| Magic Land Carter: Must Fill Out Roster Authored by Howard Mass - July 7, 2009 - 7:13 am
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At first, I thought our Executive Editor Chris Reina was playing a prank on me but after he showed me the ESPN link, I was floored.
The general reaction most Magic fans had when the Vince Carter deal was announced was it's a steal to land Carter but very hurtful to lose rookie sensation Courtney Lee. While this is true, The Magic finally landed something they lacked this season and in the playoffs, a go-to scorer. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu did hit some big shots in these playoffs. However, most times they got free via the pick and roll and sometimes in Hedo's case, an isolation off the dribble in your face three pointer. Now, the Magic will be able to put the ball in Carter's hands when they need a shot at the end of the game and he will not be limited to a jump shot.
It will be a huge boost to the Magic and it is wonderful to have Carter home.
There is a problem though…
How is the Magic going to fill out their roster when free agency starts on Wednesday July 8?
For starters, here is a look at the current team
Under Contract
Dwight Howard
Vince Carter
Rashard Lewis
Jameer Nelson
Mickael Pietrus
Ryan Anderson
Anthony Johnson
J.J. Redick
Free Agents
Hedo Turkoglu
Marcin Gortat
Tyronn Lue
Adonal Foyle
Jeremy Richardson
Roster and Luxury Tax
The Orlando Magic currently has 8 players under contract. NBA teams must have at least 13 players on their roster and the 30 NBA teams must have an average of 14 players on their rosters or they are surcharged a fee to the NBA Players Association.
With this being said, the Magic must add at least 5 more players to their roster for next season.
The payroll is currently around $68 million with the projected luxury tax around $69 million. It is obvious this team will pay the luxury tax with at least a $7 million bill.
Over the past few days, the obvious seems to have finally sunk in with Magic fans that Hedo Turkoglu will be in a different uniform next season. With the addition of Vince Carter, there were just not enough shots to go around and given the cost of re-signing Turkoglu while having the need for help on the bigger part of the frontline does not make much sense. There was a rumor that GM Otis Smith made a last-second offer to Turkoglu. It was just not to be though and he is moving on to The Toronto Raptors. We are grateful for everything Hedo gave these last five seasons. Unfortunately, it is time for both sides to go their separate ways.
While Hedo Turkoglu got the most attention, the interest in center Marcin Gortat was also strong.
Gortat is a restricted free agent which means the Magic can match any offer for him. It appears the Dallas Mavericks are going to sign him to an offer sheet for the entire Mid-Level Exception worth around $5.5 million next week which the Magic will then have 7 days to match.
It is unknown if the Magic will match the offer sheet. However, if they do and plan to stick with the planned $75 million payroll, the rest of the roster will be filled out with minimum salary players.
Matching Dallas' offer sheet for Gortat and using a good chunk of the Mid-Level Exception to sign a power forward plus 3 to 4 minimum salary players will push the payroll to around $81 or $82 million. Add the $11 to $12 million in Luxury tax payments and Owner Rich Devos is looking at close to a $95 million tab.
The above figure is a very steep price to pay for a payroll.
My feeling is matching the offer sheet for Marcin Gortat will be a backup move if Otis Smith cannot land the frontcourt player he wants.
Rasheed Wallace would have be the ultimate pickup. The guy would have lit a fire under this team which they did need at times last year. It would have also be nice to have a true power forward who can shoot from the outside next to Dwight Howard. What the Magic do at the power forward position will likely determine the Starting Lineup next year and mainly if Rashard Lewis starts at the 4 again or moves to the 3.
Here are a few scenarios that I came up with.
-Magic let Gortat walk and sign a big man like Brandon Bass or Antonio McDyess for the full MLE and round out the roster with minimum salary players.
- Magic match Dallas’ offer sheet to Marcin Gortat and use part of the MLE to grab another reserve like another big man or a third point guard.
- Magic decline to match Dallas’ Offer Sheet to Marcin Gortat. They then split the Mid-Level Exception between two players and round out the rest of the roster with league minimum players.
Possibilities
Looking at the current makeup of the roster, this team needs to add 2-3 players in the frontcourt, 1-2 swingmen and a third point guard.
Rasheed Wallace was on the top of mine and many other lists. Landing him would have meant Rashard Lewis slides to small forward and Mickael Pietrus could come off of the bench and be a sixth man. Now, we have to look at the less attractive possibilities.
Brandon Bass would be a good addition for say 20 minutes a game. He could be that smaller power forward rebounder that is starting to become a trend in this league. Bass is not worth a full Mid-Level Exception though and I would prefer the Magic split the MLE between two players rather than hand the whole thing to him. It might be possible that Bass would take say $3.5 million of the exception depending on the market Unfortunately, it looks like he will get the full MLE somewhere.
Antonio McDyess- A solid guy to either start next to Dwight Howard or come off of the bench. If he is signed, I expect either him or Ryan Anderson to start with Lewis moving to small forward.
Shawn Marion- This is a long shot given he likely will get more than the MLE via a sign and trade elsewhere. He could fit in well here with his three-point shot and defense. There are others like him that could feel the squeeze and Otis Smith will keep his options open.
There are others out there like former Magic players Drew Gooden and Zaza Pachulia along with Joe Smith, Channing Frye and others who can help out in a backup role.
There are other options out there that Otis Smith will be looking at if the above options do not pan out. I do not read much into the Nate Robinson rumors. If the Magic are going to sign someone of Nate’s height, it will probably be a young backup point guard but probably not a bigger name than who they had last year to start the season in Mike Wilks. It is possible it could though given the Magic’s status as one of the league’s elite teams. If I had to put my money on it, the permanent third point guard for the playoffs will end up being a player cut after the NBA’s Trading Deadline in February. With 3-4 minimum salary players likely to be on the roster, this after the Deadline pickups will become more likely each year.
The Swingman position could have Jeremy Richardson and possibily another guy in the Keith Bogans mold that feels the squeeze of the free agent dollars. It really will be about how the dominos fall.
As for the other roster spots, Richardson and Adonal Foyle could be brought back. Richardson’s status probably has a lot to do with his summer league play. The Magic will have to sign a minimum salary player like him regardless and keeping him would allow for less turnover. In Foyle’s case, he wants a ring and if the Magic believes he has anything left, he could return in the same role he had this season. Tyronn Lue hardly played when he was briefly the second point guard and will in all likelihood depart.
Got to be in it to win it
Soon we will be approaching one month since The Orlando Magic came up short in the NBA Finals. It was truly heartbreaking to lose that series when it could have been 3-1 going into that Game 5. The biggest blow was losing to the Los Angeles Lakers and watching them celebrate another championship on the Magic’s home floor. After all, we watched them celebrate what could have been the Magic’s great fortunes back in the early 2000’s. Now, we had to watch them win again on our team’s own damn home court.
Everyone recalls how much this team was doubted this season and it made all that more special when they got to the NBA Finals. All of us believed and it was so hard to come up short. The other 14 teams in the Eastern Conference are going to try and make sure the Magic do not make a return to the Finals next season. Boston will think in their minds that it was a fluke because they did not Kevin Garnett. In Cleveland, Mo Williams is still probably delusional in thinking the Cavs are better than the Magic especially with the addition of Shaq. Washington, Toronto and Miami could emerge contenders but will likely come up short. The point is a return trip is not going to be easy.
The Vince Carter trade was made to get back to the Finals. He will be the go-to scorer that Orlando needed last season. When they need a bucket at the end of the game, he will be their man. For the next three seasons, the payroll is going to be high with money tied up to Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson. So, Orlando is going to be a team in the luxury tax and will need not only to sign bargains at the league minimum but also get some hits with those late first-round picks that will be on cheap rookie contracts for four seasons. The good teams draft well and Orlando is going to need to do this to have a good bench and keep the luxury tax payments down.
Right now, many of you believe free agency is bleak after striking out on Rasheed Wallace and seeing those darn Lakers pick up Ron Artest. However, when you get hit, you got to get right back up and deal with everything that comes your way. General Manager Otis Smith has made some great moves since last summer like grabbing Mickael Pietrus, drafting Courtney Lee and making the season-saving trade by acquiring Rafer Alston. Now, he has picked up Vince Carter in hopes that will put this team over the top. The window for this team is now and I believe in him.
When your favorite team comes so far, it is difficult to see them go down. Life is about getting right back up though and dealing with any adversity you may have. Even if some GM serves the Lakers up another sweetheart deal (Cough: Pau Gasol) you can complain all you want, it happened. We can think what if Memphis had some common sense that day they made the deal? Let me tell you I’ve had a few sleepless nights about that as I doubt the Lakers would have been in the Finals without that deal served on a silver platter. You got to deal with this crap in life and so do the Magic and all of the other NBA teams.
In the end here, I do not have all the answers. Anything can happen. Maybe Otis will even pull off a small trade. All I can say is I trust General Manager Otis Smith will follow one of the above scenarios and get some size and depth on the bench. The best thing for all of us to do is sit back and enjoy these next few crazy weeks before the slow months of August and September come along watch Otis Smith work his Magic to return this team to the NBA Finals so we can all have the pleasure of watching the final moments of that June game next year and our Orlando Magic becoming the 2009-2010 NBA Champions!
If you have questions or comments about this article, you can reach Howard Mass at Howard.Mass@RealGM.com
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