OT- Magic become InVINCEble

Submitted by shoes untied on

The New Jersey Nets have agreed to a trade in principle with the Magic that will send Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Orlando for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee

Alston being trade was obvious considering Jameer. The Rich keep getting richer. The Top 5 East times (IMO) are all getting better: Cavs (with shaq), Orlando (vince Carter), Wizards (adding Mike miller and Randy Foye plus injuries and getting Arenas back), and Boston (getting injuries back KG etc.)
This sucks. Draft tonight. I am excited. Hopefully, Pistons make a trade or someone drops (Clark, Maybe Jennings)

Link?. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4287197

chitownblue2

June 25th, 2009 at 5:31 PM ^

I think Hedo is probably better than Vince at this point. This doesn't make them much better.

shoes untied

June 25th, 2009 at 5:34 PM ^

They resign Hedo (who playes the 3 and Lewis the 4) and have starting 5 of: Jameer, VC, Hedo, Lewis, Dwight... lots of great perimeter scoring and ability to spread floor. This is what thye do and what they are good at.

shoes untied

June 25th, 2009 at 5:52 PM ^

I wouldn't say guarantee. Downgrade from Courtney Lee? or Hedo? I think future wise yes in regards to Lee, but short term, I think VC still has it left in him. Plus, with Cavs getting Shaq and Wiz getting better, they had to do something to stay on top in East. Yes, they still would have been a top 4 seed, but this makes them better for next year. Also, they have said numerous times they will play Luxury tax to keep Hedo. Where else would he go? Maybe OKC, Maybe Pistons. Not many others have cap space and a decent enough team to win to convince him to come IMO.

GoBlueInTheLou

June 25th, 2009 at 6:28 PM ^

I thought all Hedo said was that he would opt out of his contract on July 1 or whatever the official day is and other teams can begin contacting him and his agent. I think he will go to the highest bidder which could be the Magic as they appear willing to pay the luxury tax penalty to retain him.

Goblue89

June 25th, 2009 at 5:34 PM ^

Don't really get this one? Why trade Courtney Lee? He was a rookie and showed great flash...he is basically a younger Vince Carter. All they get is a guy who will jack up even more 3's. I get trading Rafer but Tony Battie played decent minutes...doens't make sense

Nick

June 25th, 2009 at 5:58 PM ^

Vince is better than Hedo. Better 3 point shooter. Quicker, more explosive driver, and better rebounder and defender and I also think he is a great fit on the team especially if they run the offense through Dwight. He has been stuck on non-contenders his whole career and I think he'll be motivated to leave a legacy of sorts as this is pretty much his last chance at that. He is just a different player as Hedo is a great passer and ball-handler had mastered the pick and roll game which was ORL's bread and butter.

Any team can go over the cap to re-sign their own guys, so they may still re-sign Hedo. Just depends how much tax ORL is willing to pay.

Nick

June 26th, 2009 at 2:46 AM ^

OK brah. VC is 32 and Hedo is 30. It's not like one is ancient compared to the other. I've watched Hedo play and he has some trouble getting into the lane at times and while Vince does as well (atleast compared to earlier in their career), I still think VC is all-star caliber at this point of his career. Look at the stats last yr. ( Hedo 14.8 PER and Vince was 19.35)

chitownblue2

June 26th, 2009 at 11:05 AM ^

The point, brah, is that this:

Quicker, more explosive driver, and better rebounder and defender

doesn't apply to 2009 Vince Carter. He stays out of the lane like it has herpes, and he's always been a miserable defender - he's only worse now. And Hedo's rebounding number are pretty equivalent. Hedo was the main cog in the Magic's pick & roll, which is their bread and butter - Carter can't replicate that, because he won't go inside.

Also, I don't generally like to denigrate athletes' character, but Carter is widely regarded as "not giving a shit" and has a reputation of being softer than the Downie Teddy Bear.

Blue boy johnson

June 25th, 2009 at 6:14 PM ^

Not sure how much Vince has left in the tank but good gravy marie, what talent. I will be interested to see how motivated this trade makes him, I think he makes Howard better and Howard makes him better.

goblueLA

June 25th, 2009 at 6:38 PM ^

Joe D better wake the fuck up and realize what's going on around him. I know the free agent period doesn't start til next week but damn - the Cavs gave up basically nothing for Shaq. Admittedly, I'm a big Shaq fan. And now this?

If Joe D signs Ben Gordon I'm skipping next season and you can wake me up this time next year.

nmwolverine

June 25th, 2009 at 7:49 PM ^

If there were half the teams in the NBA, then more teams would be stocked with stars and the level of competition would not only be higher but more even. I say half. In invite comment.

knut

June 26th, 2009 at 1:12 AM ^

i thought the same thing at first and decided to look up the number of games he payed the last few years:

gs mpg
05-06 79 36.8
06-07 82 38.1
07-08 76 38.9
08-09 80 36.8

there's no question he's injury prone with his past injuries and age, but in that last 4 years he's been able to stay on the court.

Double Nickel BG

June 25th, 2009 at 11:58 PM ^

a top 5 team? Do they have the potential? Sure, but they've had potential for the last 3 years. There comes a time when if you dont produce, all that potential gets thrown out.