Originally posted by BCH
The Magic were fools to trade size two years in a row especially when that is what they need the most. Haywood and Borchardt were relatively cheap size. For Borchadt they gained almost nothing salary-wise and for Haywood the future pick is almost guaranteed to suck with the conditions placed on it. I don't feel bad for them at all.
Haywood lasted till the 20th pick. Even if Orlando ends up getting a mid-late first rounder how do we know it doesn't turn out to be a better center than Haywood, or a Micheal Finley, Latrell Sprewell type player picked in the 20's. Until that pick is actually made it's not really fair to judge the trade since we have no one to compare Haywood to.
As for Borchart, the Magic obviously felt Ryan Humphrey will become a much better player than him, and hopefully gives them that Bo Outlaw / Ben Wallace type they've been missing. Also included in that trade was Jamal Sampson, whom I believe was immediately traded to Milwaukee for 7'0 280 plus lbs. Rashard Griffith.
So it's basically Borchart for Griffith AND Humphrey. What happens if Griffith proves to be better than Borchart. They end up with two players who are both better than Curtis anyway.
And we all know Orlando's moves are part of John Gabriel's master plan to land Tim Duncan. Look at all the guys he gave away recently in order to woo the top FA's...
Ben Wallace
Brendan Haywood
Bo Outlaw
Corey Maggette
Courtney Alexander
Chucky Atkins
Keyon Dooling
Outlaw was a hard-worker loved by his teammates and coaches. Gabriel gave him the boot for a 2nd rounder and Jud Buechler I think. We'll see what Orlando does with all that cap space in 2003.