Magic Wands: July 31, 2009

-So, who got left off the all-decade team. Justin Kubatko of Basketball-Reference.com starts the debate by naming his all-2000s team. There are some notable names left off the list.

-Marcin Gortat will no longer get those nice Reebok shoes he was wearing. Too bad, they complemented his Air Jordan tattoo really well.

-Ladies, want to win a date with Dwight Howard? Now you can!

-Former Magic man and Orlando resident Dee Brown was named the head coach and general manager of the D-League's Springfield Armor.

-The NBA is allowing teams to sell ad space on their practice jerseys. Don't know how I feel about this. I like how American jerseys are not spaces for sale. It is nice popping the jersey and it saying "Orlando" or "Magic" as opposed to "Walt Disney: Where Dreams are Made." Can I get some free tickets for the mention, maybe?

Magic Wands: July 24, 2009

-Lester Munson of ESPN.com on an upcoming Supreme Court case that could have very big implications for all of sports.

-Vince Carter New Jersey Nets jerseys are going for $15 while supplies last. They are the right color... if not the wrong name. But who hasn't replaced names on jerseys -- I still have my Tracy McGrady-turned-Doug Christie uniform at home.

-Hardwood Paroxysm asks the question Orlando kind of answered: to retool or not to retool.

-Ranking the NBA's best remaining free agents.

-Dwight Howard will be appearing in a romantic comedy coming out this February. Orlando's star is certainly feeling the love.

-China is supposedly blaming the NBA's way-too-long season for Yao Ming's injury issues. It certainly wasn't him spending his offseasons playing for the national team every year while he was rushing back from injury. Lets you know how Americans view the national team responsibilities despite the gold medal.

-A map to the NBA offseason.

Feeling a bit like the Yankees

Orlando signed Matt Barnes on Monday using the remainder of its mid-level exception. Barnes is a versatile forward who can do some dirty work, mix it up inside and hit 3-pointers. Since the Magic signed Brandon Bass, I felt he was the best player available that could help them win the title.

So great, Orlando got its man. The team got the piece it needed to virtually complete its roster.

At the beginning of this summer of turnover, I was skeptical of the moves. I did not know if Vince Carter was the right piece to add. I did not know if Brandon Bass was the exact right fit. Even though I love -- and I mean LOVE -- Marcin "Increasingly Growing Urban Legend" Gortat, I did not think it was wise for the Magic to match his offer sheet from Dallas.

It was an interesting summer to this point to say the least. I was not sold it would get the Magic back to the Finals. I am feeling better about it now.

But why does it feel so dirty?

Take a look at our budget sheet, courtesy 3rd Quarter Collapse. That $80 million payroll is nothing to laugh at. Orlando is well into the luxury tax and will be fore quite some time. All in the name of winning a title.

As a Magic fan, I cannot complain. Orlando is in a very realistic position to win a title next season. The ownership has put in all its chips and gotten behind the dream of a title.

That is perhaps what feels so wrong.

The Magic have never been a team to go into the luxury. It has been something they have feared to perhaps a fault. It destroyed any chance of surrounding Tracy McGrady -- to this point perhaps the best scorer in the team's history -- with a decent roster (thanks Grant Hill). It let Darrell Armstrong walk for nothing.

It has handicapped Orlando as the team toiled in mediocrity throughout the early part of this decade. And let's not talk about the poor decisions and moves made with the money they did spend.

So now that the Magic are spending copious amounts of money and making good personnel moves, it all seems surreal and wrong.

OK, maybe saying Orlando is acting like the Yankees is wrong. They are more like the Red Sox -- spending copious amounts of money, but making good decisions instead of bad ones. But that is a lot of money to spending and it is never fun to feel like you are buying a championship -- I would know, I cheer for the Marlins in baseball.

But as my nine-year-old mind discovered when the Fish won the World Series in 1997 -- and South Florida learned again when the Heat won a title in 2006 -- it doesn't matter how you win a title.

If all these moves get Orlando a title, the fans and (most definitely) ownership will feel this is money well spent.

The consequences if the Magic should fail will be very interesting. But that is a concern for next summer.

All I know is that with Barnes, Carter and Bass on board, Orlando could very well see itself back in the Finals and lifting that trophy instead of seeing someone else take it from them.

Instances of the Curse: Milwaukee Madness

In the early 2000s, no team drove Orlando made like Milwaukee. Yes, hard to believe. But at one time the Bucks were perhaps the Magic's biggest rival.

That thought seems so silly now with Milwaukee's struggles toward relevancy. But back in the day, the Bucks rolled with Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassel. It was deadly trio that got Milwaukee some playoff glory... although no titles and really nothing more than a blip on the general NBA historical radar screen.

But for some reason, George Karl's team was maddeningly difficult for Doc Rivers, Tracy McGrady and Darrell Armstrong to solve.

The rivalry truly gained footing in 2002 when Karl said in an interview with Esquire that several long-time assistant coaches were being overlooked in favor of former players like then-Magic coach Doc Rivers or then-Nets coach Byron Scott.

The outrage in Orlando was so great that they played the Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back when Karl took the floor during a 101-91 win in 2002 -- that effectively broke the curse and was one of the most fun games I have ever been to.

What hurt even more was the fact Milwaukee won 10 consecutive regular season games from 1999-2002. And let's go further back and mention the Bucks won just two of the first 14 meetings -- and those early 90s Bucks teams were no where near as good as those late 90s Bucks teams.

The rivalry truly began when the Bucks knocked the heart and hustle team out of surprising Playoff contention with a 85-83 win in Orlando on the penultimate game of the season.

The rivalry really came to a head when the seventh-seeded Magic faced the second-seeded Bucks in the 2001 Playoffs. This was Tracy McGrady's first foray into the postseason as a member of the Magic.

Milwaukee were the clear favorites entering the series and Orlando was honestly looking for one game in the best of five series. The Bucks took the first two games in the Bradley Center as expected. But Tracy McGrady turned in one of his patented postseason performances.

The Orlando Sentinel's headline read: T-Mactacular!

McGrady scored 42 points in the overtime win to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Bucks. It was a cathartic win at the TD Waterhouse Centre.

Milwaukee still won the series in four, closing out on the Orlando floor a few nights later.

That win seemed to make all the suffering worth it.

The losing continued somewhat. Orlando won just eight times in 27 meetings between 1999 and the beginning of 2006. It will forever be Milwaukee Madness for Orlando.

Magic Wands: July 17, 2009

-A Dallas fan explains exactly what Orlando is getting in Brandon Bass.

-Acquiring Ryan Anderson is a 2-for-1 deal. You get Ryan the basketball player but also Ryan the goofball. Curious who he will select as his cohort without Brook Lopez (my bet? Adonal Foyle). Also hoping there is a few days before the Magic play the Nets so there is an awkward moment between Lopez and Anderson on YouTube.

-Toronto wants to be the Orlando of the Great White North.

-Dwight Howard the journalist?

-Congratulations to the U.S. basketball U-19 team for defeating Greece last weekend and taking home the gold medal for the first time in 18 years. Much props to them -- especially Northwestern's John Shurna (I have to give my alma mater some love, especially when it is in basketball).

-Kevin Love on the art of Tweeting.

-Tracy McGrady will no longer wear No. 1 for the Rockets. T-Mac is switching to No. 3 to promote his 3 Points Darfur program. Good to see Mac has a social conscience and is doing something productive while he is hurt. If the program struggles, expect him to demand a trade to a better one. (I kid, I kid. This is a very good program and I am glad athletes like T-Mac and throughout the NBA are getting involved with it.)

-Doug Collins and Peter Vescey have been awarded the Curt Gowdy Award this year. They will receive the honor at the Hall of Fame enshrinement in September.

-Conan O'Brien has found the tape of LeBron James getting dunked on.

-Dwight Howard wins a trophy from EA Sports. And challenges Vince Carter to a dunk contest. Hey World!

-Adonal Foyle could have made some serious dough if Orlando won the title... and if he played in it the Finals... and if he won MVP.

-When they say "Raise the Roof" at the Orlando Events Center. They really mean it.

Magic catch a Bass

Surprised I have not seen that pun before. But the big news coming out of RDV Sportsplex was not Ryan Anderson's struggles in the final Summer League game (he certainly had an impressive week putting four stellar games in five days and earning a spot on the first team for the five-day league).

Instead it was Orlando agreeing to terms with Dallas Mavericks free agent Brandon Bass on a reported 4 year, $18 million contract. That equates to about $4.5 million a year and he supposedly has an out clause after the second year.

In reading the long run up to this acquisition, I have heard a lot of mixed reviews about Bass. A lot of people really like him as a player. Even for a guy at 6-8 (one of his detractions maybe), he is a tough rebounder who will scrap and, as The Orlando Sentinel put it, do the dirty work.

I have been calling for Orlando to sign someone whose sole purpose is to protect Dwight Howard and get after people who try to outmuscle him (impossible, I know). Bass can be that guy. What he does really does not always show up on a state sheet.

He will help Howard down low to get rebounds and clean up any misses around the basket when Howard is shooting or not in the game.

The biggest question about Bass is how he will fit into the roster. Bass is 6-8 and was called on to play center for Dallas at times. I do not know how comfortable I am with Bass coming and playing center all the time -- the Magic are in the market for a backup center to replace Marcin Gortat with the remainder of their mid-level exception.

Bass is also not known for his jumper. He has some range outside the pain -- think Tony Battie's range, maybe a shade shorter -- but is not the 3-point shooter that is the ideal of Orlando's spread the floor system. Some people see him as a starter, which I think he certainly can do, others see him coming off the bench.

What I like about this move is that it gives the Magic flexibility and versatility. That is something very important and inherent to Stan Van Gundy's whole scheme with this team.

No one thought Rashard Lewis could play power forward when Orlando signed him. That has clearly worked out. Until the Finals, that is.

Adding a player like Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass have greatly increased the number of (theoretically) effective lineups the Magic can use. They can throw out their traditional lineup, but also now throw out a big lineup with Carter, Lewis, Bass and Howard on the floor. Or they could go small and have an Anderson and Bass on the floor down low while Howard is out.

The possibilities are no a little more endless. Plus competition is always a good thing in the fight for the power forward spot (I still like Mickael Pietrus off the bench) or for the backup power forward spot.

Bass is going to be a player that endears himself to Magic fans with his effort and play.

Summer League Thoughts

The following are my thoughts from the four-day Orlando Summer League, held at RDV Sportsplex from June 6 until June 10.

-Dante and Galante are quite funny. They don't talk about the game as much as you like, but it is freaking Summer League and they don't take it or themselves too seriously. It is worth the listen just for them.

-To the players, James Harden looks like he will be able to hold his own. He got to the basket and has a better jump shot than I thought. Of course the competition was not so great either.

-As Dante and Galante pointed out, Serge Ibaka for Oklahoma City is very good when he is trying to score. Not so good when he is trying to do anything else. He looked real athletic around the basket, blocking shots and scoring in the post. Still incredibly raw though.

-Shaun Livingston looked healthy. Not dominant yet, but he should be able to contribute to Oklahoma City next year. Good to see him playing basketball period.

-Richard Hendrix is an absolute beast. Dante and Galante claimed he is planning on going to MMA if this basketball thing does not work out. I do not know if that is true, but I would believe it. He is a fantastic rebounder (in this game) and he will get put backs. Don't know how useful he would be in the season. But the way he works, I think he would be good to have at the end of the bench just to throw in for five energy minutes a game. I don't think you can get a bad minute out of him.

-Ryan Anderson's much anticipated premier with the Magic was so-so, in my thought. His jumper was better than I thought, but I don't feel comfortable with him standing behind the 3-point line shooting threes all day. He is also better in the post than I thought. But he also is not a very strong rebounder and, as reported earlier, he is not particularly strong around the basket. I am interested to see how he develops this week.

-Jeremy Richardson can shoot the ball. Is he the next Darrell Armstrong?

Magic Wands: July 10, 2009

-The NBA Salary Cap is set at $57.7 million, the first time the cap has decreased since 2002. Let the signings begin!

-So much for the 2010 free agent bonanza. A memo from the NBA has said the salary cap could drop all the way down to $50 million next year.

-Marcin Gortat has said all the right things about leaving Orlando. And apparently, Otis had some nice words to the Polish Hammer on his departure.

-Shaq continues to have delusions of grandeur. LeBron did get dunked on.

The Temporary Incapacitation of Parity

The last two weeks have been interesting in the NBA, to say the least. Richard Jefferson to the Spurs. Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers. Vince Carter to the Magic. Ron Artest to the Lakers. Trevor Ariza to the Rockets. Hedo Turkoglu to the Blazers. Or to the Raptors, not sure yet.

To say the least, no one could have foreseen even just one of these moves two-and-a-half weeks ago. Or the way they seemed to follow each other one after the other.

It seems like the teams that are going after a title are sititng at a poker table watching others in front of them bet the house for a championship next year and then having to raise the ante one more just to stay on top.

With the NBA in the economic state it is in, teams are cutting salary as quickly as possible. That has meant the teams willing to spend the money can have pretty much any player on a losing team. This has created a mercenary-type atmosphere in the NBA. The superstars of the lower half of the league are like hired guns who can be bouth for pennies on the dollar.

Don't tell me Phoenix got anything of value on the court for Shaquille O'Neal. Don't tell me Courtney Lee (as much as Magic fans love him), Tony Battie and Rafer Alston add up to the potential output of Vince Carter.

More than at any point, it is clear four or five teams are going for the title while the others are happy to fill out an 82-game season and survive financially until next season.

This is going to turn out to be unhealthy for the NBA. The divide between the winners and losers in the league is growing. No longer can you just lump the Clippers and the Grizzlies in the hopeless pile at the beginning of the year. More teams will join them this year.

And really, if you want to get serious, depending on how new players mesh, next year's title will be won by Cleveland, Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio, Orlando or Boston.

They are simply the only ones willing to spend the money to win a title and no one else is. They are going after players with no regard for the salary cap because others are too afraid of it.

Parity is going to be dead in the NBA this year.

The Magic, Spurs, Cavs, Lakers and Celtics will have far and away the most wins in the league. You could see all five around 60 and the next best team in the mid-40s. No team except these five have made serious moves to improve themselves.

Magic Wands: July 3, 2009

-Happy Birthday Me!

-And Orlando's D-league affiliate is... the Reno Bighorns! Hurray. Orlando will now ignore you completely. The Bighorns feature such fantastic talent as Lamar Butler, Richie Frahm and Cezary Trabanski.

-Dwight Howard offers his thoughts on an odd Thursday last week.

-With the Draft over, it is time to once again discuss the NBA's rules regarding entry. It is very clear the one-and-done rule is not working as intended. It has gutted college basketball and made the whole system somewhat farcical -- meanwhile the experienced teams keep winning the title. Minnesota Timberwolves blog Canis Hoopus links to an interesting article that asks why people are not complaining about the lack of education in baseball.

-The Rockets are not hiding their love of Marcin "Bow Down Before the Polish Hammer or You Will Get Nailed" Gortat.

-Am I the only one who remembers Curtis Borchardt, a pick out of Stanford by the Magic in 2003 before he was traded to Utah for Ryan Humphrey on Draft night? Apparently he is a "force" in Europe and signed with a new team.

-Some self-promotion. But yesterday was the 10-year anniversary of the senseless and racially charged murder of Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong. A few friends of mine at Northwestern helped produce a story chronicling the story and its impact on the communities of Evanston, Illinois, and Atlanta.

-Woody Womack of Orlando Magic Daily with a complete breakdown of Orlando's Summer League roster.

-Updated odds for who will win the NBA Finals puts the Magic at 6-to-1. Pretty good. Cavaliers, Lakers and Celtics still ranked ahead of them.

-I am beginning to trust President Obama's basketball analysis (special guest color commentator for the NBA Finals in 2010? Think about it, Mr. President). Obama said Bryant is still not at Michael Jordan's level. I would agree.

-Here they are the 50 highest earning American athletes according to Sports Illustrated. Top 3: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, LeBron James. James gets the foul and is bumped ahead of Mickelson despite the two playing completely different sports and Mickelson being such a nice guy. Shaq is No. 5. Dwight Howard? No. 13, up from No. 22 on last year's list. Tracy McGrady is 15. Worked hard for that money. Steve Francis is No. 22(?). Vince Carter is behind him at No. 23. Go figure. Rashard Lewis and his mammoth contract get him to No. 30 on the list (he only has $750,000 in endorsements).