Morning Wrap: Tobias Harris With Buzzer Beater to Snap Hawks Streak

For those of us not home in front of TV's Saturday night, we missed a pretty good basketball game between two NBA Southeastern Division basketball teams.

The Orlando Magic pulled out a 100-99 win over the Atlanta Hawks after Tobias Harris drilled a 13-foot fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounded in Orlando.

The Hawks, who were on a 9 game winning streak, thought they might have pulled out the win when Kyle Korver drained a 3-pointer with just 3 seconds to go, giving them a 99-98 lead.

But the Magic was with Orlando on Saturday, Harris led his team with 20 points giving his team their 10th win of the season.

Your highlights from NBA.com:

Morning Wrap: Wizards Win on Buzzer Beating Alley-Ooop

Yes, this really happened in the NBA Tuesday night. The Washington Wizards stole a game from the Orlando Magic in Orlando on an alley-ooop pass at the buzzer.

Wizards guard Andre Miller was the trigger man on the play, throwing a perfect pass to a streaking Bradley Beal who beat his man on the curl. Beal caught the ball in front of the rim a dropped it in as the horn sounded.

The hoop gave Washington the 91-89 win and moved them to 15-6 on the season.

Your highlights from NBA.com:

Donald Sterling Surely Will Be Talking About Rich DeVos (Or First)

((HT: MLive.com))

The HQ is working two tracks here

In addition to the James Rainey piece in the Times about the high bidder that may or may not get the team, reports are that the NBA will hold off on their vote to get rid of Clippers owner Donald Sterling as boss if the Sterlings can agree on the sale and the sale price.

And that's the rub in all of this...

Donald Sterling is looking to make sure that he goes down swinging- at least at this hour.

He was still planning on a lawsuit against the NBA and wants to vet the other NBA owners who he and his attorneys feel have said worse things publicly than he did in private.

The big hook seems to be Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos an his comments about the gay community. In a 2009 interview with the Grand Rapids Press, reporter Chris Knape talked to DeVos around the 50th anniversary of DeVos' Amway Corporation.
Sterling notes DeVos in his missive to the NBA earlier this week that DeVos "has made highly controversial comments against individuals with HIV/AIDS and generously supports anti-homosexual causes with impugnity (sic)." Shandra Martinez over at MLive talks about the interview in depth hyah.

Tobias Harris With The Buzzer Beating Dunk for the Win

So, we often feature buzzer beater basketball plays here on OSG Sports, but those are usually half-court shots or 3/4 court shots or long jumpers.

Not usually dunks.

So here's your game winning Dunk of the Night.

The Orlando Magic. trailing 102-101 late in their game with Oklahoma City got the win last night after Victor Oladipo rebounding a missed Kevin Durant shot, hustling down court and dishing to Tobias Harris filling the lane, Harris got the pass and brought it home, fractions of a second before the buzzer went off.

Magic win 103-102. And the crowd goes wild:

Dwight Howard Trade Official: Magic lose whiner, add whole team

Well, that's taken care of at least.

The Orlando Magic have unloaded the man/child who had become both theirs and the NBA's biggest headache.

They completed a trade Friday afternoon with 3 other teams that totaled 11 players and 5 draft picks. It essentially creates a new (albeit not very good) Magic roster and puts Howard in LA-LA Land.

It took the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets and the Lakers to help make the trade of "Mr Whiny Bitch", who when not crying, is one of the better players in the NBA.

The Magic send Howard, Chris Duhon and Earl Clark to LA and Jason Richardson to Philadelphia. In return, they get Aaron Affalo and Al Harrington from Denver, Maurice Harkness and Nikola Vucevic from Philadelphia and Josh McRoberts along with Chrstian Eyenga from the Lakers.

Still following?

Denver then gets Andre Igoudala from Philly and the Sixers get Andrew Bynum from the Lakers.

Oh, the Magic also get 3 1st Round Picks and 3 2nd Rounders out of it too.

Tired yet?

Did we mention Howard's contract expires at the end of the 2012-13 season? Oh...he also hasn't said he will re-sign with the Lakers either. (Though we bet he will)

We guess Mr. Howard backed off his demand to go to New Jersey here. (awwww) But he now joins a rather old Lakers roster with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash on it. And though they may be old, that's a pretty imposing lineup.

The funny thing to us is in the Magic's press release, they don't name Howard by name until half way through it.

Read the Magic release RIGHT HERE

Sigh.

Sorry to say, but this is why we hate the NBA. More than baseball or football, the NBA is about big markets. Sure, the Oklahoma City Thunder are an exception, but they won't be able to keep that team together after the 1st contracts run out either.

No, instead you get talented players who turn into Spoiled Brats like Howard did, and hold there smaller market team hostage until they get to go where they want.

And quite honestly, we don't even begrudge Howard leaving for another team, it's just the way he handled it. Had he been a grown-up and handled it like a professional, we'd have little issue. But he cried and whined and made a big scene about it instead.

Anyway, it will be weird seeing him in a Laker uniform next season. Partially since we don't like the Lakers. But also because now the ONLY NBA coverage we...and everyone else will get this upcoming season is ESPN drooling over the Miami Heat and slobbering over Howard and the Lakers.

DEVELOPING...??? D-12 Deal Finally Done...??? (UPDATED)

We can only think that this is, in fact, true...

It looks like, according to Marc Stein and various other "sources" close to Stein and everyone else in Bristol, the Dwight Howard deal might be like this...

And if it is, in fact, true... we can all go back to our lives...

Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers
The Denver Nuggets will get Andre Iguodala
The Philadelphia 76ers will get Andrew Bynum and Jason Richardson
The Orlando Magic will get Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic and one protected future first-round pick from the Lakers, Nuggets, and Sixers.

The Magic will be getting other bits and pieces- including this year's Number 1 pick of the 76'ers- Moe Harkless

All this is through Stein...

We can only hope... more when we know more...
ESPN discusses hyah with FOSG Chris Cotter leading the band...

According to JA Adande, through his Twitter:

Howard a Laker. Bynum will re-sign in Philly. Denver saves $15 million in 2014-15. Only team this wasn't a no-brainer for is...Orlando

The conference call with the NBA is slated for Friday morning...

Adande continues @2330: I'm retracting my Bynum re-signing with 76ers tweet. Original source clarifies to say "not sure"

Dwight Howard is a Douchebag: Trade Scenario #312

We really haven't weighed in on this and there is no "Concrete" story per say, but it is an opportunity to weigh in on the NBA's biggest (literally) con man.

Dwight Howard wants people to believe that he is a "Great" NBA Basketball player with a big heart who does tons of charitable things.

We will grant that he does a lot of charitable things.

Dwight Howard is quickly becoming the most hated player in the NBA, taking the throne from LeBron James.

And we say that after covering Howard in high school and interviewing him several times, we really thought he was a good dude who wasn't in it for the money and genuinely wanted to be liked.

We were wrong.

Sure, we get that players are entitled to make as much money as they can while they play, we get that. And that isn't an issue here.

The Orlando Magic have said many times they'd be willing to pay Howard, who when motivated can be one of the league's best players.

But he has rebuffed them at every turn and said "I won't play for you". Dwight wants to go to New York. Brooklyn to be specific. But the Nets have decided they can't trade for Howard and have moved on.

So now other suitors are trying to get the EGOMANIAC.

Now worshipping at his alter. The Houston Rockets.

The Rockets, according to Chad Ford of ESPN, are offering 4 players and 3 draft picks for Howard and a trio of expiring Magic contracts. And while we get Houston trying to land a marquee player, they would be renting Howard who says he won't sign a new deal anywhere but Brooklyn. The trade will never happen.

Why is Dwight Howard a Douchebag?

Because he has been stringing Orlando along. Because he has made it virtually impossible for them to trade him even though he says he doesn't want to play there. Because if they can't trade him, the Magic will get nothing when he walks away.

The NBA is now rife with Elite players who only want to play on teams with other Elite players. (See the Heat) And that is a BIG problem. They are enabling whiny, crybabies like Howard.

Is Howard within his rights to leave Orlando? Absolutely. We don't begrudge that. What qualifies him as a DOUCHEBAG is that he is making it virtually impossible for the Magic to trade him. What qualifies him as a DOUCHEBAG is the whining that he is the victim here.

Yeah, you got Stan Van Gundy fired. Nobody made a secret about that. Why did you feel the need to do that if you weren't going to come back and play there? Heck, Van Gundy likely would have been given the ax if you hadn't said a word. But you couldn't help yourself.

Dude, what happened to you? You were a shining example of the good things professional athletes do at one point not to long ago. And you've killed that good will. Your image now is that of the ultimate greedy bastard. And that of a whiny bitch who has been neglected and abused.

Why couldn't you do this honorably? Why can't you just say "I'm not going to return" see if you can work out a trade? You are certainly within your rights to do that. Don't say, "I want to come back to Orlando for my final season even if I'm not playing after my contract is done". If you do come back, you are going to get "Booed" out of your own building.

We just shake our collective heads here. It's unfortunate. For all of the good things that you've done in the past, Dwight, you've ruined your reputation in the span of 6-months.

Good luck in your future, you're going to need it.

Remeber this? Possibly the most awkward interview ever...

Report: Shaquille O'Neal...the Big GM (of the Magic)--updated

The Big G.M himself

((ht: espn.com/broussard))

--UPDATED STORY AT THE BOTTOM--

Huh?

The master of the mono-syllabic pun running an NBA franchise?

Really?

Well, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard, the Orlando Magic want to meet with the former Magic star and current TNT commentator. The reason: Apparently O'Neal has a good relationship with the whiny Dwight Howard and the Magic may believe O'Neal can help keep Howard in Orlando.

Yeah...right, we had the same reaction.

Read the ESPN.com story RIGHT HERE

Well, it never hurts to dream we suppose.

And, well, they (the Magic) might actually give O'Neal, who began his career in Orlando at least a cursory interview.

But don't believe this for a minute.

Well, no, scratch that. Considering the smart decision making the Magic ownership has made over the past couple of years, you can't rule it out. That's despite O'Neal having no management experience and no discernible talent evaluation skills.

But he'd be a heck of an interview.

We wish the "Big G.M" luck. Maybe he will get the job. And maybe he'll surprise us all and be good at it. Then again, he tried acting a few years back...and we all know how well that turned out.

UPDATE 3pm Thursday---Mr. O'Neal released a statement Thursday afternoon saying in essence he is not interested in pursuing the job. (damn!). How much fun could this have been?

Orlando...we give you your new G.M...hahahahahaha!

Magic make Van Gundy and Otis Smith disappear

Stan Van Gundy

((ht: orlandosentinel.com))

Well, you can say the Magic is gone. Or they've lost their Magic touch. Or Magic...well...nevermind.

The Orlando Magic, to the surprise of nobody have fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and agreed to a "Mutual" parting of the ways with GM Otis Smith.

We say nobody was surprised because, well, the whole Sports world saw it coming.

Van Gundy publcily feuded with egotistical Magic star player Dwight Howard. The highlight of their relationship came April 5th, when Van Gundy publicly said that he knew Howard had been lobbying team executives to fire him.

As for Smith, he's taken the blame for not being able to surround Howard, who though apparently a big egotist, is also one of the best talents in the NBA. Multiple trades and reconfiguring of the players around Howard has brought exactly no NBA titles and a moody Howard wanting to play anyplace but Orlando.

More from the Orlando Sentinel RIGHT HERE

Like we said, none of this is a surprise. Howard, who is a complete Free Agent after the upcoming season has made no secret of wanting to leave town...on the next plane. He did...allegedly...say he'd consider staying with new coaches and players.

However, the Magic do not have tons of Salary Cap flexibility and have few players that other teams would be interested in. We think that Howard will be traded so they can begin rebuilding this offseason. We may be wrong.

Van Gundy is highly regarded in the coaching biz and though he is now 0-2 with teams in Florida, expect him to eventually land another gig during the season after an NBA team fires a coach for a poor start.

As for Smith, though also highly regarded, he is going to have a tougher time. The personnel decisions he's made, such as the ill fated acquisition and eventual trade of Vince Carter, the trade of Rashard Lewis for Gilbert Arenas and other debacles, will haunt him for a long time. We wish him luck.

We also wish whomever steps in and runs this dysfunctional group a lot of luck. Although a premier talent, Dwight Howard has done nothing to enhance his reputation during the free agent song and dance over the past year. He's come across as very selfish, very egotistical and very indecisive about his potential future. It's a shame and a mess. And a mess that some coach (probably a young one) is going to have to sort out in the next few months.

Here's the infamous interview that probably sealed everybody's fate:

Stan Van Knows Dwight Howard Wants Him Gone

((HT: OrlandoSentinel/youtube))

This is about as awkward as it gets...
It's from the morning shootaround in Orlando as the Magic get ready for the Knicks


So, Dwight didn't know that Stan Van had discussed what he "knew" from the management to be true... that Howard has told the higher-ups he wants Van Gundy gone...

Orlando GM Otis Smith had to released something to try and put out the newest forest fire...

"Stan is still our coach, Dwight is still a player and this is just another chapter that's been going on since the beginning of the season. Regardless of what has been asked, Stan is still the coach of this basketball team, so that's where we are. Everyone has a role. Players play, coaches’ coach and general managers manage the process, but sometimes lines get blurred. The choices are to keep going this way or change (coaches), but what are you changing into? I think the coach has done a very good job with the team that he has. We're not playing very good basketball right now, so (Van Gundy) is frustrated."