While none of the five teams that make up the Southeast division play on Thursday night, that doesn't mean things are quiet. Here are some links from around the division:
- Lost in a dominant two seasons plus has been the relative mediocrity of the Heat on the road, writes Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports. While it obviously hasn't significantly hindered their overall success, Miami's players and coaches alike seem to think it is something they need to improve on.
- Couper Moorhead breaks down the anatomy of a Dwyane Wade steal in a lengthy story on Heat.com. While his 1.2 steals-per-game average in 2012-13 is easily the lowest of his NBA career, Wade is normally one of the league's best ball thiefs.
- Two of the pieces the Magic got for Dwight Howard appear to be, in the short term, headed in opposite directions, according to a story from Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Rookie Maurice Harkless is frustrated as his playing time has been slashed with the return of Hedo Turkoglu. Meanwhile, Nik Vucevic is thriving in his second year, particularly from a rebounding standpoint. The USC product had 20 points and 29 rebounds on New Year's Eve against the Heat.
- While we heard earlier that ESPN's Marc Stein thinks DeMarcus Cousins would fit in Dallas, Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld tweets that Cousins is "the wrong kind of personality" for what the Magic are building in Orlando.
Just curious but what are the magic trying to build?
Good question, I thought same thing. I would imagine Kyler simply meant that they wouldn’t want Cousins’ attitude infecting the young core that they do have. As a Sixers fan, I regrettably know that they have a nice piece in Nik Vucevic.
Yeah Vucevic is a very nice player, I just don’t see how the magic winning the games they are right now is good for the future. Theres not one go to player on that roster or star in the making. They need a High lottery pick to get back to normal.
Not necessarily the team has a lot of great role players that could easily be swapped in trades for an All-Star level talent (like a Rudy Gay who could available via trade). Yes they need good draft picks but if Andrew Nicholson is any indication they have the staff to draft wherever in the draft whether it be #1 or #30 in the draft.
Your not gonna get an all star for role players…
Dwight Howard deal? Pau Gasol deal? James Harden deal? need I go on….
The players the got were still young potentialy good players and draft picks, which the magic have none of any value.