John Hollinger of ESPN Insider doesn't understand why almost everyone is convinced the Orlando Magic aren't championship contenders this season:

In light of the fact that Orlando dominated the preseason after dominating the second half of last season, I find it particularly hard to swallow how dismissive most people seem of the Magic's chances.

He also notes that the Magic are among the teams with "major asset troves," which could allow them to make an impact trade if needed.

At MagicBasketball.net, Eddy Rivera agrees with Hollinger, calling the easy dismissal of the Magic as title contenders "premature."

The Magic open their season tomorrow night against the Washington Wizards. In today's practice, Zach McCann says the Magic focused on beating the Wizards' defensive traps, a decision coach Stan Van Gundy explained by saying, "I think they're trying to disrupt things and force turnovers."

From 6-8 PM Tomorrow, just outside Amway Cnter, a man named Brian Feldman will read the entire NBA rulebook. Why? "If you’re gonna argue with the refs this season, you gotta know the rules," according to this release.

Neil Paine's preview of the forthcoming Magic season includes projected per-minute stats for each player, as well as a "blogger outlook" by Rivera.

Mark Deeks--you may know him from ShamSports--makes his New York Times debut in this piece about the preposterousness of Commissioner David Stern's claims that the league needs to trim payroll in order to stay viable.