Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Knicks, Ariza, LeBron

April 5th, 2014 at 12:51pm CST by Cray Allred

Grant Hill says he understands what Kyrie Irving is going through, telling Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that the criticism and speculation surrounding the Cavs former No. 1 pick is par for the course. “In the NBA, that’s the epitome of it, but also what makes it difficult. The sport we are in, you constantly have to meet and surpass expectations, because you are constantly being evaluated by people. If you don’t succeed, you get traded, you get fired, you get criticized. That is what we sign up for,” said Hill. “After 19 years, you realize that’s part of the job, you are going to be evaluated and you are going to be criticized — it is not all glamour.” More from the East:

President Phil Jackson is looking to add one or more additions to the Knicks front office, and he’s targeting a young salary cap expert to assist him and GM Steve Mills, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The only candidate for such a position within Jackson’s inner circle would be Steve Kerr, who only appears interested in a return to coaching.
Stein says it’s possible that Kerr could wind up coaching and bringing along a front office executive of his own, with one potential name being David Griffin, the Cavs interim GM at the moment.
J. Michael of CSNWashington.com thinks the latest defensive performance by Trevor Ariza against Carmelo Anthony is a reminder that the Wizards should do what it takes to retain the small forward when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. Ariza is shooting a career best from three this season, and has helped Washington reach the playoffs after a long drought.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel thinks the Heat should pay whatever it takes in tax penalties to keep LeBron James. Since James’ salary is limited by the CBA to a value much below his practical worth for Miami, Winderman says exceeding the tax to provide him with a quality supporting cast is one way they can make up the virtual salary gap to him.
Cody Taylor at Basketball Insiders looks at what it will take for the Magic to turnaround their franchise as they continue the rebuilding process.
Ed Rendell of The Philadelphia Daily News thinks that the Sixers rebuilding strategy is brilliant, and sees it paying off with a competitive team next season.

And-Ones: Pacers, Lowry, Raptors, Magic

April 4th, 2014 at 10:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pacers started the season 41-13, but since the trade that brought Evan Turner to Indiana, the team has gone 12-11, and not looked at all like a championship contender, writes Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com. It’s not all Turner’s fault, opines Kaskey-Blomain, and in the article he breaks down what has gone wrong for the team.

Kennedy Notes: Draft, Gasol, Sixers

April 4th, 2014 at 8:34pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders held his weekly chat. He touched on a number of topics, and some of the highlights are listed below:

Kennedy believes the biggest sleeper pick in the upcoming NBA Draft is Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early. He also believes the player most likely to be taken too high is Kentucky’s Willie Cauley-Stein.
Pau Gasol is most likely done with the Lakers after this season, opines Kennedy. He cites the Lakers’ desire to have cap flexibility heading into the summer of 2015, as well as Gasol’s reluctance to be part of a rebuild.
On who the Sixers will take in the draft, Kennedy believes the team will simply select the best two players available. His draft scenario has the team selecting Andrew Wiggins and Dario Saric.
He doesn’t believe that Victor Oladipo is the long term answer for the Magic at point guard. Kennedy believes the team should look at drafting Dante Exum and keeping Oladipo at shooting guard.
Kennedy also believes the rumors that Kyrie Irving wants out of Cleveland. He opines that Irving might sign an extension and then demand a trade from the Cavs.

Southeast Rumors: Haslem, Brand, Magic

April 4th, 2014 at 4:01pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks can go a long way toward the playoffs if they win at home tonight against the Cavs, while a loss puts Atlanta in trouble. The Southeast Division could have as many as four teams in the playoffs, with the Heat leading the way, as usual. Here’s the latest on the Heat and their division rivals:

A source tells Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick that the Heat fielded offers for Udonis Haslem before the deadline this year, and Mario Chalmers and others in the locker room are glad the team didn’t deal away Haslem and mess with its chemistry.
Elton Brand still hasn’t made up his mind about returning for a 16th NBA season next year, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Hawks center will be a free agent at the end of the season.
The players the Magic acquire in the offseason could determine whether the team continues its experiment with rookie Victor Oladipo at point guard, coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters, including Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

Southeast Rumors: Zeller, Oladipo, Harris

April 2nd, 2014 at 8:36pm CST by Cray Allred

While the Heat are the only team in the Southeast Division more than three games above .500, the division is full of relative successes in a down year for the Eastern Conference. If the Hawks can hang on to the eighth seed, the division should send four teams to the postseason, and even the last-place Magic have improved upon their record from last year. More from the relatively strong division:

After shooting just 38% and struggling to stay on the floor without fouling in his first 55 games with the Bobcats, Cody Zeller has had more success in recent games. The fourth pick from the 2013 draft tells Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer that he is adjusting to the speed of the game. “You’ve got to be really into the details. There was stuff I could get away with in college on athleticism or being stronger than the other guy. Here everybody is just that athletic and just that strong,” said Zeller.
Victor Oladipo tells John Denton of Magic.com that while he often wonders what might have been had the Cavs selected him first-overall in last year’s draft, he’s happy he landed with the Magic. “First off, I was happy for (Anthony Bennett) because that’s a great accomplishment for someone to say that they were picked No. 1,’’ Oladipo said. “At the same time, I was just wondering where I was going. Then, I ended up going here, so I didn’t have to wait too long. It was a pretty amazing feeling.”
In a separate Denton feature, Oladipo cautions incoming draftees that the NBA is tougher than they might think. “I don’t want to say that it was a rude awakening for me, but it definitely gave me a different perspective on the league. You have to be on your A-game in this league because you’re going against the best,” said Oladipo, who only gives his rookie season with the Magic a “D” grade.
After a frustratingly slow start to the season due to injury, Magic forward Tobias Harris is adjusting to his role off the bench, telling Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel he’s happy with his improved consistency. “That was my goal going into the year: just to be consistent game-in and game-out and just to get better every game,” Harris said. “I think that’s probably one of the biggest improvements I’ve made.”

Contract Details: Butler, World Peace, Suns

March 31st, 2014 at 9:38am CST by Chuck Myron

Mark Deeks has updated his salary databases at ShamSports, and, as usual, he’s revealed several nuances about the latest contracts signed around the NBA. We’ll pass along the details we hadn’t previously heard about here:

Caron Butler gave up $1MM in his buyout deal with the Bucks. He signed for that same amount for the remainder of this season with the Thunder, who dipped into their mid-level exception to accommodate Butler’s $1MM salary.
Metta World Peace gave up $305,166 of this season’s $1.59MM salary in his buyout deal with the Knicks. All contracts with player options include a clause indicating whether or not the player receives the money for his option year in the event that he’s waived before deciding on the option. It looks as if the clause in World Peace’s deal stated that he would not receive the option-year pay, since Deeks doesn’t list any of World Peace’s $1,931,550 salary for 2014/15 on New York’s books.
Shavlik Randolph‘s contract with the Suns includes a non-guaranteed year for 2014/15, rather than a team option, as we suspected.
If the Hawks exercise their team option on the fourth season of Mike Muscala‘s deal, the contract will nonetheless remain non-guaranteed until the leaguewide guarantee date. It’s similar to the structure of the contracts a handful of Sixers have, including recent signee Jarvis Varnado.
Chris Johnson also has such a deal with the Celtics, although there are a pair of guarantee dates attached to the third and fourth seasons. The third year becomes fully guaranteed providing he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2015, and the fourth year becomes fully guaranteed if he’s not waived on or before September 1st, 2016.
The Celtics also arranged for a couple of guarantee dates on Phil Pressey‘s three-year contract. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before July 15th, but if the Celtics keep him beyond that date, it’s fully guaranteed. The same happens for the third year of the deal on July 15, 2015.
The Rockets have a team option on Troy Daniels worth the minimum salary for next season.
Luke Babbitt‘s two-year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary. Next season isn’t guaranteed, but it becomes partially guaranteed for $100K if he isn’t waived on or before July 22nd.
The Magic used cap room to sign Dewayne Dedmon to a three-year contract that gives him $300K for the rest of this season, slightly more than what he would have made on a prorated minimum-salary deal. Dedmon is set to make the minimum salary in the other two seasons covered in the pact. Next season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before opening night, when it becomes partially guaranteed for $250K. The final season is non-guaranteed if he’s waived on or before August 1st, 2015, when it becomes fully guaranteed.

And-Ones: Cauley-Stein, Draft, Izzo

March 29th, 2014 at 10:17pm CST by Eddie Scarito

When Kentucky squares off against Michigan in Sunday’s Midwest Regional final, the Wildcats may be looking for their 16th Final Four appearance without a big part of their lineup, center Willie Cauley-Stein, who is doubtful to play because of a sprained ankle. Even if Cauley-Stein is done for the season, it is unlikely to affect his draft stock, writes Josh Newman of SNY.tv. He is currently slotted No. 12 in June’s NBA Draft by Draft Express. “An ankle sprain, it’s nothing. He will be a top-20 pick regardless of him playing another college game. He could be a Lottery pick if he stayed another year at Kentucky,” a former NBA executive told SNY.tv per the article.

Southeast Notes: LeBron, Bobcats, Oladipo

March 29th, 2014 at 2:16pm CST by Charlie Adams

LeBron James‘ $19MM salary makes him the ninth highest paid player in the NBA, but the Heat superstar is admittedly a bit jealous of players in other professional sports leagues who aren’t bound by a salary cap, revealed an Associated Press report (via USA Today). “The best players in each sport should be rewarded,” James said. “It would be nice to sign a 10-year contract for $300MM. I would do it. I would do it for sure… I wish we didn’t have a salary cap.” Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer explores Chris Douglas-Roberts‘ role on the Bobcats and examines the steps he’s needed to take to make a comeback in the NBA after failing to secure a contract for the 2011/12 season.
Josh McRoberts has become a key piece for the Bobcats, and his former Magic teammate Jameer Nelson told Charlotte coach Steve Clifford that he’d be wise to keep McRoberts around, reports John Denton of NBA.com. McRoberts is averaging 8.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per contest this season.
The Magic‘s decision to select Victor Oladipo second overall in last June’s draft looks like it’s going to pay off, opines Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. Schmitz thinks Oladipo is the type of a player a franchise can be built around.
The Wizards are looking to make the postseason for the first time since 2007/08, and offseason signee Al Harrington will provide a young Washington team with veteran leadership and playoff experience, writes Brandon Parker of the Washington Post. Harrington has appeared in six postseasons throughout his career.

Southeast Rumors: Oden, Exum, Hawks, Neal

March 24th, 2014 at 2:45pm CST by Chuck Myron

Heat center Greg Oden will play against the Blazers tonight for the first time in his career, which began when Portland made him the No. 1 overall pick in 2007. Still, there are few emotions involved, as Oden tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.

“I think it’s been two years since I was there. Guys move on,” Oden said. “It’s a business like that. I’m happy those guys are still there and doing their thing. [I’m] especially happy for LaMarcus [Aldridge] who is an All-Star and you know, you got to move on.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division, which is in line to send four teams to the playoffs:

The Magic are probably locked into the third-worst record in the league, as our Reverse Standings show. Even if they don’t have any lottery luck and fail to move up, they’re in fine shape, since they’re most interested in Dante Exum, according to Chad Ford of ESPN.com, who writes in his latest Insider-only “Tank Rank” column.
The Hawks have received NBA approval for their sale of minority shares of the team to five investors, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The additions bring the number of stakeholders to 12, including primary owner Bruce Levenson.
Since being traded to the Bobcats, guard Gary Neal has had a significant impact over the course of the last 12 games, writes Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Charlotte was in desperate need of scoring and Neal has brought it. The former Buck is averaging 12.5 points per contest, which would be a career high for a full season.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Kobe, Mavs, Johnson

March 19th, 2014 at 7:22pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kobe Bryant endorses the Knicks hiring of Phil Jackson despite his well-documented disappointment with the Lakers front office for not bringing Jackson back to Los Angeles. In an article by Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles, Bryant said, “I just think his mentorship shifts. I think it goes from having a direct influence on the players themselves to having a direct influence on the coaching staff, which he’s accustomed to doing because that’s how he coached as well. He really had a great rapport with his coaching staff and he was really a great mentor for them, and I’m sure he’ll do the same thing and it will just kind of trickle down from there. It’s really no different from what Pat [Riley] has been able to do in Miami with [Erik] Spoelstra.” According to the article, Bryant also believes that Jackson will be able to help Carmelo Anthony improve as a player. On what Phil can do for ‘Melo, Bryant said, “Phil will be able to provide that knowledge and he’ll learn more about the game and open up dimensions of the game that he never saw before. So, he’ll just continue to improve.”