- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Milwaukee’s Drew Gooden did not make the trip because of injuries, and the news caught Van Gundy and the Magic by surprise today. The Magic spent a significant portion of their shootaround prepping for Gooden’s pick-and-rolls with Brandon Jennings; then, after shootaround, Van Gundy was informed of Gooden’s absence by the Sentinel’s Brian Schmitz as Brian asked a question. ‘Oh, that’s great,’ Van Gundy said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. ‘We just spent the entire morning on preparing for Drew Gooden’s pick-and-rolls. Yeah, that’s outstanding. No, seriously, we spent the entire morning on the Drew Gooden-Brandon Jennings pick-and-rolls. So we’ll be prepared for Monday night [when the Magic face the Bucks] in Milwaukee. That’s fabulous. We barely ever get a day to work and now you tell me I just wasted my hour,’ Van Gundy continued, a smile on his face.”
- Jameer Nelson and Dennis Scott will be teaming up with Marie Ferdinand-Harris in the Haier Shooting Stars competition during All-Star Weekend in Orlando.
- How can the dunk contest be improved upon?
- The continued saga of Dwight Howard and the New Jersey Nets.
- Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider: “When you’re talking in terms of marginal gains, no team stands to gain more from a Howard acquisition than Chicago, which would vault over Miami as the odds-on favorite to win it all. You’d be asking Howard to paper over the defensive shortcomings of his new frontcourt mates in Carlos Boozer and Turkoglu, but Bulls defensive wizard Tom Thibodeau could make it work. Even more so than Paul in L.A., Derrick Rose would make an ideal running mate for Howard because of his ability to get his own shot. Howard is not a high-volume offensive player and has always needed a high-scoring teammate to open things up in the lane. The Magic get back plenty of future value in this deal and would be one of the league’s better defensive teams right away. However, points would be hard to come by on the offensive end, as Orlando would be woefully short of shot creators. That’s OK — Smith presumably is thinking big-picture with this one.”
- To entice Nets fans to show up, ticket prices are being slashed when Howard comes to town.
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “I think the biggest name being discussed will be Steve Nash. A point guard could make all the difference in the world to the Lakers and Magic. For the same reason, Ramon Sessions will be on the radar.”
Eddy Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of Magic Basketball. Follow him on Twitter.