Month: March 2012

Magic CEO thinks Dwight Howard can be convinced to stay

Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard
Jumps very high

Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins apparently is not going to trade Dwight Howard until every last effort is exhausted to convince him to stay in Orlando.

Martins said on our radio show Thursday that he still believes the Magic can convince Howard that Orlando is the best place for him to win a championship.

“We have a couple of weeks until the trade deadline, which is a critical point on the calendar to determine how we can move forward together,”  Martins said of the ongoing Dwight saga.  “Our conversations with Dwight continue, and I feel good about the conversations we’ve had. … I’ve said all along our reason for not trading Dwight at the beginning of the season is that time would be on our side one way or another. Time would be on our side in the fact that we could work with Dwight to address his needs and ultimately convince him to stay. Or time would work on our side in that if Dwight made the decision that he didn’t want to stay, we would have more time to talk to other teams about what trade possibilities exist.”

— Reported by Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel (Blog)

Charles Barkley critical of Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan’s good friend and fellow Hall of Famer Charles Barkley has a theory as to why the Chicago Bulls legend has largely failed as an NBA executive, and it has to do with the people around him, including those in the Charlotte Bobcats’ front office.

“I think the biggest problem has been I don’t know if he has hired enough people around him who he will listen to,” Barkley said Thursday on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “One thing about being famous is the people around you, you pay all their bills so they very rarely disagree with you because they want you to pick up the check. They want to fly around on your private jet so they never disagree with you. I don’t think Michael has hired enough people around him who will disagree.”

Barkley, who is a TNT analyst, did not mince words when evaluating his friend’s performance in the front office.

“I love Michael, but he just has not done a good job,” Barkley said. “Even though he is one of my great friends, I can’t get on here and tell you he’s done a great job. He has not done a great job, plain and simple.”

— Reported by ESPN Chicago

Hawks sign Erick Dampier for rest of season

The Atlanta Hawks today signed center Erick Dampier for the remainder of the season, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund.

The 15-year veteran has appeared in six games for the Hawks this season, after signing consecutive 10-day contracts on February 9 and February 19, averaging 1.8 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.2 spg and 0.2 bpg in 5.0 mpg.