Matt Moore of CBS Sports explains why Orlando could acquire Chris Paul.
"Orlando Magic: This one’s been out there for a while. The Magic have the right combination of talent, contracts, and assets to maneuver into position for Paul. They can send back a versatile shooting point guard to help with the transition of Darren Collison. They can send Vince Carter and his expiring contract, along with a significant player at shooting guard to pair with Marcus Thornton. They still have draft picks in the can, have expendable players with talent like Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass. It puts an elite player next to Dwight Howard and matches the upgrade the Heat have made, and potentially gives them an advantage over the Celtics in terms of talent. The question would be if Paul could function inside the unique spacing the Magic employ, which primarily functions on a series of swing passes. There’s no question he’d be dominant in the pick and roll with Howard."
You can read that story here.
Royce Young of CBS Sports thinks Orlando has the perfect assets to acquire Chris Paul.
"Even with Paul, the Hornets need help. The key in any deal sending the franchise somewhere else is that the returning package is the short road to rebuilding. A deal like what Matt Moore constructed involving Orlando is ideal . Some assets, an expiring contract and a couple quality players that can actually help on the floor in the near future."
You can read that story here.
George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel says they need to make this deal happen.
"This is the window of opportunity for the Magic to morph themselves from a good little team to a great one.If they Magic pull this off, they immediately make the Miami Heat and their Avis of Evil squirm. Everybody knows that Nelson is Howard’s BFF. But Dwight isn’t stupid. And The Magic won’t care about hurting Jameer’s feelings. The Heat are going to feel the pinch, too. It’s not going to be all so easy to win 10 consecutive championships everybody is predicting.Orlando’s best shot at keeping Howard forever is by teaming him up with Chris Paul. Two superstars, in their prime, ready to take on the rest of the league for another decade."
You can read that story here.
Vince Carter is spending his offseason with kids.
"For Carter, summer camps were a great influence in his development as an All-Star and therefore he wants to give that opportunity to the next generation of basketball players.In addition to developing basketball skills and sharing experiences with children from different parts of the United States and other countries, kids have the opportunity to train and spend time with Carter and that’s perhaps what they cherish the most.“It’s an example, you see him on the TV, you see him play, but when you get here, you see that he’s real. You can play hard, you can practice a lot and you can actually get there,” shared Caroline, a first-year camper who is visiting from Brazil.“It’s an amazing experience. He (Vince) trains with us, he’s here all day. We learn a lot of basketball skills, but we also learn about life lessons while we’re here,” said Abby, who has been traveling from West Virginia for 10 years to participate in the camp."
Andy Santiago of OrlandoMagic.com has that story here.
Matt Barnes and the Lakers look like a perfect match.
Barnes loved his Magic teammates but is looking forward to playing the Magic.
How do Ben Q. Rock and his OPP readers thank Matt Barnes? By writing haikus, of course.
Find out why Dwight Howard makes and misses free throws here.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page, and co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here.)