Draft If we get the #1 pick in the draft, I wouldn't mind seeing us trade down until about 5 or 6 and pick Ben Gordan. This guy has really impressed me in the recent tournaments, really stepping up when Okafor has been injured and not playing well. He also seems to be pretty clutch. He's the true star of the Huskies right now. I would love Okafor, but his injuries scare me off. THis is the deal I would love. Juwan Howard and #1 pick to whoever has the 5 or 6 pick for that pick and a future 1st/filler with a shorter contract than Juwan. 2nd round, draft the best avaliable center. Free Agency Resign Steven Hunter and actually play the guy, he has loads of potential and he really hasn't seen good consistent mins in his career yet. Give him some consistent mins the rest of the year to evaluate him. Resign Deshawn Stevenson, very versatile, seems to love Orlando. Resign Shawn Rooks, valuable backup center who can come in if our young guys get in foul trouble or if they are struggling. Make sure that Zaza takes his option and stays with us. Cut Andrew Declerq, I don't care if his salary still counts. If I was the coach he'd be on the far end of the bench or on the Injured List. I love the guy's hustle, but Zaza hustles nearly as much and has way more skills than him, but Declerq still starts. Position by Position Analysis C-Depth Chart-Zaza, Hunter, Rooks, 2nd rounder Analysis. Give Zaza and Hunter a good 15 mins at least.(Give Zaza about 25) Just work with Zaza on his footwork, FT shooting, and ability to finish and he will be exactly what we're looking for a PJ Brown type player(without the shot), not flashy but gets the job done 12 and 10. Hunter could be a nice shot blocker if we give him consistent mins, I'm not sold on releasing him yet. Rooks should come in when games on the line, he can hit his FT's and runs a perfect pick and roll with his nice jumper. PF-Gooden, Garrity, Zaza Analysis. Gooden can be a star, I can see him 18 and 10 easily in this league. Juwan Howard is killing his potential. Look at Gooden's last 4 games, he had double doubles or close in 3 of the 4, the other one he was playing SF(not comfortable there) and was getting guarded by a guy who contains Tmac.(Artest) It would be a complete mistake to trade him. If he gets consistent mins, he will produce. Garrity would come off the bench and shoot the daylights out, if Garrity is off, keep him on the bench. SG/SF-Tmac, Stevenson, Bogans, Hill, Gaines Analysis. Tmac and Stevenson should start, they both bring good defensive energy and can flat out play and they are young and seem to be getting good chemistry between them. Hill should only play 20 mins tops, no matter what the situation is for the 1st half of the season, kind of what Cleveland did with Big Z. Bogans is another shooter and a very pesky defender, give him time if Stevenson is struggling or if Tmac or Stevenson are in foul trouble. Gaines will never see playing time here, which is sad, I like his defense and he seems to be able to get the passes where they need to be. Just like Jeryl Sasser though in that he can't shoot. If he can get the touch he'd be a very valuable role player. PG-Ben Gordan, Lue, Gaines, Stevenson Analysis. Ben Gordan is fast, he knows how it feels to not be the best player on his college team.(which most of the people don't know and they need to know in order to play with Tmac). He seems like he's pretty clutch, he's the reason why Uconn has made it to the Final 4 and were conference tourney champs. I love the idea of Lue being a backup, he shouldn't be a starter. He can shoot a lot and is fast and can match up with smaller PG's. I am intrigued with the possibility of maybe starting Deshawn, let him and Tmac run the show. That would leave us with the starting lineup of...... PG-Gordan- 12 and 6 assists SG-Tmac 25 8 assists 6 boards SF-Stevenson 12 5 5 PF-Gooden 18 11 C-Zaza 10 10 You all know that I'm biased while making predictions. 77 pts for the starters Not too bad of a starting lineup if they all live up to their potential. Statlines are in parentesis. We would also have possible 2 high future 1sts.(Washington and whoever we trade with) that could turn out like the whole Detriot and Grizzlies situation that gave Detriot Darko. Also now that all of Hill's contract is getting paid for by the insurance, hopefully we will use that money on transactions, rather than in Devos's pocket. That's just my 2 sense, sorry I didn't really mention too much about potential FA, I haven't really researched them. Let me know your opinions and if I'm too biased.
I agree with everything except that we should try to get okafor. I think we should start Hunter and have Okafor(If we get him) and Zaza coming off the bench. That's just me though.
Honestly, right now, I'm not sure if Okafor is even the best player on his team. They wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for Gordon. He's clutch too.
You already have TMac to take care of the clutch moments. What you need is an imposing presence down low. Imposing presence down low=Okafor.
Tmac isn't clutch. If he was, we wouldn't be sitting at nearly 40 games under .500. I think Gooden would give us the presence down low that we so desperately need if we gave the dude consistent minutes. That's the reason why he isn't having a "good" season. One game he gets 30 mins, next game he only gets 15 mins. He had great 3 out of the last 4 games, but now JD is going to start Declerq again and bring Gooden off the bench again.
Dude, try to imagine if you're down by a point and it's in your possession, who would you give the ball to? TMac or a rookie? I dunno if it's just me but I'd give the ball to TMac. Sure you can say that it may take some years to fully develop Gordon into a clutch player IN THE NBA but by that time, TMac would probably be too old or in another team to make a difference. You have to build your team around TMac while he's still hot. To do this, you have to surround him with players to complement his game. You need a Center (and you already have project ones) and a stud Forward (say...Emeka?). Besides, you already have Stevenson and Bogans. But you can also say that you are weak at PG coz Lue isn't really doing that much but Guards come in droves while quality big men are hard to find these days.
Your right we give the ball to Tracy when we need him to make something happen. It doesn't neccasirly mean he has to take the shot. He can do what any smart player would do and try to get one of his teammates open when he knows the other team is looking for him to get the ball. I have to check this Gordan guy out for myself. I've seen Okafor and I liked what I saw. I just got to see to believe. It's just how I role.
Gordon is on Uconn, Okafor's team. Okafor only played 19 mins and had 2 pts, 9 boards, and 5 blocks in the Elite 8, because of an injury. Gordon scored 36 pts in the Elite 8 to help them advance. Of course you give the ball to Tmac, but he'll be double or triple teamed and he's unselfish and probably would pass the ball, so you would need someone else to take the pressure off of Tmac. We already have a good PF if we give him good minutes.(Gooden) We need a Center or PG. We're better off at center, because at least Zaza and Hunter have skills. Lue can't run the show at PG, then our backup is Gaines who has proven absolutely nothing. So my vote is trade down get something else in return(possibly a 2nd 1st rounder, since there are a couple teams with 2 1sts) and draft a PG.(Gordon) If we can do that and trade Juwan for Kandi man, that would be nice. Gordon, Tmac, Stevenson/Bogans/Hill, Gooden, Kandi would probably do good in the East. That's my pipedream.
Gordon is overrated. Good player but if we were to trade down I'd rather have J.Nelson(If he leaves early) than him. There are better "PG's" if you even consider him a PG than Gordon. He's a nice player who has been dominant in the Tourney but so was Mateen Cleaves.
I wouldn't draft Okafor, he seems to be having recurring back and shoulder problems, wasting a draft pick and paying that lottery pick salary to a player who struggles with injury may not be the safest bet. You may say Orlando needs to "take risks" rather than being safe, well they did that in the summer of 2000 when they signed some damaged goods labeled "GRANT HILL" and look how that turned out. Four things Orlando should do: 1. Bring in some veterans who know how this game operates and know what it takes to be successful, right now Orlando only has one and that's Juwan Howard. 2. Bring in some defensive minded players, Armstrong was great for them last season and now Orlando has no real talented defensive players. 3. Bring in a skilled point guard. A point guard who can distribute the ball properly, making shots for his teammates, and scoring when it's neccessary. Also a point guard who can make good decisions with the ball and be a leader on and off the court because I think it's obvious T-Mac isn't that guy. 4. Move Howard, start Gooden. Drew showed TONS of potential when he arrived in Orlando, yet for no apperant reason he was replaced and benched. Not the greatest of ideas seeing as you traded your 2nd best player to aquire him, not to mention his replacement is on the decline and overpaid. Gooden can play downlow and give you low post scoring, rebounding, and shot blocking. Three things Orlando could have used desperately all season long. I'm sure you won't receive a player as talented as Howard if you decide to trade him, because of his age and contract, but honestly I think moving him along with a pick to aquire missing pieces would be ideal.
Who would you draft then or is trading it your top priority? I agree with everything though and that's what I tried to do. We need defense the most, but honestly our team isn't that bad defensively, its just our coach doesn't know when to adjust. i remember in a Miami game, Lamar Odom caught the ball at the top of the key and drove around Declerq about 5 CONSECUTIVE possessions. You would think after about the 1st or 2nd he would do something about that. Drew Gooden's defense really isn't good at all right now, but again I think it will be good with a defensive minded coach. PG might be my top priority right now. I bet you that Gooden gets dealt before Juwan because he would bring in more trade value.
Now I've seen Gordon and he's good don't get me wrong. But if I were the Magic and I wasn't going to pick Okafor because of his injurys I wouldn't go for Gordan. I would go for Jameer. It just seems like Jameer is more prepared for this game then Gordon.
Personally, I'd pick Emeka first. Then I'll go for Duhon in the 2nd round. He can run the offense and defense. He showed signs of being clutch too. Remember his buzzer beater against Wake Forest during his freshman season? I dunno but personally, I believe that it's hard to pass up a big man.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting InNETSweTrust:</div><div class="quote_post">Personally, I'd pick Emeka first. Then I'll go for Duhon in the 2nd round. He can run the offense and defense. He showed signs of being clutch too. Remember his buzzer beater against Wake Forest during his freshman season? I dunno but personally, I believe that it's hard to pass up a big man.</div> Chris is good but IMO Jameer is better. He's better for this team and better as an all around player IMO. I just see him doing more for the Magic. Besides neither will go to the second round. I say they are garunteed first round picks
Jameer Nelson doesnt strike me as a perfect fit for Orlando, he shoots the ball to much, mainly cause he and West HAD to, in order to win.. Therefore i dont think he would be able to fit in with T-Mac.. Nelson is a senior BTW and will be i the draft.. Duhon plays great defense I love the Idea of having him.. Gordon is not over-rated.. If anything, hes UNDER-rated. Hes such a great shooter, That shoots the ball when he has too... He could be in the same boat as Jameer, but really Gordon is a better all-around player..
There are a lot of guards in the pool. May it be rookie/FA/what have you pool. But quality big men? I wouldn't pass up the chance. Just imagine, you have Emeka taking care defending the post and Duhon ballhawking the perimeter.
