Coming To Terms in Orlando: Warming Up to The Vince Carter Trade

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

While critics will argue that Turkoglu is able to play the point and distribute to his teammates, I deny this claim to full detail.

Turkoglu is an unselfish player and can throw the lob ball pretty well. But make no mistake about it, Orlando’s system was not predicated upon him running up the court, crossing over and slicing into the lane, dishing no look style to Howard while the defense collapsed on him.

The Magic’s system was a scheme-orientated plot designed to compensate for the lack of a penetrator by making it easy for players to pass to the open guy provided top option Dwight Howard was covered on his bull rushes to the basket.

Think I’m joking? Rashard Lewis, a career 1.9 assist man, has had more assists the past two seasons under Van Gundy than he’s ever had in any two-year period of his 11-year career.

In his last four games against the Lakers in the Finals, Lewis dished out seven,five,four, and four assists as the pick-and-roll was ran nonstop to counter Los Angeles’ lock down defenders who had the perimeter covered heavier than a hypothermia victim.

While we’re at it, we might as well dispel another myth. So Carter’s a ballhog they say? Last year in New Jersey—a dry land in terms of talent outside point guard Devin Harris—Carter averaged 4.7 assists per night. Surrounded by more assassins than a Mexican Cartel, Turkoglu barely edged out Carter with only 4.9 dishes a night.

Keep in mind that Carter played with a true point guard in Harris while Turkoglu ran with a true gunner in Nelson, making Hedo the primary ballhandler and reducing Vince to a secondary ball carrier.

Need more proof? Since the 2006-2007 season, Turkoglu’s first full time season as a starter, he has averaged 4.38 assists per game while running with third rate point men from Keyon Dooling to Carlos Arroyo to Travis Diener while Orlando has compiled a 151-95 record over that time span.

During that same stretch, Carter has averaged 4.86 dimes a game while playing alongside the likes of top tier talent at the point in Harris and Jason Kidd compiling a 109-137 record over in Jersey.

You would think the more successful the team, the lower the caliber of the lead guards, the more assists that would pile up right? Wrong!

To whom it may concern, this article is not an attempt to bash Turkoglu, but if the Magic are going to lose Hedo to free agency, this article only serves as a means to say Carter would be a nice substitution into an offense devised on scheme.

Add in the facts that Carter can create his own shot without help from a pick and is a legendary strong and acrobatic finisher at the rim, and Orlando’s offense may actually be better than it was season.

Let’s get to the real benefit of Carter’s addition.

Since his introduction into the executive office down in Florida, Orlando general manager Otis Smith has made a lot of savvy moves. If there’s one move Smith would probably like to have back, it’s breaking the bank on the one-dimensional Lewis to the ransom of $100 million.

You don’t pay a sweet shooter $100 million and play him out of position against down low bangers. The Magic’s need of a power forward was and still is a major necessity, and while the long range shooting capabilities of positions one-four are nice luxuries to have, when the stroke shooting is running on cold, you got to rely on some power.

The Finals were concrete evidence that Orlando just didn’t have enough of the hard nose mentality.

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