Magic GM Otis Smith says he probably won't sign a big man

I remember Otis was trying to send them Duhon and Q-Rich for Turiaf but New York declined.

He’s been in foul trouble a good bit recently, and god knows there’s no backup right now.

You have framed your questions smartly, but it is not that simple to come up with proper answers. Basically, it is all about trade-offs in different scenarios, and it all starts with quantification of essential elements while each are given proper values and weights – however subjective and arbitrary – and then the scenarios are compared with each other, sometimes with the application of qualitative assessment. Setting the financial considerations aside, the following simplistic model summarizes our assessment within the confinement of the context of your posed questions:

What is the value and weight of adding another play-maker (1 – 10)? Example: value (5) x weight (5) = 25.
What is the value and weight of a back-up PG (1 – 10)? A side note is that the candidate could have been better selected to start with, but that is irrelevant in our assessment task.
What is the value and weight of back-up center (1 – 10)? Here we have to consider Dwight’s being foul prone, thinness of the frontline due to Rashard’s trade, and the fact that we cannot afford considerable drop when he is off the floor, in major play-off games.

This is just a simple model addressing the trade-offs on elements which you have brought up in comparison with back-up center, which is also relevant to this thread. In a broader model many other elements have to be valued and weighted, appropriately (i.e., each player’s value – both from offensive and defensive standpoint – in positive numbers for players acquired and negative numbers for players lost). I know that establishing an accurate model with proper values and weights is an arduous job, and I for one do not claim to have the time to get down to it.

In a less sophisticated assessment of recent trades, the question would come down to many qualitative elements, most important of all, the trade-off on offense versus defense in the framework of close competitors. In this context, we have to be mindful that the short-term objective is winning the championship while the long-term objective is retaining the primary pieces of the roster, mainly Dwight. It is funny that typically it’s the other way around. We don’t intend to play the GM role, since we are not privy to insider information, but we can compare the two scenarios in front of us, however subjectively, with the intention to insert objectivity as much as we can via quantifying as much as we can. Is it a perfect process? Certainly not, but we cannot stop pursuing some stated goals simply because we cannot reach perfection. In essence, any assessment is better than no assessment.

you never know what will come up with someones link……and for those of us with a more…..(hmmm, how should i say it……mature? no…..moral? no……oh wait, i got it……sophisticated…..yeah that’s it) sophisticated sense of humor, we ought not click on one unless we know them very well….

some of us can be nice…..sweet though?……i dont think any of us here would admit to being sweet….lol

btw…..i like your sig :P

And how much they can save with a buyout. If they fall out of the playoff race and can buy out Nazr, especially, for about half his contract, I think they’d do it. Maybe not Brown because he’s not paid as much.

Of course, in the East, unless the Bucks and Pacers go on a tear, it’s pretty likely the Bobcats will hang about the 8th spot for most of the season, and could end up getting it if they play a few stretches of solid ball.