Babir

I watched the guy playing in some friendly international games. Mario really imroved, lost some weight but become much stronger. Very solid in the post, shooting jumpers and dunks like crazy He outplayed Darko and his team beat Serbia in semifinal game (tournament in Italy).
Do we still have his rights or what?

deanwoof

i think he's a free agent.

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X-Factor

Him and our good buddy Fran Vázquez are both playing for FC Barcelona right now.

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JNice

We apparently officially extended him a qualifying offer or something like that not too long ago so I believe we do still hold his rights.

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Babir

I think he is better than Gortat...But probably he is getting more money in Spain...

MickyEyez

that's hard to say when gortat hasn't played a minute in the NBA. That's the beauty of young players, you never know what they can do till you give them some PT. Kasun didn't do anything great when he was here. He couldn't stay away from fouls, didn't really provide anything offensively, and was only good for grabbing a board here and there.

Gortat could be very servicable big off the bench (which kasun wasn't), i see him playing around 10-13 mpg with 7-12 pts, 6-8 rbs, .5-.7 blks. If we could get this out of him while battie and howard are healthy, we would not have to worry as much about our lack of depth at the 4.

Babir

I remember when Kasun was playing for us and I was really disappointed back then, he was too awkward, couldn't shoot and etc. But now he is really good! he plays in the post so well! shoots hook shots from both hands, jumpers, and he is jumping much better, he had one dunk against opposite center that i couldn't beleive my eyes...defensively he is better too, he blocks the shots, getting charges...So he really, really imroved his game...

JNice

I thought he looked good at times in Orlando. One of Kasun's main problems in the past with Orlando is every time he got rolling he got injured and it really screwed him up. I'd like to see him back, especially if he is healthy and in shape. I wouldn't feel too bad about our big man situation with Howard, Battie, Kasun, and Gortat. And maybe one other veteran addition.

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JMEWLS

Friendly's don't really mean anything. So sorry to say, but it sure does give you the experience.

When playing in the NBA he was disappointing, certainly wasn't producing anything at all. The NBA is a completely different game, compared to international games. Even if he happened to come back into the NBA, I dont see him getting more then 10 minutes a game. Also he probably wouldn't be in a Magic uniform.

JNice

Like I said, he played some decent games in the NBA. His two biggest problems were that he could never get into the right shape because he kept getting injured at bad times and foul trouble. If he could avoid injuries for a long period and learn to stay out of foul trouble he could be a contributor off the bench without a doubt.

Not sure why you wouldn't think he'd be in an Orlando uniform. There is no reason to think if he came back to the NBA he wouldn't be. Orlando took the steps needed to retain his rights. That likely means they are at least somewhat interested in keeping him.

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Captain Obvious

We don't have his rights anymore, he was renounced to make room for Lewis.

I'd like us to get one younger big (hopefully Alexander Johnson, maybe Chris Richard if he becomes available) and a vet (Skinner, Foyle, maybe even a longshot like Brown or Webber) to fill out the roster. I think we'd be fine if we can do that.

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