Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Orlando GM John Weisbrod flew to Minnesota last night to meet today with the Magic players who were the subject of a shock-and-awe trade scenario involving beloved teammate Cuttino Mobley just minutes before their first of a four-game road trip in Boston on Monday. Weisbrod is expected to try to soothe things over with an explanation of how the deal was long in coming and how the Magic could use the Doug Christie defense far more than the Mobley offense. He's hoping to do some damage control, particularly with Steve Francis.
It won't work.
Francis won't likely to demand any trades any time soon. But he's got to be thinking the same things everyone else is thinking: why give up five years and nearly ten points per game? Mobley's defense is NOT bad and his passing was at times spectacular. He often ran the Houston offense last season when he averaged 3.2 assists.
Christie gets high assist numbers and he can do some amazing things. He has terrific court vision and everyone is aware of his defensive accolades. But how much longer can he go?
Expect to see Mobley's assists numbers go up in Sacramento and Christie's to go down in Orlando. And what does this trade say about Stacey Augmon, who had been brought in over the summer to provide exactly the same defensive energy that is now being pursued with Christie?
Not only are Francis and Mobley close personal friends, but it doesn't help that from a basketball standpoint this trade doesn't make a lot more sense than did sending out Anderson Varejao in the Cleveland deal.
NEXT GAME
The Magic (18-15, third in the Southeast) play the Minnesota Timberwolves (17-16, second in the Northwest) TONIGHT. The game starts at 8:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WRBW and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
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INJURY UPDATE
Michael Bradley(hamstring),Brandon Hunter(elbow) and Andrew DeClercq(knee) are on the Magic's injured list.
Mike Bianchi ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Let's hope Francis isn't another self-absorbed superstar who believes management must consult him on all personnel decisions. Didn't GM John Weisbrod promise before the season that the Magic are out of the "prima donna development business?" Weisbrod made a smart and necessary move.The Magic are the worst defensive team in the league. And they made a deal for one of the best defensive guards in the league. Sounds logical to me. Isn't that what GMs are supposed to do -- fill holes, address needs?
News Wire Reports fromThe Rocky Mountain Newswrite: Steve Francis, citing emotional distress and distraction, said the Orlando Magic shouldn't have traded his close friend and teammate Cuttino Mobley to the Sacramento Kings for Doug Christie on Monday.Francis was a teammate of Mobley in Houston before a trade moved them both to Orlando in the off-season. "Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino - him not being here is going to be tough for me," Francis said
Mike Bianchi ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Weisbrod was not with the team to begin the four-game road trip in Boston on Monday night, when the transaction was made just before the Magic took the floor against the Celtics. But he hightailed it to Minneapolis after hearing that the surprising deal was not popular with several players, especially star point guard Steve Francis, Mobley's best friend.Weisbrod, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, apparently will explain to the team the awkward timing of the move and why it was made. Looking to improve a porous defense and to get adequate compensation from Mobley's pending free agency, Weisbrod said Monday night that he'd initiated talks with the Kings a week earlier. He said he regretted the deal involving Mobley and reserve center Michael Bradley couldn't be consummated until Monday night. A stunned Mobley was held out of the game and wasn't officially a King until after the first quarter.
Tim Povtak ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Hill told Weisbrod he spent hours watching NBA basketball. When Weisbrod asked him who he liked watching the most, Hill told him Jason Kidd, an all-star who everyone knows, and Doug Christie, an unheralded veteran who many don't understand."Doug knows how the game is supposed to be played," Hill told Weisbrod. It's one reason the Orlando Magic made the trade.