The Orlando Magic made two major trades on Saturday, neither of which did anything to help improve the team reach the NBA Finals.
The Magic’s first trade on Saturday sent Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round draft pick and cash considerations to the Phoenix Suns for Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark.
Orlando’s second trade of the day sent Rashard Lewis to the Washington Wizzards for Gilbert Arenas.
The Magic gave up a lot to reacquire Turkoglu, one of the key players who was instrumental in helping Orlando make the 2008 NBA Finals.
Turkoglu’s offensive production has dropped off considerably since leaving Orlando following the 2008-09 season. In his last year with the Magic, Turkoglu averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
Last season with Toronto, his numbers dropped to 11.3 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. This season he’s averaged 9.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game with Phoenix.
Perhaps the Magic feel once Turkoglu is reunited with Dwight Howard that he can produce as he did during his first stint with the team.
But don’t hold your breath thinking that Turkoglu is going to help turn Orlando into the Eastern Conference favorites.
The addition of Arenas will certainly give Orlando more scoring, but now the Magic are overloaded at shooting guard with J.J. Redick, Quentin Richardson and Jason Richardson all playing that position.
It’s unlikely that Orlando will have Arenas, earning $17.7 million this season, and Turkoglu, making $10.2 million, coming off the bench.
If Orlando wants Arenas in the starting lineup he’ll have to play shooting guard, while Jason Richardson will be the small forward and Turkoglu will play power forward.
With a potential starting lineup of Jameer Nelson at point, Arenas at shooting guard, Jason Richardson at small forward, and Turkoglu at power forward, Howard will be overburdened because the Magic won’t have enough interior muscle to match up with the better teams, especially the Heat and Celtics when the playoffs roll around.
Brandon Bass should continue to see a lot of minutes off the bench to spell Turkoglu. Bass has played well as a spot starter and off the bench, averaging 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
But with Quentin Richardson nursing an ailing elbow and Pietrus headed to Phoenix, Orlando doesn’t have anyone that can adequately fill the small forward position.
Losing Gortat as a reliable backup to Howard and a high energy player like Pietrus off the bench hurt Orlando’s defense and rebounding.
Orlando added players that can provide them with a lot of offense, a boost that will help the team’s 96.6 points per game average.
And while the Magic have a lot of offensive firepower on the roster, there remains the question of how coach Stan Van Gundy will use them.
Without a clear backup for the foul prone Howard coupled with Turkoglu’s, Arenas’ and Richardson’s defensive liabilities, the Magic did a lot more harm than good with these trades.
