NBA Eastern Conference First Round Predictions

We are on to the Eastern Conference where I think for the first round, it's much more easier to pick and feel most of the series will not be long lasting in my opinion. I actually hope there are no upsets because the second round will be absolutely bananas. If you missed the Western Conference picks, you can check those out here.



1.) Chicago Bulls v. 8.) Indiana Pacers- This brings back memories of the late 90s with the great Bulls-Pacers playoff matchups where they fought down to the wire. Sadly that will not happen this season. No one can guard Derrick Rose on the Pacers, and the Bulls have enough defensive weapons to keep up with Danny Granger and friends. Hopefully fans show up for Game 3, the Pacers are currently last in the NBA in fan attendance, ouch. Ugly series though, don't expect a ton of scoring.  Bulls sweep.

4.) Orlando Magic v. 5.) Atlanta Hawks- The rumblings have begun that the Hawks gave up on another coach, and I hope that's not true for their fanbase. If I am Joe Johnson or Al Hortford, I want to make a statement in the first game after getting embarrassed by the Magic last season. I am throwing a big elbow, or putting someone on their ass to show this year is different. But the crazy thing is I think the Hawks don't care once again therefore the Magic are going to make quick work of the Hawks.  Orlando in five.

3.) Boston Celtics v. 6.) New York Knicks- A very excited series, and I look forward to Game 3 at Madison Square Garden in a couple days because it will probably be the best atmosphere in the first round. Originally, I said the Knicks would beat the Celtics in six games and was ready to stick to my word. But after listening to Bill Simmons' podcast where six, count them six NBA analysts said there is no chance this will happen, I started to get nervous. I hate to go against my word, but it's hard not to trust the C's even with their struggles. I do think this will be a slugfest that goes the distance.  Celts in seven.

2.) Miami Heat v. 7.) Philadelphia 76ers- The Heat played very well in the final month, and I think they might be hitting their stride at the right time. The Sixers played inspired all year under Doug Collins, and I see them winning one game in the city of Brotherly Love due to the good play of Andre Igoudala.  But the Sixers do not have the talent to keep up with both Dwyane Wade and LeBron James on a nightly basis. Heatles in five.  

-Charlie.

The Summer Is Heating Up

This is by far going to be the biggest summer of free agency that we seen since 1996 and to me its bigger then that summer. With LeBron, Bosh and D-Wade being talked about so much we for get about the other and the fact that not only will there be free agents signing to different team but there will be trades and "sign and trade" this summer as well. Now there seems to be some player that we all thought would be with their team to the day they retire like Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitziki. Now both are opting out there final year of their contracts. I feel like they both are doing it to free up money for their franchises. Pierce who is going to be 33 years old at the start of the season will be a second or third options to most of these teams out here trying to get LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Johnson, Stoudemire and some others. Lets face it Pierce is one of the oldest free agents this summer and teams are not going to throw $20 million at him to come play for them when they can throw that at one of the player I just mentioned who are younger then him. The same thing goes for Dirk he will be some teams second or third option when it comes to signing. Both Pierce and Dirk can still hoop so if they do leave who ever get them will have a very good addition to franchise. We all know Chris Bosh is just about 100% not going to return to the Raptors. The Raptors know that and they don't want to just let Bosh walk and get nothing at all in return for him. So they are very interested in a sign and trade. This right here would be a great deal for the Miami Heat who are trying to trade Michael Beasley so they can get 3 max players. This way the Raptors can get a player in return and if Beasley doesn't work out they can choose not to resign him after this season and free up cap room for there team. So this will make the likelihood of seeing what LeBron James called "Dream Team" more then a dream but a reality. If this trade happens which I truly believe it will then the Heat will find a way to bring LeBron to Miami.
Speaking of trading the Denver Nuggets are now listening to offer for their All-Star Carmelo Anthony who will be a free agent next summer. Now the Nuggets offered Anthony a contract extension for 3 years worth $65 million. I think they expected Carmelo to sign it but as of today he has not signed. Last I heard he was going over it with his team to make sure everything was good enough for him. Now I guess the Nuggets feel like their All-Star Small Forward may want to test the market next summer. If Anthony doesn't sign the extension that means at the end of next summer the Nuggets could be without Anthony and nothing in return , so they are shopping him now. I cant say I blame them I mean the offer is on the table and if Anthony not going to sign it why not trade him and get a player or two or future draft picks. Right now it seems like Anthony will be a free agent next year so the movement we see these teams doing right now may not just be for this summer but for next summer as well. The last thing ill talk about today will be Dwight Howard "List". I've heard that there's a few players that Howard would like the Magic GM, Otis Smith, to try and get this summer. First its Chris Paul which name keeps popping up in trade rumors and second is free agent Carlos Boozer. To mean it would make more sense to get Paul then Boozer. Paul because he can run the offense and make the game a lot easier for Howard. The reason I say no to Boozer is because the Magic are trying to make Howard that low post player so why crowd the low post with 2 players. I mean it could work because Boozer has a nice 10 to 15 foot jumper so he doesn't have to be in the post all the time. I just think Paul would be a better fit just because he has the ability to break down a defense and take some focus off Howard. If I was was Howard I would ask for some better shooter who he can pass the ball out to if and when he gets double teamed to knock down some shots

Thanks again for reading and make sure you check in daily for a new post and make sure to follow me on twitter @Agent_EJohnson ............Let's Talk Basketball.

Magic Acquired Nets Guard Vince Carter

Orlando Magic have brought in All Star New Jersey Nets guard Vince Carter in a 5 player trade. Magic also acquired forward Ryan Anderson, and in return gave NJ Nets Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston and Tony Battie. The Magic Nets trade will allow NJ Nets to clear almost $18 million of cap space for the 2010-11 season and ships the 32 year Vince Carter back to his home state of Florida. Vince Carter now lives in Orlando. He spent almost five years with New Jersey Nets, after coming over in a blockbuster deal from Toronto early in the 2004-05 season.

Orlando Magic, Kobe Bryant's Monster

Kobe Bryant seems to understand now how dangerous Orlando Magic can be at their Amway Arena. Bryant has seen Magic, who shot an NBA finals-record 62 percent from the field—75 percent in the first half—in their Game 3 victory, turn into a monster.




"This team can stay hot for weeks. They can get hot and stay hot. When that happens, you’re dealing with a monster." Bryant said Wednesday.

Orlando Magic were clicking again during their 108-104 victory in Game 3 after losing the two first games in LA's Staples Center. It was Orlando Magic’s first finals victory in franchise history and one they absolutely had to have.

Magic Won 108-104 over Lakers

At last Dwight Howard and Orlando Magic won a game in NBA Finals after seven tries on Tuesday night Game 3. Magic has lost the first two games in Los Angeles' Staples Center: Game 1 by 25 points and Game 2 in OT, coming within an alley-oop hoop of a victory.

Rafer Alston (pictured) and the rest of Magic team shot a finals record 63 percent to snap a six-game finals losing streak and avoid having 0-3 loss that no team in postseason NBA history has been able to escape.


Magic slowed LA Lakers' earlier party plan and even made Kobe Bryant pushed, jumping back into the best-of-seven series by posting a 108-104 victory at Amway Arena in Orlando. Orlando Magic's first-ever victory in NBA Finals trimmed Lakers' series lead to 2-1 heading into Game 4 on Thursday night.

Orlando Magic vs Lakers in NBA Finals

Orlando Magic will have to face Lakers on Thursday at Los Angeles after defeating Cleveland Cavaliers 103-90 in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. Magic has ended Madison Avenue's dream of a Kobe Bryant's Lakers versus LeBron James' Cavaliers championship matchup.

Magic center Dwight Howard lead his team and scored 40 points and 14 rebounds while forward Rashard Lewis scored 18 points and 8 rebounds at Amway Arena. Magic earned their first trip to NBA Finals since 1995. Orlando Magic and their fans inside Amway Arena roared and partied after the winning.


This postseason, Orlando Magic have beaten Philadelphia 76ers, dethroned the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics and have burnt Cleveland Cavaliers. Now, they will have to set their sights on Kobe Bryant's Lakers.

Magic Fall to Cavs despite the Rally

Orlando Magic will be going home tomorrow to Amway Arena to try one more time to close out Cleveland Cavaliers after having Game 5 112-102 loss on Thursday night. Magic actually did an impressive comeback from a 22-point deficit, but Cavs fought to cut Magic's series lead to 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals. Magic has already defeated Cavs twice at Amway Arena in this series. One more victory will send Orlando Magic to its second finals appearance, the first coming in 1995.



But, it's not going to be easy. Orlando Magic will have to stop 2009 NBA MVP LeBron James, who continued his best performances saving his team from losing. Magic center Dwight Howard even fouled out trying to defend LeBron.

Orlando Magic One Win Away to NBA Final

Orlando Magic defeated Cleveland Cavaliers 116-114 in overtime at Amway Arena in a tight Game 4 to take 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard scored 10 of Magic's 16 points in overtime.


Cavaliers' LeBron James tried to redo his Game 2 heroics. Spinning through the air, James’ 3-pointer looked good, but this time his shot at the buzzer missed. It was Magic time. James scored 44 points, his third 40-point plus outburst of the series, but was just 13-of-29.

Orlando Magic, who won a Game 7 in Boston in the last round, now just needs one more win to close out Cavaliers in Cleveland on Thursday night to go to the NBA Final.

Howard Lead Magic past Cavaliers in Game 3

Orlando Magic took a 2-1 lead after defeating Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 in Game 3 clash on Sunday in the Eastern Conference finals series. Orlando's Dwight Howard had 24 points and nine rebounds. "Our goal is to win a championship and I can't allow anything to stop me mentally from achieving our goal," said Dwight Howard.


It was a pretty physical game from beginning to end. There were 86 free throws, 58 personal fouls, two technicals, and a flagrant. The NBA officials must spent half the time stepping between players on both sides since tempers flared inside the overheated Amway Arena.

The teams will play Game 4 on Tuesday in Orlando, where the Cavaliers have lost six of their last seven games.

Start Your Engines

Today is the first day that NBA free agents can officially sign new contracts. So other than a few deals we already know about being made official, what other storylines are there to follow in the next few days? Here is a look at the current status of some of the top remaining free agents:


Gerald Wallace: Most speculation has Wallace re-signing with Charlotte for a 6 year deal worth in the neighborhood of $60 million. There are persistent rumblings however, that Dallas still has a strong interest in Wallace. The Mavericks have been mentioned in the Wallace discussion ever since free agency began, and for the life of me I can't understand why they are interested. Don't they already have a young and athletic small forward in Josh Howard? Why would Dallas want to bring in another $10 million a year guy just to back him up? Even beyond that however, for Dallas to sign Wallace it would require a sign and trade deal with Charlotte. All signs seem to point to Wallace taking the easy route and taking the long term deal from the Bobcats. The second order effects of that signing would be very interesting to observe in Charlotte, mainly in regards to the future of Adam Morrison. The team just recently brought in Jason Richardson via a trade (signed for the next four years), re-signed SG Matt Carrol to a six year contract, drafted SF Jared Dudley with their 1st Round pick, and are close to re-signing Wallace. What kind of message do those signings send to Morrison after a lackluster rookie campaign? It would seem to me that management might be saying none too subtly that they are ready to cut their losses with Morrison.


Where Does Mo Go?: After Chancey Billups and the Pistons agreed to terms on contract extension Mo Williams suddenly found himself as the best point guard available in free agency. As luck would have it though, three of his potential destinations have dried up; the Lakers took Javaris Crittenton in the draft and then signed Derek Fisher, the Grizzlies took Mike Conley, and the Hawks selected Acie Law. Those moves essentially leave Williams with only two options, one being re-signing with the Bucks to the tune of about $8 million a year, or taking less money to go to the Miami Heat. What his choice essentially boils down to is whether or not he wants to compete for a championship now, which would require taking less money, or if he is willing to stay with Milwaukee through their rebuilding process.


Rashard Lewis is Stinkin Rich: It has just been reported that the Magic and Sonics have agreed upon a sign and trade deal for Rashard Lewis, with Orlando sending Seattle a second round pick. This move will allow Orlando to sign Lewis to a six year deal worth $127.2 million. Lewis will make $25.6 million in the final year of the contract. Read that last sentence again, and then try and tell me this deal is not going to be a disaster for the Magic, especially since it means that they won't have enough money to re-sign Darko Milicic which happens to complicate another situation...


Memphis Wants Your Big Man: One of the more interesting and and least talked about subplots in free agency is the Grizzlies mission to acquire a big man to pair with Pau Gasol. Going into the draft the Grizzlies had two glaring holes in their roster at point guard and power forward, and they wisely chose to address the point guard issue in the draft considering the previously discussed lack of quality point guards on the free agent market. The free agent crop at power forward however, is much more promising. Initially the Grizzlies were rumored to be after Chicago's Andres Nocioni, but the Bulls and Nocioni have since agreed to an extension. That leaves Anderson Varejao and now Darko as the Grizzlies' two main targets. Varejao is a restricted free agent and the Cavs have been saying all along that they will match any offer. So assuming that Memphis does not vastly overpay Varejao in order to dissauade Cleveland (which is in luxury tax territory) from matching the deal, that leaves Memphis with Darko.

The G(m) Spot: Magic Sign Lewis

The Deal: Barring a sign and trade, the deal will be a max contract worth roughly $75 million over five years.

For the Magic: To put it bluntly, this is huge for the Magic. Last season Hedo Turkoglu was their starting SF, and to replace him in the starting lineup with an All-Star player makes the Magic an extremely dangerous team in the East. Lewis' perimeter touch and offensive arsenal will take a lot of pressure off of Dwight Howard down on the block, spreading the floor and giving Howard more room to operate. You thought Howard was nasty last season? Just wait and see what kind of havoc he is able to wreak now that teams won't be able to constantly double team him every time he touches the ball. The other shoe that is going to drop in this deal though is that the Magic will have to renounce the rights to Darko Milicic in order for the signing to work under the cap. Losing Darko leaves the Magic precariously thin in the frontcourt behind Howard, but that is obviously a risk they are willing to take in order to get Lewis on board. The Magic might be able to keep Milicic if they are able to convince Seattle to work a sign and trade for Lewis, creating enough space under the cap to retain the rights to Darko.

For the Sonics: I just can't believe that the Sonics thought there was any way that they were going to lose Lewis when they traded Ray Allen. Maybe I am wrong, but the Allen trade seemed to me like the Sonics were sending a message to Lewis that they wanted him to be the star to mentor Kevin Durant. Not to be too terribly harsh but the Sonics better pray to the Lord that Kevin Durant truly is the next great swing player sooner rather than later, otherwise they could be looking at a rough next two or three years. Looking at the Sonics roster, here is what they have; three centers that can be described as projects at best (Robert Swift, Saer Sene, and Johan Petro), three unproven point guards (Luke Ridnour, Earl Watson, and Delonte West), a couple of swing projects (Damien Wilkins and Mikael Gelabale), two decent forwards (Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox), Wally Szczerbiak, and two stud rookies who both happen to play the same position (Durant and Jeff Green). So to recap, no real point guard, no real center, and their four best players play either SF or PF. Eww.