Category Archives: dwight howard

2014-15 NBA Team Preview: Houston Rockets

Houston went from trying to score Carmelo Anthony to losing Chandler Parsons to Dallas in the process. We later heard rumors that they were never going to offer him anywhere near the contract he got from Dallas, but that could be sour grapes. The consolation prize of Trevor Ariza is not bad at all. Let’s hope his second stint in Houston is much better than his first.

Last season was seen as a transition year in Houston. They had to see how Dwight Howard fit in their system and figure out the necessary moves they had to make around him. They tried to make a big splash with Anthony, but I feel they are better off with their current roster.

We will be posting a team preview for every team up until the start of the regular season.

Here is the 2014-15 NBA season preview for the Houston Rockets.

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2013 NBA Player Prop Bets & Picks

The 2013 NBA season tips off next week and we couldn’t be more excited. We love football, but I grew up in Indiana, so I was born with a basketball in my arms.

The preseason NBA player prop bets give you great value for your money, if you can wait 8-9 months for your payoff.

The favorites are no surprise. Lebron James has the best odds of winning the MVP award and the same with Kevin Durant and the scoring title. The is little to no value in picking either Lebron or Durant even though they are expected to have great seasons.

We go through all the NBA player prop bets and pick the ‘smart bet’ and the ‘long shot bet’ for each category.

Will Derrick Rose bounce back and win another MVP award? Will Steve Nash become an assist machine without Kobe Bryant on the court?

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Despite Poor Record, Lakers Betting Odds Still High

The All-Star break is over and the second half of the NBA season has officially started.

After looking for some possible bets to make, I found a few smart bets and many betting odds that have zero value. Many of those odds involve the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are currently 25-29 and 3 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but still have the ninth best odds to win the NBA Championship this season.

I don’t want to pick on the Lakers too much, because those odds are no fault of their own, it’s the public’s fault. The bookmakers set the odds at the point where they get the most action and the public still thinks they have a shot at cashing. Since the Lakers are one of the most popular teams in the NBA, their odds are usually inflated.

What are the betting odds for the Los Angeles Lakers winning a 2012-13 NBA Championship? Also, should the people who bet on the Lakers look for another way to bet online? Continue reading →

Orlando Makes A Bad Trade, Sends Dwight Howard to L.A.

Dwight Howard trade rumors have been on the stove for the last 18 months. It was only a matter of time before the big man would whine his way out of Orlando.

Orlando finally orchestrated a four-team trade in which Dwight Howard would be paired with Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash on the Los Angeles Lakers. If he even hints that he doesn’t want this move to garner ‘Shaq to Los Angeles’ comparisons, he is delusional. He is duplicating the same career path as him. I hope this doesn’t mean a sequel to “Kazaam” is in the works.

Which teams are in the deal? The players involved may surprise you (one of the players is currently playing on Team USA). The other thing that may surprise you is the lack of assets Orlando will receive in return for Howard. This deal will leave you scratching your head to why they didn’t trade with Brooklyn or Houston, who had better prospects on hand.

Let’s make it easy and list which players will go to each team involved in the trade.

Los Angeles Lakers: C Dwight Howard, F Earl Clark and G Chris Duhon

Philadelphia 76ers: C Andrew Bynum and G Jason Richardson

Denver Nuggets: F Andre Iguodala

finally…

Orlando Magic: F Arron Afflalo, F Al Harrington, C Nikola Vucevic, F Moe Harkless, and future protected first-round draft picks from each team. (2014 from Denver, 2015 from Philly and 2017 from L.A.)

I like the hauls that Philadelphia, Denver and L.A. received in this deal. They sent distant future protected first-round picks for pieces to help them immediately…but Orlando’s return is mild. I can see Howard signing an extension with the Lakers. Kobe and Nash will be retired in a few seasons and it will be his team.

Orlando’s main goal was the get Howard out of town. Former GM Otis Smith should have pulled the trigger at the trade deadline, but they didn’t, so they had to settle for this deal.

You know what you’re getting from Afflalo and Harrington, solid guys, but nothing to build a team around. Harkless was the first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft. He’s a nice young talent who needs a lot of molding. The biggest problem I have is that the draft picks Orlando will receive in this deal is so far out in the future that current GM Rob Hennigan may not be around to enjoy them.

I hope Orlando has a plan to sell a ton of Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis merchandise. I don’t see the Amway Arena selling out, even with a J.J. Redick bobblehead promotion. Orlando has a very long road to recovery in their future. You will see Mr. Hennigan at the NBA Draft Lottery selection show for the many years to come.

The Magic play in L.A. on Dec. 2nd and D’WHINE Howard will be back in Orlando on March 12th…please circle those dates accordingly.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Houston’s Latest Insane Trade Proposal for Dwight Howard

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey is slowly going insane.

He has been trying to acquire Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard for months. The amount of trades he has offered/completed in order to gain pieces to entice the Magic would make any man snap.

It doesn’t make Morey’s job any easier when Howard publicly announces that he would only sign an extension with the Brooklyn Nets.

Well, ESPN reported that Morey is about to propose the Magic an offer they can’t refuse. How much can Houston afford to offer a team for a player who has no intentions on staying more than one season?

Want to know what Morey is offering? Check it out after the jump…

The rumored offer is so lopsided and ridiculous that it is hard to believe that a GM would ever offer this deal.

Orlando Magic would receive: Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lamb, Royce White, Terrence Jones, and at least two future first-round & second-round draft picks, AND Toronto’s 2013 first-round pick (potential lottery pick).

Houston Rockets would receive: Dwight Howard, Jason Richardson, Glen Davis, Chris Duhon, and Hedu Turkoglu.

Let that offer sink in for a few seconds.

…WHAT THE HELL, DARYL?!

Houston would be sending the Magic a top-of-the-rotation guy (Martin), their last two draft classes, and their next few drafts will be worthless without first-round picks.

What’s sad is that I really like what the Rockets did in this year’s NBA draft. Lamb, White, and Jones are NBA-ready and could all be rotation guys in their rookie season. They would be throwing it away for a shot at convincing Howard that Houston is where he belongs.

Houston would just receive Howard, who may only stay one season, and a bunch of deadweight contracts. The Magic will have a clean slate to rebuild the team in the post-Howard era.

I have a feeling that Morey was a nerd in high school. He probably had a crush on the head cheerleader (Dwight Howard). He would stay at home and think up scenarios in which she would agree to go on a date with him. He finally put together the absolute perfect plan in which he would ask her out and there would be no chance she would say no. The plan would consist of Morey riding to school in a carriage with white horses. He would be dressed in a tuxedo with tails and have a dozen roses ready to give to her (trade entire team for Howard). He would ride in front of the entire school, gives her the roses and ask her out…she would say ‘yes’ (Dwight agrees to play one season with Houston). They would go out on a date, it goes alright, and he would drop her off at home at the end of the date. He would assume that a second date is right around the corner and his life is perfect (Howard contract extension).

Well, Morey wasn’t aware that the entire school was laughing at him when pulled up in a horse-driven carriage (every NBA GM & fans). The head cheerleader said yes because she didn’t want to seem like a bitch. Also, after their date, the captain of the football team was in her driveway waiting to sneak up to her room (Brooklyn Nets).

This is a move that can and will get a general manager fired. If this deal goes through and Howard doesn’t sign an extension, he will be responsible for two separate GMs losing their jobs (Orlando’s former GM Otis Smith was fired after the season).

Everyone knows that Morey is a smart guy. He speaks at the Sloan Conference at MIT every year about using advanced metrics in sports. He is helping to pave the way by relying on new statistics to build a professional basketball team…but, I don’t see how he could argue that this trade is logical by using statistics to back it up. “Dork Elivs” is getting a little too cute and maybe the eyeball test is all someone needs to know that this is a horrible deal.

I feel sorry for Rockets fans. You have a GM who clearly has a gambling problem and he’s playing with your money. This would truly be a ‘Dwightmare’ for Houston.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Brook Lopez Re-Signs With Nets, Kills Dwight Howard Deal

This should finally end all of the Dwight Howard to Brooklyn trade rumors…until January 15th.

According to the The Star-Ledger, Lopez and the Brooklyn Nets agreed on a maximum-salary contract of $61 million over four years.

The deal means the Nets are officially out of the Dwight Howard sweepstakes. Teams are not able to newly-signed players, other than sign and trade deals, until January 15th, 2013. Lopez will be Brooklyn’s starting center at the opening of the 2012-13 season.

What does this mean for Dwight Howard? Is this a smart move by Brooklyn? Will Howard’s asking price drop by January?

Howard appears to be the odd man out in Orlando. He has done everything but spit on the Magic franchise since he “injured” his back late last season and missed the playoffs. The big man has made it clear that he wants out and his relationship with the team is beyond fractured.

I look for Howard to realize he can’t put a Magic jersey back on and forces a trade to another team. Magic fans will no longer embrace him and he has to go.

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers have made it clear that they would like to trade for him, even if it’s a rental for one season. Those teams believe they could entice Howard to sign a long-term deal once he is within the organization. Brooklyn made a similar gamble when they traded with the Utah Jazz for Deron Williams…he just signed a long-term deal to stay with Brooklyn.

The Nets are looking more and more like a playoff team. Their team currently has Lopez, Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallce, MarShon Brooks (who’s underrated), and Mirza Teletovic in their rotation. This team looks like a top-five seed in the Eastern Conference.

I feel like this isn’t the last time we will hear Dwight Howard & Brooklyn Nets in the same sentence, but this should end that trade rumor for a few months.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

NBA Players Who Are Now Pressured To Win Their First Ring

The Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight to win the 2012 NBA Championship. The pressure is now off Lebron James and Chris Bosh. The NBA is filled with young stars who have played past the age in which people expected them to already have a ring. It is hard to win a championship when you have Kobe Bryant, Boston’s “Big Three, and now Miami hogging up all the titles.

Lebron got the monkey off his back and he has given it to a few other NBA players. I’ve scoured through rosters and made a list of players who are now pressured to win an NBA Championship.

The 2011 Dallas Mavericks had many players who had to wait 10+ years to win their first title (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, etc). There is hope for these players and odds are a few will win a ring in the next few seasons.

Kevin Durant (age 23) – I guess that I should start off with a couple players who just lost in the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant has a couple scoring titles under his belt and had a great postseason. He will have many other opportunities to get his ring and maybe he needed this loss to help push him to the next level. Durant is locked up with the Oklahoma City Thunder long term. They have some nice pieces around him and they will get even better.

Russell Westbrook (age 23) – Westbrook and Durant play really well together, but they came up just a bit short in the 2012 NBA Finals. James Harden and Serge Ibaka didn’t have a strong series, but they have both of them signed through next season. If OKC can sign them for three or four year deals, this team will be even scarier. Russell Westbrook is a turnover waiting to happen, but fixed that problem in the postseason. OKC will have Eric Maynor back next season and could give Westbrook some time at two-guard.

Dwight Howard (age 26) – The Orlando Magic center (for now) has already made a NBA Finals appearance and lost. His current contract situation has made the news over the last 18 months and painted him in a very negative light. If Dwight Howard were to be traded, he would have a lot of pressure on him to bring a championship. The rumor is the Los Angeles Lakers want him and Howard wants to play for them, but Lakers would have to trade Andrew Bynum and their salary cap situation is messy. I don’t see him going to the Lakers unless they decide to go above the luxury tax threshold.

Steve Nash (age 38) – He is the one player in the NBA that basketball fans would love to see win a ring the most. Steve Nash had many chances to jump ship and basically pick a team to be traded to, but he was loyal to the Phoenix Suns. He is an unrestricted free agent this off-season and wants badly to win a ring. I could see him signing for near the minimum amount to join a contender for one last run. New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City, and Miami are great fits for Nash in 2012-13.

Chris Paul (age 27) – He is currently in the situation that Lebron was in previous to this year. He is in a new place with some nice talent around him. Can Chris Paul recruit enough talent to join the lowly Los Angeles Clippers? It remains to be seen if the Clippers can keep any talent past their first contract. They need more than Griffin and could use some perimeter shooters. Donald Sterling will need to tone down the crazy and open up his wallet if he wants to finally get a banner at the Staples Center.

Deron Williams (age 27) – Williams is a guy that basketball purists would always point to when people would claim that Chris Paul was the best young point guard in the NBA. Well, both players find themselves in different places and Williams was stuck in New Jersey for the last 18 months. He is a free agent this off-season and is rumored to be headed to Dallas. This would put him in a great situation with an owner who wants to be a contender every season…plus he gets to play next to Nowitzki.

Carmelo Anthony (age 28) – Anthony forced his way out of Denver to play in a bigger market. He took a lot of heat from the media for being a diva. The New York Knicks haven’t won a championship in my lifetime and the pressure to do so is immense. Anthony is a scorer and needs a few players around him to force teams to play man-to-man. Amar’e Stoudemire is a nice piece, but he also needs to score to get the most out of his game. A full season of Jeremy Lin will be a test to see if Anthony’s game will ever translate to winning an NBA title.

Derrick Rose (age 23) – The Bulls have been trying to add pieces to surround Derrick Rose with NBA championship caliber players. They attempted to swing for the fences by signing Carlos Boozer, but struck out swinging. Rose was hurt for most of the 2011-12 season and injured his knee in the first round of the playoffs. It is unknown how much time Rose will miss next season and Chicago may force him to ease back slowly. Rose will win a title because he’s too good of a player, but it could be with a different roster in the future.

Other notable players who have yet to win an NBA title: Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, Danny Granger, Kevin Love, Elton Brand, and John Wall.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Will Phil Jackson Coach the Orlando Magic Next Season?

The Orlando Sentinel reported last week that Phil Jackson was a serious candidate for either the Orlando Magic‘s coaching vacancy or to fill a spot in their front office. The talks were rumored to fall apart last week, but former Magic player Sam Vincent sparked them back up.

Vincent played with the Chicago Bulls while Jackson was an assistant and he spent the final portion of his playing career with Orlando. He is trying to broker a deal that would land Jackson and other well-known basketball figures in Orlando.

Jackson has a large compound in Montana and his girlfriend is in the Los Angeles Lakers front office. Would Jackson be able to commit enough time in Orlando? Would Dwight Howard stay if the Magic hired Jackson?

Vincent’s proposal to the Magic would land Jackson and himself in the Magic’s front office. The head coaching vacancy would be filled by current Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, who was Jackson’s lead assistant during his tenure as coach of the Lakers. Shaw has ties to the Orlando area. He played on the Magic during their successful run with Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway leading that squad.

The crazy part of Vincent’s proposal would be the inclusion of Scottie Pippen. He would be Shaw’s lead assistant. Pippen hasn’t had any coaching experience and his only post-playing career NBA job has been as the Bulls team ambassador. He played most of his career under Jackson, so he could be there to help teach how to play the ‘triangle offense.’

Jackson will come with a hefty price tag. He made $12 million in his last season as the coach of the Lakers. He wouldn’t be in the same position with the Magic, but having him associated with the franchise won’t come cheap.

Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins is rumored to be looking for a front office staff that would spend a lot of their time locally. In Vincent’s proposal, Jackson would dedicate one week every month in Orlando along with various community appearances sprinkled throughout the year.

Dwight Howard and Jackson have communicated throughout the young center’s career. Jackson has told Howard that he would love to coach the him at some point. If the Magic hired Jackson as an employee, even as a figurehead, Howard could change his mind about leaving Orlando.

If Vincent’s proposal is turned down, a person could argue that Brian Shaw would accept a coaching job in Orlando. The GM position will be filled before the coaching vacancy is addressed. Shaw would be on any newly-hired GM’s list. Shaw was in line to get the head coaching job with the Lakers, but he was leapfrogged by Mike Brown. He went to the Pacers as an assistant and along with coach Frank Vogel, improved the team.

Martins is rumored to be looking at a laundry list of front office candidates. Former New Orleans Hornets general manager Jeff Bower, San Antonio Spurs vice president/assistant general manager Dennis Lindsey, Oklahoma City Thunder vice president/assistant general manager Troy Weaver, Thunder assistant GM Rob Hennigan and Indiana Pacers director of player personnel Kevin Pritchard are on his short-list.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Jerry Sloan Wants NBA Coaching Job, Eyes Bobcats & Magic

Jerry Sloan, the former Utah Jazz coach who resigned during the 2011 season after 23 seasons with the team, wants another shot. He is ready to return to the NBA and has expressed interest in the open Charlotte Bobcats and Orlando Magic coaching positions.

Would he be a good fit for either of those teams? Should he make a comeback and ruin his legacy?

If he gets the Charlotte Bobcats job, does he call John Stockton to see if he would come out of retirement? I’m only half joking…have you taken a look at their roster lately?

The former Utah Jazz coach, who resigned during the 2011 season after 23 seasons with the team, told the Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday that he has talked to Bobcats owner Michael Jordan about his team’s vacancy and could meet with him as soon as this week. Sloan isn’t afraid of the Bobcats past history of losing. He told the Tribune, “Obviously, you probably wouldn’t win (a title) right off the bat.”

As far as the Magic job is considered, he just mentioned that the job would be intriguing. Orlando recently fired Stan Van Gundy and GM Otis Smith, so Sloan would more personnel control than in Charlotte. Orlando still has hopes of retaining Dwight Howard after the upcoming season. Howard could be the guy who has the final decision on who is hired as Orlando’s next head coach.

I would assume that Van Gundy would be another candidate that Charlotte would be interested in interviewing. He is a talented coach, but he needed a change of scenery. The Bobcats would have to pick between head coaches who have both made NBA Finals appearances, but yet to win a title.

Sloan retired during the 2011-12 season and used “exhaustion” as the reason for his resignation. The Jazz traded Deron Williams at the trading deadline and Sloan still stepped down. It was no secret that Deron Williams and Sloan butted heads on and off the court. Tyrone Corbin took over as head coach and remains at the position.

Sloan ranks third all-time in regular-season NBA coaching victories with 1,221. Former coaches Lenny Wilkins (1,332) and Don Nelson (1.335) are the only two to have more regular-season victories than Sloan.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

(Fake) NBA Player "Walk-Up" Songs

I was watching the L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game last night. At the end of the game, just like any other basketball game, there were a lot of free throws. After a player is fouled, there is a minute lull in-between the foul and the free throw attempt. What if each individual NBA player had their own personal “walk-up song,” like in baseball? I tweeted this out and many agreed that this needs to happen. I instantly started to think of either humorous or fitting walk-up songs for random NBA players. You have to follow basketball pretty close to get all of the references. Most of the walk-up song references are very easy to get, but a few of them are a bit obscure.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me. Enjoy!

*I included a YouTube link that will open in a new window*

Kris Humphries – Ben Folds Five – “Song For The Dumped”
Serge Ibaka – Matt & Kim – “Block After Block”
Kevin Love – Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
Lebron James – Motion City Soundtrack – “Can’t Finish What You Started”
Delonte West – Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Membrane”
Gordon Hayward – “Olive Garden Jingle”
Kevin Durant – Childish Gambino – “Backpackers”
Chris Bosh – Mandy Moore – “Cry”
Lamar Odom – Sam Cooke – “That’s It, I Quit, I’m Movin’ On”
Josh McRoberts – Haystak – “Whiteboy”
Blake Griffin – Van Halen – “Jump”
Steve Nash – Tenacious D – “Rize of the Fenix”
Michael Beasley – Kid Cudi – “Marijuana”
Drew Gooden – “Ducktales Theme Song”
J.J. Redick – Collective Soul – “Gel”
Metta World Peace – Pretty Boy – “Throw Bows”
Glen Davis – Justin Bieber – “Baby”
Amare Stoudemire – Orgy – “Stitches”
Gilbert Arenas – M.I.A. – “Paper Planes”
Brian Scalabrine – Average White Band – “Pick Up The Pieces”
DeMarus Cousins – Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
Dwight Howard – Say Anything – “I Want To Know Your Plans”
John Wall – Troop 41 – “Do The John Wall”
Ricky Rubio – El Chombo – “Chacarron Mocaron”
Patty Mills – Men at Work – “Land Down Under”
Anthony Davis – Rise Against – “Savior”
Kyrie Irving – Nelly – “Number One”
Joe Johnson – Fitz & The Tantrums – “Moneygrabber”
Derrick Rose – Blink-182 – “Miss You”
Greg Oden – Social Distortion – “Bad Luck”
Tyson Chandler – Silverstein – “Defend You”
Tony Parker – Joey + Rory – “Cheater, Cheater”
Tyler Hansbrough – Snoop Dogg – “Tha Shiznit”
Dirk Nowitzki – Rammstein – “Der Meister”
Matt Bonner – Perv One – “Counting Money”
Josh Howard – “Star Spangled Banner”
Boris Diaw – Kanye West – “New Workout Plan”
Shaun Livingston – Sleigh Bells – “Comeback Kid”
Kenyon Martin – Trina – “Single Again”
Chris Anderson – Nelly Furtado “I’m Like A Bird”
Earl Boykins – Skee-Lo – “I Wish”
Brad Miller – Nsync – “Bye Bye Bye”
Eddy Curry – Weird Al Yankovic – “Fat”
Jeremy Lin – No Use For A Name – “Fairytale of New York”

Also, check out Projectshanks.com for some of my other work.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Van Gundy v. Howard – What To Do?

Dwight Howard isn’t making things easy for the Orlando Magic. He has been denying rumors about him wanting Stan Van Gundy fired. The story really started to pick up steam a few weeks ago when a story came out that if he were to re-sign, the team would give him the ability to fire the general manager and head coach. He has been denying everything negative and has kept a pretty squeaky clean image throughout this whole ordeal. Van Gundy just made the Orlando Magic situation a little more awkward.

During an interview this morning, Van Gundy was quite candid about his position with the Orlando Magic. He said that until he is told otherwise, he is the coach of the Orlando Magic. He said that “if I am fired later today, I’ll still have a good day. I’ll go home and find something else to do.”

He kept answering questions and his responses really started to cut with a knife. He made a vague comment about “one of the people here doesn’t like his boss” and that he has been told by management that Howard wants him to be fired. He ended the press conference that he isn’t worried about any of that right now and that he’s just worried about stopping Carmelo Anthony tonight…this is where things got even more awkward. Howard saw an opportunity to do a little “PR photo op” in front of the press, but he didn’t know that Van Gundy just told them that he wants the head coach fired. He started to hug Van Gundy and said that we have to win tonight and we don’t have anything to worry about. As Van Gundy exited, the press corps started to tell Howard what was just said. He looked like he just got his hand caught in the cookie jar. He denied everything said that he has not been told anything. I have never witnessed him look so uncomfortable, he was clearly not telling the truth.

It is odd how Howard managed to keep such a positive image over the last year. He has been stringing the fanbase along and being very passive about what he’s going to do. He has denied that he has every been shown a contract to sign, has been negative when asked if he’s taking a Shaq-like career path, and at times, he has been visually upset on the sideline. He brushes off any negative questions with an aura of ignorance and a smile. He has a very good PR person, they deserve a raise.

What should the Orlando Magic do? I think they have to give Dwight Howard what he wants. Van Gundy is a great coach and if he’s fired, he’ll get a job coaching next season. Otis Smith has been a sub-par General Manager and he should be evaluated…even if Howard signs with another team. Howard brings in millions of dollars in ticket and merchandise sales. You can replace these guys and you will not be able to go out and replace the face of your franchise and one of the best 10 players in the NBA. I don’t agree that it is a morally correct decision, but this is the business of the NBA.

I am guessing that Stan Van Gundy’s height will not be a determining factor in keeping his job, but Howard clearly has the height advantage. There needs to be a height requirement if you’re an NBA head coach. You need to at least come up to your center’s armpits. I love Van Gundy, but can you blame Howard for not respecting this guy?

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A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2009-10 NBA Preview: Orlando Magic

The Magic had a dream season last year, but fell short in the NBA Finals. They made a lot of changes to their roster, but are they a better team? A lot of teams in the East went out and tried to improve their teams and the Magic tried to keep up. Can Vince Carter stay healthy this year? Will the Magic miss Hedo Turkoglu? Who is the whitest guy on the team, Jason Williams or J.J. Redick? Here is our 2009-10 NBA Preview for the Orlando Magic.

Additions/Subtractions – For a team coming off of an NBA Finals appearance, this team has done a lot to change their roster. One of the biggest trades this off-season was when they traded Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston to New Jersey for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson. The Magic had to do something to fill void that Hedo Turkoglu left. He is more athletic than the “Turkish Jordan,” but he’s getting up their age and you can’t bet that he’ll be healthy for the entire season. They also went out and signed Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes. Bass is expected to split time with Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes is a nice option off the bench. Also, they signed “White Chocolate” Jason Williams, who is coming out of retirement to back-up Jameer Nelson. The Magic could have lost Marcin Gortat, but matched the offer than Houston gave him. He’s a nice insurance policy in case Dwight Howard gets injured.

2009-10 Expectations – The Magic had a great season last year and they are building this team to win the NBA championship. They had to keep up with San Antonio, Los Angeles, Boston, and Cleveland with their off-season roster moves. If they don’t win a ring this year, the team would consider this season as a loss. They hope to have Jameer Nelson for the entire season. He looked like a franchise player before he tore his labrum last year. Dwight Howard will have to have another MVP-caliber season for the Magic to match their success from last year. He demanded double-teams, but with Bass/Anderson splitting time at PF, you would think that they would be in the market for a better option before the trading deadline. Rashard Lewis could move to PF and put Vince Carter at SF and Michael Pietrus would be at SG, but Lewis would lose his length-advantage playing PF. The Magic have to have a better record than the Celtics and Cavaliers going into the playoffs, because home-field advantage is huge for those teams and they have to take that away to have a shot in beating them.

2009-10 Prediction – It’s going to be very difficult for the Magic to duplicate the success of last season. All of the better teams in the East have improved and the Celtics didn’t match up well with them last year, but that changed with them signing Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels. Vince Carter will not playing in more than 65 games and this could very well be his last season. He has a lot of miles on those knees and he isn’t the high-flying star that played in Toronto, but he’s still pretty good. Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard will be All-Stars, but this team stays around the same win total as last season. They will end the season as a #3, right behind Boston and Cleveland.

2009-10 Win Total – 58-24

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.