FanHouse Marcin Gortat

Not only is Orlando Magic backup center Marcin Gortat going to be playing with Vince Carter next season, he is going to be wearing Carter's shoes.

Gortat, the only Polish-born player in the NBA, found himself in a little hot water during the Finals last spring when adidas-owned Reebok, who was providing him free shoes, asked him to cover up the Michael Jordan/Nike tattoo on his leg.

When he refused their request, they canceled his modest shoe deal. So now he will be switching back to Nike, specifically the Vince Carter signature shoe.

Carter, the eight time All-Star who was traded to Orlando in June, already has given Gortat his blessing.

ORLANDO -- With nothing else pressing before he leaves for his native Poland on Saturday, Marcin Gortat has been hanging around the Orlando Pro Summer League this week, rubbing shoulders with various NBA people.

And he doesn't like what he's been hearing.

Gortat, a restricted free agent, was ecstatic earlier this week after signing an offer sheet worth $33 million over five years with the Dallas Mavericks, believing it was his ticket to both riches and a starting position in the NBA. Now he hears otherwise. Because he is a restricted free agent, the Magic can keep him just by matching the Mavericks' offer.

"I have a feeling now they (Magic) are going to match it,'' Gortat said Friday between Summer League Games. "That's what I'm hearing, they will match. We'll have to see, but I'm kind of down right now. Either way, I'll end up on a pretty good team.''

ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic are hoping that power forward Brandon Bass can add the inside toughness and rebounding help they need to compliment their array of outside shooters.

He agreed to a four-year deal worth a reported $18 million Friday, picking the Magic over Cleveland, New Orleans and Portland.

"We get somebody now who can defend the big power forwards,'' said Magic general manager Otis Smith. "We have the potential to be a better team now. He fits what we do. He will give us something we didn't have.''

ORLANDO -- Marcin Gortat came to watch the Orlando Magic Summer League team out of habit on Monday. It was like he couldn't stay away.

Gortat may be signing a new free agent contract Wednesday with the Dallas Mavericks, but he came to the RDV Sportsplex to watch the Pro Summer League and say goodbye to many of his friends.

Gortat is expected to receive a five-year, $33 million contract, a far cry from playing the last four years on the Magic's Summer League team of rookies and hopeful longshots.

Rasheed Wallace is one of the last major free agent names to make a commitment, and if the reports turn out to be true (thanks to Hedo Turkoglu, you can never be too sure), he'll be suiting up to start the 2009 season as a member of the Celtics.

Our own Matt Steinmetz thinks that makes Boston the favorite to take home the title next year. But to me, that seems -- to put it as politely as possible -- a bit overly-optimistic.

The Orlando Magic will say goodbye to backup center Marcin Gortat, unwilling to match the offer sheet that he will sign next week with the Dallas Mavericks. The price, they have decided, is too high.

The Mavericks and Gortat agreed Thursday to a multi-year offer that starts at the $5.6 million mid-level exception. He made an estimated $800,000 last season, serving as the backup to All-Star Dwight Howard.

Although the Magic liked Gortat – a restricted free agent – they have only nine players under contract for $67 million. The luxury tax, a dollar for dollar penalty designed to control league spending, is expected to start at $68 million next season. The Magic still have to sign at least four players, which makes bringing back Gortat almost cost prohibitive.

The Dallas Mavericks are about to call the bluff of Magic general manager Otis Smith.

A day after Smith said that he planned to match any offer for restricted free agent Marcin Gortat, the Mavs brought the Magic's backup center to town, hoping he agrees to their contract offer that he can sign next week.

According to at least one NBA source, the Mavs offer will start with the mid-level exception of $5.6 million, extending it out at least three years.

The Rockets have targeted Orlando center Marcin Gortat as a desirable pick-up. Whether this had been the plan all along, or whether Yao Ming's injury has forced management's hand(s), it doesn't matter. It only matters that the Rockets are seriously serious about landing Gortat, who caddied for Dwight Howard this season.

How serious? Right around midnight, Houston GM Daryl Morey posted a message on Facebook and Twitter imploring Rockets fans to tell Gortat how much they love him.

ORLANDO -- As the backup to the best center in the NBA, unheralded Marcin Gortat doesn't cause much of a stir when he enters and leaves a game.

He causes quite a commotion, though, every night when he arrives and departs the arena. He has arguably the loudest, fastest car in a league that is filled with players who drive some of the fastest, sleekest, most elegant rides in America.

"People in this country don't know me yet for my game, but people around this town know my car,'' Gortat said as he was showing off his ride to FanHouse. "I don't think there are any cars out on the street that could beat me. I have an engine like something in NASCAR. This car is fast. It's perfect.''

ORLANDO -- There is good and bad to the bright lights of the NBA Finals -- even for a relatively unknown backup center like Marcin Gortat of the Orlando Magic.

Gortat, in just his second NBA season, and the only player in the league from Poland, becomes a restricted free agent this summer. He has helped himself immensely with consistent performances during this playoff run, attracting attention from other teams around the league.

He also received an uncomfortable phone call last weekend from Reebok, with whom he has a shoe contract. Representatives of the company were not happy to see a picture of him from Game 1 in a Polish newspaper that prominently displayed his Michael Jordan/Nike logo tattoo on his lower right leg.

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