How good are Magic now after trading for Turkoglu, Gilbert Arenas, J.Richardson, etc?

[kentatm]

I like option C the most but the Magic really need to get another center.

[stephanieg]

Arenas is a question mark. Hedo is bad. J-Rich is a huge upgrade over Carter.

[MeLO MvP 15]

Rotation should look like:
PG: Nelson (32)- Arenas (16)- Duhon/Williams
SG: Arenas (16)- Richardson (4)- Redick (28)
SF: Turkoglu (20)- Richardson (28)- Q Rich
PF: Bass (22)- Turkoglu (16)- Andersen (10)- Allen
C: Howard (38)- Bass (10)- Allen

I would think starting Richardson and bring Gil off the bench would be an interesting experiment too. Van Gundy is going to have to play small (which he doesn't mind) with Richardson playing a lot of SF, Arenas a lot at SG, Turk a lot at PF and Bass at C. Won't be too bad when Dwight's in the game because he's such a great help defender and rebounder. Seems like they have a lot of good not great wings now. I guess it's good to have 5 guys who can get 20 pts on any night (JRich, Arenas, Nelson, Turk and Howard) and are all good shooters (except Howard). It's almost as if Otis Smith just went and got the most talent he could with his trade pieces without really caring too much about fit (and he got a lot of guys who play multiple positions).

I don't think Orlando is done yet. They'll probably look to add a big man before the deadline. Some trade partners could be Sacramento (Thompson? Landry?), Portland (Camby? Pryzbilla?) or New Jersey (Murphy?)

[Quickz]

I honestly think that this helps orlando, yes arenas can chuck the ball sometimes but he is a better three pointer shooter and ball handler then Carter. And he sometimes has a killer instinct that Carter LACKS all the time. Arenas fits well with them. I would take J-rich over carter anyday of the week, carter is such a slack and J-rich although needs a good passer to hep him out will do better good on orlando.

I like option b, dont want arenas to be the main ball handler, rather him play off the ball and be a solid sg. Think I would pefer bass instead of turk but who knows, turk might step up again.

[1rkrage]

they stand in orlando. idk where they're at right now exactly though. Later they'll be standing on the basketball floor.

[Quickz]

I certainly won't sit here and say they got worse. I was a proponent of their resigning Hedo when he left. But part of that was the value of Hedo and Shard playing together. I like JRich with them better than VC for sure. And I'd say Gil gives them depth. I wouldn't start him over Nelson, but he can spell at either guard spot, and gives the bench some much needed scoring punch.

But boy are they thin up front now. I'm sure they would've loved to figure out some way to do this without giving up Gortat, but I know they just wanted to shake things up. Losing Gortat up front may not seem like much, but they have absolutely no depth up front now. They may be better equipped to play Miami now, but they're worse off against a big team like Boston or LA. If Dwight gets in foul trouble, they simply don't have the personal to do what's required on the floor for long stretches of time.

Maybe they can build another package around shooters like Redick in an effort to get some frontcourt depth. It doesn't have to be anyone of real consequence. Something like how the Heat stumbled on Dampier would be crucial for this team.

This worries me, in games where howard is in foul trouble, the magic had gortat to back him up....now they don't so someones gotta step up

[Kurosawa0]

I have them behind Boston & Miami, but ahead of Chicago.

I think Paul Pierce won't have it as easy against Hedo/Richardson as he did last year against Barnes, and Hedo & Arenas will give Orlando better options in crunch time.

The problem I see is that they got thinner up front. It makes it much easier for Boston and Miami's bigs if Dwight gets in foul trouble... I guess Brandon Bass slides over? That would leave Orlando without a shot blocker. Not good against Wade & LeBron.

Still, they had to make a move.

[MeLO MvP 15]

I'm pretty sure Malik Allen is gonna backup Dwight at Center (if he wasn't waived recently that is). Orton's just not ready

I think Bass is gonna see a lot of minutes at center when Dwight's out. I saw Malik play last year for Denver, he's horrible.

[Nets fan 93]

Arenas|Jameer
Richardson|Reddick
Turkoglu|QRich|Clark
Bass|Anderson
Howard|Orton?

That is nice. depends how Arenas pans out.

[BallsOut]

3rd seed at best. Still no one to stop Pierce/LeBron/Wade or KG/Bosh.

Bass can hold the softy Bosh. Boston doesn't necessarily have a Wade/Lebron stopper either. They rely on team defense.

The Magic now have playmakers in Arenas/JRich/Turkoglu vs. Lebron/Wade. The problem with them was their consistency on offense. That shouldn't be a problem anymore with potentially 4 playmakers in their starting lineup.

[BallsOut]

I have them behind Boston & Miami, but ahead of Chicago.

I think Paul Pierce won't have it as easy against Hedo/Richardson as he did last year against Barnes, and Hedo & Arenas will give Orlando better options in crunch time.

The problem I see is that they got thinner up front. It makes it much easier for Boston and Miami's bigs if Dwight gets in foul trouble... I guess Brandon Bass slides over? That would leave Orlando without a shot blocker. Not good against Wade & LeBron.

Still, they had to make a move.

Too bad Miami doesn't have any scoring bigs.

[Jon_Koncak]

Pietrus is a big loss for them.I don't see any good wing defender there.Does J Rich play any defense?Haven't watched him a lot tbh.

[StillKill24]

Too bad Miami doesn't have any scoring bigs.

no worries a lebron james team is never desperate.

[dee-rose]

Pietrus is a big loss for them.I don't see any good wing defender there.Does J Rich play any defense?Haven't watched him a lot tbh.

Q-rich is a good defendeer and J-rich isn't a good defender but he is definitely an upgrade over Vince. Vince looked bad even with Howard in the middle, J-rich looked bad in a system that didn't give a shit about defense

[BallsOut]

Pietrus is a big loss for them.I don't see any good wing defender there.Does J Rich play any defense?Haven't watched him a lot tbh.

Pietrus let Lebron drop 35+ on him a few seasons ago in the playoffs. I can't imagine the bigger J Rich will be that bad.