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Fwd: [Celtics' Stuff ] Magic may be willing to trade #1 pick to Boston

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Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2004 08:35:50 -0800 (PST)
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 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-sptmagic31033104mar31203030,1,5679573.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines Woeful Magic, Bulls are searching for answersBy Brian Schmitz
Sentinel Staff Writer

March 31, 2004

Proving they'll bridge great cultural divides to curb the losing, the Orlando Magic's search for players will take them from Texas to Croatia in the next few weeks.

Here on the home front, the team is pretty much taking care of positioning itself for the amateur draft.

The Magic are on an eight-game losing streak and don't expect star Tracy McGrady back soon to help break it. They are still in line to have the best shot at the No. 1 pick, although the Chicago Bulls just won't go away.

The Bulls, riding a five-game losing skid, can continue to gain ground on the Magic tonight at TD Waterhouse Centre with a defeat.

Orlando (19-56) has the worst record in the league. Chicago (20-54) has the next-to-worst record, which has Bulls Coach Scott Skiles, the former Magic point guard, chewing nails.

Emeka Okafor's fate is really the only thing presumably on the line when these teams meet.

The club that wins the draft lottery is expected to make Okafor -- the junior shot-blocking star from the University of Connecticut -- the No. 1 pick. He hasn't said he's entering the draft yet. If he's scouting the Magic and Bulls, he might be horrified enough to stay in school another year and maybe get his master's.

The club with the worst record isn't guaranteed to win the lottery (and usually doesn't), considering the lottery is intended to dissuade teams from tanking games. But the way their seasons have crumbled, the Magic and the Bulls probably wouldn't mind having the best chance possible to improve through the draft -- or by way of the draft.

Magic General Manager John Weisbrod says that if the talent-deprived Magic did land the No. 1 pick, they could explore trading it. They might be able to acquire a veteran player and another first-round choice with it, or swap it with a team for its multiple first-round picks.

Atlanta, Utah and Boston have more than one first-round pick.

"The draft . . . that's really the only leverage we have," said Weisbrod, who will scout high school and foreign stars in this weekend's Hoops Summit in San Antonio, then head to Croatia.

The Magic will again be enhancing their lottery chances tonight as McGrady will sit out his fourth consecutive game.

McGrady, nursing a sore left knee, did not practice or show up at RDV Sportsplex on Tuesday. He was granted permission to stay home to care for his daughter, whom he said was ill.

Only four years ago the Magic and the Bulls were clearing salary-cap space to eventually pursue McGrady and other free-agent stars.

"It's ironic for both teams now," Magic Coach Johnny Davis said. "Sometimes things happen to you that you can't predict."

The plans for both teams backfired. The Magic wooed Tim Duncan and landed Grant Hill and McGrady, who blossomed into a star. The signing of the injured Hill proved to be a gamble gone wrong and hindered Orlando's progress.

The Bulls had money to spend, but they couldn't attract the marquee stars for the post-Michael Jordan dynasty days. Building through the draft hasn't worked, either.

And so the Magic and the Bulls -- who met in 1995 to decide who'd play in the Eastern Conference Finals -- wobble into tonight's game fighting for a loser's consolation prize.

Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
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