Jameer Nelson out 4-6 weeks; White Chocolate now Orlando’s starting PG
Do we need to add Orlando to the list of teams maybe interested in Allen Iverson?
No need to go that far, but with today’s news that Jameer Nelson will miss the next four to six weeks following surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Magic are suddenly thin at point guard. Jason Williams is expected to fill-in as the starter while Jameer is out.
Going into the season, one reason I liked Orlando to contend for a championship again was their depth and versatility. Having picked up Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson and Matt Barnes in the offseason, Stan Van Gundy had guys he could mix and match and roll out several different lineups to favorably match up with any opponent in the League. Throw in returners Rashard Lewis, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus, and the Magic had all kinds of options at the two, three and four positions to complement mainstays Dwight Howard and Jameer at center and point guard, respectively.
The one spot where the Magic weren’t so deep was at the point. Williams was once a solid starter in the League, winning a ring with the ‘06 Heat after he’d gone past his “White Chocolate” heyday, playing more like Derek Fisher by that point in his career. But WC turns 34 years old tomorrow, and he’s coming off being retired for a whole season. And the only other PG on Orlando’s roster is Anthony Johnson, who is about twice Williams’ age.
Should the Magic pick up another PG while Jameer is out, or stick with the Williams/Johnson duo?
November 17th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
SayItAintSo says:
YES! WILL “EFFIN” CONROY!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
SayItAintSo says:
Pick him up now! He’ll be cheap and servicable and they’ll find out he is better than White Chocolate and Anthony “old man” Johnson if they just give the kid a chance!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
yoda says:
i wonder will people start calling jameer injury prone now…
November 17th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Promoman says:
I’d look for another point to shore up the roster but I’d still take Jason as a starter. His decision making kept him from being an All-Star, but at least you can trust him to pass the ball.
November 17th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
flavur says:
@yoda if he gets injured next year you cab expect injured labeled next to his name from now on. Why hasn’t anyone given will conroy a chance I mean you can’t expect a player to be productive getting only 8-10 min this guy needs a chance.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Heckler says:
stephon marbury might hear his phone ring.
tyron lue will also get a call from orlando.
if the Magic want to go the trade route, they can deal with Golden State. The warriors still have like 1000 PGs on their roster (monta ellis, steph curry, speedy clax, cj watson — and its only that low because they traded Acie Law earlier this week).
The Wizards are also overloaded at PG (gil arenas, mike james, randy foye, earl boykins, nick young).
Luther Head is out there.
Brevin Knight.
Steve Francis (imagine if the Magic signed him again)
Orlando has plenty of options….
November 17th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
SayItAintSo says:
@ flavur THANK YOU! That’s what I’m saying. Will Conroy is legit and needs a chance when cat’s like Tyron Lue and Chris Quinn have seen significant NBA burn.
@Heckler, half of the players you named are two guards who we like to pretend are PG’s…I don’t think the Magic need to add another gunner (Mike james, Nick young, Luther Head, etc…)
November 17th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Irishballer says:
dont sleep on anthony johnson. remember that year he absolutely carried the pacers in the playoffs, albeit a first round exit? dude gave the nets 40 in the final game
November 17th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
SayItAintSo says:
Dude…that was like half a decade ago, Johnson is broke. He’ll provide you some steady floor leadership, hustle and defense against PG’s that aren’t super quick for about 10-15 minutes at best.
November 17th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Diego says:
Man, ageless papa smurf Anthony Johnson to the rescue, like always! He’s a hell of a lot more consistent (and he’s also better) than White Chocolate–and can put in more than 10-15 solid minutes, come on now.
Check out the box score for the upcoming games, he’ll get plenty of tick, like he did last year, and the year before last, and the year before that, etc., etc.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
K Dizzle says:
Maybe they could trade for Ricky Rubio lol
Seriously, it blows my mind that Will Conroy can’t get a shot
November 17th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Somewhere Skip grins and laughs to himself and thinks (fu&kers!) lol.
Uncle Anthony Johnson needs to be on deck!
November 17th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
anenome says:
it blows my mind that people are worried that 34 is too old to start in the nba. its 2009 people. jason williams is more than an adequate point guard. other than the fact that jameer nelson has proven himself to be unreliable as far as health is concerned this isn’t much of a story to be reporting on.
November 17th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
ProphetGK says:
trade for augstin
November 17th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Pet Society Help says:
Why not sign Dan Dickau, so you can have White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate (Anthony Johnson), and Trail Mix (Duh…Dan Dickau)
November 18th, 2009 at 12:20 am
Bron42 aka Had Springs before slamball says:
@poppi, ya I’m sure skip is snickering on his 0-10 team
November 18th, 2009 at 1:29 am
realist says:
rafer alston where you at…oh wait.
November 18th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Scottie says:
JayWill be fine how many Magic games have u guys seen this year?
Hes been solid in games hes played alot of minutes hes also at the top of tha league for assist/turnover ratio yes u read that right.
Id be more worried about Anthony Johnson hes hardly seen any tick yet this season might need to work his ass into game shape while playing.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:10 am
QQ says:
Damn. That kinda hurts. No need to panic though. We gonna be fine. Look out for J-Will, that cat can play AND direct a team.
Allen Iverson? No. Just fuck off. NO.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:35 am
POPPI GEE says:
Bron then you just missed all that. He would be snickering cause the Magic should have kept a healthy Skip instead of relying on Nelson that was likely to be re-injured. That is 2wice they should have went with Skip instead of Nelson.
Has nothing to do with being on an 0-10 team (even if he is he is still healthy and playing). Only you know why you brought that up lol.
November 18th, 2009 at 8:58 am
AdvancedMind says:
The “white chocolate” nick name is by far the dummest nick name ever.
November 18th, 2009 at 9:22 am
JC says:
They should pick up Mustafa Shakur!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am
ldawg3323 says:
I wonder if they regret trading Skip now? Not cause he was so great, but because he came in last year and held it down. Jay isnt ready to run a team for 35+ minutes per night.