pistons                           125/1 Golden State Warriors                125/1 Charlotte Bobcats                      150/1 Cleveland Cavaliers                    150/1 Minnesota Timberwolves             150/1 Sacramento Kings                     150/1 Washington Wizards                  150/1 Toronto Raptors                         200/1  You can see more odds after the jump. 

The NBA is beginning to release details about the upcoming season. As of Friday, we already knew the season would begin on December 25 and would likely feature the three matchups already scheduled for that day – New York-Boston, Dallas-Miami and Chicago-Los Angeles (Lakers) – and would be 66 games. Now we know the season will be 66 games and obviously, each NBA team won’t visit every NBA city like they do during a normal 82-game season: Teams would play 48 games within their conference and 18 outside their conference. Teams will not visit every NBA city. Teams will play [...]

Ken Berger of CBS Sports was the first one to report the agreement: BREAKING: Tentative agreement reached, according to one of the negotiators. #NBA #lockout Officials from both sides will address media jointly in conference room of Manhattan law office momentarily. Agreement will be followed reforming of the union, which must be recognized by the owners — a formality, pending finalization of details. Stern: We’ve reached a tentative understanding. Stern: We’re optimistic that it will hold and we’ll have ourselves an NBA season Hunter: We’re going to turn it all over to the lawyers … and see how that proceeds. [...]

Adrian Wojnarowski has an update: After deliberating for 24 hours, Players Association president Derek Fisher(notes) flew to New York to join Friday’s labor settlement meeting with the NBA, a league source told Yahoo! Sports. His appearance in this week’s negotiations – along with that of several other key Players Association officials – figures to run the risk of validating the league’s charges that the disbanding of the union was a “sham” negotiating tactic. Nevertheless, the belief that the end of the lockout is within reach this weekend inspired Fisher to make the move to join the talks. Ken Berger also [...]

Per Marc Stein of ESPN, the Magic are one of five teams pushing hardest for a deal by the end of the weekend: Sources identify Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers as the five teams pushing hardest for a deal by close of weekend You can read the full labor update here. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)