Counter Attack: Magic Trade for Vince Carter

Cleveland. The Orlando Magic just upstaged your deal for Shaq by trading for Vince Carter. " title="Vince Carter was traded to the Magic" width="326" height="400" />

Take that, Cleveland. The Orlando Magic just upstaged your deal for Shaq by trading for Vince Carter.

 

In light of the Cleveland Cavaliers' acquisition of Shaquille O’Neal, the Orlando Magic sought out to counter this bold move with one of their own.

With starting forward Hedo Turkoglu headed to free agency, the Magic traded point guard Rafer Alston, talented shooting guard Courtney Lee, and seldom-used forward Tony Battie to the New Jersey Nets for shooting guard Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson.

This is a genius move by Rod Thorn, the General Manager of the Nets.

Carter, who is past his prime, was putting up good numbers for New Jersey, but wasn’t bringing them wins. Safe to say, he was wasting away with the Nets, who made the right decision in trading their star to bring in some new faces.

Alston, who was tremendous for the Magic after his midseason acquisition, was no use to the team anymore. Orlando’s point guard of the future is Jameer Nelson, and, since Alston is deserving of a starting role, the Magic parted ways with the guard who led them to the NBA Finals.

Alston isn’t quite a fit in New Jersey because they too have a point guard, Devin Harris. Now, they could either trade Harris, which would bring the Nets more talent, or they could start both, and move Harris over to shooting guard.

Both guards can be extremely unselfish, but Harris, by averaging 21 points per game last season, also has a scorer’s mentality. So this particular two-guard lineup could work, though it would be an adjustment to both players.

Courtney Lee, I assume, is the player the Nets really wanted out of this deal. He was very impressive as a rookie with the Magic. He was a sparkplug who could play stifling defense and score in bunches with a rare level of explosiveness.

He should fill Carter’s hole, and be their future at the shooting guard position. Yet, Lee’s acquisition is another reason why Harris might now be trade bait. He’s undersized for a shooting guard at 6′3″, and would give New Jersey an extremely small lineup.

Carter, on the other hand, gives Orlando the piece they were missing against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. He’s physical, can create his own shot, and shut down the opposition on defense. Lee did his best on Kobe Bryant, but wasn’t the answer against such a prolific scorer.

Carter has a deft scoring touch, especially from three-point range, which is to the Magic’s liking, and he can be very aggressive; the type of inside-outside player the Magic lacked.

Orlando could still sign Turkoglu, but that would create a logjam of shooters. I am sure, in hearing this news, that Turkoglu would much rather stay with Orlando, but I don’t think he’d mesh with Carter very well. There is only one basketball; five would be needed to satisfy Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard, Carter, and Turkoglu.

Despite the possibility that Turkoglu could return, I think the Magic could do without him, even though he was such a clutch player for them during his tenure.

The trade is a good one for New Jersey, but even better for Orlando, a team determined to avenge their NBA Finals defeat.