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.
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Here's a quick look at the trades that went down and what they mean:
The Thinking: The Cavaliers get an aging O'Neal, with the hope that he can have a productive year playing alongside LeBron James. The only way this trade is a success is if the Cavaliers are the 2009-10 NBA champions. For the Suns, trading O'Neal means that they are beyond tinkering and are leaning toward turning over the personnel of a team that missed the playoffs last season.
Worried that signing free agent Hedo Turkoglu would handcuff them with the luxury tax for several years, the Orlando Magic turned instead to the New Jersey Nets and consummated a trade for Vince Carter that will be announced later Thursday.
Earlier in the week, the Magic also were talking with Houston about re-acquiring Tracy McGrady, but they opted to pursue Carter instead. Although Carter will make considerably more next season than Turkoglu -- who is looking for a five-year, $50 million contract -- he has only two guaranteed years remaining, paying him $16.3 and $17.3 million, respectively.
Worried that they can't re-sign free agent Hedo Turkoglu without being handcuffed by the luxury tax for several years, the Orlando Magic were talking trade possibilities with New Jersey about Vince Carter and with Houston about Tracy McGrady, according to NBA sources.
Although Carter and McGrady would cost considerably more next season than Turkoglu – who is looking for a five-year, $50 million contract – they both have contracts that end much sooner. Carter has two years remaining, at $16.3 and $17.3, respectively. McGrady has one year remaining at $23 million.
OK, so far as I can tell, no Orlando Magic player has yet to utter "We're just happy to be here," when asked about the NBA Finals.
But you know darn well they're happy to be here. They knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics, then took it to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been preparing since October for the NBA Finals; the Orlando Magic have been preparing since Sunday. That's just one reason the Lakers are going to win this thing.
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
As one of the NBA's biggest stars, Dwight Howard is on top of the world right now. So it should come as no surprise that "Superman" was in great spirits on his 23rd birthday. In this exclusive video, we go inside the Magic locker room and conduct a hilarious interview with Howard after he turned 23. His Orlando teammates, including Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, J.J. Redick and Stan Van Gundy join in on the fun and talk about Howard (Van Gundy: "If he gets 15 and 11, we're probably pissed off.") Also, we get the inside scoop on whether Howard will be back in this year's Slam Dunk Contest.
When Tony Battie went down with "season-ending" shoulder surgery, the Orlando Magic applied for and were granted an injury exception, which essentially allowed them salary-cap relief equal to half of his salary this year. That ended up coming in handy, as the Magic used a portion of that to pull off the trade with the Lakers that brought the team Brian Cook and Maurice Evans in exchange for Trevor Ariza.
Here's where things get funny: even though Battie isn't allowed to return in the regular season, he is allowed to return for the playoffs. In the end, it may not matter: Battie is not yet sure that his shoulder will be healed to the point that he can return to action, and even if it is, he's simply not the type of player to make-or-break a playoff series.
But still, this goes against the spirit of the rule, doesn't it? I doubt anyone will even raise an eyebrow considering that it's only Tony Battie, but it doesn't change the fact that the Magic were able to make a trade that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to make. And while neither Cook nor Evans are impact players, what if they used that exception to sign Chris Webber as originally rumored? Sooner or later this situation will involve actual impact players, at which time the NBA will likely think twice about tweaking the way things are now.
One of the reasons that Chris Webber might accept an offer to play in Greece is because he wants both a two-year deal and something more than the veteran's minimum. So far, no NBA teams have stepped up to the plate ... but that might change if the Orlando Magic get their way.
Orlando currently has their hands tied by the salary cap and can't offer more than the veteran's minimum of $1.2 million, but following the news that Tony Battie is likely lost for the season, the team might receive some salary cap relief. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel explains:
If the Magic are granted an injury exception for Battie -- who is expected now to likely miss the entire season with a rotator cuff injury -- it will be worth about $2.6 million (half of Battie's salary this season), more appealing to free agents.
Of course, this is hardly automatic -- the NBA is sometimes fickle in deciding who gets an injury exception and who doesn't. But if the Magic receive the exception, it'd be more than two times their previous offer to Webber. It still doesn't hold a candle to the two-year, $10 million to $12 million offer Webber received from Olympiacos, but if he wants to stay stateside, it might be the best he'll get from any NBA team, especially if the Magic cave and offer a second year. There's been no official contact between Webber and the team just yet, but Webber's agent Aaron Goodwin told Schmitz that he expects to hear from GM Otis Smith soon.
The Magic learned this week that Tony Battie has a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The initial prognosis is that he'll need (likely season-ending) surgery, but he was scheduled to seek a second opinion yesterday. Battie is hardly an elite player, but losing him could have disastrous effects for the Magic.
Why? Because beyond Dwight Howard and Adonal Foyle, the Magic are short on big men capable of banging down low. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are both 6-10, but they're perimeter players who rarely venture into the post. Needless to say, when Howard is out of the game, the Magic will get killed on the boards.
The Magic could have avoided this problem had they retained Darko Milicic, but he's in Memphis now. There's not much quality left on the free agent market to replace Battie, especially considering almost every other team in the league could top what the Magic have to offer, which is merely the veteran's minimum of $1.2 million.
Besides, if Chris Webber or P.J. Brown, the top power forwards still unsigned, decide they want to play this year, they could easily get that much money (or more) from a legitimate contender like Dallas or Phoenix, which means the Magic are most likely going to have to fill the hole internally. So dust off those gym shoes, James Augustine, and start working on that English, Marcin Gortat, because you're most likely going to see a lot more action this year than you ever thought possible.
Evans, 27, has proven himself to be a premier rebounder when given significant minutes and he's a better-than-average post defender. He could fortify a Magic frontline that will have Dwight Howard, Tony Battie and little else.
Payroll concerns also are an issue for the Nuggets, who have $78 million on the books for next season. Getting out from under the $18.8 million still owed to Evans during the next four seasons might appeal to Denver.
One rumored trade could feature the Magic sending Keyon Dooling and Pat Garrity to Denver for Evans and enigmatic shooting guard J.R. Smith. The Magic would have to throw in another low-salaried player to make the deal work. Both Dooling and Garrity have expiring contracts, something that would be appealing to the Nuggets.
If the Magic can somehow manage to turn Dooling and Garrity into Evans and Smith, they have to pull the trigger. Yes, expiring contracts are nice, but not as nice as players with actual talent and upside.
For one, pairing Howard and Evans would give the Magic an excellent rebounding duo -- Howard finished third in the league in rebounding last year and Evans finished first in rebounds per 48 minutes. While Smith is unproven and one stop away from being a bona fide journeyman, there's no denying his electric potential. And unless you're hoping to see a whole lot of J.J. Redick this year, the Magic certainly have a vacancy at shooting guard. There's no way the Nuggets would do this trade were they not in a salary crunch, and the Magic can't afford to be too cautious in the improving East.
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.
There was a lot of activity in the NBA this week, and we're not just talking about the draft. Some of the NBA's big names and better teams were in on it.
Worried that signing free agent Hedo Turkoglu would handcuff them with the luxury tax for several years, the Orlando Magic turned instead to the New Jersey Nets and consummated a trade for Vince Carter that will be announced later Thursday.
(Update: Magic agree to terms on a deal for Carter.) 
OK, so far as I can tell, no Orlando Magic player has yet to utter "We're just happy to be here," when asked about the NBA Finals.
As one of the NBA's biggest stars, Dwight Howard is on top of the world right now. So it should come as no surprise that "Superman" was in great spirits on his 23rd birthday. In this exclusive video, we go inside the Magic locker room and conduct a hilarious interview with Howard after he turned 23. His Orlando teammates, including Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, J.J. Redick and Stan Van Gundy join in on the fun and talk about Howard (Van Gundy: "If he gets 15 and 11, we're probably pissed off.") Also, we get the inside scoop on whether Howard will be back in this year's Slam Dunk Contest.
When Tony Battie went down with "season-ending" shoulder surgery, the Orlando Magic applied for and were granted an injury exception, which essentially allowed them salary-cap relief equal to half of his salary this year. That ended up coming in handy, as the Magic used a portion of that to pull off the trade with the Lakers that brought the team Brian Cook and Maurice Evans in exchange for Trevor Ariza.
One of the reasons that Chris Webber might accept an offer to play in Greece is because he wants both a two-year deal and something more than the veteran's minimum. So far, no NBA teams have stepped up to the plate ... but that might change if the Orlando Magic get their way. 
The Magic learned this week that Tony Battie has a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The initial prognosis is that he'll need (likely season-ending) surgery, but he was scheduled to seek a second opinion yesterday. Battie is hardly an elite player, but losing him could have disastrous effects for the Magic. 
The Rashard Lewis contract has essentially backed the Magic into a corner in terms of improving the rest of the roster, but that doesn't mean the team is done trying. They still might land the recently bought-out Adonal Foyle, and they're reportedly in talks with the Nuggets regarding Reggie Evans. From John Denton for Florida Today: 
