I think you pretty much nailed it. A lineup of Nelson-Pietrus-Carter-Lewis-Howard with Barnes-Bass-Gortat-JWll off the bench looks pretty formidable. I might even say they are the favorites in the east. It would be fun to see what those guys could do in the playoffs if all are healthy and playing well.

However the Carter trade is a gamble. Carter, Pietrus, and Nelson all have had injuries and they could be missing Courney Lee (and Alston) pretty quick if those guys get hurt again. New Jersey got a pretty solid player in Lee- with Harris and Lopez they could be a little better than some people think.

Boston might have a pretty short window too with the age of their stars- other than Rondo. Cleveland might lose Lebron. Even with Carter’s age I think Orlando will be pretty dominant in the east for a while unless Lebron and some other free agent create some freak superteam in 10-11.

From a Magic fan, I want to thank you for taking the time to write this up. That being said, i must respectfully disagree on a few points. The first is that the Magic do not have a deep bench. We essentially traded away or lost Hedo, Lee, Rafer, Tony Battie, Tyrone Lue, and Jeremy Richardson. We brought in or retained Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Marcin Gortat, Jason Williams, Adonal Foyle. I mean a starting line up of JWill, Carter, Barnes, Bass, and Gortat could be a starting lineup.

The only other minor debate I have (remember I said minor) is that the Magic have traded winning in the future for winning now. I think letting Hedo go was smart, they committed less money and time to Carter in his last few quality years, as opposed to spending more money and 5 years on Hedo as he goes into the twilight of his career. The Magic’s core 3 Lewis, Howard, and Nelson are signed through the next 3-4 years. They also have great young pieces in Bass, Gortat, and Anderson. I will agree that the moves the Magic made is to compete for a title now. But I also believe that the Magic’s moves were made to provide future flexibility.

Once again great write up and good luck this year!

Or are the Magic what, we (Nellie) wants us to be. Bunch of jump shooters who like to run with 1 HUGE post presence who can run the court.

The success of this year’s Orlando Magic really depends on the Boston Celtics. If the Celtics stay relatively healthy, no team in the East will come close to stopping them.

I did. I actually think Turkey might be a little better. And those two years are pretty key when you’re talking age 31 v. 33. Carter is getting mighty close to the age where players start to decline pretty dramatically.

Right, but that means Turk is only 2 years behind him, and Carter was only signed to a 2 year deal anyway. Like I said, more cap flexibility. Keep in mind that I’m not just bashing Turk because he isn’t on the Magic anymore. Most people that overestimate his value only witnessed his performance in the playoffs which is not indicative of his time with Orlando as a whole. He did quite well yes, but all this “point forward essential to the team’s success” is a crock. I had a lot of questions about Turk’s shot selection and inability to finish his drives and still do. Vince has been playing on terrible teams since he entered the league. More than anything it seems like Vince’s motivation is in question, not his talent. Vince has been a superstar, and allstar, heir Jordan. Turk is quite good.

Consider this recent video of Vince showing his stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5cOhMP2oLg

I didn’t compare efficiency; I compared plus-minus. Not the be-all and end-all of stats, but not a useless piece of data either.

My mistake, but what I said applies to plus minus also. In context, this seems like a terrible comparison tool.

Fans tend to like their team’s bench. I would rather have Gortat than Turiaf at backup C, mostly because of his freakish rebounding. On the other hand, I’ll take our Brandan over your Brandon; ACC sharpshooter Morrow over ACC sharpshooter Reddick; hunky Azubuike over hunky Barnes; and spunky Curry/CJ over spunky Johnson/Williams.

Well consider we spent a large part of the offseason pursuing CJ Watson I certainly not going to debate Golden State has a solid bench. However I was never trying to say who’s bench is better. Anyone would take Morrow over Reddick at this point, and Watson over Johnson or Williams. But the Orlando bench is comprised of a lot of role players who have performed well in those situations before. Also Brandon Bass has a huge upside. Despite the fact that a lot of fans tend to like their teams, I still say Orlando’s bench will surprise people, but to clarify, that isn’t saying Golden State’s won’t be equally as impressive. But Golden State doesn’t figure to be in the title hunt, so they won’t get much time in the spotlight unfortunately.

…. maybe for the champs.

They have the franchise player in Howard, at center, which is not a position of strength for most teams. They have quality starters (all stars, for what that is worth) at PF, SG, and PG in Lewis, VCarter, and JNelson. They have quality role players. And they have a good coach whose system fits the team.

Cleavland has the franchise player (LeBron), quality starters in MWilliams (PG) and Shaq ©, with strong role players and a coach whose system fits the team. I don’t think LeBron is so much better than Howard to overcome the relative deficiencies. It is worth discussing, and I might be under-rating the rest of the Cavs (or just how good LeBron really is) but I’d have to say the Magic have the advantage here.

The Celtics have the franchise player – Kevin Garnett (PF/C), if he’s healthy – and/or Paul Pierce (SF) and Ray Allen (SG), and a point guard in Rondo who has shown a noteworthy ability to carry the team as well. They have strong role players Wallace, Perkins, Davis, and House. They have a coach and a system that won a championship 1.5 years ago and still fits the team well. The only thing that gives Orlando any strong advantage here is that so many of the Celtics important pieces are old and showing signs of breaking down. In a seven game series with everyone healthy, who knows which way it will go. In a seven game series at the end of an 82 game season, after (potentially) one round of the playoffs, there are a lot of opportunities for the wheels to come off the Celtics championship bus.

The Hawks are a nice team with some really good players, but nobody in the class of LeBron, Howard, or Garnett (or should I say Garnett-Pierce-Allen-Rondo.) They would really have to outperform expectations to challenge in the East.

The Heat have Wade (, Beasley,) and expiring contracts. Those expiring contracts might actually be able to imitate a basketball team sufficiently to make the Heat interesting again (much like last year,) but they are not competing for the championship.

Did I just mention the heat in a discussion of who’s competing in the East? I think I’ve already gone on longer than I needed to. I will stop now.