Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Tobias Harris Harbors No Ill Will Toward Magic

March 25th, 2016 at 9:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Being dealt to the Pistons at the trade deadline this season initially stunned Tobias Harris, but he harbors no feelings of resentment toward the Magic, noting that he understands that Orlando’s roster needed a shakeup, John Denton of NBA.com relays. “No hard feelings at all because the situation in Orlando was always like family to me,’’ said Harris. “Getting traded from Milwaukee to over there [Orlando in 2013], I got an opportunity to show what I could do and I got to meet some really great people throughout the city. So no hard feelings at all and I wish them nothing but the best going forward. I still have a great relationship with those [Magic] guys and I got to see a lot of them [on Tuesday], so it’s all love for them.’’

Magic coach Scott Skiles noted that his call to Harris to tell the combo forward he had been traded was an emotional one, Denton adds. “It was hard, very hard. He and I are still in communication,’’ Skiles said. “It’s always hard with any player, but Tobias and I go back even further than the Orlando Magic. Those things are very difficult and it’s the worst part of the business.’’

2015/16 Salary Cap Update: Orlando Magic

March 25th, 2016 at 7:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 is set at $70MM, which is good for an 11% increase from last season, and the luxury tax line is fixed at $84.74MM. With the February 18th cutoff date for trades and the de facto deadline of March 1st for buyouts now past, we at Hoops Rumors are in the process of updating the salary cap commitments for each NBA franchise for the 2015/16 campaign. Here’s the cap breakdown for the Orlando Magic, whose regular season roster can be viewed here:

2015/16 Salary Cap= $70,000,000
2015/16 Luxury Tax Line= $84,740,000
Fully Guaranteed Salary Commitments= $63,515,581*
Remaining Cap Room= $6,484,419
Amount Below Luxury Tax Line= $21,224,419

*Note: This amount includes the $100,00 due both Jordan Sibert and Keith Appling, the $150,000 owed to Melvin Ejim, the $845,059 due Joe Harris, the $947,276 owed to Jared Cunningham and the $1,150,000 due Chris Copeland, all of whom were waived by the team.

Cap Exceptions Available:

Room= $1,555,976
Trade Exception= $7,043,029 (Channing Frye. Expires February 18th, 2017)

Cash Available to Send Out In Trades= $3,400,000

Cash Available to Receive Via Trade= $1,286,686

Note: Despite the trade deadline having passed, the NBA season technically doesn’t end until June 30th. Teams are able to again make trades upon the completion of the regular season or when/if they are eliminated from the playoffs, whichever comes later. So these cash limits still apply.

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

Dwight Eyes Magic Return But Prefers Rockets

March 25th, 2016 at 2:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Dwight Howard would prefer to re-sign with the Rockets this summer, but the Magic have heard that he’d entertain the idea of returning to Orlando, league sources told Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher for a video report (Twitter link). Howard is expected to turn down a player option worth about $23.282MM to seek a maximum salary deal that would pay him some $30MM next season. Previous reports have indicated his interest in the Bucks and Knicks.

A return to Orlando, where Howard spent the first eight seasons of his career and made his only Finals appearance, has seemed far-fetched ever since the team dealt him to the Lakers in August 2012. Magic GM Rob Hennigan was in his first offseason on the job when he traded Howard away, ending an acrimonious saga that dragged on over the final months of Howard’s tenure in Orlando. The Magic, with only mathematical hopes of a postseason berth this year, have yet to make the playoffs since.

Howard’s future plans have long been difficult to pin down. USA Today’s Sam Amick suggested earlier this week that the Rockets were merely a fallback option for the former All-Star, and Houston engaged in well-publicized trade talks with several teams about him before last month’s deadline. The 30-year-old former No. 1 overall pick was in the midst of changing agents while the trade talk was going on, dumping Dan Fegan for Perry Rogers, the representative for fellow ex-Magic center Shaquille O’Neal.

The Rockets were reportedly in touch with the Mavericks, Bulls, Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Heat, Bucks and Raptors about Howard as they engaged teams about their interest in him, but Houston found the market underwhelming. Howard is averaging 14.3 points and 8.8 shot attempts per game, his lowest numbers in either category since the 2004/05 season, when he was a 19-year-old rookie with the Magic.

Chandler Parsons Has Season-Ending Surgery

March 25th, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

1:02pm: The team confirmed the surgery via press release, adding that Parsons will indeed miss the rest of the season.

10:54am: Chandler Parsons had season-ending surgery this morning to remedy the torn meniscus in his right knee, sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (ESPN Now link). MacMahon reported earlier this week that the soon-to-be free agent was likely to have the operation but planned to get a second opinion. Schuyler Dixon of The Associated Press indicated that it was conceivable that Parsons would return for the playoffs even if he did undergo the procedure, but that’s apparently out of the question at this point. Parsons is still expected to opt out of his contract this summer, and the Mavericks are still the front-runners to sign him, MacMahon wrote this week.

The surgery is on the same knee that ended Parsons’ season prematurely last year, though the injury isn’t as serious this time around, and Parsons will be able to take part in his normal offseason training regimen, according to MacMahon. The 27-year-old is poised to hit free agency as a hot commodity, with the Magic his primary option should he choose to leave Dallas, as MacMahon reported earlier this month. MacMahon also heard from sources who expected the Heat, Lakers, Nets, Knicks, Trail Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets and perhaps Thunder to also be in pursuit, though an executive from one team told Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com that he wouldn’t sign Parsons because of concerns about the knee.

The immediate worry in Dallas is about the Mavs’ hopes of a playoff berth, with the loss of Parsons a serious blow. The Mavs, Trail Blazers, Jazz and Rockets are separated by just one game in the loss column with only three playoff spots in play for the four teams. Portland and Dallas have 36 losses while Utah and Houston have 37. The regular season ends April 13th.

Reserve Jeremy Evans is also lost for the rest of the season, but Dallas doesn’t have enough injuries to warrant a 16th roster spot via hardship. That leaves the Mavs without much roster flexibility, as the deadline for a disabled player exception passed more than two months ago, and the team already has 15 players signed through at least the end of the season.

Pistons Boss Keeping Eye On Brandon Jennings

March 24th, 2016 at 12:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said he’ll “keep an eye” on Brandon Jennings this summer in the hopes that the soon-to-be free agent finds the right situation, as MLive’s Aaron McMann relays. Van Gundy said in January that he could envision re-signing the point guard, despite the presence of entrenched starter Reggie Jackson, before Detroit traded Jennings to the Magic last month. It’s unclear whether Van Gundy is thinking about a reunion with Jennings, but it’s nonetheless apparent that the Pistons boss has affection for him, lauding his commitment and positive locker room influence. “The one thing, and some people probably think you’re full of crap,” Van Gundy said. “We said to him all along — he and his agent [Jeff Schwartz] — that if we traded him, we would try very hard to get him into a good situation. He had played for [Magic coach] Scott [Skiles] before, and the Magic really wanted him. It sounded to us like he was going to get an opportunity there. That was important to us because I’ve got great respect for Brandon and for what he did for us last year.”

Tobias Harris Thanks Magic For Trade To Pistons

March 24th, 2016 at 12:04pm CST by Chuck Myron

Tobias Harris just signed a four-year, $64MM deal with the Magic in July, but he took it in stride when the team traded him to the Pistons at last month’s deadline, observes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. “I’m not mad at Orlando for the trade,” Harris said Tuesday. “Actually, if I was to sit here and be upset, that would be selfish, wouldn’t it? All they did was put me in an amazing situation. Truthfully, I thank them for that. I mean, I loved my time there, but business is business, and I think being here has been great for me.”

Magic Camp Cut Melvin Ejim To Play In Italy

March 22nd, 2016 at 9:33pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Melvin Ejim, who was in training camp with the Magic earlier this season, has signed with the Italian club Reyer Venezia, the team announced (translation courtesy of Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). Orlando’s D-League affiliate waived Ejim to allow him to sign overseas.

Frye Has No Hard Feelings Toward Magic

March 20th, 2016 at 1:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Channing Frye has made 26 of 52 shots from behind the arc since coming to the Cavs, and he appears to be fitting in with the team both on and off the court, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes. Frye feels comfortable with Cleveland and has no ill will toward Orlando for trading him just a year and a half into a four-year, $32MM deal. “When [the Magic drafted] a guy like Aaron Gordon, they wanted to develop that. I understood it. It was part of the business,” Frye said.

Skiles: Channing Frye Will Help Cavs

March 18th, 2016 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

Channing Frye‘s former coach in Orlando believes he will be a valuable asset for the Cavaliers in the postseason, Lloyd adds in the same piece. “When he’s on the floor, they’re looking for him,” Scott Skiles said. “So much attention is on other players, and that’s Channing’s game. He just kind of finds spots, and when he gets his feet set, he’s as good of a big man shooter as there is.” Cleveland picked up Frye from the Magic last month in a deal at the trade deadline.

[SOURCE LINK]

Eastern Notes: Magic, Harris, Embiid

March 16th, 2016 at 8:22pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Magic had other offers on the table for Tobias Harris, but they opted to take Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova from Detroit because both players had played under coach Scott Skiles previously, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. Orlando believed the duo could contribute immediately to the team’s goal of making the playoffs, Kennedy adds.

The Magic are 6-8 since adding Ilyasova and Jennings, sitting five and a half games behind the Pistons, who are currently tied with the Bulls for the eighth seed in the conference entering tonight’s slate of games. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy feels that Harris has masterfully fit in with the team, Kennedy passes along in the same piece. “You feel like he’s been here all year, even in terms of the way he relates to his teammates,” Van Gundy said. “It’s actually been a pretty seamless transition. He’s unselfish.”
Even if Joel Embiid is able to remain healthy, the Sixers should take a patient approach with regard to his development, Bob Cooney of Philadelphia Daily News cautions. Cooney points out that Embiid now 22 years old, has only been playing basketball for roughly six years.
The Pacers have assigned Shayne Whittington to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, according to the team’s website.