May has been a slow month so far. I don't typically watch other teams that often, but I have caught a few of the Heat games. Mostly because they are Florida's "other" team and Shaq plays for them. If the Heat don't go all the way this year, they are a lock for next year. Shaq has dropped a lot of weight; add another summer of training and the rest of league is in trouble.
On the Magic newsfront, the search for a new head coach is under way and the Magic are looking at every possible candidate. Chris Jent is a nice guy, but I definitely don't want to see him with the Magic next year. Jent may turn out to be a great coach someday, but I'm growing tired with experiments. It is time to steadily build into a contender.
OrlandoMagic.com has a nice breakdown of the what was good and bad with the season and what to expect this summer. It is a pretty good analysis, but I'm not so sure we have to draft a starter. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if the pick is traded in some kind of combo deal to acquire a more robust bench.
The Orlando Sentinel have a nice article on Tracy McGrady. I still think we got the better end of the deal.
One final note on player movement for the summer. Don't be surprised if Cuttino Mobley ends up back in Orlando. While Mobley had a good season finishing with the Kings, they may not resign him. In fact, Mobley may find it hard to sign the big contract he was looking for.
As for Doug Christie, no matter what John Weisbrod says, Christie is gone this summer. There is absolutely no way that Christie makes it to training camp. Doing so would interrupt what the Magic are trying to build.
You can most likely expect not to see Andrew DeClercq, Brandon Hunter and the two late season additions, Mark Jones and Andre Barrett, in a Magic uniform next year. Questionable are Pat Garrity and Kelvin Cato. DeShawn Stevenson could also be used to sweeten a deal.
This leaves us with our core players. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Steve Francis, Grant Hill, Tony Battie, Hedo Turkoglu and Mario Kasun (yes, Kasun) are all expected to return as our core group of players. Our 1st round pick is slated to be the 11th pick unless some miracle happens in the lottery.
That's all for now. I'll try to keep you updated with anything I find out - but don't expect much until around the end of May.
