FanHouse CarlosArroyo

This basketball offseason has been filled with bad news, what with the lockout threats, Yao Ming's injury, devastating financial losses, Greg Ostertag's continued unemployment. But Carlos Arroyo, former guard for the Orlando Magic, is here to pick you up with a Spanish summertime jam. It's called "Oculto Secreto," which translates to "Hidden Secret," which makes wonder what Carlos is hiding. You can hear the single at Primera Hora's website.

The great thing isn't the singing (which is deep beneath so much autotune an earthworm would have trouble finding it). And it's not that Arroyo wrote the song himself, which is awesome but ... Chris Webber produced two Nas tracks, so, writing a reggaeton song isn't so notable, right? The great thing is that Carlos Arroyo timed his single's release to coincide with the start of the FIBA Americas Championship, which will be held in Puerto Rico this month. When Luis Scola and Al Horford and Eduardo Najera arrive in San Juan later this week, they won't be able to escape "Oculto Secreto!" The definition of a viral release.

"That's right, right this way, please step forward. Okay, forwards, please line up behind the Olympiakos sign, guards and centers, please line up behind the Maccabi Tel Aviv sign."

Carlos Arroyo has gotten in line.

Marc Stein, who may or may not be omniscient (seriously, who sits around asking "You know what I haven't checked on in a while? Whether Carlos Arroyo is looking at an Israeli basketball offer. I should look into that. "?), reports that the former Orlando point guard has accepted a three year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which will net him $2.5 million next year. Not exactly the wallet buster Josh Childress got, but a nice chunk of change regardless for the 29 year old point guard that lost his gig last season. Arroyo started last season in contention for the starting spot for the Magic, then went to a backup role behind Jameer Nelson, before eventually not appearing hardly at all except to make sure Jameer Nelson didn't hurt himself by playing too much. When you lose your job to a guy who was heavily responsible for the Magic's self-destruct versus the Pistons and who the Magic had not interest in retaining, yeah, a change of scenery might be nice.

This is much more likely to be the last effect of the NBA Overseas Defection Watch List. Players that are better than the minimum, but not good enough for solid rotation or a significant chunk of change can head over and get paid. No word yet on whether the Israeli airlines plan on instituting a bulk discount for former Magic and Heat players.

Most of the Olympic men's basketball field has been set, with Argentina, Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Angola, China, Spain and the United States preparing for the August Games. The top three teams in the Olympic qualifying tournament -- which begins today in Athens -- will also compete in Beijing. Here's a quick look at the tourney.

The Favorite: Greece. The Greek team famously beat Team USA in the 2006 World Championships, setting off the maelstrom of righteous indignation which promised to (but didn't) revolutionize the way USA Basketball chose its teams. Greece boasts no current NBA players, but could beat a half-dozen NBA teams. Guard play makes the Greeks the favorites. Theo Papaloukas should be well-known in America, and Dimitris Diamantidis is one of the best perimeter defenders in Europe. Add good size up front and home court advantage, and it'd be a surprise if the Greeks didn't win this outright.

The Contenders: Germany, Brazil, Puerto Rico. At least one of these teams won't make it (unless Greece crumbles). Germany famously boasts both Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman now, though little else. Brazil will be without Leandro Barbosa, but has Tiago Splitter and some good guards. Also, Brazilian two-guard Alex Garcia shattered a backboard in the pre-game lay-up line in an exhibition last week. Awesome. But never count out Puerto Rico, with an assortment of former and current NBA players like Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Barea, and Peter John Ramos, as well SACRAMENTO STATE! product Joel (pronounced "Joe .... El") Jones.

Most of the Olympic men's basketball field has been set, with Argentina, Australia, Iran, Lithuania, Russia, Angola, China, Spain and the United States preparing for the August Games. The top three teams in the Olympic qualifying tournament -- which begins today in Athens -- will also compete in Beijing. Here's a quick look at the tourney.

The Favorite: Greece. The Greek team famously beat Team USA in the 2006 World Championships, setting off the maelstrom of righteous indignation which promised to (but didn't) revolutionize the way USA Basketball chose its teams. Greece boasts no current NBA players, but could beat a half-dozen NBA teams. Guard play makes the Greeks the favorites. Theo Papaloukas should be well-known in America, and Dimitris Diamantidis is one of the best perimeter defenders in Europe. Add good size up front and home court advantage, and it'd be a surprise if the Greeks didn't win this outright.

The Contenders: Germany, Brazil, Puerto Rico. At least one of these teams won't make it (unless Greece crumbles). Germany famously boasts both Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman now, though little else. Brazil will be without Leandro Barbosa, but has Tiago Splitter and some good guards. Also, Brazilian two-guard Alex Garcia shattered a backboard in the pre-game lay-up line in an exhibition last week. Awesome. But never count out Puerto Rico, with an assortment of former and current NBA players like Carlos Arroyo, J.J. Barea, and Peter John Ramos, as well SACRAMENTO STATE! product Joel (pronounced "Joe .... El") Jones.

With the NBA trade deadline looming, Trade Machinations rounds up real rumors (and creates fake ones) of moves that'd make the NBA a better, brighter place.

What does Orlando want? "In trade talks with various teams, the Magic have been looking to add a defensive-minded power forward, mostly using a variety of their players with expiring contracts as bait." What has Seattle got? Kurt Thomas. Now, yes, you can argue that Thomas has a monster 8 million dollar expiring contract. But I can argue that Orlando has a package -- James Augustine, Pat Garrity and Carlos Arroyo -- that makes more expiring contract money than Thomas. So the Sonics pick up a little extra cap room next year, and Orlando lobs them a second round draft pick as well for their effort. Or not lobs.

Thomas provides the Magic with the defensive power forward they want, Seattle gets to add to it's future cap space and Thomas, who is apparently expendable now that Robert Swift will be stealing his playing time, gets to not be an eight million dollar waste on a non-contender.

Will it happen? Yes. Yes it will. The only hold up here -- I would imagine -- is whether the Sonics and Magic want to consider anything that might involve either J.J. Redick or Chris Wilcox. Well, that and the full compensation for the swap: draft picks, etc.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
Everywhere I looked in the box scores this morning, it was a point guard doing heavy damage, or some spicy situation involving the point guard unraveling. Hence the name. The biggest shocker might have been the Cavs' decision to start Larry Hughes at point and go big with LeBron James at the two. Hughes responded decently by scoring 40 points with six boards, three dimes and two steals. Makes you wonder what Mike Brown's next move is...

Hot Cakes
Seems as if Jameer Nelson, despite Stan Van Gundy's seeming distaste for he and his extension, is back to starting (with 22 points, four boards, four assists last night). Carlos Arroyo initially was going to be handed the gig but Nelson is now back in play. Personally, if he started to go off, I would sell high. Buy low on Arroyo.

Jeff McInnis is starting again. After the Bobcats signed Earl Boykins. The point? Well, besides the fact that you should ignore McInnis for fantasy purposes (10 points and six dimes against Derek Fisher is not offensively spectacular, I'm sorry), you should also probably not take any bets that involve "Sam Vincent as a head coach next year" unless you're laying money against it happening.

Once he clears waivers on Thursday morning, Damon Stoudamire will officially be a free agent. Where will he end up? The Celtics will probably place a call, and the Spurs are believed to be interested. But at least one team allegedly interested has removed itself from the race:

Meanwhile, Magic General Manager Otis Smith said there was no validity to an ESPN report that the Magic are interested in signing point guard Damon Stoudamire. Stoudamire was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies and becomes a free agent.

With Jameer Nelson returning from his injured foot on Wednesday, adding Stoudamire to the mix would be complete overkill. Granted, I'm not sold on Nelson being a legitimate starter (for a contending team, no less), but the Magic also have Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling.

If I were starting a team from scratch, I'd probably take Stoudamire over all of them, but considering he's only a marginal improvement, I wouldn't take him in addition to all of them. If the Smith really wants to improve his roster, he'd find a way to move Arroyo and Dooling's expiring contract for help, though for what it's worth he's already said he won't be making any moves at the trade deadline.

I've always had my reservations about Jameer Nelson as a starter and I was a little surprised the Magic were willing to gamble with their future by giving him a five-year, $32.5 million extension this summer. But to be honest, even I didn't anticipate Nelson falling out of favor so quickly in Orlando.

For the third game in a row, Nelson watched his teammates tip-off from the bench, and for the third game in a row, Carlos Arroyo played pretty damn well as a starter. Oh sure, the Magic snapped a four-game winning streak (and blew a 15-point lead) by losing to the Nets on Wednesday, but it wasn't Arroyo's fault. In 30 minutes, he scored 16 on 5-9 shooting with seven assists and no turnovers. Nelson, on the other hand, played 18 minutes and chipped in just four points on 2-8 shooting with three assists and one turnover.

Is hoisting up eight shots in limited minutes really the path to regaining the organization's trust? Actually, it might be. From Wednesday's Orlando Sentinel:

"[Nelson] largely agrees with the assessment of General Manager Otis Smith, who said Nelson became a bystander after worrying too much about trying to keep his teammates happy with scoring opportunities.

"I was just . . . out there running around," he said, then laughed. "I'm a shoot-first point guard, so I have to get back to what I do.

Arroyo has a long history of being inconsistent, but he's also in the midst of a contract year. Might he retain the starting gig all year long? I have to imagine his leash won't be long considering all the dollars invested in Nelson this summer, but stranger things have happened.

Helluva game in Miami. Dwyane Wade was brilliant -- 48 points on 21 shots and 23 FTAs (!), plus 11 assists and 7 rebounds. But he became a footnote late as a string of improbable shots sent the match to overtime, where Wade didn't score.

That string? Dwight Howard went to the line for two behind by three with 41 seconds. Hit the first, missed the second... but Carlos Arroyo gets the rebound and kicks it to Rashard Lewis for a deeeeep three. Yes, down three with 41 seconds left, the Magic take a lead on a four-point play. Wade draws a foul and hits 'em both (like he wouldn't?), leaving the Heat up one with 21 seconds to go. Dorell Wright inexplicably fouls Arroyo, who nails his own free throws with 12 seconds left. Orlando back up one, smelling victory. Wade misses a tough shot, Dwight (60% career FT shooter) collects the rebound and hits two from the stripe. Four seconds left, Miami takes a 20-second timeout, defeat assured... until Wade hits rookie Daequan Cook for the nails-as-hell tying three.

Cook added 5 points in overtime, but it wasn't enough as Hedo Turkoglu nailed a three with 11 seconds to seal victory. Wade didn't record a FGA or a FTA in overtime; sort-of amazing after being involved in more than half of Miami's regulation points. Soon, the Heat might not have much to play for. But as long as Wade is playing, Miami fans have a reason to watch.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 28th NBA Draft.

The Magic traded away their first-round pick (No. 15) in the package that netted them Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo midway through the 2005-06 season. Was it worth it? Perhaps if they re-sign Darko, but even then it's questionable. Nevertheless, the Magic enter the draft with two second rounders (No. 44 and 54), so they'll be happy if they find someone who makes their roster, let alone cracks their rotation.

Needs: Consistent scoring from the wing, a legitimate starting point guard (sorry, Jameer Nelson), and if Darko leaves, a big man to play next to Dwight Howard. In other words, more than a pair of second-round picks will solve.

Best-Case Scenario: For the Magic to get someone capable of making an immediate impact, they'll likely need to package their picks and another player in a trade to move up. Otherwise, a guy like Nick Fazekas just might fall to them at No. 44 (unlikely, but possible). At 6-11, he has great size for the power forward spot to help out on the boards, and his offensive game is refined just enough to prevent the defense from always collapsing on Howard.