A Perfect Fit? Brandon Bass

Now that Vince Carter has a member of the Orlando Magic for a few days, the talk of this trade had died down. Hedo Turkoglu has officially announcing that he is opting out of the final year of a 6 year, $36 million dollar contract and is looking for a big pay day ($10 million + a season for several years). For now, even if Rich De Vos will go deep into the luxury tax to keep Turk, the assumption is that he will at least look around before making any move to sign anywhere. Right now, the Turk rumor is that he will be sent to Portland in a sign and trade possibly involving Travis Outlaw or Martel Webster. With Turk shopping around, he can be put on the back burner as the Magic think about filling Turk’s SF spot with the starting PF from the last two seasons, Rashard Lewis, but that means now they have fill Lewis’ former role.

There are several options that we discussed on here a few weeks back. There are two names that keep popping up on Orlando’s radar and both are legitimate PFs. Brandon Bass of the Dallas Mavericks and Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons. Rasheed Wallace is easily the more well-known of the two and seems to be a good fit, but Brandon Bass may actually be the better fit for Orlando. Bass was a second round pick of the Hornets in 2005, 33rd overall. He is from Baton Rouge and stayed home to play two seasons at LSU. He was named SEC Player of the Year in 2005. Two years ago, he left the Hornets and signed with Dallas. Bass is just 24 years old and has shown improvement in each of his four NBA seasons. He is 6’8 and weighs 250 Lbs. Last season, Bass played in 81 games, averaging 8.5 PPG and 4.5 RPG even though he only played 19.4 MPG. He should play a much more increased role on whatever team he decides to join next season, especially if that team happens to be Orlando. He would more than likely earn starters’ minutes at the 4 if he came to the Magic.

Bass is extremely strong, weighing 250 Lbs. and is a very good athlete. He is a very quick player and at times, he can blow by opposing defenders. He is very explosive and he can surprisingly put the ball on the floor when he gets into the lane (something that he could hopefully teach Dwight). He has a pretty consistent mid range jumper. He is money from about 16 feet and in and sometimes shows even more range. This is a must for any Magic player outside of the big man in the middle. He also shot almost 87% from the line last year and has shot a little over 83% for his career. . Bass has some weakness – he becomes turnover prone at times (so he’ll fit right in with the Magic) and he also really needs to work on his passing. Bass is also a pretty good defender for many the same reasons that he is a pretty good offensive player – his strength and quickness. Bass is a little undersized at 6’8, but makes up for it with this strength. This makes him hard to back down even if his opponent is significantly taller. He is very versatile because of his athleticism allowing him to go out and guard players on the perimeter. He is a pretty good shot blocker and rebounder but lacks the length to be dominate at either. He is a very hard worker but needs to raise his basketball IQ. He isn’t prone to foul trouble, which is a very good asset considering what kind of foul trouble that Dwight Howard gets into. Bass seems like he would be a very good fit playing next to Dwight Howard. His 6’8 frame could easily be covered up by Dwight Howard at Center and the 6’10 Rashard Lewis at SF.

Follow HowardtheDunk here.