Points in the Paint

» June 25, 2009 6:38 PM | By Brandon Hoffman

The Orlando Magic traded for Vince Carter because of luxury tax concerns stemming from Hedo Turkoglu’s pending free agency. I like this move for the Magic. Carter is a team player, and a clutch scorer. But he’s not a playmaker. It was Turkoglu, not Jameer Nelson, who orchestrated the bulk of Orlando’s offense the past two seasons. Nelson has a scorer’s mentality. He’ll need to improve his decision-making if, in fact, Orlando decides to let Turkoglu walk.

Dwyer analyzes the trade: “Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Orlando Magic have options. Options! The team is about to acquire Vince Carter and Ryan Andereson for the pittance of Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, and Tony Battie. Big talent, without giving up too much. The Nets, Carter’s team from 2004-09, wasted no time in dealing VC as soon as GM Rod Thorn was presented with anything more than a cost-cutting alternative. Make no mistake, this is a cost-cutting move for the Nets, but Lee’s presence trumps the other proposals that have been sent New Jersey’s way since last winter, proposals that offered nothing more than salary relief. For Orlando, they get a hometown product who is still a formidable contributor (nearly at an All-Star level) even at the age of 32. Sure, nobody has liked Vince Carter since 2002 or so, but that’s not the point. The point is that Orlando made a huge upgrade without giving much up. Lee is a fine player, but he’ll never be a star, and Carter’s all-around offensive game is exactly what the league’s 11th-best offense needed.”

Dave D’Alessandro with some Nets perspective: “Carter had some brilliant years in New Jersey, though at 32, he is quickly running out of prime years. But Orlando is betting that the Daytona Beach native has just enough left in his tank to help the Magic get back to the NBA Finals, which is a solid bet. From the Nets’ perspective, however, this deal — as was the case last year — is primarily for salary cap purposes as they continue to rebuild with youth. Both Alston ($5.25M) and Battie ($6.2M) are in the final seasons of their contract, while Carter carries a salary of $16.1 million this year and $17.5 million for 2010-11.”

Frank Isola: “Stephen Curry’s name continues to be mentioned prominently with the Knicks and if the new baby assassin ends up in New York you can thank Donnie Walsh for that. Remember how Walsh’s longstanding relationship with Clippers GM/coach Mike Dunleavy resulted in the Knicks dumping Zach Randolph’s contract? The same goes with Chris Mullin taking Jamal Crawford. The Godfather of New York basketball may be at it again. Minnesota GM David Kahn cut his teeth under Walsh in Indiana and I’m sure that Walsh put in a good word with the Wolves on Kahn’s behalf. Now there is word that the Knicks are talking to the Wolves about moving up in the draft in order to take Curry. The other scenario – being pushed by an NBA coach – is that Curry will fall to the Knicks at eight. I find that one hard to believe but this coach says that Minnesota will pass on Curry and that the Warriors will also pass.”

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “How do you decide when it’s time to start rebuilding? Acquire Shaq. When you get down to it, perhaps it’s not that surprising that someone so big is capable of tearing down so much. Just be glad you’re not in Phoenix right now, in the wake of Shaquille O’Neal’s trade to Cleveland. Shawn Marion? Gone. Mike D’Antoni? Gone. Terry Porter? Gone. Amare Stoudemire? So disillusioned about being demoted to third option that he soon might be gone, with a free-agency window opening next summer. Boris Diaw? Gone. Raja Bell? Gone. With the Heat it meant a tumble to the bottom of the standings and a 15-67 record a year ago, as well as burned bridges with the training staff, Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade. Before that, there was the dismantling of the Lakers’ dynasty and years or purgatory for Kobe. And even before that, a Magic franchise rendered irrelevant for more than a decade because of Shaq’s lust for the brighter lights of a bigger city. It’s odd, that someone who is assured a spot in Springfield will go into the Hall of Fame scorned by so many.”

Paul Coro reports the Suns and Golden State Warriors continue to talk about a deal that would send Amare Stoudemire to the Bay Area. I don’t think this will happen. Stoudemire will be a free agent next summer, and he’s not the type of player who will commit long-term to a rebuilding team.

According to John Reid of The Times-Picayune, Tyson Chandler is back on the trade block.

Good Gregg Popovich quote on the RJ trade and 2010: “When you’ve got an opportunity to win a championship, you’ve got to go after it,” Popovich said. “You can’t just bank on someone leaving their team and coming to us. I think a lot of that is pie in the sky, if you’re going to put all your thought into just getting that one max player.”

Cavs GM Danny Ferry on the Shaq trade: “Our goals are aligned with what our players want, including LeBron, and that’s to win a championship and win it next year. We don’t want to be patient, we want to be a team that has sustainable success. We want to be a team like we were this year when if you don’t win a championship you lose some sleep. But at the same time we want to be more than that. We want to be the team that wins it. This was a move made towards putting ourselves in better position next season.”

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