The Orlando Magic enter week nine of the NBA season as a revamped and reenergized team complete with new pieces that will enable them to make a deep run this spring. As with any trade, Sunday’s blockbuster will not only affect the players involved in the megadeal but also impact those not involved in the swap. 

Gilbert Arenas is the headline name in Saturday’s movement as the ten year veteran will escape a capsizing Wizards team and will now be expected to be perhaps a number one offensive threat, again. It was evident that Washington’s dismay with Gilbert sprouted after locker room gun charges last winter which was the antecedent for the team going to great effort to try and terminate the remaining $80 million that remained on his six year 111 million dollar deal signed in 2007. 

Arenas will platoon with Jameer Nelson in the ball handling duty which may keep Gilbert from matching the scoring outputs he showed in Washington years ago where he averaged just under 30 points per game. Agent zero could possibly see himself as the Magic’s 6th man and offensive bench spark since head coach Stan Van Gundy has already expressed his admiration for the other piece of the deal Jason Richardson. 

Should Gilbert begins his Orlando career off the bench it wouldn’t be a surprise to still see him attain well above 30 minutes per contest and be given ample shot attempts from the perimeter. In return, incumbent guard Jameer Nelson’s production may take a dip. 

In Sunday’s player movement the Magic also acquired Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu experienced the best years of his career in an Orlando uniform but don’t expect the 6’10’’ forward to return to his 2007 form. Instead the 31 year old will be a fourth quarter asset and will be responsible for a great deal of ball handling see his assist totals may climb faster than his point production.

While Turkoglu’s role has changed now that he returns to Orlando, Jason Richardson will likely play the role vacated by Vince Carter. Carter’s lackluster defense raised red flags in the Magic front office which made Richardson’s acquisition a necessity if the team plans to compete for an NBA finals birth. It’s not unreasonable to see Richardson take a step backward to the role of a shooter rather than a scorer for an Orlando team loaded with offensive weapons. 

The Phoenix Suns’ acquisition of Vince Carter is yet another instance of the organization falling into the name recognition trap. In 2008, then acting general manager Steve Kerr pulled off a deal that sent an aging center Shaquille O’Neal to Phoenix in what was the beginning of the Suns’ fall towards mediocrity. 

The Suns have again fallen victim to another name brand with Vince Carter leaving northern Florida for the desert of Arizona. Carter is light-years away from his “Air Canada” days and is strictly a perimeter shooter who contributes nothing defensively. Carter will see plenty of minutes in Phoenix, what he does with those minutes will be far from productive. 

The Suns also acquired Mickael Pietrus from Orlando which will prove to be a great fit alongside Steve Nash. The Frenchman will see plenty of floor time and his ability to give Phoenix the athlete they need to run their fast breaks will be a huge factor in the desert. Current forward Grant Hill will certainly see a decline in playing time in order to accommodate Pietrus. 

As part of the Arenas to Orlando deal, veteran forward Rashard Lewis will have a chance to prove the final two years on his monster contract have remaining worth. Lewis, the 2nd highest paid player in the NBA at $19 million annually, is amidst the worst season of his career, a season that began with charges of performance enhancing drugs. 

The 31 year old won’t revert to his twenty points per game form but he will be a scoring option for rookie John Wall and the young Wizards offense. The change of scenery may spark Lewis’ shooting stroke which has plummeted this season but this deal may mark the beginning of the end should Lewis not find his jump shot in the nation’s capital. 

Written by Conor Gereg exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com.

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