For me that would be the most dramatic improvement to our starting 5. The proposed trade is Tayshaun, Atkins, $3 mill cash & an unprotected 1st rd pick for AJ, JJ & Bass.

I would much rather include Gortat and keep Bass because of Brandon’s well rounded game.

What it would do for Orl is give us a versatile 3 with huge length and a plethora of offensive weapons. It would move Pietrus back to the backup 2 spot like last season. The negative is that JJ & Bass are Orl best offensive bench players. Losing both JJ & Bass would deliver a hit to our depth but Pietrus moving to the backup 2 would soften the blow.

For me, if that trade was available, as a Magic fan I would jump on it. Tayshaun at the 3 and Pietrus back at the backup 2 would put Orl over the top in my opinon.

Starting 5 – Jameer, VC, Tayshaun, Rashard & Howard
Second Unit – J. Williams, Pietrus, Barnes, Anderson & Gortat

Think about it, Orl is one of the deepest teams in the NBA & have basically 4 All-Stars out of the starting 5. The only way Orl can improve their team is by improving the 3 spot with someone better than Pietrus. Tayshaun is that guy and it would allow MP to move back to his best position Shooting Guard.

First, it would be preferable to trade Gortat to the West. I’d rather face him as little as possible. Second, we can’t trade him to Dallas this season. Third, if we trade Gortat, our weakest position is SF, so preference should be given to that position. Working down the list:

Golden State – Azubuike is interesting to me
LA Clippers – I’d like Thornton, but I doubt the Clips would trade him
LA Lakers – No. Just no.
Phoenix – Dudley’s sniping could make him useful, but we’d actually need to take on another player as well.
Sacramento – i can haz omri casspi?
Houston – With only 2 SFs, I don’t think they’d deal anything we’d be interested in.
Memphis – The Grizz won’t trade Gay, and I wouldn’t take Carroll or Young.
New Orleans – Ugh. Peja’s one-dimensional, Wright doesn’t fit, and Posey’s hideously overpaid
San Antonio – Nothing we should want.
Denver – After Carmelo, their SF position is worse than ours. Nobody worth grabbing at the 3. Besides, they have Nene and Birdman, so their need for a center is low.
Minnesoder – They’ve got too tall and too small, but nobody who’s just right.
Oklahoma – The only SF on their roster is Durant.
Portland – If Outlaw were healthy, I’d suggest trying to get Webster or Batum. With Outlaw’s broken foot, I don’t think that’ll be possible.
Utah – C.J. Miles might be worth looking at.

In short, if we’re aiming for a SF (which I think we should), the logical targets are Golden State, Phoenix, Sacramento, or Utah. Portland would be a flyer if we can convince them they need insurance for Oden more than they need insurance for Outlaw after Travis returns.

I thought he was around 27. Yeah I guess it would be a short term fix and then we would have VC, Rashard & Tayshaun all 30 or older.

If we could get a better 3 than Pietrus so we can move him back to the backup 2 and only have to give up some bench I’m all for it. Pietrus is a good 3 but Orl is lethal when he’s coming off the bench at the 2.

I’m content with the current team especially when Jameer is back 100% healthy but if we could improve any position it’s the starting 3 spot which in-turn would improve the backup 2 spot as well. Numbers would suggest JJ is the better backup 2 but JJ can’t defend at anywhere near the level Pietrus can so on a team of shooters I’ll take the better defender in Pietrus.

Jameer & VC for Wade and Chalmers? Would Orl have to send more to Miami than that? What if they included Gortat too? Leave Bass as Howard’s backup. I’m not sure what Otis expects to get for Gortat but I imagine he wants to package him in a deal to either improve the 3 or the 2 if the opportunity presented itself.

Orl would get 2 young players and Miami would get 2 young players in addition to an older but still very good VC.