On the cusp of entering the national spotlight at his first NBA All-Star game , Jameer Nelson dislocated his shoulder in last night's loss against the Dallas Mavericks. After tests this morning, Nelson was found to have a torn labrum. If he opts for surgery, then he's out for the season. Considering his play-style initiates a lot of contact and punishment, I think the wisest move would be to go for surgery. Regardless, it's looking incredibly likely that he's done for the year.
The dream season for the Orlando Magic is over. It was a good run.
This sucks SO bad
ReplyDeleteAt least this opens up the door for Ray Allen or Rajon Rondo to make the All-Star bench. Fuck Mo Williams.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this is pretty sad. One could argue that losing Jameer could be nearly as bad as losing Howard himself. Let me just put it out there that Anthony Johnson sucks hard. He may be OK off the bench, but he cannot facilitate the offense for long stretches. And who is his back-up? Darrell Armstrong? Penny Hardaway? Who the hell is on the team? This is pretty much a killer. My condolences, gang.
These PGs are all on the chopping block and are being bandied around as possible trade material:
ReplyDeleteAndre Miller
Starbury
Sergio Rodriguez
Mike Conley
Kyle Lowry
Kirk Hinrich
Luke Ridnour
Kirk Hinrich is the best player out of all of those but has a large contract, however any of these guys would be preferable to AJ. In the meantime, Hedo's gonna have to step it up tenfold as point forward. Which means a lot more pick-and-roll offense.
What makes matters worse is that every GM in the league knows that the Magic need another guy at point, and thus will inflate their asking prices.
This must be what it feels like to be a Houston Rockets fan.
Also considering the trading deadline is a little more than two weeks away, there is even more pressure on the Magic GM.
ReplyDeleteSchool me a little...what are the attractive trading chips that could get a deal done? Redick? Perhaps Courtney Lee? And who has the contract to balance things out? As you said, Hinrich is the best option but also has the massive contract and the money has to work out on both sides. Also, I remember reading that the Bulls are leaning towards not trading him, but I'm not sure of that.
I imagine a team would demand some combination of an expiring contact (2010, I imagine), some sort of draft pick, and a young project. What are your guys' thoughts on the logistics of a possible trade?
Bogans, Cook, Battie, and Redick are the likely pieces in question. Redick is the only one who's attractive in terms of ability, the rest are because of their expiring contracts. I mentioned Hinrich because I know the Bulls are in dire need of shooting guards so there could be an exchange there. The Magic could possibly get Tyrus Thomas from them too, which would address a need at the 4 position.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea I've seen tossed around is getting Bobby Jackson from Sacramento. He's older than AJ but is actually decent on both offense and defense, plus he'd be a pretty cheap exchange and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to finish his career with a doormat Kings team.
One guy I really like is Jarret Jack from the Pacers. Could maybe get him for Redick and a draft pick or two.
This could be a boon in disguise as we could address both the PG and PF positions, I'm hopeful there's a woefully incompetent GM out there who'll send over a good player(s) for our scraps. Hey, it worked for the Lakers last year when they exchanged garbage with Memphis to get Pau Gasol.
TYRONN LUE IS THE ANSWER
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