Okeke, Carter to gain lumps, experience with roster change
The Orlando Magic’s young core of players will likely take some lumps over the final 25 games of the season, but they also will be gaining valuable experience. Take Tuesday night, for example. Rookie forward Chuma Okeke and newly acquired center Wendell Carter Jr. were making plays down the stretch of the 103-96 victory against the Clippers at Staples Center.
Okeke and Carter joined a mixture of veterans Terrence Ross, James Ennis, Michael Carter-Williams and Otto Porter Jr. in the rotation Magic coach Steve Clifford used to close the game.
Carter said Tuesday’s win was a big step for a team looking to form chemistry and cohesion amid its roster rebuild.
“Yahoo.”
The consensus of team president Jeff Weltman trading away three veteran cornerstones last week — Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier — in return for young players, draft picks and cap space is that the Magic are going through a “massive rebuild.” In my mind, “massive rebuild” has negative connotations and conjures images of years upon years of misery and losing with no guarantee of ever contending for a championship.
Therefore, me and my peeps on social media have come up with five more inspirational names for what the Magic are embarking upon:
1. “Roster Renaissance.” 2. “Blue and White Reignite!”
3. “The Lazarus Project.” 4. “Believe Again.” 5. “Control - Alt - Delete.” Short stuff: Was that a NASCAR dirt-track race we watched a couple of days ago in Bristol or was it a dust-bowl race? … True story: Auburn’s Bass Fishing Club is serving a month-long suspension for numerous violations of COVID-19 policies. It’s a good thing crazy Alabama fan Harvey Updyke isn’t alive or every lake from Opelika to LaGrange would have been poisoned and filled with floating fish. … From my good friend and former Sentinel colleague David Whitley, columnist of the Gainesville Sun: “This just in: Four members of Auburn’s bass fishing team have entered the transfer portal and plan to follow Gus Malzhan to UCF.” …
The NBA should be ashamed of itself for allowing the Oklahoma City Thunder to deactivate one of its best players, veteran center Al Horford, for the final 28 games of the season, not because he’s hurt but so the Thunder can continue to tank under the guise of evaluating and developing young players. At least the Magic had the common decency to trade their best players before entering the developmental stage. What a terrible business model the NBA has. As renowned NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy told me a few years ago: “I don’t understand why we incentivize losing in our league and give teams that try to lose the chance to get the best players. And I don’t understand why fans who actually spend their money to go to games actually celebrate being bad. It would be like me paying full price to see a Broadway show and celebrating getting eighthstring B-level actors as long as there’s a chance I might get to see a good show in three years.” …
What a travesty that Howard Schnellenberger, the father of Miami Hurricanes football who passed away a few days ago, is not eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame but former UM coach Dennis Erickson is. Howard not being in the Hall of Fame is the worst joke since, “What’s green and pecks on trees? It’s Woody Wood Pickle.” … Now that 68-year-old Tampa Bay Bucs coach Bruce Arians has a Super Bowl tattoo at the age of 68, he officially becomes the coolest geezer in NFL history. No, Arians’ tattoo doesn’t say “Mom” but it should say “Tom!” ... By the way, the tattoo is located on Arians’ back and is being referred to as a “Champ Stamp.” … Did you see where the U.S. men’s soccer team failed to qualify for a third consecutive Olympics? If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: The U.S. women’s soccer team absolutely, positively does NOT deserve equal pay to the men; our women deserve MORE pay than the men!!! … Historical stat of the week: With Leonard Fournette re-signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bucs become the first
Super Bowl champion since the 1979 Steelers to return all of its starters. Astounding when you consider that it was much easier to retain your own players back in 1979 before free agency came to the NFL. …
Vanderbilt announced earlier this week that it is spending $300 million to upgrade facilities, mainly in football. Finally, the Commode Doors, or Commodores, are writing some checks with all of that SEC money instead of just cashing them. … Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has declined an invitation to attend this year’s NFL Draft. Why? Either because he’s hoping the Jaguars forget he’s available or because the Draft is in Cleveland. … With Oklahoma Sooners basketball coach Lon Kruger retiring a few days ago, I wonder how many Gator basketball fans realize it was Kruger and not Billy Donovan who took UF to its first Final Four? … Headline at TheOnion.com: “Cockfighting Championship Kicks Off As Alluring Ring Hen Holds Round Card Aloft.” … I just saw where NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he is hoping for full stadiums this fall. Hey, the Jaguars have been hoping that for decades!!! … The bad news: Ohio State safety Marcus Hooker was charged with DUI after he passed out behind the wheel while waiting in a McDonald’s drive-thru lane. The good news: It was only one charge and not a McFlurry of them. …
Last word: In honor of Thursday being April Fools’ Day: “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” — William Shakespeare
Email me at mbianchi@ orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2