<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Magic getting ready to rebuild -- again By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 22, 2003 Doc Rivers sat down gingerly in a chair and tried flexing the numbness out of his right leg. He had not grimaced like that since the Detroit Pistons ousted the Orlando Magic from the playoffs. Rivers' back has been killing him for a while. He cringes at the thought of needing surgery. But then in the next second and change of subject, Rivers grins uncontrollably through every ache. Doc never has felt so pain-free in his job as coach of the Magic. Finally, relief is on the way in many forms: For the first time in four seasons, the Magic will know before the opening-night tip-off that Grant Hill will not be available. Rivers says that Hill -- who is recovering from a fourth surgery on his left ankle in mid-March -- will sit out the entire season to rest and rehab, confirming a report last week in the Sentinel. "It's just unrealistic to think Grant can play," he said. It's tough on the player -- but easier on the planners. Unlike the past three years, Rivers and Hill's teammates no longer have to wonder or worry whether Hill will start -- or finish -- a season. Magic General Manager John Gabriel clearly knows what his team needs heading into the NBA draft and the free-agency period, and his strategies won't be undermined by Hill's health. The Magic will try to make up for the loss of Hill, seeking salary-cap relief by applying for the league's disabled player's exception. They likely will apply this week, and the medical exception, if granted, also would be worth around $4.8 million. The Magic could use it to acquire a free agent this summer or another player in a trade. The Magic will have a mid-level exception, also worth about $4.8 million. Throw in a $1.5 million veteran's exception, and the club can draw from several sources to improve a talent-deprived roster. Magic owner Rich DeVos has informed the club -- cost-conscious the past two seasons -- that it now can bust the budget to sign players. If the Magic need to go over a league-mandated luxury-tax limit, DeVos said he will pay the highly punitive penalty to become a contender during the Hill-less era. The Magic have not won a playoff series since 1996, and they lost a 3-1 first-round series lead to the Pistons in May. DeVos also considers the aggressive move an investment toward getting a new arena built one day in Orlando. The luxury tax requires any team that exceeds a certain payroll to pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty to the league. That means, for every $1 million in salary over that limit, the team must pay an additional $1 million to the league. "That's music to my ears," Rivers said. "That made my summer. People don't realize how big the tax commitment is from Rich DeVos. He'll do it for the right player. Rich is totally on board with us after what we've had to deal with because of Grant's situation." Hill's situation has no doubt hamstrung the Magic. He is scheduled to make $13.279 million next season, the fourth year of a guaranteed seven-year, $92 million contract he signed in the summer of 2000. The club's insurance pays 80 percent of his salary. But Hill's dollars still count against the salary cap, shrinking it with dead money and preventing the Magic from making significant improvements. Gabriel said Hill does not want to retire. Even if he did quit, his mammoth salary would not come off the cap until he's missed two seasons. "It puts you behind the eight-ball, definitely," Gabriel said. Hill's predicament has changed how the Magic do business, affecting virtually every personnel move they make. They are left with this charge: How do you build a contender with one ankle tied behind your back? "I'm confident we'll get it done," Gabriel said. "Your margin of error is reduced now, no doubt about it. I don't think anything really changes how you do it. You still use the same reservoir of resources. You just have asterisks now that go next to you when you do what other teams consider normal procedures." In other words, Gabriel can't be much of a gambler -- not when you must make up ground fast. The Magic already have wagered much of the family store on Hill -- and lost big. For instance, the draft is always a crapshoot, but the Magic can't afford to miss the target altogether. Their past two drafts have fizzled, exposed under the glare of Hill's absence. Rather than take a chance on a young player's "upside," the Magic might have to select the best player available at No. 15 on Thursday, regardless of need at the point-guard position. "We need guys who can produce now," Gabriel said. The Magic have to score big with the free agents they land. And they have to analyze them as closely as the college players, remaining on the lookout for cracks in their games and warts in their personalities. Most importantly, since the scalpel of Damocles has been hanging over the franchise's head, all players must pass physicals with flying colors and blaring trumpets. No players with troubling history of injuries can be seriously considered for employment. Magic fans, forget the club signing Alonzo Mourning. Mourning has been cleared to play after battling a kidney ailment, but the Magic couldn't afford to have 'Zo ever modeling his suit on the bench next to Hill. Every transaction has the potential to dig the Magic deeper in the hole created by Hill's left ankle injury. Gabriel pulled the trigger last year on a big trade -- and had to wonder if he would be taking any bullets. He traded away a proven player, Mike Miller, along with rookie Ryan Humphrey, to the Memphis Grizzlies for Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek. It worked out well. Gooden and Giricek now form a foundation with superstar Tracy McGrady. The Magic no longer are spinning their wheels waiting for Hill to heal. "We had to operate after he got hurt the last time as if he would not come back," Magic Chief Operating Officer John Weisbrod said. "While we still have a mountain to climb, at least we're not getting burned assuming he'll play a role." Now the Magic will exercise their backup blueprint. They're modeling themselves after the team that eliminated them from the playoffs -- the Pistons. The blue-collar Pistons have posted back-to-back 50-win seasons without a superstar. "The Pistons didn't have to replace a mega-superstar like we do," Weisbrod said. "But they've done a nice job of having no stars and building a good team. Break down the parts one by one, and they might not be better than other teams. But put their parts together, and they are." As many teams do, the Magic placed all their eggs in the two-star system basket. They have made the playoffs the past three seasons without Hill, riding McGrady's brilliance in the regular season. But their depth was revealed in three first-round postseason ousters, lower-priced players unable to fill the talent void left by Hill. The Magic are not the first club to deal with losing a maximum-salaried star to injury. Marquee players do most of the heavy lifting in the NBA. But, unlike in football, seldom does a team overcome the loss, whether they receive salary-cap relief or not. The New Jersey Nets did. The Nets lost all-star center Jayson Williams for the 1999-2000 season to a broken leg shortly after he signed a six-year, $85 million contract. He later was forced to retire. The Nets were denied the injury exception because the league ruled it applied too late. The Nets won just 31 games without Williams, but they ended up with the No. 1 lottery pick, Kenyon Martin. Thanks to Martin and General Manager Rod Thorn's shrewd trading (Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd), the Nets rebuilt quickly, playing in the past two NBA Finals. Even with Hill missing, the Magic have been just good enough to make the playoffs, and the rewards have been bittersweet. They've had to settle for the underwhelming prospect of picking No. 15, No. 18 and No. 15 in the draft the past three years. "I think everybody has to do a little bit better job now all-around," Gabriel said. "I have to do a better job, Doc has to coach better, players have to grab opportunities, scouts have to scout better." And to that end, Weisbrod basically performed a quality-control check on every department. "Our basketball operations is the healthiest it has ever been," Weisbrod said. "And last season or the last two seasons, I don't think we could say that we were all healthy." The Magic are in recovery room, right along with Grant Hill. </div> great news for the magic. the last 2 years devos hasn't wanted to spend more than the luxury tax, and now he wants to to get the key piece. so to me this means that we are seriously gonna try hard to get Jermaine O'Neal. he said that we were one out of his 3 choices(SA and Ind). we could be dangerous next year.
What a hard choice for JO to make...go to pacers who will offer him alot of money,go to the defending NBA champs who will also offer alot..with the best player in the L..or go to the magic and try and make it past round one and also try and play with a guy that wants the ball all the time..somehow that doesn't seem right....but it says re-building? interesting..don't they want to win now then?
what the hell are you talking about allnet? who wouldn't want to play with tmac? he's one of the most unselfish superstars out there. he would dish the ball to jermaine o neal plenty. who wouldn't want to play with tmac?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">what the hell are you talking about allnet? who wouldn't want to play with tmac? he's one of the most unselfish superstars out there. he would dish the ball to jermaine o neal plenty. who wouldn't want to play with tmac?</div> T-mac is all about the scoring title....scoring loads of points....he only passes when he has to....i'm not sure he would change his game for JO....but the is no point in talking about it....JO is not going to the magic....there would be no point..he wants loads of money..magic can't offer that
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "allnet":</div><div class="quote_post"><div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">what the hell are you talking about allnet? who wouldn't want to play with tmac? he's one of the most unselfish superstars out there. he would dish the ball to jermaine o neal plenty. who wouldn't want to play with tmac?</div> T-mac is all about the scoring title....scoring loads of points....he only passes when he has to....i'm not sure he would change his game for JO....but the is no point in talking about it....JO is not going to the magic....there would be no point..he wants loads of money..magic can't offer that</div> tmac isn't selfish. and this article says that we will be willing to spend more than the luxury tax, sooo that would be our money right there. i think jo would come to orlando, because tmac isn't selfish, and who here thinks that someone could beat jo, tmac, gooden, giricek and the #15th pick. (in the east)
In the playoff series he never passed out to the open man enough....i don't see enough magic games to judge i guess...he loves having the ball..all the time..if mcgrady couldn't co-exist with carter why would he with JO? mcgrady is me,me me...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post"><div class="quote_poster">Quoting "allnet":</div><div class="quote_post"><div class="quote_poster">Quoting "sportsrock37":</div><div class="quote_post">what the hell are you talking about allnet? who wouldn't want to play with tmac? he's one of the most unselfish superstars out there. he would dish the ball to jermaine o neal plenty. who wouldn't want to play with tmac?</div> T-mac is all about the scoring title....scoring loads of points....he only passes when he has to....i'm not sure he would change his game for JO....but the is no point in talking about it....JO is not going to the magic....there would be no point..he wants loads of money..magic can't offer that</div> tmac isn't selfish. and this article says that we will be willing to spend more than the luxury tax, sooo that would be our money right there. i think jo would come to orlando, because tmac isn't selfish, and who here thinks that someone could beat jo, tmac, gooden, giricek and the #15th pick. (in the east)</div> The money you have will still not be anywhere near as much as spurs can offer..you ask who could compete with that line-up? we for one could easily...we will be the team to beat next year in the east if we sign howard which seems likely..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "allnet":</div><div class="quote_post">In the playoff series he never passed out to the open man enough....i don't see enough magic games to judge i guess...he loves having the ball..all the time..if mcgrady couldn't co-exist with carter why would he with JO? mcgrady is me,me me...</div> y the hell would he pass it to the open man? noone was making a shot game 2 he had like 46 pts and the rest of teh team had 31. absolutely noone could make a shot other than a put back(by gooden). of course he wants the ball every possession he's a top 5 player in the league. carter was the ball hog, that's why he couldn't coexist. now that tmac's the superstar he will help them out. kobe is me me me, not tmac.
Kobe is me me me? you do know he has shaq...so that proves kobe isn't about himself.....JO wants the ball so damn much...just as much as T-mac does...both have big ego's....JO is going to Spurs or staying at pacers...likely in indy from the latest talks...and anyway magic are trying to go after odom...so you can't sign JO
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "allnet":</div><div class="quote_post">Kobe is me me me? you do know he has shaq...so that proves kobe isn't about himself.....JO wants the ball so damn much...just as much as T-mac does...both have big ego's....JO is going to Spurs or staying at pacers...likely in indy from the latest talks...and anyway magic are trying to go after odom...so you can't sign JO</div> lol with the most dominating player ever on his team still playing strong isn't the #1 scorer on his team. if i had the most dominate player ever on my team i would be like keyshawn, give him the damn ball. i dont' want odom, i don't think we will get him. if kobe was so unselfish, then why isn't he avg a double double? i bet u if it was tmac and shaq tmac would have at least 8 or 9 assists. tmac knows who to get the ball too. i wouldn't say tmac's ego is that big, we had penny and shaq who's ego's are huge, so tmac's doesn't compare to them. i think pretty much we are gonna do everything in our power to get o neal to come to orlando, just like we did with hill and tmac. i'm not saying he's coming for sure, but we're one of his top 3 choices. indiana isn't really going anywhere. magic with him would go somewhere and same with san antonio, so i think that it's really between san antonio and orlando.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">if kobe was so unselfish, then why isn't he avg a double double? i bet u if it was tmac and shaq tmac would have at least 8 or 9 assists. tmac knows who to get the ball too. </div> you can't be serious? T-mac 8 or 9 assists on the lakers? kobe gets his shots and so does shaq...magic have better role players than L.A do....so why would mcgrady average more assists with L.A? Anyways i'm not going to turn this into a kobe v mcgrady topic...will see how you guys do..and what happens with JO good luck with that and in the draft..
Tmac not being selfish!? thats the reason why he left Toronto is to be a star on his team...you can never say he ins't selfish...Vince wanted to share roles with him but he didn't want to...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "J-MAC":</div><div class="quote_post">t-mac and jermaine o'neal would work well togther.</div> thank you j-mac. i don't see how u can say that tmac wouldn't get 8 or 9 assists with shaq. all he has to do is give the ball to shaq and shaq will dunk it and that's an assist. i mean who should take more shots? the most dominating player in the history of basketball or kobe(a superstar and top 5 player)? i would choose the 1st, who takes more shots? kobe. now to me that's being selfish. i just don't see where you are getting that tmac is selfish? btw thanks allnet, good luck to the pistons in the offseason too(since they already got darko for sure)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "truemaster14":</div><div class="quote_post">if you stopped bashing tmac than this would this would never happen</div> I wasn't bashing T-mac....ifi was bashing i would i said something like "he sucks" "he is overrated" he is a great player but he has done alot of the time bashed his own team-mates and blamed losses on them...but i hope he carries his team far next season..i don't want him to have the same problems as KG..hope both get to the 2nd round next year <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">don't see how u can say that tmac wouldn't get 8 or 9 assists with shaq. all he has to do is give the ball to shaq and shaq will dunk it and that's an assist</div> Thats easiler said than done...kobe is a better passer....which is why he averages more assists...shaq was not the player we was last year..he missed alot of games..so kobe had to shoot more..he averaged over 7 assists when shaq was not there.
he WILL get past the 1st round next year, because the magic are gonna help him out this offseason and give him some talent.
they will be a top 3 team behind the nets and someone(don't think it will be pistons). the magic are more talented IMO then the pistons. in a couple years the pistons are gonna be awesome. i just don't see darko making a huge impact his rookie season that would be enough to take the nets(if kidd stays) or the magic(they will be much better next year)
