Orlando Magic News & Notes: The Extensions, J-Will, Spending

As I touched on earlier, the Magic are willing to keep spending.

"He [Vander Weide] responded: “In light of the current business arrangement in the league, I would just tell you we will look at every opportunity — and not specifically to your question — but every opportunity to improve this team. And we will do that.”The Magic’s team payroll for 2010-11 right now stands at about $93 million. The league’s luxury tax threshold for 2010-11 is $70.3 million. The Magic will have to pay $1 to the league for every $1 in team salary by which it exceeds $70.3 million at the end of the season.About three years ago, Vander Weide sat down with his father-in-law, Magic Owner Rich DeVos, and asked DeVos if he was willing to accept the financial costs of building a potentially elite NBA team.Vander Weide recalled: “I wanted to do that, because at the end of the day, I may work in this business for three more years, four more years, five more years, but I’m going to live the business as a family for hopefully the next 25."

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has that story here.

Tim Povtak of NBA Fanhouse also touched on the subject.

"The Magic also will have a player payroll estimated at $90 million, second highest in the league, leaving them just below the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, and deep into the punitive luxury tax territory.“We believe we are on the brink of being a championship team,” said team president Alex Martins, whose contract also was extended as part of his promotion from chief operating officer. “It’s just a matter now of taking the final step. This is part of that.”Under Van Gundy, the Magic won 59 games in each of the last two seasons, losing in the 2008 NBA Finals to the Lakers and then in the 2009 Eastern Conference finals to the Boston Celtics.As part of his two-year extension, Van Gundy will earn an estimated $4.3 million annually, putting him among the top 25 percent of coaches in the league. According to league sources, who confirmed his bonus clause, his contract is much like other NBA coaching contracts in that he will receive only a portion of it if the 2011-12 season is shortened because of the expected labor dispute."

You can read that story here.

Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk likes the idea to extend Smith and Van Gundy.

"Smart move by Orlando — this was a below .500 franchise when these two came in, and now they are title contenders. They built a team that plays good defense. They built a team that matches up well with the Miami Heat (what, you think Joel Anthony is going to slow Dwight Howard?).Orlando has won 59 games the last two seasons, been to an NBA finals and will be right in the mix in the East again. This is a case of the GM and coach being on the same page — Smith has brought in talent to match Van Gundy’s system. Sounds logical, but look at half the teams around the league and tell me if it looks like coach and GM are even speaking."

You can read that story here.

The Magic are still considering bringing back Jason Williams.

"“Jason Williams we would probably like to have back, but what that would look like I’m not necessarily sure,” Smith said. “We’ll have to have a conversation with his agent in the next couple of days.”Smith said he’s also considering “two younger guys” for the spot.“It’s a matter of how we want that third point guard to look,” Smith said. “Right now, we have a lot of confidence in the first two guys, so we’re talking about it.”"

Josh Robbins has that story here.

Dwight Howard says the Heat won’t be the best team in the league next year.

You can read a little about Jeff Adrien here. Adrien a former UConn forward, was on Orlando’s summer league team.

(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.)