Magic Trade For Wizards’ Gilbert Arenas, Suns’ Jason Richardson

Evan Dunlap of SB Nation’s Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post writes that Orlando’s bench needs a player as aggressive as Gil.

Depending on how Turkoglu works out as the team’s assumed new starting small forward, Van Gundy could shift to a smaller line-up featuring Nelson and Arenas in the backcourt and Richardson at small forward. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Turkoglu play power forward, either, given Van Gundy’s proclivity for playing shooters at the position. Turkoglu isn’t a great shooter, but he has the size to at least be worth a try there, if other incarnations don’t click.

The savings are greater in 2011-12, when Richardson falls off the book. The Magic will be left paying $30.3 million for Arenas and Turkoglu, but will have trimmed $37.2 million in salary, assuming Phoenix waives Carter (which would cost them $4 million but save them his scheduled $18 million salary). That results in $6.9 million in salary savings for the Magic; one would assume they’ll be over the luxury tax, should the luxury tax still be in place in the new collective bargaining agreement.

But things change in 2012-13. The Magic have added $32.6 million to that season’s payroll, while excising $24.4 million. In 2013-14, once Lewis’ deal has ended, the Magic will have added $34.3 million while excising just Gortat’s $7.7 million.

The pick Phoenix has received from Orlando won’t be worth too much, unless the Magic’s experiment goes terribly wrong.

For more on the trade from the perspective of Magic and Suns fans, check out Orlando Pinstriped Post and Bright Side Of The Sun.

The swap is certainly the biggest trade of the season to date, and might qualify as one of the more surprising and massive (in terms of salary) in recent years. The Magic see the biggest shake-up, sending away two of their top four scorers in Lewis and Carter, and replacing them with two prolific scorers in Arenas and Richardson and a playmaker very familiar with Stan Van Gundy’s system in Turkoglu.

The Wizards have long needed a good small forward, and Lewis can fill that role, albeit at a too-high pricetag.

Saturday’s reported three-way deal between the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards can rightly be described as a blockbuster. With several stars and large assets heading in different directions, things have grown somewhat confusing. Here’s a complete breakdown of what, according to the latest reports, each team will receive.

MAGIC RECEIVE:

Jason Richardson from Suns

Hedo Turkoglu from Suns

Earl Clark from Suns

Gilbert Arenas from Wizards

WIZARDS RECEIVE:

Rashard Lewis from Magic

SUNS RECEIVE:

Vince Carter from Magic

Marcin Gortat from Magic

Mickael Pietrus from Magic

2011 first-round pick from Magic

$3 million in cash from Magic

As trade talks between the Magic and Wizards have heated up in recent days, the Phoenix Suns have emerged as a third player. According to a source cited by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Magic are moving to trade away Vince Carter, Mikhael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, a draft pick, and cash to the Suns, and are set to receive Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Earl Clark in return.

Wojnarowski notes that this appears to be a precursor for a trade with the Wizards involving Gilbert Arenas...

Antonio Gonzalez of the Associated Press reports that Smith has confirmed that the Magic have discussed a trade to bring Arenas to Orlando this week, but said that nothing is imminent. SB Nation blog Orlando Pinstriped Post first reported the possibility of a Gilbert Arenas trade back on Dec. 1.

Smith said that while the talks are serious, nothing is imminent.

SB Nation blog Orlando Pinstriped Post first reported that the Magic were interested in a Gilbert Arenas trade back on Dec. 1. The rumor cooled down until Friday, when OPP and other outlets began to report that a Magic and Wizards trade was imminent.

What the Suns would receive in such a trade remains unclear, though Gortat, perhaps the best back-up center in the NBA, would make perfect sense given Phoenix’s defensive void at the position. A report from OPP late Friday has Rashard Lewis traded in a potential Arenas deal; the Magic have a few players with smaller contracts that could allow a deal to go through involving just Turkoglu, Arenas, Lewis and Gortat as the principal talents of note.

A report from Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, that the Wizards are not content to trade Arenas for cap relief only, would back up the Lewis rumor. While it seems unbelievable that the Wizards could actually demand more than cap relief for Arenas’ sour deal, the Magic seem to be just that desperate.

Follow this stream for regular updates on the trade, and be sure to join Bullets Forever and Orlando Pinstriped Post for the latest on the Wizards and Magic, respectively.

Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith has joined Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis in denying that the teams are considering a trade to send Gilbert Arenas south.

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel quotes Smith as saying that he hasn’t discussed a trade with the Wizards since June, and that even then it didn’t involve Arenas. Smith’s ties stem to when both were employees of the Golden State Warriors, where Smith worked in a front office that took Arenas in the second round in the 2001 NBA Draft. Since Arenas fell out of favor in Washington, the Magic has seemed a reasonable landing place, both because of Gil’s relationship and Smith and his penchant for explosive scoring, some Orlando is seen as needing.

It looked like Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas might soon be on his way out of Washington D.C. after SB Nation’s Orlando Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post reported that the Magic were having ongoing discussions about acquiring Arenas. However, Wizards owner Ted Leonsis denied that report to Michael Lee of the Washington Post:

Leonsis praised Arenas and said he wants him to remain on the team.