What They're Saying About Matt Barnes' Arrival To The Orlando Magic

Magic, Barnes reach two-year deal
Josh Robbins shares this nugget that is sure to intrigue a number of Magic fans.

Aaron Goodwin, the agent who represents both Barnes and All-Star Magic center Dwight Howard, confirmed the deal early Tuesday morning in a text message to the Orlando Sentinel.

"He has agreed to a two-year deal, and I believe that Dwight's recruitment of him truly sealed the deal," Goodwin wrote.

Magic to sign Barnes, bolster bench
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports  clues in on Matt Barnes' contract. 

In an aggressive summer of spending, the Orlando Magic have agreed with Matt Barnes on a two-year, $3.2 million contract, a league source said Monday night.

Barnes, 29, gives Orlando a versatile forward on its reshaped bench. He leaves the Phoenix Suns, where he averaged 10 points and 5.5 rebounds a season ago. The deal includes a player option of $1.6 million in 2010-11, the source said. Barnes will sign the agreement on Tuesday.

It's clear that general manager Otis Smith has exhausted the remainder of the mid-level exception to get a deal done with the UCLA alum. 

Report out of California: C.J. Watson wants a 3 year deal, will sign Magic offer sheet
Tania Ganguli explains the parameters behind C.J. Watson's possible arrival to Orlando and what's left to be done behind the scenes. 

The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reached someone in Warriors point guard C.J. Watson's camp today and a source close to the negotiations told that paper Watson will sign the Magic's offer sheet. Apparently they spent all Monday trying to work out a deal.

Some other points of interest from the story:

- Watson turned down a one-year, $2.3 million deal from the Philadelphia 76ers

- He is hoping for a 3-year deal

- The Warriors, as a cost-cutting move, want 14 players instead of the maximum 15 on their roster.

Both this report and other reports on Watson indicate that Warriors general manager Larry Riley likes him. The problem is, they already have two point guards ahead of him in the lineup -- Monta Ellis and dynamic rookie Stephen Curry, who the Warriors took seventh overall in last month's draft -- and a third (Acie Law) he'd have to fight with to even be the third-string point guard.

More on the Magic
Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus chimes on what the arrival of Barnes and (maybe) Watson means for the Magic heading into the regular season.

In particular, the Magic looks like it could be getting a bargain should the Warriors decline to match the offer to Watson, a restricted free agent. Flush with lead guards after dealing for Speedy Claxton and Acie Law and drafting Stephen Curry, Golden State may well let Watson walk despite the very reasonable offer.

To the extent I argued that the Magic’s moves weakened the team on the perimeter, that concern would be rectified with the additions of Barnes and Watson. Orlando would be as deep as any team in the league, with an entire 12-player active roster that could reasonably be counted on for rotation minutes. The only real argument you can make at this point is that the Magic would have been better off choosing talent over depth and consolidating that money on re-signing Hedo Turkoglu. Otherwise, it’s a lot of money to spend, but none of it unwisely and not in a way that really limits Orlando’s flexibility.

The other upside of signing Barnes is it makes it less likely that Rashard Lewis plays extensively at small forward. My contention that the Magic is much better with Lewis at the four has been the source of much debate amongst Orlando fans, but ultimately there’s some objective evidence here. Per 82games.com, Orlando outscored opponents by 9.8 points per 100 possessions with Lewis at power forward. When he moved to the three (which was, granted, just 3 percent of the team’s total minutes), that net efficiency margin dropped to 8.1 points per 100 possessions. As you might expect, the Magic defended better with Lewis alongside a true power forward, but Orlando’s Offensive Rating dropped off by 9.3 points per 100 possessions when he played small forward. I stand by the notion that the Magic is a much more dangerous, and a much better, team with Lewis spacing the floor at power forward.

Despite reports, Magic still searching for a backup point guard, haven't settled on C.J. Watson
UPDATE: Doesn't appear C.J. will be joining the team, after all.

Those reports began Friday on Fanhouse.com and yesterday the Oakland Tribune and San Jose Mercury News checked in with reports that Watson, after spending Monday negotiating, planned to sign an offer sheet from the Magic.

I'm leery of saying the phrase "expect the Magic to sign players for the minimum" ever again because they seem to be on a shopping spree this offseason.

But if you think about this numerically, some pundits guessed Watson would make at least a couple million per year with his new contract. If he was hoping to cash in on what's left of the Magic's mid-level exception, provided the deal with Matt Barnes doesn't fall through, that's spoken for.

Now it appears the Magic are going in a different direction.