FanHouse Otis Smith

ORLANDO -- Magic All-Star forward Rashard Lewis was anything but contrite Monday when his team gathered the day before training camp begins.

Lewis will open the regular season serving his 10-game suspension for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug Agreement last spring. He tested positive for a banned substance (commonly known as DHEA) that was found in an over-the-counter supplement he was taking.

"I still feel like I did nothing wrong,'' he said. "I've received more support than negative feedback. It's only 10 games in an 82-game season. It's not going to make or break us. When Game 11 comes, I'll be ready to go.''

The Orlando Magic sent Rafer Alston to New Jersey earlier this summer because they didn't want a point guard controversy brewing this season.

They are going to have one now. It's only a matter of time.

By signing veteran point guard Jason Williams – a starter for the 2006 NBA champion Miami Heat – the Magic have opened the door to a world of late-game second guessing, especially if starter Jameer Nelson can't deliver consistently and keep the Magic atop the Eastern Conference standings.

Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith said Thursday that he was not shocked when a league official notified him this week that Rashard Lewis was being suspended for the first 10 games of next season for violating the NBA's Anti-Drug program.

Lewis tested positive for the testosterone-producing steroid commonly referred to as DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone), which was part of a supplement he started taking late in the season. The chemical is banned by most sports leagues, including the NBA, but it is contained in several over-the-counter supplements.

The positive test stemmed from a urine sample provided by Lewis during the playoffs before they reached the NBA Finals.

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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 -- The Summer of 2010, which was supposed to be the mother load of all NBA free-agent classes, won't be the thriller that many anticipated.

The free spending just won't exist, according to several league executives and agents at the Orlando Pro Summer League Thursday.

News this week that the league is anticipating a dramatic drop in both the salary cap and the punitive luxury tax threshold for the 2010-11 season has sent a chill through every team in the league.

Although almost half the NBA teams had been shuffling future contracts to clear salary cap space in anticipation of a free agent feeding frenzy in 2010, many of those plans are looking rather bleak today.

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.

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.''

When center Dwight Howard unties his basketball shoes for the last time, maybe a dozen or more years down the line, it's conceivable he could be mentioned among the greats of the game at that position.

At 23, he's already got some pretty impressive numbers, and they're likely to rise some more in the coming years. It's already impressive that Howard has played in an NBA Finals, been on two All-NBA first teams and won the Defensive Player of the Year award.

So you can see how Howard might end up being one of the greats. That's all well and good, but the problem for Orlando is that Howard isn't good enough right now.

LOS ANGELES -- May 3, 2006 was a big day in Orlando Magic history.

Nothing happened.

So what if the Magic media guide says that's when Otis Smith (right) became the team's general manager. The reality of the situation is that the status remained very much quo that day.

Apparently, that was a good thing, too. The result is a very stable front office in Orlando, thank you very much.

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