OT: Orlando matches offer for Gortat

[tlongII]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4324941

The Orlando Magic will keep Marcin Gortat by matching the five-year, $34-million offer sheet extended to him by the Dallas Mavericks, the Orlando Sentinel first reported Monday.

The Magic made the announcement Monday.

"Having quality big men is an absolute must in our league, and Marcin has worked very hard to fit into that category," Magic general manager Otis Smith said in a statement. "He provides tremendous depth to our frontcourt and we're happy to bring him back."

Gortat's agent, Guy Zucker, told the Dallas Morning News his player is "very, very disappointed."

If this stiff is getting $34M over 5 years I think it's a no-brainer that Utah will match for Millsap.

 

[maxiep]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4324941



If this stiff is getting $34M over 5 years I think it's a no-brainer that Utah will match for Millsap.

The difference is that Orlando's championship window is open. Utah will be lucky to be the 6th seed next year.

 

[tlongII]

The difference is that Orlando's championship window is open. Utah will be lucky to be the 6th seed next year.

I disagree. Gortat has little relevance to Orlando's championship window imo.

 

[ironcrotch]

The Polish Hamma

so they have Bass too? That's solid.

 

[maxiep]

I disagree. Gortat has little relevance to Orlando's championship window imo.

A backup center is important, especially when you now have to deal with Shaq and Sheed.

 

[hasoos]

The difference is that Orlando's championship window is open. Utah will be lucky to be the 6th seed next year.

I think your off on that. Utah's record wouldn't have been as bad as it was this year without the injuries, and also you have a ton of players on their team which will now be playing for a contract the next year. A contract during a year where a lot of teams are making room to sign players. So I don't think it will turn out like you say. While they definitly are not a "top contender"(Who besides LA is in the west?) I think they will be right there with the pack (The group of teams that was all within about a game of each other.) Put it this way. They will be quite better than this past season.

 

[Minstrel]

I'm glad Orlando matched. Gortat is a pretty solid center and Dallas could have used Gortat more than Orlando. This takes away a very solid acquisition for Dallas.

 

[maxiep]

I think your off on that. Utah's record wouldn't have been as bad as it was this year without the injuries, and also you have a ton of players on their team which will now be playing for a contract the next year. A contract during a year where a lot of teams are making room to sign players. So I don't think it will turn out like you say. While they definitly are not a "top contender"(Who besides LA is in the west?) I think they will be right there with the pack (The group of teams that was all within about a game of each other.) Put it this way. They will be quite better than this past season.

Who is a top contender in the West?

LA
SA
POR
DEN

I'm not sure Utah is better than Dallas.

 

[hasoos]

Who is a top contender in the West?

LA
SA
POR
DEN

I'm not sure Utah is better than Dallas.

Dude, nothing has changed. LA is the top dog. None of the other teams in the west did Jack Diddly to counter that. San Antonio worked to improve themselves, but that won't matter unless Ginobili comes back. Until he comes back, I count them out.

Utah is better than Dallas. Why don't you go back in your mind to two seasons ago before the injury bug hit and Utah took out roughly the same Houston team we just lost to, and see if that triggers some thoughts. If you want to base your opinion of the Jazz off of one injury plagues season, good luck with that. It's your basketball reputation, not mine.

 

[maxiep]

Dude, nothing has changed. LA is the top dog. None of the other teams in the west did Jack Diddly to counter that. San Antonio worked to improve themselves, but that won't matter unless Ginobili comes back. Until he comes back, I count them out.

And we beat LA twice last year. You don't think our players are going to improve next year? We face them in the playoffs next year and I'm not sure we don't come out on top.

 

[huevonkiller]

I was kind of surprised by this move, they'll be real over the LT for a guy that plays spare minutes for them. They've committed 76.6 million next year already for ten players, will they still use the MLE next season? They'd be around 85 million if they use it all and get a couple of low price players. That's over 100 million in salary after the Luxury Tax, even more of course if the LT threshold falls. My understanding was that they aren't one of the richer franchises either (nothing against them personally :O). To me they should have just let him go like LA did with Ronny Turiaf.

 

[Ed O]

Orlando has really opened up their pocketbooks this offseason with the acquisition of Carter and Bass and retaining Gortat.

Ed O.

 

[Minstrel]

Orlando has really opened up their pocketbooks this offseason with the acquisition of Carter and Bass and retaining Gortat.

Which makes a lot of sense. Their championship window is now...there will never be a more impactful time to spend money.

 

[huevonkiller]

Which makes a lot of sense. Their championship window is now...there will never be a more impactful time to spend money.

In the playoffs he got like 11 minutes a game though. I'm not sure this helps them much and it does affect their window if they shy away from using the MLE next off-season.

 

[handiman]

Which makes a lot of sense. Their championship window is now...

Why is that, exactly? Howard, Lewis, and Nelson are all young enough to have a long run. Carter is probably nearing the end athletically, but Hedo was spry enough for a good 5 year continuation of the window, had they been willing to spend two weeks ago what they apparently are now.

 

[Minstrel]

Why is that, exactly?

Because they just reached the Finals. Thus, their championship window is now, by definition. They are, right now, championship-caliber.

I wasn't commenting on how long that window was. Nor was I saying that the window wasn't open when they decided not to spend on Turkoglu. I assume that they didn't feel Turkoglu was worth the money. I'd agree with that thinking, and they spent money quite well overall.

 

[handiman]

The question was, how does this sudden spending spree relate to the window of opportunity differently than it did when they weren't willing to spend and still had pretty much the same window. Or something like that... I'm fully aware that they're willing to spend to win.

 

[Minstrel]

The question was, how does this sudden spending spree relate to the window of opportunity differently than it did when they weren't willing to spend and still had pretty much the same window.

When weren't they willing to spend, while possessing the same or similar window? If you're referring to not retaining Turkoglu, I did address that.

 

[huevonkiller]

Actually, S2 just updated their salary figures and it seems Orlando has 83 million due to 10 players next off-season. If they were to use the MLE and a few other minimum type of contracts to get to 13 total players, they'd have about a 115 million dollar payroll (with the predicted 65 million dollar Luxury Tax Threshold). I'm not sure they can afford that can they? I know Jerry Buss is already at his limit at about 105-115 million a year. So yeah if they get shy in free-agency because of Gortat, it'll be a bad deal.

 

[handiman]

When weren't they willing to spend, while possessing the same or similar window? If you're referring to not retaining Turkoglu, I did address that.

As of their Finals run, they were supposedly unwilling to go into luxury tax territory to retain Hedo. I'm not sure what else there is to say other than plans somehow changed... Same window, different plans.

 

[Minstrel]

As of their Finals run, they were supposedly unwilling to go into luxury tax territory to retain Hedo. I'm not sure what else there is to say other than plans somehow changed... Same window, different plans.

Well, I think you explained it in what you said (and I said it too, earlier). They were unwilling to go into luxury tax territory for Turkoglu. That doesn't mean going into luxury tax territory for other players is contradictory. Just means they didn't feel Turkoglu was worth doing so for.

 

[JayJohnstone]

I assume that they didn't feel Turkoglu was worth the money. I'd agree with that thinking, and they spent money quite well overall.

I don't know. If I had Dwight Howard, I'd spend my $50-60M on Turk and a CBA big rather than Gortat and Bass.

 

[Minstrel]

I don't know. If I had Dwight Howard, I'd spend my $50-60M on Turk and a CBA big rather than Gortat and Bass.

Why, when you can get Carter? Vince Carter is still much better than Turkoglu has ever been. And Carter is on a shorter contract.

Bass and Gortat are both young enough to be valuable players for a long time. Turkoglu might be a valuable player for only two to three more years (and "valuable" means around average). If Orlando felt that Turkoglu's cost way exceeded his value due to hype, I'd agree with that evaluation.

Considering they ended up with an even better wing, they didn't hurt themselves by letting him go and locked in a good starting power forward and their own "Przybilla" to assure that their defense doesn't suffer much when Howard rests. Gortat is basically a Dwight Howard Lite...a very good team and individual defender, a great rebounder and very adept at catching and converting on pick & rolls. Considering how much Orlando's offense and defense is built around Howard, it's very valuable for them to be able to bring in a similar type of player when he rests.

I'd call that a very wise spending spree.

 

[maxiep]

I don't know. If I had Dwight Howard, I'd spend my $50-60M on Turk and a CBA big rather than Gortat and Bass.

Perhaps they knew something about Turkoglu that we learned the hard way...

 

[maxiep]

Why, when you can get Carter? Vince Carter is still much better than Turkoglu has ever been. And Carter is on a shorter contract.

Carter's last year of his deal is only partially guaranteed, I think only to the tune of $4MM. It's going to be one of those "super-expiring" deals. It's one of the reasons I wanted to use RLEC on it, not to mention the two first round picks we would have also gotten.

I love the moves the Magic have made this offseason.

 

[handiman]

Considering they ended up with an even better wing, they didn't hurt themselves...

They became much more expensive, though, and there's no guarantee they improved on an already very successful model. The notion of keeping the window open doesn't make much sense when they dumped an important piece in getting them to the Finals. If the success continues, it's a new window to some degree... What are the odds they win a title over LA/Cleveland/Boston? I'd wager pretty slim. In which case, they spent a lot more money for no greater likelihood of winning.

 

[Minstrel]

They became much more expensive, though, and there's no guarantee they improved on an already very successful model. The notion of keeping the window open doesn't make much sense when they dumped an important piece in getting them to the Finals.

An overrated piece, in my opinion. I think if you reach the Finals with a certain roster, and then upgrade that roster, you're upgrading the quality of your "window." You can call it a "new window" if you want, but my point is that money spent is more impactful when you're on the verge of winning it all. Winning the championship versus losing in the Finals is a small difference in talent but a massive difference in importance, both in terms of athletic goals and revenues.

Or at least, it makes a big difference to revenues in baseball to win a championship, in terms of ticket sales and all in subsequent years. In basketball, I'm not entirely sure, since some teams often sell out every game anyway. But since ticket prices can be raised and there's merchandise, I'd guess that it's a big difference in basketball, too.

 

[handiman]

An overrated piece, in my opinion. I think if you reach the Finals with a certain roster, and then upgrade that roster, you're upgrading the quality of your "window."

That is a matter of opinion... Personally, I think the single most important aspect of Orlando's offense is two 6'10" to 6'11" guys on the perimeter, both creating big mismatches with their ability to catch and shoot or put it on the floor. Vince might be better than Hedo, but he's a much more conventional match up. Dealing with him and Lewis is much easier than dealing with Hedo and Lewis, in my opinion. That's the beauty of opinions...

 

[GODunk]

Gortat is Howard insurance. He filled in nicely for him last year. I watched some games in which Gortat got extensive minutes. It sucks for him, because no doubt he wants a larger role so he can develop. I don't know what else the Magic would have done for a back-up if it didn't re-sign him.

 

[Minstrel]

That is a matter of opinion...

Of course. I even said "in my opinion" in that quote.

If you don't feel Turkoglu was an overrated part of that team, or you don't feel a 5 year, $50 million deal would be overpaying him, then our analysis will diverge.

My main point, though, was that there's nothing contradictory about choosing not to pay Turkoglu and then choosing to pay other players. It's not that they "weren't in spend mode" and now "are in spend mode." It's that they picked and chose what to spend on. You may disagree with their choices, but it isn't contradictory or a change of direction, necessarily.