The Sacramento Bee (Scott Howard-Cooper) reports: Shaquille O’Neal and Grant Hill want to buy the Orlando Magic. Not right now. Shaq has two seasons on his deal, won’t walk away from $20 million per, may play beyond that contrary to previous reports that 2009-10 is definitely his last, and Hill is in a contract year and interested in returning. He may not be done for a while either. But the Suns teammates are serious about this. At some point, probably soon after they retire, O’Neal and Hill, former Magic players who still make their permanent homes in a mega-money Orlando enclave, will talk with executives to see if the team is available. How serious? They have already talked about it together, a lot. They have already made their feelings known to CEO and president Bob Vander Weide, the son-in-law of owner Rich DeVos. They have, both report independently, already lined up additional investors.
Category: Orlando Magic Blog
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Oct 22: Magic 101, Grizzlies 90
The AP reports: Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu each scored 22 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 101-90 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night in the final preseason game for both teams. J.J. Redick, competing for time at shooting guard, added 15 as the Magic cruised to their sixth straight preseason win. Reserve Darrell Arthur led Memphis with 18 points. Mike Conley added 13. Magic star Dwight Howard, who played sparingly in the second half, had 11 points and eight rebounds as Orlando showed signs of being ready to improve on its 52-win, Eastern Conference semifinal performance last season.
Oct 20: Magic 109, Hawks 103
The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 109-103 preseason victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night. Joe Johnson, who led the Hawks with 26 points, hit a 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining to pull the Hawks to 102-100. Howard responded with a 5-foot turnaround jumper to make it 104-100 with 54 seconds remaining… For Atlanta, Josh Smith added 13 points and five assists, Al Horford had 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Bibby scored 13 points and had five assists. Johnson also had seven rebounds and five assists. Rashard Lewis scored 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Teammate Courtney Lee chipped in with 13 points and four rebounds.
Oct 18: Magic 100, Heat 92
The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 26 points, and the Orlando Magic used a second-quarter run to build a big lead Saturday night before holding off the Miami Heat, 100-92 for their fourth consecutive preseason victory. Howard also had 16 rebounds but was just 6-of-13 from the free throw line… Dwyane Wade, who finished with 29 points, had back-to-back baskets off steals midway through the third period, cutting it to 65-56.
Mike Wilks badly injured, out for season
The Orlando Sentinel reports: Orlando Magic reserve point guard Mike Wilks is out for the season after sustaining a major injury to his right knee in the team’s game Thursday against the Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C. Wilks, according to his agent, Bill Neff, tore his anterior cruciate ligament, slightly tore the medial collateral ligament and sprained his meniscus.
Oct 16: Magic 94, Bobcats 84
The AP reports: Rashard Lewis scored 26 points, Dwight Howard 15 and Keith Bogans 14 for Orlando, which overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win its third consecutive NBA preseason game… Gerald Wallace had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats before coming out of the game in the fourth quarter with a lower back contusion… Jason Richardson and Sean May added 11 points each and Emeka Okafor 10 for Charlotte, which shot 29.4 percent from the field over the final two quarters to remain winless in four exhibition games.
Mike Wilks keeps hanging on
For a guy who is never sure he has a job, point guard Mike Wilks is doing OK. The 5-10, 180-pound point guard is entering his 7th season and has already played for the Hawks, Timberwolves, Rockets, Spurs, Cavaliers, Sonics, Nuggets and Wizards. Here’s a report from the Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz):
He has never had a guaranteed contract heading into a season, and this one marks No. 7. “Every year I go in with a non-guarantee — every year,” Wilks said Tuesday. “I’ve been blessed where it’s worked out every year, where I’ve done enough to impress the team.” Wilks, 29, looks as if he’ll make the opening-night roster as the Magic’s third point guard behind starter Jameer Nelson and Nelson’s backup, Anthony Johnson. But he won’t know how long he’ll be with the team until next year. The Magic have until January to guarantee his contract, valued at around $1 million. Wilks’ value to the club increases when the Magic closely monitor Nelson’s health.
Considering Anthony Johnson’s advanced age, I say it makes sense for the Magic to keep Wilks for now, though he really needs to raise those career shooting averages of 40.0% from the field and 31.1% from three-point range.
Rashard Lewis ready to break out
The Orlando Magic roster includes Dwight Howard and a pair of star small forwards in Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Because there’s no great power forward on board, Lewis wound up playing as an undersized PF last season, and he’ll be doing so this year as well. Though his offense remains that of an outside-shooting SF, defensively he’s up against rugged players. Lewis took a bit of a back seat to teammates last season but this year plans on being more assertive. Here’s more about Lewis from Florida Today (John Denton):
“(Being more selfish) is something that I need to do, but not necessarily trying to do,” Lewis said. “It’s just my nature to play the right way. When I’m double teamed, I’m going to look for the open man. But at some points in the game, I do have to be more selfish to score more points when we need baskets. I’m more comfortable with the system, with the guys and now I’m more ready to be a little more selfish.” General manager Otis Smith has been prodding Lewis to not defer so much to small forward Hedo Turkoglu, who had a breakout season in part because Lewis kept defenses honest. And head coach Stan Van Gundy has pushed for Lewis to try and get to the rim, and ultimately the free throw line, more by resisting the notion to shoot so many 3-pointers. After all, the Magic didn’t reward Lewis — a one-time all-star during his playing days with the Seattle SuperSonics, — a six-year, $118 million contract for him to just fit in. He has the skill set to be a dominant scorer, but often his mellow demeanor saps some of his aggressiveness. The Magic are trying to change that aspect of the 6-foot-10, 230-pound Lewis.
The Magic should remain one of the best teams in the East, but they aren’t true championship contenders just yet. Their big question mark remains their backcourt. Watch the performance of their guards this season. If no one steps up, it’ll limit how far the Magic can go in the playoffs.
Oct 10: Pistons 73, Magic 62
The AP reports: Rasheed Wallace scored 12 points to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 73-62 preseason victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night… Chauncey Billups had 10 points, Kwame Brown added nine and Richard Hamilton had eight for Detroit (3-0, which is undefeated under new coach Michael Curry. Caron Butler, Etan Thomas, Dominic McGuire and JaVale McGee all had eight points for the Wizards (1-2), who missed 30 of 40 shot in the second half.
Tony Battie breaks finger
The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: Orlando Magic center-forward Tony Battie sustained a fractured ring finger on his left hand in Friday’s shootaround and will miss tonight’s exhibition against CSKA Moscow… He is expected to return to practice Sunday and play with it wrapped.
InsideHoops.com editor says: I once played with two broken arms and two broken legs. It’s all about toughness, folks.