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

[sosolid4u09]

With rumours of a possible multi team trade in the works, i wonder if this will improve the Magic or not?

Orlando Out

Pietrus
Vince Carter
Gortat
Lewis

Orlando In

Turkoglu
J Richardson
Earl Clark
Gilbert Arenas

I think they want to start Bass with Howard up front.

Does this make them a better team? How will they start? Whos coming off the bench?

They are essentially losing 2 guys who were important pieces in their finals run two years ago (Lewis, Pietrus). But neither of them has played well this year. They also lose a very good back up centre in Gortat. Plus VC! Thats destroying half the team in one move.

On the other hand they acquire Richardson who has been very hot this year, and is a fantastic 3 point shooter to spread the floor for Howard. I think thats a very good pick up. They get Hedo back which will improve them no end! They have definitely missed him since he left. They also get Arenas, who is getting mixed reviews over his play this year. Is he past it? Can he still be a major contributor?

A lot of questions over this Orlando team if these trades go through.
We are looking at basically an entire new team. It will take a while to gel and see what they are really about.

[BallsOut]

Potential lineups:

Option a:
PG: Nelson/Duhon/JWill
SG: Arenas/Reddick
SF: Turkoglu/JRich/QRich
PF: Bass/Anderson/Clark
C: Howard/Orton

Pros: 2 great rebounders, 3 playmakers, instant scoring 6th man
Cons: small backcourt

Option b:
PG: Nelson/Duhon/JWill
SG: Arenas/Reddick
SF: JRich/QRich
PF: Turkoglu/Bass/Clark/Anderson
C: Howard/Orton

Pros: stretch floor with four 3pt shooters, more rebounding help for 2nd unit, 4 playmakers
Cons: small backcourt, weak bench

Option c:
PG: Arenas/Nelson/Duhon/JWill
SG: JRich/Reddick
SF: Turkoglu/QRich
PF: Bass/Clark/Anderson
C: Howard/Orton

Pros: traditional lineup, 3 playmakers and 2 good rebounders, solid pg on bench
Cons: nelson may not like taking a backseat, too many pgs

Option d: ?

Personally, I think this puts them above the Heat, but they're still not as good as the Celtics with these trades because of the lack of depth at the 5. What do you guys think?

[VishaltotheG]

They have Arenas, Nelson, Richardson, and Redick. Who starts the guard positions?

[DuMa]

its gonan take some time for everyone to start playing together and create chemistry. theyre still 3rd seed in the east at best.

[davidenk0]

I think they are in the same position they were before the trades, basically Carter and J-Rich are the same type of player, Arenas is good but he's a chucker and he can cause problems to his team and I don't think Turkeyglue will play again at the level he played before he went to the Raptors.

By the way I think option B is the better one but I'd start Bass over Turk

[AMISTILLILL]

It depends on a number of variables. I don't see this team coming out of the gate playing strong, but when they get it together they could be great. It depends on if they're firing on all cylinders immediately and how other teams are doing. Noah going down for Chicago may put the Bulls' chances of being a #3 seed in jeopardy, plus who knows if Noah can fall back into the productive minutes he had prior to surgery. Meanwhile, Boston are still hobbling through the season with injuries to their main core and reserve units. How those two teams fair in spite of injuries may work to or against Orlando's advantage as the season progresses.

To be honest, I think they're a 4th seed. I don't think Miami will be playing this hot to close out the season (obviously) and I don't think Orlando will top Boston in the seeding. It's really a toss-up now from #3 down to #8. For all we know the Knicks could make a push and continue to impress in the east. I don't rule out a top 5 seeding for NY with how far Atlanta has fallen off.

[GoldNugg21]

They have Arenas, Nelson, Richardson, and Redick. Who starts the guard positions?

Nelson, Arenas, and Richardson all start, with Redick off the bench imo.

[knightfall88]

Im glad they got rid of carter and lewis, they dont deserve to play on a championship team.

[GOBB]

Who knows, Orlando needed a change. The players they are getting rid of werent helping out. Shake things up and see what unfolds. Hedo hasnt done crap since leaving Orlando. Will he return to old or be the same crappy Hedo? J-rich and Vince to me are one in the same. Gilbert is a wildcard. How he affects Jameer if Jameer isnt traded should be interesting.

Where is Shaqattack?

[DuMa]

qrich and duhon get left out. idiots signed with orlando

[Magic Vinsanity]

I prefer option 3 to be honest, and who gives a shit if Nelson doesnt like it, the dude can be traded for all I care, he's been annoying me all year.

[Thorpesaurous]

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.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

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

[dee-rose]

This makes them extremely hard to guard.

Arenas, J-rich and Nelson are good play makers and you can't back off of them for a second. If you start Arenas, J-rich and Hedo you can't double any of them if they get hot because they're all knock down shooters. Oh and you still have Howard in the middle.

To sum it all up, this team is unguardable but at the same time they can't guard anyone that has good perimeter shooting.

[Penny4MVP2k]

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