| Magic Happenings Authored by Howard Mass - July 21, 2008 - 9:56 am
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If the reports are true, The Magic are going to be doing a sign and trade deal with The New Jersey Nets this week. The deal would reportedly net the Magic a $3.3 Million Traded Player Exception.
This deal is being done to give Keyon Dooling a better contract so he can be sent off well after the unfortunate Luxury Tax squeeze that has led to his departure.
The Traded Player Exception is unlikely to be used to acquire anyone who makes around $3.3 million. This is because adding $3.3 more to the table would put the Magic almost exactly at the $71.1 million Luxury Tax threshold.
It is possible the Nets will throw-in a second-round pick with unmeetable conditions to get the trade done. Teams usually have to send a draft choice or the Draft Rights to a player to get a deal through when they only using a Traded Player Exception, Capspace or Cash to acquire a player.
For example: The Denver Nuggets traded Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers for capspace last week. However, to make the trade, they had to be receiving something and that is why the right to swap 2010 second-round picks was given to Denver.
Last year, the Magic traded a top-55 protected 2009 second-round pick to the then- Seattle Supersonics (since traded to the Phoenix Suns) in the Rashard Lewis deal. It is possible the Magic will have to pay this in 2009 but if they don’t, there is no longer an obligation.
If the two teams have to do this, look for New Jersey to send Orlando a 2010 (New Jersey owes their 2009 second to Oklahoma City) second-round pick that is top 55 or 57 protected and only can be obtained that year. So, the Magic would not get a pick at all unless New Jersey was extremely good in 2010. The Nets could also send the Draft Rights to forward Christian Drejer instead but that is unlikely. These are all more of phantom picks than anything else.
Look for The Magic to use the exception and acquire someone with a lower salary. This could open the door a bit more for a trade with Memphis involving Javaris Crittenton. This would allow Memphis to deal him for a draft pick or two without taking back any salary.
Whether or not a Crittenton deal happens for this team is unknown. However, no one expects Memphis to keep all three of those young point guards Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry being the other two. It would be wonderful to land the 6-5 Crittenton as it would give the Magic a big young point guard that they can develop behind Jameer Nelson and Anthony Johnson.
Any deal is likely to cost the Magic at least one first-round pick. Memphis might decide to package him to another team instead in a deal for a player or a pick that will not be at the bottom of the Draft like the Magic’s pick will be. If they do not land Crittenton, look for the Magic to grab another point guard with a low salary for the Exception.
Even if nothing happens with the TPE, I am glad Keyon Dooling is going to get a better contract out of this. Thanks for everything Keyon. We will all miss you.
Reviewing Pietrus and Johnson Signings
After the Magic’s second round loss to the Detroit Pistons, one of the things many observers believed they needed to grab was a bigger shooting guard. On Thursday, the Orlando Magic added one when they signed Golden State Warriors free agent swingman Mickael Pietrus who was on the cover of my last article.
This was a very good move for The Magic. It was critical that they get at least a bigger shooting guard to counter with other big shooting guards in the Eastern Conference.
Pietrus is a talented wing player with a large wingspan and amazing leaping ability. He had a down year in Golden State and only stayed there because the Warriors threatened to match any offer he got for the Mid-Level Exception. So, he signed the tender and played a final season there. My feeling is will do better in this situation where he can take those open three-point shots and focus more on his strength at the defensive end. The biggest key for Pietrus will be staying healthy and not missing 10-20 games a year like he has done the previous four seasons due to injury.
Golden State fans did like Pietrus but felt he did not reach his potential. When I asked our Executive Editor and Golden State fan Chris Reina about Pietrus, he shared these thoughts but does think Pietrus will be a nice addition.
“I once thought Pietrus would take over for Jason Richardson and be a superior shooting guard because of his abilities on the defensive end, but he stagnated in his development in most areas of the game. He can be a lockdown defender on the wing at times, but isn’t consistent enough in this area.”
”His offensive game is limited to spot-up three-pointers and occasionally slashing to the bucket. He doesn’t create his own shot very well at all.”
”But he’s wanted out of Golden State for a while and he will be much happier playing for a new coach and closer to his home. He’s a great guy off the court, will work hard and be a great teammate.”
”Good signing for Orlando and I am happy he has found a good home.”
Like many of you, I am disappointed to see Keyon Dooling go. Unfortunately, it all came down to the Luxury Tax and the fact Orlando wanted a different dimension at the point.
The good news is Orlando was able to land a very good veteran backup point guard in Anthony Johnson. He had a stint back here in 2000. Amazing how the years fly by. Johnson is a tough and more importantly bigger (6-3) point guard to compliment the smaller starter Jameer Nelson.
Both are going to be key additions next season and critical to Orlando’s chance of getting past the second round in a conference that has gotten tougher this summer.
Before we move on to the next subject, here is a look at the current depth chart assuming Center Adonal Foyle does re-sign with The Magic. From the looks of it, if James Augustine is retained past the summer, the only void will be a third point guard. It is possible J.J. Redick or Keith Bogans could be dealt so they will not be disgruntled with playing time but this is pretty much going to be the roster this fall.
Point Guard: Jameer Nelson, Anthony Johnson
Shooting Guard: Mickael Pietrus, Keith Bogans, J.J. Redick, Courtney Lee
Small Forward: Hedo Turkoglu
Power Forward: Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie, Marcin Gortat, Brian Cook
Center: Dwight Howard, Adonal Foyle, James Augustine
Hedo Turkoglu Might Be Next To Feel Luxury Tax Crunch
The Magic have been cautious with offseason spending so they will not only stay below the Luxury Tax threshold for this season but also have some room under next year’s tax.
While the threshold for the 2009-2010 season, has not been announced, it should be around $74-$75.5 million, which would be a $3-$4 million jump from this season threshold.
Unfortunately, the payroll for the 2009-2010 season is already at around $60 million after Turkoglu opts out of the final year of his deal. This is assuming J.J. Redick’s option is picked up and Brian Cook does not opt out of his contract.
This next deal is likely to be Turkoglu’s last big payday and even though the Magic will have Full Bird Rights to re-sign him, it will cost at least $12 million and probably more of that $14-$15 million gap to re-sign him. Keep in mind the Magic would also have to fill almost half a roster with minimum salary contracts after re-signing Turkoglu. Even if the Magic gave him $14 million as a starting salary for his next deal, he would be making less money than Rashard Lewis. It is very possible Turkoglu and his agent will want more money or the same deal Lewis got. Many observers believe Turkoglu is the better player so unless he is willing to take less money or the Magic can dump some salary which is hard to do, A decision might have to be made before then on possibly trading Hedo Turkoglu.
This will likely be a hot topic of discussions all next season and could lead to a very difficult decision for General Manager Otis Smith.
FSN Florida Fiasco
As General Manager Otis Smith and his staff finish filling out the roster, all of us are beginning to look ahead towards the possibilities for this team next season.
Unfortunately, many of us have to worry about something no fan should have to worry about. For the past year and all of last season, customers of Bright House Networks and Comcast in Lake County have been without FSN Florida which carries 35 Magic games a year. There are other areas around Orlando Magic territory that have FSN Florida but their cable company needs to renegotiate with FSN Florida to include the 35 games as part of their deal with their channel.
Before I go any further, this dispute with FSN Florida has been going on at least 15 years from when the channel was known as SportsChannel Florida and Bright House Networks was Time Warner Cable.
For years, many fans had wanted TimeWarner/Bright House to pick up the channel so they could watch more Marlins and Rays games along with national FSN Shows. Finally, they saw an opportunity last season to finally get on Bright House systems.
The Magic had decided to stop producing 35 of their games a year. So, they decided to move from MyNetworkTV affiliate WRBW-65 to a network that would. WRDQ TV 27 and the local ION affiliate were interested but not willing to cover those costs. So, the Magic were left with Sun Sports and FSN Florida.
Down in Miami, all 82 Miami Heat games are broadcast on Sun Sports while the NHL’s Florida Panthers have all of their games on FSN Florida. The Magic would have loved to have this arrangement here even though the cable companies would have had to renegotiate their deals with Sun Sports for the additional games.
Unfortunately, there was a problem with doing this. The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning are well aware of this ongoing dispute and to avoid being shutout of a good chunk of the Orlando market, they put a clause in their contract to have all of their games on Sun Sports. With almost all of their 82 games on Sun Sports, it left no room on the schedule for the Magic’s other 35 games. This left one option: FSN Florida.
Now, back to where I left off. When FSN Florida saw this opportunity, they were jumping for joy to finally make some money in this market. After at least 15 years, this fight to FSN Florida on Bright House Networks was going to have to happen now or so they thought because they had acquired the perfect bargaining chip from the Magic. However, Bright House was not going to give in sticking their argument about paying twice for what essentially is two identical channels minus the colors, logos and names.
You would think the Magic would be wise enough to know that maybe this deal would raise the tensions between Bright House and FSN Florida and a clause to get out of the deal was needed if no deal would be reached. Sadly, the Magic thought this would never happen and took FSN’s word for it.
All last season, when we could not attend the game at Amway Arena or the Magic were on the road, we would have to either go to a friend’s house where there was a satellite dish, listen on the radio or do what a lot of people did but I refrained from…. Find a live feed to the game on the internet. It was simply a nightmare we were put through until March 25 when the frontloaded FSN schedule was finished. This whole dispute might be between the cable companies and FSN Florida but it is the fault of the Orlando Magic for not having the thought that this dispute would go on through the season with no end in sight.
Almost one year since the deal was signed and 35 games later for most fans, we again are excited about this coming season asking ourselves how the additions of Mickael Pietrus, Anthony Johnson and Courtney Lee will help this team? Will the Magic be able to land Javaris Crittenton from Memphis? Are the Magic going to be able to get back to where they were last year and get past the Detroit Pistons? Will the Magic be able to get into the Eastern Conference finals and knock off the defending World Champion Boston Celtics and just maybe, could they go all the way? Then, there is that lingering stop right there question in the back of our heads. Are we going to be able to watch those 35 games next year or are we going to do that nerve racking routine again of asking people if you can come over and watch the game, listen to it on the radio or even find a feed on the internet?
It is pathetic that we have to wonder about this dispute another whole summer leading to the start of the regular season in late October in what will be a frontloaded FSN Florida schedule. The Orlando Magic has said it is their #1 offseason priority to help broker a deal between the two sides and are angry about this. However, it is time they acted and pulled out every stop so we do not have go through another frustrating night and asking ourselves a question no fan should have to ask, Will I be able to watch the next Magic game on my TV?
Feedback
If you have a question or comment about this article, feel free to contact me howard@realgm.com All E-Mails will be replied to within 48 hours.
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