Big News out of Orlando…Again!

Adding Sheed would make them a lock for a title….

that just helps confirm my prediction. Spurs vs Magic in the finals next year.

Yeah Hedo is gone but the Magic probably aren’t going to get Rasheed IMO. Brandon Bass…maybe but he isn’t much help.

Personally I don’t think the Magic will add any free agents this year. I see their starting lineup looking like this:

PG-Nelson
SG-Pietrus
SF-Carter
PF-Lewis
C-Howard

That is a good lineup but they won’t beat the Cavs.

Nobody is a lock for the title, although I do think it would make them the favorite to come out of the east. I think the Magic realized that RLewis at the pf was too much of a defensive liability against good players like Gasol.

llperez- come on…

Gator- I think they can beat the cavs

with KG healthy i think the Celtics will face the Cavs in the east finals and celtics will win, and then the west lakers vs spurs if the lake show resigns odom and ariza,,but i think the celtics will take it again

Knicksboy34- I agree….if the Magic get Bass & Wallace then yes they will beat the Cavs. But like I said I don’t think they will get Bass or Wallace so I still think the Cavs are the favorites.

Of course the Celtics could be the favorites because….I think they are actually the team that is most likely to get Rasheed.

I think without Hedo…The Magic still have a edge. Cleveland has no wing players beside LBJ. Shaq cannot hold Howard…I think with VC now, The Magic could sweep them.

I said the Magic are favorites to come out of the east but not locks and you tell me to come on…? Anyways, check out my new thread on 2010 title contenders. In the words of Mark Jackson, I’m a truth sayer.

The Magic lost some depth though. Rafer is a quality backup PG….now their backup PG is garbage. Lee was the best perimeter defender. You lose him and I know Pietrus is good but once again you have no depth. Carter is just as good offensively as Hedo but he isn’t as big and won’t cause the same matchup problems. Carter has no chance against LeBron on offense or defense. Overall you have to admit the Magic won’t be as good next year and the Cavs just got better.

You lose Rafer, Lee, & Hedo and you gain Carter. Not to mention Gortat is probably gone too.
The Cavs lose nobody & add Shaq.
I’m taking Cleveland all the way to the Bank.

I hope the Mavericks can re-sign Bass. I couldn’t see him signing with the Magic if they get Sheed, because his minutes would be very limited compared to what other teams can offer.

I’m going to have to go with Gatorhills and agree that the Magic lost a lot of depth. Though I don’t think that Alston would have played well if he came off the bench, and realistically Gortat only plays 8 minutes a game. There are a lot of guys that can give you that. I think Vince Carter is a good fit for this team, but they really need to make some kind of move to replace some of what they lost. When has Vince Carter ever led anybody to anything? Orlando has a lot of money tied up already and the last I heard was that Rasheed wanted at least 8 million a year.

Shaq in Cleveland is good from the perspective that they didn’t have to give up much for him, but Cleveland still has a lot of holes and will Shaq stay healthy? I do think that he will be motivated though. Cleveland still needs some more pieces and need to sign Varejo. I’m still trying to figure out why there are no great shooters or better athletes around Lebron.

If healthy, I would still say that Boston is going to be the best in the East. They would have won it all if they were healthy this year. My early prediction is Boston and San Antonio in the finals.

Yeah I love the VC trade, he definately makes them better than they were with Hedo!!!
But depth is gonna kill them, Gortat is pretty much gone, he’s gonna have plenty of teams after him, and he’ll probably command a full mid-level exception!!!
And I’m not sure if they have Bird Rights, but if not then they’re stuck!!!
I still think they can beat Cleveland, but no way they get past a healthy Boston with no bench!!!

so your lineup is nelson,carter,pietrus,rashard lweis,sheed,and Dwight Howard, whos 6th man Redick?cmon great teams have depth, their top reserves last year-Cortney Lee,Gortat,Redick,and Tony Battie, 3 out of 4 or gone not to mention Rafer Alston and Hedo

Sheed wouldn’t make the Magic a lock for the title. I think with him and Bass, they could be just as good maybe a little better than when they had Hedo but Shaq with the Cavs and KG back with the Celtics could be just as good. So it will be nice to see next year.

if anybody thinks that Orlando is better off against Cleveland by adding Carter and losing Hedo, then you’re a fool.

you can sit here and say Lewis, Nelson and Howard were the all-stars, but all season and in the playoffs, when the 4th quarter rolled around, the plays were ran with Turkoglu running the point-forward. Turkoglu was good at the point forward because he knew to create for himself but also for other people.

exit turkoglu, insert Carter.

another player who runs the point-forward late in games. here’s the problem, Carter doesn’t pass in the 4th quarter. he thinks the game is all about him in the clutch, and it’s why he’s never done much of anything in the post-season.

removing an unselfish player and inserting a selfish player does not make your team better, even if the selfish player is a better overall player.

Oh yeah, and does anybody outside of Cleveland and New Jersey know about Vince Carters dissappearing acts in the playoffs against the Cavs.

Adding Shaq to Cleveland makes Cleveland a better team than adding Vince to Orlando. I’ll explain why…

Adding Shaq not only takes the pressure off Lebron, but it makes Mo Williams the 3rd option as opposed to the 2nd option. Why does this matter? teams made it tough for Mo in the playoffs because they were running more defenses to shut Mo down as the 2nd option. Adding Shaq makes Mo the 3rd option and now teams have to worry about doubling Lebron and doubling down on Shaq, which will make it much easier for Mo and Delonte to get open shots.

as of right now, Cleveland is the best team in the East, sorry Magic fans but you just traded for a guy who dissappears in the playoffs, dude got shut down by Sasha Pavlovic 2 years ago, how pathetic is that?

Even with Rasheed and Bass, I don’t see who could run the team like Hedo but I think Jameer is capable. He showed last year that he has the potential to improve and along with Carter’s passing, maybe they can make another deep run. I think the Celtics will win the regular season and Cavs will be eastern conference champs with Orlando the third best team in the east.