Orlando Magic Postseason Award Candidates

The Orlando Magic have officially begun campaigning for some of their guys to receive some postseason awards. They've nominated Dwight Howard for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and the All-NBA First Team; Stan Van Gundy for Coach of the Year; Rashard Lewis for an All-NBA team; Courtney Lee for an All-Rookie team; and Otis Smith for Executive of the Year.

almost 3 years ago Evan Dunlap 18 comments 0 recs |

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If I had to guess, I'd say Dwight's already wrapped-up DPoY

Stan stands a great chance of winning CotY, although Mike Brown and Rick Adelman also have good cases. Still, none of them have this on Stan:

The Magic have also proved to finish games off under Van Gundy, going an NBA-best 48-1 when leading with five minutes remaining in the game.

Holy crap.

Courtney should make an All-Rookie team, considering he’ll have started nearly half the games for an elite team. Dunno if Rashard can make an All-NBA team, considering how stacked the forward position is, but then again I doubted he’d make the All-Star team, and we know how that worked out.

Otis should garner some EotY votes, espcially after the Alston trade, but I think the Nuggets folks have that one wrapped up. They slashed payroll while improving their team. That’s hard to do.

Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation

by Evan Dunlap on Mar 31, 2009 9:56 PM EDT reply actions

What I think may happen ..

Defensive Player of the Year: Dwight Howard
Coach of the Year: Mike Brown
All-NBA First Team: Dwight Howard
.. given how stacked the rookie class is, I can’t see Lee making an All-Rookie team. Likewise, I don’t see Rashard Lewis getting serious consideration .. maybe he’ll get All-NBA Third Team. I actually think Danny Ferry of the Cavs will win Executive of the Year.

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by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Danny Ferry? The Cavs have been great this year, but I don’t think anyone is all that impressed with their team-building… that is a very flawed team, with almost nobody of any note past LeBron. And let’s just say nobody on their roster is underpaid…

I mean, their no. 2 guy is Mo Williams, who’s really more of a no.3 guy… I guess he was a worthwhile signing, but he is making over $8 million a year, so you can’t say the Cavs got a bargain. Then you have Zydrunas Ilgauskas (who’s been with the Cavs for a decade), Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak (West’s a decent bargain at $3.8 mil, but they had to take on Szczerbiak’s $14 mil contract for him), Anderson Varejao (decent but a bit overpaid at $6 mil), Daniel Gibson (making almost $4 mil to shoot 38%), and Ben Wallace (even if he weren’t injured, he’d still be making $14.5 mil).

Now, granted, a lot of those deals were necessitated by the previous bad deals the Cavs had. And you can’t argue with the results, though you can credit them to James and Brown. But I can’t be impressed by the GM of a team that’s paying a combined $40 million to Ben Wallace, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Wally Szczerbiak. Beyond James, who’s a bargain at any price, they literally have no good deals on that roster.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't see how the overall premise is any different to last year's winner, Danny Ainge.

I like to clarify that Danny Ferry is not my personal choice. I’m just trying to predict who will win.

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by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions

As far as I know, the Celtics don’t/didn’t have a bunch of oversized contracts attached to mediocre players. They had a high payroll, but most of that was for Garnett, Pierce, and Allen, all of whom deserve high salaries. Moreover, the Celtics made a series of huge moves over the offseason prior to last year. The Cavs haven’t made very many moves of late — just the signing of Williams, who’s no Allen, let alone a Garnett. The players with whom they’re winning.are the same players they’ve had for years.

I just don’t think Ferry gets a lot of credit around the league. To be honest, until this season, I’ve detected a general theme of “these guys have LeBron plus nobody, why don’t they stop being idiots and get him a supporting cast he can work with?” And I guess that’s dissipated a bit, but that team still isn’t any more solid than it needs to be. I don’t think the voters are going to credit Ferry for the Cavs’ success this year, because I haven’t heard anyone credit him for the Cavs’ success this year, beyond maybe some mild praise for the Williams signing.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions

If Danny Ferry wins the award, it'll be because the Cavaliers finished with the best record in the NBA. That's one of the parallels I'm pointing to with regards to last year's winner, Danny Ainge.

Before Ainge executed those trades, no one really thought of him as a great GM. Ditto with Ferry .. it has nothing to do with economics, it has everything to do with results (in this instance, to be specific). I don’t necessarily disagree with your analysis (you make many valid points), I’m just trying to predict the rationale of a voter. That’s all I’m trying to do.

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by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe. But I feel like the general consensus was that the Celtics won because of the trades, while the Cavs won because… well, because of LeBron, who they already had. I feel like voters look for teams that jump out at them — teams that say “where did THESE guys come from? Who made this team?” Everyone knows where the Cavs came from. Could be wrong, of course.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Lee might make the second rook team if he’s really, really lucky.

by eltharion_doa on Mar 31, 2009 10:56 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, maybe.

The rookie class this year is deep.

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by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Is the all-rookie team center/guards/forwards, or do they separate (for example) PGs and SGs?

Not that it matters — there’s no way Lee beats out Mayo or Gordon, and then the two PG spots are Rose and Westbrook.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Pretty sure it's just G/F/C, like the All-NBA teams

In which case Lee stands no realistic chance, as he’d have to beat some combination of Rose/Gordon/Mayo/Westbrook/Fernandez….

Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation

by Evan Dunlap on Apr 1, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I think he MIGHT have a shot at Fernandez. But other than that… it’s just a lot of vaguely above-average players, isn’t it? I like Gordon the best of those four — Rose is a bit too Steve Francis for me (except that at least Francis could shoot the three), Westbrook has a 1.5 assist-turnover ratio and barely shoots 40%, and I haven’t decided whether Mayo is the next Vince Carter or the rich man’s Ricky Davis. (Maybe he’s both?)

Whereas Gordon is the most accurate shooter of the four (except Rose, who doesn’t shoot threes), which is doubly impressive considering he plays for a team where nothing’s coming easy to him. Factor in the fact that he had to battle his way off the bench in the early season, and I get the sense he has the brightest future of this group. Of course, I’d feel better about him if he wasn’t playing for the Clippers — but still.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Gordon has the brightest future out of Mayo, Rose, and Westbrook?

I vehemently disagree.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Then who?

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions

D. Rose .. easy.

He’s definitely not going to be another Steve Francis. I’ve tracked this kid since he played at Simeon High School up here in Chicago. The dude’s work ethic is nuts.

He’s going to be a superstar and Top 5 point guard for years to come

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

Used to mix the wine with the lean/Now we sip soda with the Barre/20 inch blades on the car - Pimp C

by erivera7 on Apr 1, 2009 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t know… Rose is definitely the one of the three I suspect I might be underrating. I just can’t bring myself to respect his defense, and I really don’t like a point guard who can’t shoot the 3. The Steve Francis comparison was probably a little harsh, though… had to check the stats again to remind myself how incredibly turnover-prone that guy was.

Still — there’s just something about the guy. The low steals totals, the poor outside shot, and when you get right down to it, 6.2 assists per game just isn’t that impressive in an offense like Chicago’s. Right now, his passing bears an uninspiring resemblance to Kirk Hinrich’s. I’m not saying I won’t be sold in the future, I’m just not sold now.

Westbrook is the one I really don’t understand people praising… he’s been totally inept all season. Can’t shoot, barely has more assists than turnovers… and those numbers aren’t getting better either. I’m thinking it might be the Durant thing — Durant looked like a ballhog for the first half of last year, but has come around. But Durant got much better in the second half of his rookie season. Westbrook’s actually gotten a bit worse — 39% shooting, 3.9 TOs in February and March. Throw in the fact that he actually wasn’t that good in college either, and… eh.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 1, 2009 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Give it time.

Both are rookies and with regards to Westbrook, specifically, he’s learning how to play the point guard position in the NBA. He never played the point in college, so clearly his learning curve is going to be steeper than normal.

Trust me, I’ve seen Rose plenty enough to believe he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with, and soon. Can’t dismiss his desire to constantly get better as a player .. that’s going to be key in his development as time progresses.

I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.

Used to mix the wine with the lean/Now we sip soda with the Barre/20 inch blades on the car - Pimp C

by erivera7 on Apr 2, 2009 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Eh… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy post an assist/turnover line like that and amount to anything later. Of course, the PGs who have come out of disappointing early careers to become great — I’m talking Billups, I’m talking Steve Nash — generally didn’t start in their first couple seasons, or whatever. Maybe if they had made Billups play 35 mpg at the actual point guard position as a rookie, he would’ve had a 1.5 assist-turnover ratio. MAYBE.

by 3.3seconds on Apr 3, 2009 5:56 AM EDT up reply actions