Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard talks about their loss to Boston in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, while meeting with reporters after the last team meeting for the season, at the team's headquarters at the RDV Sportsplex, in Maitland, Fla., Monday, May 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Orlando Sentinel,Joe Burbank)
Just one year ago, the NBA championship trophy seemed so close for the Orlando Magic. And now, it’s so far away. Or is it?
NBA TV analyst and former Boston Celtics great Kevin McHale said the Orlando Magic are just a couple of pieces away from winning a NBA title based off their playoff performance in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.
“ The playoffs, size truly does matter. You know that three-point line was good to Orlando all year long when they beat 10 or more screens their record was phenomenal and they won 80 percent of their games,” Kevin McHale told the Orlando Sentinel. ”But sometimes those 3’s get hard to make in the playoffs so i would say just another big guy that can bang the ball a little bit and a couple guys that can put the ball on the floor and be effective. I think Jameer got in the paint with the games they won, their wings have never been drivers. I think, surprisingly, Vince really didn’t do that much, [Mickael] Pietrus is not a driver of the ball and so they could use a guy that put the ball on the floor and attack the rim.”
Another big body would certainly have helped Dwight Howard in the low post, but the Magic really don’t need to shop far for that piece considering they had a very underused big body in Brandon Bass. Rashard Lewis and Vince Carter are physically capable of attacking the perimeter, but for various reasons did not in the crucial times when it counted.
With so many top-notch free agents becoming available this July, who should the Magic look to scoop? Or should they be conservative and stick with the same roster?
Sound off.