Posts Tagged → Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony and the Orlando Magic
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Via Royce Young of CBSSports.com:
You’re supposed to believe the Orlando Magic haven’t made any inquiries into Carmelo Anthony’s availability. At least that’s what general manager Otis Smith is telling you.
But we all know better. A tier one superstar is potentially on the block and Smith’s team is in the market for an upgrade at small forward. And as Ken Berger reports , the Magic are one of the teams on top of Anthony’s list. Yeah, I’m sure Smith hasn’t at least asked about ‘Melo’s situation. [...]
Targeting Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus means the Nuggets get a good small forward in return, plus two solid big men, a position Denver has been looking to improve this year. (Denver would need to throw in Renaldo Balkman to make numbers work, but if they’re getting back two bigs, it would need to clear out room in the frontcourt anyway.) Yes, it’s a step down from Anthony, but any time you trade one of the top seven or eight players in the league, it’s going to be hard to get a comparable deal. Actually, scratch that, it’s basically impossible. But Denver’s other option is to let Anthony walk and get NOTHING in return. You know, the LeBron/Bosh exit plan. And teams that could offer really intriguing deals like the Clippers (Chris Kaman and Eric Gordon?) evidently aren’t on Anthony’s radar.
Same song and dance.
First it was Chris Paul, now it’s Carmelo Anthony.
It’s been an interesting off-season for the Orlando Magic, simply because they have been linked in trade rumors to some of the best players in the NBA. Paul is a top five player and the best point guard in the league. Anthony is, admittedly, a notch below in skill and value, but still an All-Star caliber talent. And both players, through various reports in the mainstream media, see the Magic as an attractive destination to ply their trade and join forces with Dwight Howard.
Anthony is the latest high-profile player that wants to take his talents to the City Beautiful.
Should Magic fans expect anything to happen with Anthony? No, but Anthony has something that Paul doesn’t — or didn’t — have. Anthony has leverage in the situation because he’s an expiring contract, and in the midst of deciding whether or not to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets for three years, $65 million. As been pointed out elsewhere, it speaks volumes that Anthony has not signed a new contract with the Nuggets when he’s had plenty of chances to do so already.
What does this mean for Orlando? Not much, other than it needs to be stated that there’s a greater chance, albeit a slim one, that general manager Otis Smith can make a play for Anthony if he chooses to do so. Acquiring a talent like Anthony is always tricky because the stars have to align just right, but there’s one thing that will the Magic as the process moves forward. Anthony, unlike Paul, has a lot of power with the situation.
It’s no secret that Anthony would like to join the New York Knicks if possible, but it’s been reported that Orlando is high on his list as well.
Here we go again.
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “If the speculation that Chris Paul wanted to join the Orlando Magic made Magic fans salivate, just wait until the Carmelo Anthony-to-the-Magic rumors gain momentum. Actually, the process already has begun. [...] Anthony obviously would be a huge upgrade for Orlando offensively at small forward. And he’d be a more reliable go-to guy in the fourth quarter than Vince Carter was last season. Orlando could be an attractive landing spot for Anthony. The Magic already are a title contender and have the game’s best center. And, oh yeah, the fact that Florida doesn’t have a state income tax can’t hurt either. Leon Rose, Anthony’s agent, did not immediately return a phone call from the Orlando Sentinel for comment. Anthony has some leverage to force a trade. He can become a free agent next summer, and he has not accepted the three-year, $65 million extension the Nuggets have offered.”
- Jameer Nelson is conducting his “Building Magic” program in Philadelphia.
- George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel thinks the Orlando Magic shouldn’t let Adonal Foyle go after he announced his retirement: “So how do you miss a guy who has played only played 62 minutes over the last two seasons? The Orlando Magic will no longer have Adonal Foyle on the bench, sitting there in a stylish sports coat and offering tidbits of advice to Dwight Howard. Most people assumed he was a glorified cheerleader, waving imaginary pom-poms for a cool $1.3 million a year. But his value to the team was measured in other ways.”
- Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com: “[...] unlike the past at this time of year, it’s the NBA that is on the minds of most sports fanatics. There is a profound curiosity that we all have about this upcoming NBA season. People in Orlando are ecstatic about the newly-established and rapidly evolving Sunshine State rivalry. Everywhere I go around Central Florida, it’s all people want to talk about. I recently went to SeaWorld with family and while standing around a bunch of sea lions at the Pacific Point Preserve, the crowd around me starting talking about the Heat-Magic rivalry. Even the seals seemed to be intrigued by the conversation. Everywhere you go, the NBA is at the forefront of discussions.”
- Dwight Howard likes to block shots.
- Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “Denver Nuggets small forward Carmelo Anthony is but the latest NBA megastar to reportedly wish for a trade to the Orlando Magic. [...] If this line sounds familiar, it should, given the multitude of reports earlier this summer about New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul wanting to force a trade to Orlando. Berger reported parts of that narrative as well. The difference in the two situations, as Josh Robbins points out, is that Anthony has leverage, while Paul does not. Anthony will be a free agent next summer and the Nuggets risk losing him for nothing if they do not deal him before February. Further, the Nuggets are believed to be exploring trade possibilities for Anthony.”
- Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Anthony’s hesitation to sign a three-year, $65 million extension with the Nuggets goes beyond his desire to enjoy the major-market exposure and pressure that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade turned down this summer. Melo would accept other destinations as well, and the Magic are believed to be at the top of his list along with the Knicks, according to a person familiar with his strategy.”
- Why does Carmelo Anthony want to leave the Denver Nuggets?
- Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk takes a look at Foyle’s impact off the court: “Foyle has long been an important part of the NBPA’s operations, and with negotiations over the terms of a new CBA ongoing, losing an asset like Foyle is a pretty big deal. There are still plenty of ways he can be involved in that process, but losing a direct avenue for Foyle’s knowledge, perspective, and charisma is a loss for the players.”
- Jameer Nelson is the 11th-best point guard in the NBA, according to Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Nelson is entering his ostensible prime, and if last season’s too-early Eastern Conference finals proved anything, it’s that Nelson needs to put this Magic team on his surgically reconstructed shoulders. He’s never going to be this team’s best player, but a squad’s most important player doesn’t have to be its best player, and you’d think that Nelson can’t help but understand that by now. Maybe I’m being too optimistic for my hopes with him, especially rating him over Kidd, but this is how we roll in summer, before the dyspepsia sets in.”
Magic Basketball Mailbag, 8/10/10
Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images
Here’s another installment of the Magic Basketball Mailbag.
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Is this year “THE year” for Orlando to win it all? Won’t one season of gelling and next year’s mid-level exception make Miami unstoppable?
It’s way too early to tell.
There are too many variables involved.
The Miami Heat could be unstoppable as the years go by, but there’s no way to be sure at this point in time. That being said, this year is probably the Magic’s best chance to beat the Heat considering their roster is at its infant stages. Even then, that didn’t stop the Boston Celtics from winning it all in 2008 under similar circumstances. Plus, the Celtics still have to be dealt with in the Eastern Conference. Oh yeah, and then there’s the Los Angeles Lakers.
It’d be a mistake to label Orlando as title favorites because they’re not, but they do have a chance.
For the Magic, that’s all that matters.
Addressing the Gilbert Arenas Conundrum
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Gilbert Arenas.
At the peak of his powers, Arenas was — regarded by many — as a quirky and eccentric player that had many memorable moments on and off court. Unfortunately for Arenas, he made some bad decisions this season when he brought unloaded firearms into the Washington Wizards locker room en lieu of a gambling dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton, which forced commissioner David Stern to suspend Arenas indefinitely while the NBA investigated the issue. Eventually, Arenas was suspended for the rest of the year by Stern and sentenced to two years probation, in addition to serving 30 days in a halfway house (he was released on May 7).
With Arenas looking to reboot his career, there have been rumors circulating the internet that general manager Otis Smith might look to acquire him in a trade involving Vince Carter. But according to Michael Lee of The Washington Post in a report on Thursday, “the talks didn’t get very far” and it appears that the Wizards were the ones to initiate the conversation with the Orlando Magic. Since Smith has history with Arenas, dating back to their days with the Golden State Warriors, it’s easy to conjure up the possibilities of a reunion taking place with the Magic. And given that Carter, for all intents and purposes, is on the trade block, a swap involving him and Arenas seems plausible in theory. Even though a trade with Carter and Arenas would be easy to pull off because of their matching salaries, there’s no question that the move wouldn’t make much sense from Orlando’s perspective because Arenas has four years left on his max contract.
| WARP projection | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilbert Arenas | 7.3 | 5.2 | 4.1 | 16.6 |
For all of Carter’s faults as a player (can’t question him as a person), one of the main reasons why Smith acquired him last year was because his contract expires this year. Smith has the flexibility, despite Carter’s diminishing value, to tweak and adjust the Magic’s roster as he sees fit. If Smith traded for Arenas, that flexibility would be destroyed. However, let’s ignore the issues of Arenas’ contract for a second.
From a basketball perspective, is Arenas a better fit than Carter?
2009-2010 Player Evaluation: Mickael Pietrus
Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images
Synergy-fueled player evaluations, with the help of other metrics, are always fun.
Today, the small forwards.
| 2009-2010 regular season | Mickael Pietrus |
|---|---|
| Games Played | 75 |
| Minutes Played | 22.5 |
| adj. +/- | -9.32 |
| net +/- | -7.2 |
| statistical +/- | -0.36 |
| PER | 11.9 |
| WARP | -0.1 |
| Win Shares/48 | .103 |
