I don’t really do fantasy basketball. Between watching a handful of NBA games every night, playing my own video-game season on NBA 2K, and trying to fit a healthy amount of college and a little bit of high school hoops into the mix, fantasy is a little more than I can handle. But I do like putting together custom lineups just as much as the next fan, hence the Create-Your-Team feature from one year ago. Time for Round Two. Read More »

Even with Vince Carter’s ankle keeping him sidelined for his latest return to Toronto (where he could get booed in an Orlando uniform this time), there were more than enough ready-made story lines going into Magic/Raptors: Hedo Turkoglu’s first game against his old squad, the next chapter in the Dwight Howard vs. Chris Bosh rivalry (quietly and consistently more exciting than Deron Williams vs. Chris Paul), and the intrigue of seeing which players would be visibly sleep-walking for a 1 p.m. EST tip-off the day after Halloween. So you can understand why nobody was ready for J.J. Redick to become the headliner. Read More »

Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…

Added: Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Ryan Anderson, Jason Williams

Lost: Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Tony Battie, Tyronn Lue Read More »

Last season, the Orlando Magic kind of snuck up on the rest of the league. While everybody knew that they had a solid roster, not many expected them to come out as Eastern Conference Champions. This time around, Orlando is not only one of the favorites to win the East again but is right there in the mix to compete for a title as well. This time around, the path will be a little different. Read More »

Missing the deadline for Sunday morning’s Smack, Carmelo Anthony had the performance of the NBA preseason so far in a very late-Saturday/early-Sunday tip in Beijing — in the same arena where ‘Melo and Team USA won their ‘08 gold medals. In just 24 minutes of work against the Pacers, ‘Melo dropped 45 points, going 14-of-19 from the field and 16-of-17 from the line. Oh, and he threw in nine rebounds and two blocks. Those are video-game numbers, like playing NBA 2K against the CPU on Easy mode. But then even more amazing than that might have been Indiana’s “defensive” numbers. Read More »

Of the four teams that played in last night’s NBA preseason games, three were of the “new-look” variety: Orlando, Dallas and Detroit. Most relevant to the 2010 championship race, the Magic debuted Vince Carter in their win over the Mavs. Starting at two-guard next to Mickael Pietrus at the three and Rashard Lewis at the four, Vince scored 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 3-of-12 beyond the arc. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, and Rashard scored 18 with four threes … Dirk Nowitzki — looking like an awkward Thor with the long-hair/headband combo — scored 23 points (17-19 FT) for the Mavs, who were without Shawn Marion (rest) and Josh Howard (ankle) … Read More »

When the Magic re-signed Marcin Gortat this summer, a lot of people didn’t understand the move. And after bringing in Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams, Ryan Anderson and Morris Almond, you might think that Gortat and his new five-year, $34-million deal could be sent packing for another piece or if they need cap relief. But apparently GM Otis Smith wants no part of that, seeing The Polish Hammer as a tool you use in case of emergency. Read More »

White Chocolate signing with the Magic yesterday likely signaled the last offseason move by any of the NBA’s legit championship contenders before training camp. (Assuming the Marquis Daniels-to-Boston deal is just a paperwork formality at this point.) So now that we know who’s working with what, why not start handicapping the field? … Orlando could very well run through the Eastern Conference postseason bracket again, but they probably won’t be doing it as a #1 or even a #2 seed thanks to Rashard Lewis‘ 10-game suspension. Read More »

Yesterday was weird. For the last year or so, one of the running jokes in the Dime office has been that the Magic are collectively too jacked for one NBA team. We’d already nicknamed Dwight Howard “The Centaur” for obvious reasons, then you got J.J. Redick looking like an MTV “True Life: I’m a Jersey Shore Bodybuilder” alum, Pietrus and Jameer on swole, Anthony Johnson dunking on cats at 49 years old, and even Skip seemed to get more cut-up as soon as he got to Orlando. When they picked up Brandon Bass, it kicked up the too-diesel talk all over again. But then yesterday, when news broke that one of the Magic players had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, it turned out to be one of the guys we never talked about: Rashard Lewis … Read More »

In his introductory presser with the Orlando media, Matt Barnes answered the biggest question we’ve had about the Magic given the events of their offseason. Barnes said Stan Van Gundy told him that he’ll be competing for a starting job with Mickael Pietrus, with the rest of the first five filled out by Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard. With Hedo Turkoglu going and Brandon Bass coming, we were wondering what Van Gundy would do with his lineup. Read More »