Orlando Magic News for February 4th: Otis isn't Making a Deal

Here we go:

• Contracts and Trades
  • Otis Smith says despite the $15.5 million in expiring contracts we have as trade chips, he's not making any deals before the February 21st trading deadline...
  • ... which doesn't sit well with Brendan of Believing in Magic, who wants us to trade our expiring contracts. In the same vein, Brian Schmitz thinks we need a power forward who can rebound. Kurt Thomas? Wish I had thought of that.
  • My take on this situation should be up later in the week.
• John Denton spoke to Rashard Lewis about his plans for All-Star weekend. Lewis doesn't want to participate in the three-point contest and would prefer to spend the time relaxing. Hedo Turkoglu, meanwhile, said he's willing to change his vacation plans to take part in the shootout.
• FreeDarko discusses the dunk contest in this entry, and discusses the semantics of "development" of players like Travis Outlaw versus "evolution" of players like Dwight Howard and LeBron James. Charts, graphs, and funny pictures abound. A must-read.
• Marc Stein points out in his latest ESPN Power Rankings feature that the Magic haven't lead the division this late in the season since 1995-1996. By the way, he rates the Magic 11th in the NBA, up from 12th last week.
• West from Mavs Moneyball takes on Phil Jackson's assertion that the American Airlines Center environment leads to more fouling. In his analysis, Wes notes the Magic are tops in the league in foul differential, averaging 3.0 fewer fouls per game than their opponents.

Don't forget about the Mavs game tonight. Your game preview is here.