I think the Magic could go anywhere in the top 20. Obviously with Rashard and Dwight, they probably won't be top 5, but that is still possible. If they are, then It'd be great because they could get O.J. Mayo or someone to pair up with Howard, which would be awesome, and 6-15 there would most likely be a quality two available. 15-20 would be great, maybe not from a draft position standpoint, but it shows that things are working out.
No I don't think Rashard will make it to the All-Star game. Dwight will, and I think he'll be the starting Center.
No, the team is improved from last year. No way the Magic get only 33 wins.
They haven't improved since last season. Their front-line is amongst the worst in the league because they lost Darko and Battie. Looking at them two players, their front-line wasn't strong to begin with but now they don't even have that.
Then you have the major loss of Grant Hill who was this teams emotional leader. He was also a consistent (when healthy) 15/4/4 player with good shooting percentages.
All the Magic did this off-season was grossly overpay Rashard Lewis for way too many years and sign a shot-blocker who isn't going to help with anything (Adonal Foyle). He might have smarts about his game, but the talent IS NOT there.
Can someone explain to me how they've gotten BETTER? without mentioning Dwight Howards improvement. It's not like he's going to win you many games to begin with anyway. If he was, then there wouldn't have been such a need to sign Lewis to a HUGE contract.
They haven't improved since last season. Their front-line is amongst the worst in the league because they lost Darko and Battie.
You've gotta be kidding me, their frontcourt is the thing that stands out that's better this year. Darko was an average player last season, good for him but average for the NBA. The frontcourt of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Adonal Foyle is superior to the frontcourt of Dwight Howard, Darko Milicic, and an unmotivated Grant Hill.
You've gotta be kidding me, their frontcourt is the thing that stands out that's better this year. Darko was an average player last season, good for him but average for the NBA. The frontcourt of Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Adonal Foyle is superior to the frontcourt of Dwight Howard, Darko Milicic, and an unmotivated Grant Hill.
You know you're in trouble when you have a small forward whos primarly a shooter playing the PF position for you. You also know you're in trouble when your number one big man off the bench is Adonal Foyle. Please dude, everything about the front-court screams ****.
I'm not counting SF as front court either. I mean big men. If you had read the post before yours I said that their talent is their SF position. I'm not knocking on them for that. But their FRONTCOURT ie. PF/C is pathetic. No team can win with just two true big players (one who is a minimum wage player) and a few guys playing out of position. It's just not possible that they've become better.
Had they kept Darko, and made some sort of effort to keep Hill (who actually wanted to say here, and was consistently the teams best player last season. How's that for unmotivated?) then they probably would have had a case for being a better team then they were.
Look at it this way:
Rashard Lewis is only SLIGHTLY better than an in-shape, 35 year old Hill.
Darko is MUCH better than Foyle.
Diener is probably better than Arroyo, but they released him for nothing.
Tony Battie is out of the season.
Trevor Ariza has been injured all off-season and will take a while to get back.
How does all of that, all those losses equal up to a better team?
You're probably going to give me the whole development speech, but Dwight Howard is not going to win you many more games than he did last season. He's still not a great offensive player. If the Magic were confident with how his game was going to be progressing they wouldn't have overpayed for Rashard Lewis. They would have gotten some proper big men to back him up and maybe a few more decent players to add to the guard rotation.
Rashard Lewis is only SLIGHTLY better than an in-shape, 35 year old Hill.
Darko is MUCH better than Foyle.
Diener is probably better than Arroyo, but they released him for nothing.
Tony Battie is out of the season.
Trevor Ariza has been injured all off-season and will take a while to get back.
How does all of that, all those losses equal up to a better team?
You're probably going to give me the whole development speech, but Dwight Howard is not going to win you many more games than he did last season. He's still not a great offensive player. If the Magic were confident with how his game was going to be progressing they wouldn't have overpayed for Rashard Lewis. They would have gotten some proper big men to back him up and maybe a few more decent players to add to the guard rotation.
Alright, first off, Darko is not "MUCH better" than Foyle. Adonal can play, people don't realize that. He averaged 7 and a half points and 6 rebounds per game in the preseason, and before you start telling me "Yes, but it's the preseason", Dwight Howard averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds in the preseason. That looks pretty realistic.
Diener is not better than Arroyo. The Magic released him for an obvious reason - they were filled with point guards. They would have had Jameer, Dooling, Arroyo, and Diener. THey really needed help up front instead of another point guard, so they released him. James Augustine looks to be a good big man the team could use, and I think he's going to prove his worth this year.
how will you do?
