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The coreThey all quietly think the same thing. If we can just get out of the first round. Most members of the Orlando Magic have shared the same playoff pain the past two seasons. Those scars unite them like the brands of frat brothers. After years of roster instability and restructuring, the Magic are building a core, a group of players fans can bank on being here from year to year, players who are building identity and team pride and establishing a history together. When the Magic begin training camp Tuesday in Jacksonville, the players can look at each other and say, "Hey, you ready to do this?" instead of the formal "Hello, my name is . . ." introduction. Nine players return from last season's team. Six of these players are entering their third season together. Disregard it and take it for granted all you want, but for a franchise whose players have been so nomadic recently, this is significant. Continuity is a staple in all championship-caliber teams. Every great team has a group of players who get together, experience heartache, learn, grow and then excel. Of the Magic's nine returning players, five make up a core of proven players the Magic would like to keep on a long-term basis: guard Darrell Armstrong, forward Pat Garrity, forward Grant Hill, guard Tracy McGrady and forward Mike Miller. Forward/center Horace Grant is also part of the core group even though the Magic had to talk him out of retirement to play one final season. Post players Andrew DeClercq and Steven Hunter and guard Jeryl Sasser are the returnees who still need to prove their worth. The four new additions -- rookie forward Ryan Humphrey, forward/center Shawn Kemp, forward/center Olumide Oyedeji and point guard Jacque Vaughn -- also have a chance to establish themselves. "There's a lot to be said for the pride you take in an organization when you play for a franchise for a while," Garrity said. "When you have that continuity, it also gives the players security. A guy doesn't have to worry about just himself and how he's going to stick with this team. Now, hopefully, we're all thinking about wins and restoring prestige to this organization." No longer does the door revolve with such freedom in Orlando. The Magic are finally focused on keeping players around while adding better parts around them instead of replacing and reshuffling and trying to create salary cap space for major free agents. They still have some building to do -- such as finding long-term frontcourt help -- but they are finally moving in some direction. "We know we can make the playoffs," Armstrong said, while explaining what this current group has already been through. "There's no doubt about it. We know we can win on the road now in the playoffs. Now, the next step is finishing the first round. It's going to be funny because once we finish the first round, I think we're really going to take off. Sometimes teams have trouble with getting certain things off their backs. Ours is getting out of that first round. I guarantee you, once we get out of that first round, watch how we just take off." It has been quite a task getting to this point. In the summer of 1999, the Magic cut ties with an old era. They traded Nick Anderson and Penny Hardaway, two lingering members of the 1995 team that went to the NBA Finals, within two days of each other. Fifty-five transactions involving 51 players later, they had created enough salary cap room to invest $186 million during the summer of 2000 in star free agents McGrady and Hill. But the Magic missed out on San Antonio power forward Tim Duncan that summer. They also lost their own big man, Ben Wallace, in free agency. Hill could have masked some of these problems, but he has played only 18 games the past two seasons because of a troublesome left ankle. Though the Magic added significant star power and improved the overall roster that summer, they didn't find the balance of having a great post player. The Magic are not done building until this problem is solved. And unless they get lucky in the draft, the solution will be expensive. For the past two years, that dilemma has hovered over the organization. The Magic had a plan to create enough salary cap flexibility to be a major player in next summer's free-agent class, which will be a banner one that could feature many desirable big man, including Duncan and Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal. But the current state of the salary cap (it is decreasing instead of increasing) will likely hinder those plans. "The days of significant cap room for us or any other team are short," General Manager John Gabriel said. The Magic are now more focused on keeping the good players on this team together and adding pieces that fit into their developing chemistry. This is the way Coach Doc Rivers likes it. He wants to build a team instead of building hope for the future. If the Magic had developed a reputation of not wanting to retain valuable role players over the past few seasons, they started to change that perception this summer by signing Garrity to a five-year, $15 million contract that will eat into the summer 2003 cap space. It's a move that angered some fans who want to keep the Duncan dream alive, but it had significance in terms of stabilizing the franchise. "For the first time, we have a team that has been together, minus Grant [Hill], who has been hurt," Rivers said. "That's going to help us a lot. You can't really quantify what that's worth, but it's very important. "People look at us and talk about what we didn't do this off-season. They look at us as a team with no big man per se, but we're putting something together. A lot of teams might look better on paper because of the moves they've made, but paper doesn't play the game." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Bucks add to rosterTom Enlund of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Bucks have added some veteran depth to their roster. The team announced that they signed free agents Cedric Henderson and Laron Profit on Wednesday. As per club policy, terms of the contracts were not announced. Henderson is a 5-year NBA vet who has a reputation for playing tough defence and played 12 games for the Warriors last season. Over his career he has averages of 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 260 games. Profit played in Italy last season after being cut by the Magic in training camp. He played two seasons for Washington, averaging 3.0 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Magic Sign Obinna EkezieThe Orlando Magic have signed free agent forward-center Obinna Ekezie, General Manager John Gabriel announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed. Ekezie (6’9”, 270, 8/22/75) played in 29 regular season games with the Los Angeles Clippers last season, averaging 1.9 ppg. and 1.2 rpg. in 5.2 minpg. He scored a season-high 11 points on Feb. 26 @ Houston. Originally selected in the second round (37th overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft by Vancouver (now Memphis), Ekezie has appeared in 101 career games with Vancouver, Washington, Dallas and the Clippers, averaging 2.8 ppg. and 2.0 rpg. in 7.8 minpg. He played college basketball at the University of Maryland, where he averaged 9.9 ppg. and 5.7 rpg. in 118 career outings. The Magic will hold training camp at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville from October 1-6. Orlando's roster now stands at 19. Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Magic Sep 2002 Archive
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