Magic Trade for Gilbert Arenas, Deal Vince Carter to Suns for Jason Richardson

Filed under: Magic, Suns, Wizards, NBA Rumors, NBA Twitter

The Orlando Magic, unhappy with their December slide, wasted no time in completing two different trades on Saturday, first getting Gilbert Arenas from Washington, then Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark from Phoenix.

They sent Rashard Lewis to Washington and Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus and a future first-round pick to Phoenix.

"We needed a way to get better,'' said Magic general manager Otis Smith.

The Magic played the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night with only eight players available.

Smith thought he already had the pieces to contend seriously for an NBA title when the season began, but he lost that confidence quickly, prompting him to intensify talks with both teams.

Although Smith insisted that no deal was imminent Saturday morning, the trades were completed that afternoon, well before the Magic played the Philadelphia 76ers and the the Wizards played the Heat in Washington.

Smith met with all four players who were leaving early in the afternoon to tell them the trades were official.

"It's going to be a challenge, obviously, in the middle of the season, but I like what we've done in those deals,'' said Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy. "To get where we want to go (win a championship), we wanted to do everything possible.''

The Magic (16-9) started the season with a 15-4 record, but they have slumped recently, losing five of their last six. They lost three of four on their recent Western swing. Even when they were winning, they weren't playing up to expectations, leaving them little choice if they wanted to stay with Boston and Miami in the East.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/18/gilbert-arenas-trade-to-magic-likely-expected-to-be-in-orlando/

San Francisco Giants St. Louis Cardinals Washington Nationals San Antonio Spurs Toronto Raptors Utah Jazz