Orlando Magic Kingdom Under Renovation

There is one main goal that each team in the NBA wishes to achieve during the off-season, and that is to stock up their personnel and strike deals with the best free agents and trade available. A lot of players have come and gone, but the Orlando Magic appear to be the team that underwent the most changes in its roster. They lost a really valuable player and got an All-Star caliber guy to compensate for the loss. Still, the changing of guard from Hedo Turkoglu to Vince Carter presents the Magic with a lot of question marks.

Thanksgiving for Hedo

Hedo Turkoglu experienced his Renaissance period during his past two seasons with the Orlando Magic. The 6′10” forward from Turkey started out his career in Sacramento as a backup for Peja Stojakovic during their peak years (2002-2004). Turkoglu vowed during one off-season that he will eventually replace Stojakovic as a starter for the Kings, but alas, it did not happen. Although lacking in refinement, Turkoglu has the tools to become an NBA starter: confident, wily, versatile, lanky, and can score at will. The realization of his potential took quite a dip, however, when he assumed a journeyman role after his stint with the Kings as a marksman for the San Antonio Spurs. After one underwhelming season with the team, Turkoglu became a free agent and signed with Orlando, where he finally became a starter, and a star, he promised he would be.

Looking back at what Turkoglu did for the Magic team up until the Finals, it just makes it more difficult to deal with his loss. Behind the 17-5-5 points-rebounds-assists he delivered last season, it will be Turkoglu’s sheer versatility and clutch shooting that Orlando will miss from him. He initiated the offense most of the time and ran the pick-and-roll with Dwight Howard on the top key with so much success that it toppled both the Celtics and Cavaliers for a berth in the  Finals. When Orlando wanted a guy to take a shot when the game is on the line, Turkoglu was pretty much the guy with the ball. That’s the kind of trust the Magic has for Turkoglu and with good reason.

Turkoglu is not without faults. He is inconsistent, delivering a big game on one night and fading the next. Also, he shoots the ball poorly (41%)  for a guy who’s asked to make baskets. He makes the occasional bad pass every now and then. Hell, I’m just nitpicking here. Of course, he’s not a perfect player, but, when drawingfrom his strengths, Turkoglu is the best guy for the system the Magic are running and it’s just hard to see him pack up and leave for greener pastures.

The thing I don’t understand is how Magic GM Otis Smith just let Turkoglu walk away when she specifically told the media that the team is willing to pay the luxury tax in order to keep Turkoglu.  Maybe it has to do with Turkoglu’s age and his demand for a longer contract ($50M for five year for a 30-year old almost past his prime is probably stretching out a bit), but still, why let a good thing get away?

How Much More Vinsanity?

On the other side of the coin, the Magic anticipated the worst case scenario as they traded Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson. Knowing the negotiations between Turk’s agent and the Magic won’t come to a compromise, Orlando gave up their promising shooting guard and a mercurial point guard for Half-Man, Half-Amazing. Well, at least that’s why people called Vince Carter seven years ago, when we was still in Toronto pulling off spectacular dunks on the open court, stuffing it down on top of opposing players, and shooting the lights out of the opponents. Now, he’s the guy known for coasting off his final years with the Raptors and for being injury-prone late in his career.

Still, I think this is a great trade that helps the Magic’s chances of reaching the Finals next season.

His career rekindles that of his cousin who played for the Magic in the early part of the millennium: Tracy McGrady. Both are accused of milking injuries and playing without heart and desire. While McGrady is now rotting on the sidelines of the Houston Rockets due to another injury, Vince Carter (32 years of age)  is coming off from his best season as a Net in New Jersey. Sure, the numbers are below his standards, especially his scoring (21-5-5 points-rebounds-assists), the biggest thing he has done this past season is to let the younger guys develop (Devin Harris, Brook Lopez) and provide veteran leadership. The trade made by the Magic has been maligned due to Carter’s former reputation, but his current work get overlooked too often. He hasn’t been injured for quite a while now and he still puts up a great game if necessary.

Speaking of, the trade also allows the Magic to pair Dwight Howard with an explosive and offensive-minded scorer. With all due respect to Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, both of which are great scorers in their own right, they can’t create a shot like Vince Carter can. Therefore, expect Howard to anchor the defense while Carter leads the rest on getting shots off while dumping the rock on Howard when the defense collapses to the perimeter.

Lastly, with regard to the reputation of Vince Carter as a talented basketball player without the passion for the game, a change of scenery with a championship-caliber team should do the trick. With New Jersey, although the team reached the Finals two times with Jason Kidd on board, they did not have a talented center and enough personnel to make lightning strike thrice. Orlando, with a seasoned group of talented young players and veterans, will revitalize Carter and help jumpstart his career. The only thing he needs to do is fit in, which is basically what he did with New Jersey last season.

With the flurry of moves the Orlando Magic pulled out early this off-season, the question prevails: are they better than last year? I would have to say definitely, although the sentiment is not solely based on the Vince Carter trade. Check next week for an article about their other moves in the off-season that could vault them to the top of the East.