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I don't really see how anyone thinks Orlando got any better. Had the C's been healthy last year, they would have trounced them in 5 games and no one would think anything of them. Then this offseason, they lose their best clutch scorer to get an injury-plagued, three-point-bombing, career loser in Vince Carter. At best, they treaded water with that deal.
The C's on the other hand added an All Star-quality big man off the bench WITHOUT trading anyone for him. Furthermore, they acquired a quality swingman to fill a huge hole in their bench. I think people aren't looking at the whole picture if they think the Magic have improved. Maybe you think that Barnes is as good as Daniels (he's not), but they already had a decent backup SG/SF in Pietrus, so it's not like it helps them out all that much. We, on the other hand, had no one who could play worth a [dang] at the backup 2/3. Now we have someone, and that's going to make a huge difference.
I agree with you on certain points. Orlando now longer can create the mismatches that got them over Cleveland last year. That was created by having two lanky, fairly athletic 6'11 forwards who can shoot. By losing Turkoglu, they lose that matchup advantage.
However, the idea that they're worse because just replacing Turkoglu with Carter and Barnes is just plain false. First, you're ignoring two huge factors - they're adding a healthy Jameer Nelson and Brandon Bass, a very good pickup. Turkoglu's greatest attribute - being a big man that can handle the ball - is not that useful to Orlando when Nelson is healthy. So while I like Turkoglu as a player more than Carter, Carter might actually fit them better since he gives them an athleticism and a go to scorer they lacked. If you check their shooting last year, Carter was actually better than Turkoglu. And Turkoglu is not a good defender.
I think that if that was all Orlando did - sub in Carter for Turkoglu and Nelson for Alston - that alone is an improvement. However adding Bass gives them a real power forward, something they lacked before. They can still throw out Pietrus to play with Lewis at the 4, but they have the traditional lineup option. Their bench is even stronger - one more year of development for Pietrus, Gortat and Redick, they still have a question mark at backup point with Anthony Johnson, but I think they'll either add somebody new (did they get CJ Watson?) or Johnson isn't a terrible option. And they might get something out of Barnes and Ryan Anderson. The thing is, while those names don't blow you away, those guys aren't even in their top 8.
It's a much stronger team. I don't think they'll make the ECF unless they get the number 1 seed (I think it's going to be Boston-Cleveland) but I think they'll be a strong regular season team.
Topic: East Playoff Predictions (Read 4070 times)