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Administrator
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Twilight Zone
Age: 54
Posts: 50,175
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J Brewers answers
These were questions before the trade. Mr. Brewer is a busy man. We appreciate the time he took to answer these for us.
Thanks all for the great questions for February. I will now try to answer everything as thoroughly as possible. -- Jerry Brewer
OZZY
Hello Mr. Brewer this is Jeremy Osborne A.K.A. OZZY.
Q: 1) Do you think the Magic will ever try to get the same personel the Chicago Bulls had with Pippen, MJ, Harper, and Rodman? I think that is a great lineup and the Magic have the hard pieces in place with Tracy at SG, Hill at the SF or PG. But they don't really have a tall PG and a athletic rebounder. I thought Humphrey would fit that role but I don't think that is possible. So do you think the Magic will be going after Harvey in the near future. And in the draft do you think they will look into getting Marcus Moore, Reece Gaines or Cedric Bozeman? Sure they have Sasser but I don't know if he is good enough to play the PG, but that could change. In my view they are obviously trying to go down that same road the Bulls used.
A: Ozzy, Doc Rivers would love to have a big PG. He thinks about size in several ways. The first is the traditional way: Big, dominant center and prototypical PF (think Shaq and Horace Grant in the Magic's heyday). But you can also be big on the perimeter and competitive on the inside, like those Bulls teams were. I think the Magic realize they will not be finding a great, dominant big very easily. So they want that size and versatility on the perimeter. They had it with G-Hill, T-Mac and Mike Miller. Now, of course, things have changed.
The big plan would be to get a young PG in the draft and find a big, shot-blocking space-filling center through trade or free agency, most likely free agency. The Magic really like these college PGs: Luke Ridnour of Oregon, who I really think is special (maybe like a Steve Nash), but he may go before they think. T.J. Ford of Texas, who they think would allow them to play at the pace they want, but he may not come out this year. Then they like guys like Reece Gaines of Louisville and Kirk Hinrich of Kansas (I figure they will be in position to draft one of those two).
Then, they'd have the PG to go with Gordan Giricek and T-Mac and Drew Gooden. That could enable them to move Hill to a 6th man role as he tries another comeback. I think a guy like Dale Davis, or some other bruiser would be a fair bet as far as who they try to find at center.
2) Why did the Magic do the trade and get ride of Brendan Haywood, do you have any inside information on that? And do you have information on why they cut Smush Parker?
A: The Magic traded Haywood because they didn't want three raw rookies on the same roster. They got Steven Hunter and Jeryl Sasser and Haywood in that draft. They thought Steven was the player -- or at least the one with the most potential of the two big men -- and that made Haywood expendable in their minds. It looks like a bad move because Haywood is starting in Washington, but I'm not a huge fan of his. But he does know how to play, and he is OK. His numbers -- 6.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg -- aren't anything special, but he serves his purpose, I suppose. Hunter has more potential, but he is nowhere near Haywood's level right now. We'll see if he can get there.
Magic never signed Smush Parker during summer league. They think he's a good young talent, but he wasn't ready to contribute for them or most NBA teams. But until his injury, he was starting in Cleveland because Milt Palacio and Bimbo Coles were the other two options.
3)And in your view what are the top big men they are going after either in free agents or the draft? Who are they targeting to get, and will they get any this year to help in the playoffs? But I don't think Kwame Brown is even in that picture, not way MJ would give up him.
A: Ah, the bigs. Well, I mentioned Dale Davis. Juwan Howard is an option, but he's not really a center. P.J. Brown is probably out now because the Magic have a PF in Gooden. I think you could see them try to trade for Erick Dampier or Adonal Foyle, too.
4)What are the chances that Grant Hill will retire? In a range of 1 being very a strong chance, and 10 being weak.
A: I would say that's a 10 right now. Grant Hill is going to give it one more chance, for sure.
Damian Necronamous
Sorry, I HAD to ask:
Who do you take and why, T-MAC, or Kobe?
A: I go back and forth on this one. Both are special players. The difference between them is very small, but right now Kobe is a little more advanced. It's mostly because he has the championship experience. As smooth as Kobe is, T-Mac is an even smoother player. T-Mac can shoot it deeper than Kobe can. T-Mac has more of a variety of ways to score. But Kobe's a little bit ahead of him. Deep down, T-Mac will give him that. Kobe plays hard more consistently than Tracy, though Tracy has become quite the competitor. Kobe is truly one of the best defenders in the league; we are still waiting for T-Mac to rise to that level. And Kobe will hit that last shot. T-Mac will take it, but we're waiting for him to be clutch like that. So, Kobe's a little bit better right now. But, hey, they're both great.
Mulk
How do you honestly rate Gabe as a GM? His plan has been to remove cap space to make a run at a major FA but the possibility of landing a big FA is pretty slim now. Plus, his scouting in the draft has left a lot to be desired. What's your take?
A: Mulk, I know Magic fans haven't been high on Gabe lately, but leaguewide his reputation is very good. Gabe has made his mistakes, but what GM hasn't? The big plan he had is not working out as expected, but who could've predicted that Hill's stress fracture would still be causing problems THREE YEARS LATER. If Hill had healed as expected, the Magic would've already made it deep into the playoffs and we'd be wondering if they could win a championship this season. So many of Gabe's shortcomings are linked to G-Hill. But, yes, there have been some very bad draft picks. I have no problem with taking a chance on Steven Hunter -- he's 7-foot and so athletic -- but the Sasser pick and then making the deal for Ryan Humphrey were not good. Fortunately, the Gooden/Giricek deal erased the Humphrey mistake. Gabe's biggest problem is that he has always tried to take small steps toward finding a big piece, which has left the Magic barren of talent. This last trade has increased the talent level, and now the Magic need to build upon that. I really don't think there's a need to be a big FA, another max player. Go out, make sound draft choices. Get that great PG who could make everything work. Build around McGrady, with Gooden as the No. 2 option. Keep Giricek and find a shotblocking big. If they can do that, they're on their way.
2nd question Mr. Brewer, is there anyway the Magic can clear cap space if he takes a buyout? would that enable us to get a MAX FA in the summer or is this not possible? thanks
A: Hill's going to try to play, and he holds that card. He wants to give it another try. Even if he accepted a buyout, the Magic would not have space to get a Max FA this summer. Remember that buyout figure would be on the cap. If Hill cannot play and wants to retire later, the goal would then be to get him off the cap as soon as possible. But remember the Magic owe him $60.4 mil over the next four years. That's a lot of money to work a buyout with. We'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the questions. I hope my answers were sufficient. If not, hit me with a follow up. Until next time, Jerry.
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J Brewers answers
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