Last week I hinted at the importance the possible signing of Marcin Gortat could mean to the Dallas Mavericks. Well his importance has doubled and so has the impact of his signing. The Orlando Magic made an under-the-radar- resigning of Gortat Monday afternoon by matching the 5 year $34 million offer made by Dallas. Gortat might have been looking forward to more playing time and moving to the top of the depth chart, but going back to the reigning Eastern Conference champs was a better move for both parties.
The Orlando Magic are going to look more traditional line-up wise with the departure of Hedo Turkoglu, and while many think this is a bad thing I feel completely opposed to that position. The Mavs took a double hit in the Magic resigning Gortat because the Magic also signed a key contributor for Dallas the past couple of seasons, Brandon Bass. These additions, along with Ryan Anderson who came in the Vince Carter trade, give the Magic 3 productive big men to utilize and combine with the team's best three players, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Vince Carter. You add Jameer Nelson to this squad and you have a team good enough to handle injuries, hurt you inside and out, and play at any pace. The only real question mark is Stan Van Gundy, but this team is so good that even he can't mess this up (can he?).
The decision is a bold and costly one for the Magic, who will plunge further into luxury-tax territory than many rivals anticipated after their recent trade for Vince Carter by first signing Brandon Bass away from Dallas to a four-year deal worth a reported $18 million and then matching on Gortat.Retaining Gortat and adding Bass will likely take the Magic's payroll into the $80 million range for next season, which would force Orlando to cut a luxury-tax check of more than $10 million in July 2010 barring roster moves between now and June 30 of next year to lower that figure. The moves are necessary because much of this nucleus is in its prime and can stay together for a few years. They match up well with Boston, Cleveland, the Lakers or anyone else and they are deeper than any other team as well. Dwight Howard 2010 NBA Finals MVP. You read it hear first.
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Given the fact that the Magic just squeaked into the NBA Finals, there is no good reason to think that they will get back any time soon. Their best chance to win a title was this year, instead they just gift wrapped it for another non-deserving team. The Magic have made some changes and so have a lot of other teams. They may be able to win a lot of games in the regular season but I do not see them playing for the title again soon.