Orlando

Deposed Orlando GM John Gabriel Joins Portland Staff As Scout

Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services 

John Gabriel, replaced this summer by John Weisbrod as General Manager of the Orlando Magic after Orlando's disappointing regular season last year, has joined the Portland Trail Blazers as a Scout, the Blazers announced yesterday. Gabriel had been with the Magic organization since its inception in 1989 and was named Executive of the Year in 2000.

Gabriel earned that distinction for transactions which included naming Doc Rivers as head coach. Doc finished that season with a 41-41 record with a team of players, including Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace, who were not yet recognized as superstars. For his own efforts, Doc was awarded the Coach of the Year.

On one fateful day that same summer that he was named Executive of the Year, on August 3, 2000, Gabriel did both his best and his worst transaction. He got Tracy McGrady from the Toronto Raptors for a single conditional draft pick. But he also gave up Billups and Wallace to Detroit for Grant Hill. In a cruel knife-twisting development, he also traded away Matt Harpring for Andrew DeClercq.

After stepping down as GM this summer, Gabriel was a team adviser and a regional scout. He will now scout for the Blazers.

TEAM NOTES
Melanie Curtsinger writes on the Magic web site: Keith Bogans thought he was done proving himself.Now, he’s got to do it all over again. In an eerie case of déjà vu, Bogans once again finds himself as an unproven player in the midst of a hoard of new teammates.

Magic 2004-2005 preseason game ticketswill go on sale to the public on Monday, September 27 at 10 a.m. Magic regular season ticketsfor individual games will go on sale on Friday, October 1 at 8 a.m.

NEWSLINES

Madlen Reed of The Associated Press writes in The Orlando Sentinel:There are now 313 billionaires in the country, the largest number ever and a huge jump over the 262 counted last year, according to Forbes magazine, which Thursday released its annual ranking of the 400 richest Americans... Members of the list with Central Florida links include Orlando Magic basketball team owner Richard DeVos, tied at No. 60 with $3 billion, James France and William France Jr. of auto racing's France family, both at No. 215 with $1.3 billion each, and Roy Disney at No. 278 with $1 billion.