NBA News, Notes, and Observations: May 9, 2008

I wonder if the fact that the Magic are now a playoff team has anything to do with the sudden about-face.

The problem with Vazquez is that he's under contract for one more season. He has a $7 million buy-out that the Magic would only be permitted to pay $500,000 of. The rest would have to come from Vazquez, who would only make about $2 million in his rookie year.

Vazquez is a power forward and he just turned 25. He would be a valuable piece to the Magic's puzzle, and could potentially save GM Otis Smith's job. Smith botched the Vazquez pick in 2005, traded the Magic's 2006 first-round pick to the Pistons in the Darko Milicic deal, and then wasted the 2007 pick on J.J. Redick.

Dwight Howard turns 23 in December, Hedo Turkoglu turned 29 in March, and Rashard Lewis turns 29 in August. Add Vazquez to the mix, and the success of the franchise would depend on how effective Jameer Nelson could be at the point, and whether or not he's a franchise point guard.

Nelson has been stellar at times in these playoffs. He's the key to his team's success. In the six games where Nelson has scored 18 or more points, the Magic are 5-1. In the other two games, in which Nelson scored seven in one and six in the other, the team is 0-2.

Last note on the Magic: How does Stan Van Gundy's wife allow him to leave the house in such ugly outfits? He dresses like someone whose luggage was lost by the airline so he grabbed stuff out of the the lost-and-found. Didn't this guy step down from the Heat to spend more time with his family? It would've been nice if his wife took a couple hours during that time to buy him some shirt and tie combinations.

3) If it ain't one Billy, it's a mutherf***in' other.

Are the Hawks seriously considering hiring Billy King to replace Billy Knight? If that's the case, why did they fire Knight in the first place?

These two horrible GMs have been constantly mistaken for one another over the years because their incompetence is more alike than their names are.

I can only imagine who number two is on the Hawks' wish list. Isiah Thomas?

4) The Mavericks act quickly.

I can't decide if the Mavs hiring of Rick Carlisle is a good move or not. While I agree wholeheartedly with the firing of Avery Johnson, I'm not so sure that Carlisle is the right man for the job.

I give the Mavs credit for acting quickly, since so few good candidates were out there. With Larry Brown in Charlotte, Scott Skiles in Milwaukee, and Jeff Van Gundy unsure if he wants to coach again, the Mavs did the right thing by firing their coach with a replacement already in mind.

If the Suns lose Mike D'Antoni then they'll probably end up with a short-term replacement like Alvin Gentry or Brian Shaw.

Trivia Hint #1: He's in the Eastern Conference. 

5) Speaking of the Mavs... 

Sam Smith wrote an interesting article

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?