Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

The Rockets’ Offer For Dwight Howard

August 15th, 2012 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

When the Magic and three other teams finalized the deal that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, many writers and fans questioned Orlando's haul, wondering aloud if the Magic couldn't have landed more from another club. In his latest piece for SI.com Sam Amick takes an in-depth look at Rob Hennigan and his first big move as Orlando's general manager, exploring offers for Howard from the Nets and Rockets.

While the Nets' proposal has previously surfaced (Brook Lopez, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, and either three or four first-round picks), there have been conflicting reports on what Houston offered for the star center. Amick's piece doesn't entirely clear up the confusion, but it does provide some clarity. Here are the details of the Rockets' offer as reported to the SI.com scribe:

The Rockets were only offering two first-round picks. However, from Houston's perspective, those selections were more valuable than any that other Howard suitors were offering the Magic. One of the picks was from Toronto, with protection that all but guarantees it will be a lottery pick, while another was from Dallas, and has a chance to be entirely unprotected by 2018.
Houston was also open to adding a third pick "if it got the deal done," Amick hears.
According to Magic sources, Jeremy Lamb was the only one of the Rockets' three 2012 first-rounders available, and even he was taken off the table after a strong Summer League showing. However, Rockets sources tell Amick that the Magic were told they could have one, or possibly two, prospects from a group that included Lamb, Terrence Jones, Royce White, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, and Donatas Motiejunas.
Kevin Martin and his $12MM+ expiring contract were necessary in the deal for salary-matching purposes. The Rockets also offered players that the Magic had little interest in, such as Gary Forbes and Jon Brockman.
Houston offered "significant cap relief… but never in the form that the Magic wanted," says Amick. I won't try to guess exactly what that means, but given their cap situation, the Rockets would only have been able to take on some of Orlando's undesirable contracts, rather than all of them.

Magic Re-Sign Ish Smith

August 15th, 2012 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

3:38pm: Smith's deal is for three years, but only the first year is guaranteed, tweets Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

12:07pm: The Magic have re-signed point guard Ish Smith, the team announced today in a press release. Terms of the deal aren't known, so it's not clear whether Smith received a full guarantee, or whether he'll just be invited to training camp with a chance to earn a roster spot.

Earlier this month, the Magic were reportedly seeking a third point guard to provide depth behind Jameer Nelson and Chris Duhon, with Smith mentioned as a candidate. Of course, Duhon was since traded to the Lakers in the Dwight Howard blockbuster, and none of the six players Orlando received in the deal are point guards. While that should bode well for Smith's chances of landing a spot on the team, it also means the Magic are probably still in the market for another backup behind Nelson.

Smith, 24, has already played for the Rockets, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Magic in just two NBA seasons, but finished the 2011/12 season in Orlando, playing 8.6 minutes per game in 20 contests for the Magic.

Latest On Greg Oden

August 15th, 2012 at 8:24am CST by Luke Adams

Within the last few months, multiple reports have suggested Greg Oden is considering returning to the NBA for the 2012/13 season, and would like the opportunity to play for the Heat. However, talking recently to David Hughes of the Tribune-Star, Oden downplayed his chances of making his NBA return this season.

"I would love to play [in 2012/13], but I’m not going to rush anything," Oden said. "I need to take a year off. What I told [agent] Mike [Conley] was 'Look, I want to get back with a team. I want to play. If there’s a chance that later on in the [NBA] year, if I feel good or if I’m healthy enough to play, I would love to play this year.' That’s the conversation we had. I think some people kinda blew that up and took his words and kinda changed them around. I know I need to get healthy first before I do anything."

According to Oden, teams haven't exactly been burning up his phone line expressing interest in signing him, considering he's still recovering. The former first overall pick added that he doesn't have one specific team in mind as a destination: "I want to go to a place where I can get healthy and with somebody who can believe in me and my skills — somewhere it could be a good fit for the both of us."

One general manager that spoke to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Sulia link) considers teams like the Spurs, Pacers, and Magic as the eventual favorites to sign Oden, but cautions that that's just his specuation. Amico also hears from a GM (it's unclear whether it's the same one) that teams with cap space, like the Suns or Cavs, could take a flier on Oden toward the end of the season, though the GM thinks it would have to be a minimum-salary contract.

Odds & Ends: Iguodala, Smith, Gunning, Moser

August 14th, 2012 at 10:28pm CST by Alex Lee

To get an idea of the size and signficance of last week's blockbuster, consider the notion that Andre Iguodala heading to the Nuggets was probably the least publicized leg of the deal. Iguodala was not only an All-Star last season, but he was one of 12 members of a Team USA that has been fawned over by sports fans around the globe for the past month. According to Aaron Lopez of Nuggets.com, some of Iguodala's post-trade quotes were misconstrued and the veteran wing is, in fact, very excited to join what should be an ultra-athletic team in Denver. Let's round up some of the other links and happenings from around the Association on this Tuesday night:

New Celtics sixth man Jason Terry spoke with Molly McGrath from Celtics.com and stated Boston's case for legitimate title contention in the 2012-13 season. Greg Payne from ESPN Boston transcribed the interview.
Mark Medina from the L.A. Times spoke with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who sees a lot of similarities between his situation with the Lakers in 1975 and the one Dwight Howard is about to enter.
Power forward Craig Smith, who saw less than 10 minutes per game with the Blazers last year, explained to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com why he passed up NBA offers to play in Israel in the upcoming season. Smith was tired of being an NBA "roster filler" and was willing to take less money for an opportunity to show what he can do with consistent playing time.
The Magic have hired Brett Gunning as an assistant coach, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Gunning, who spent the last four seasons in various roles in the Rockets organization, will join first-time head coach Jacque Vaughn on the Orlando bench.
According to UNLV head coach Dave Rice, Rebels swingman Mike Moser is preparing for what will likely be his last season in Las Vegas, reports Mike Youmans at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Moser is a rising junior, but Rice says he essentially considers him a senior. Moser averaged 14 points and more than 10 rebounds as a sophomore last season for the Rebels and briefly flirted with the 2012 draft. He projects as a late first-round pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.
Tom Moore of Phillyburbs.com writes that the Sixers, a franchise that has historically gotten burned in trades involving superstars, finally got the best player in a mega-deal in Andrew Bynum. Moore is only referring to what the team directly gave up and received, which eliminates Dwight Howard from consideration.

Steve Clifford To Follow Howard To Lakers

August 14th, 2012 at 9:09pm CST by Alex Lee

Former Magic assistant coach and defensive guru Steve Clifford will accept an invitation from Lakers head coach Mike Brown to join his coaching staff in Los Angeles, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Previously this offseason, Clifford was under consideration for the Magic and the Blazers head coach openings before both organizations went in different directions. Clifford was still in the mix for an assistant position in Portland before deciding to join the Lakers.

His decision comes in the wake of last week's blockbuster that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, effectively "reuniting" Clifford with the anchor of his defenses in Orlando. With Howard at center and Clifford on the bench, the Magic never finished worse than 11th in the NBA in team defense spanning five seasons. According to Haynes, Clifford considers the Van Gundy brothers his mentors and models himself after Tom Thibodeau. It should be interesting to see how Clifford's expertise supplements the already defensive-minded Mike Brown in the Lakers quest for their 17th title.

Odds & Ends: Magic, Warriors, Stotts, Harris

August 14th, 2012 at 2:51pm CST by Luke Adams

On this date four years ago, the Suns signed 25-year-old forward Louis Amundson as a free agent. Amundson had played only 153 total minutes in 27 games over two NBA seasons at that point, but took advantage of the minutes he received for the next two years in Phoenix, evolving into an adequate role player. Today, at age 29, Amundson is a free agent once again, and was said last week to be in talks with the Bobcats and Knicks, among other teams. While Amundson continues to weigh his options in free agency, let's check in on a few other notes from around the league….

Magic CEO Alex Martins wrote a letter to Magic season ticket holders, as Iliana Limón Romero of the Orlando Sentinel documents. Martins says the team did all it could to keep Dwight Howard and encourages fans to look forward as the team builds for the future. "A primary goal for our basketball team is to achieve long-term sustainability while maintaining a long-term vision," the letter said. "We feel this deal puts us in a position to begin building in that direction. In addition to the six players joining our team, we will be in a position to maximize our salary cap flexibility in the near future, as well as utilize the multiple draft picks we have acquired going forward."
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News provides some reasons why the Lakers' acquisition of Howard isn't entirely bad news for the Warriors.
As Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com writes, Warriors GM Bob Myers cleared up some recent remarks about coach Mark Jackson, clarifying that he never meant to suggest Jackson's job could be on the line if Golden State doesn't make the playoffs this season.
New Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts spoke to SI.com's Zach Lowe about a number of topics, including some ofhis thoughts on the Blazers going forward.
The Bulls officially announced today in a press release that they've named Brian Hagen as the team's assistant general manager. Hagen had spent the previous nine seasons in the Hornets' front office.
Unrestricted free agent Terrel Harris is drawing some interest from overseas, according to a Sportando report. Harris played in 22 games for the Heat in 2011/12.

Daryl Morey Talks Dwight Howard, Roster Moves

August 14th, 2012 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

For much of the offseason, it seemed that the Rockets were in the driver's seat to land Dwight Howard, armed with a handful of recent first-round picks, a few future first-rounders, and the cap space to absorb plenty of bad contracts from the Magic. But even after the Nets fell out of the running for Howard, it was the Lakers, not the Rockets that landed the All-Star center. Rockets GM Daryl Morey recently appeared on KBME in Houston and spoke to Matt Jackson about the Howard deal and the Rockets' own roster as the 2012/13 season approaches. Here are a few highlights, courtesy of Sports Radio Interviews:

On whether he felt the Rockets were close to acquiring Howard:

"I do, yeah. I do feel like it was close but they did their diligence and they were searching for something they thought they liked even more and they liked this trade better than anything we could offer. I promise you [Magic GM] Rob [Hennigan] knows what he’s doing and he thought this was best for Orlando and I think people will see over time that he’s a very good executive."

On Hennigan's suggestion that Houston's offer sheets for Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik made a Howard deal trickier:

"I haven’t seen Rob’s comments. I think those deals were done for a while now, so that would surprise me, but really the only opinion that matters is Rob’s. If he felt like that made it difficult, then it was difficult, right? At the end of the day, he has the player that he was trading that everyone wanted and there are a whole host of things that either made it positive or more difficult for them and how they value things."

On whether there are more moves coming before the offseason is over*:

“I think there’s a couple of free agents that we’re talking to and I don’t know if anything will work out but we’re very comfortable with what we have and rolling into training camp with that. We think it will be a team that can fight for a playoff spot but we’re always aggressive to try to do more and I think people know that. If something comes along we will do it, but really the reason why we’re comfortable with where we are at is if you look from one to 15, up and down the roster, it’s either a player who has got upside, who gives us flexibility to have cap room or we have the ability to, with the draft picks we picked up from Toronto and Dallas and those teams, the ability to trade for something. But we’re going to be patient and it takes two to tango. It’s gotta be where what we have is a fit with other teams."

* Morey's comments were made before news of the team's agreement with Carlos Delfino broke.

Ferry On Hawks, Howard, Johnson, Free Agents

August 13th, 2012 at 6:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

New Hawks GM Danny Ferry recently spoke to Charles Bethea of Grantland and held forth on several topics, including the Dwight Howard trade. Ferry says he never got close to a deal for the superstar big man because Magic were unwilling to trade him within the Southeast Division, though Zach Lowe of SI.com tweets that it isn't necessarily true. The entire Q-and-A is worth a read, but we'll run down a few highlights here:

On joining the Hawks and his relationship with co-owner Bruce Levenson:

I looked at it as a challenge. But once I spent time with ownership, with Bruce, specifically — a lot of time, a lot of deep questioning and thoughts back and forth — I got the sense that: One, he was committed to do this right. And he understands that things needed to change, on his behalf, and on ownership’s behalf, to help make that happen. There was a sense of humility from him: that we can do better than what we’ve done. And I felt like he was gonna empower someone to come in and do that. On top of that, I like the man: He seemed like a pretty good guy. Him being from the D.C. area, me being from the D.C. area. From a background standpoint everything was really positive.

On trading Joe Johnson to the Nets:

"We started talking about it June 26th, and we agreed on things July 3rd. I think it was a win-win for both teams. They got a good player who’d help keep around Deron Williams. It was a hard deal for us. But, at the end, we had a good making-the-playoff run, but we hadn’t had a good playoff run, if that makes sense. And the goal is to have a good playoff run. That was going to be hard to sustain, with how we were set up."

On the ability to attract Howard and other stars scheduled to hit free agency soon:

"I can’t talk specifically about Dwight Howard, with him being a free agent next year, for one. And two, who’s to say he won’t (come here)? But it’s a hard thing to get players to leave where they are, more than anything else. This is a place guys like to play. You see them settle in the offseason here. If we start doing things in an even better way, build a better program and a better model here, then it will be more attractive. We have to make an investment in the team infrastructure."

Trade Notes: Magic, Hennigan, Thorn, Bynum

August 13th, 2012 at 6:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic have taken plenty of flack for the Dwight Howard deal, but it could be the first step in a return to title contention, writes Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. He looks at the machinations that GM Rob Hennigan is undertaking, and says the team will have enough room under the cap to offer a maximum contract next summer, and another max deal in 2014. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com tweeted the night of the trade that Orlando could have as much as $20MM available in 2014, which should be enough for one max offer, but not two. Zach Lowe of SI.com isn't sure they'll have enough for any max offer this summer unless they make a few more moves (Twitter links). A lot could happen between now and then, but for the time being, we've got plenty more on the effects of the trade on the first full day of business since it was finalized on Friday:

In the same piece, Kennedy writes that Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said negotiating with Hennigan was a challenge because the new Magic GM insisted on exploring every avenue before committing to a deal. “To credit Rob Hennigan, the GM of Orlando Magic, it got to the point for me where it was quite frankly frustrating,” Kupchak said. “But what he was doing was his job, which was to sort out and seek out the best possible deal for the organization.”
The Magic's offer from the Rockets wasn't as enticing as reports have indicated, Kennedy says. Houston was willing to give up prospects and picks or take back expensive contracts, but not both.
Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel says it's clear the Magic didn't receive equal value in return for Howard, but believes the results of several different variables will determine just how the trade will be measured in the long run.
Sixers president Rod Thorn revealed a few interesting tidbits on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia, and Brag Gagnon of Sports Radio Interviews has the transcription. Thorn said he was talking to the Magic about Andre Iguodala, but Orlando didn't want to acquire him, and that's when the Nuggets became involved. Thorn was interested in making a move in part because he felt the Sixers had reached their ceiling last year and couldn't achieve more.
Thorn also spoke about the possibility of signing Andrew Bynum to an extension, saying, “Over the course of the season, if he’s happy and he’s healthy, we’ll certainly do everything we can do re-sign him. And we certainly are in the driver’s seat because we can give him an extra year and obviously more money. But to me, if he’s happy, he’s going to want to sign here. So I think it was a risk, anything you do there’s a risk. But if you’re going to take a risk, always take it on somebody who could be a special player.”
Bynum is heading to Germany for the same experimental knee procedure that's aided Kobe Bryant, Grant Hill and others, John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. It's unclear whether the Orthokine/Regenokine treatment will be performed on one knee or both, but Mitchell hears Bynum isn't currently experiencing any knee pain and is undergoing the non-surgical procedure to help ward off injury.

Jazz Tried To Acquire Ryan Anderson

August 13th, 2012 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

Restricted free agent Ryan Anderson became a Hornet over a month ago, sent to New Orleans by the Magic in a sign-and-trade deal for Gustavo Ayon. Before the two sides completed that trade, however, the Jazz were in talks with the Magic to acquire the sharpshooting Anderson, according to Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Smith reports that the Jazz likely would have had to give up Paul Millsap in order to land Anderson, but that Utah eventually backed out of talks for last year's Most Improved Player. The Jazz ultimately acquired another forward in Marvin Williams, and signed an outside shooter in Randy Foye. It's not clear whether the four years and $34MM that Anderson will earn with New Orleans was more or less than he could have received from Utah.

For the Magic, the traded player exception they earned from the Anderson sign-and-trade allowed them to absorb Josh McRoberts' and Christian Eyenga's salaries in last week's Dwight Howard blockbuster, which helped create a massive $17.8MM trade exception in the move. If, rather than Ayon, Orlando had acquired Millsap and his $8.6MM expiring contract for Anderson, it may very well have impacted what the team was willing to give and take in the Howard deal.