Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 6:14 pm  |  87 responses

Nets Send Vince Carter to Magic

by Ryne Nelson

So it happened. Vince Carter is back in his home state and Rafer Alston is just a river away from his. The Nets and Magic added another interesting swap to the Draft Day blockbuster collection by agreeing in principle to a deal that will bring Carter to the Magic and send Tony Battie, Alston and Courtney Lee to the New Jersey.

With all this deliberation, the Nets still have a Lottery pick to make tonight. Sayeth Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger:

It is now likely that the Nets will lean toward drafting a two-guard to take Carter’s place, such as Terrence Williams. If that isn’t the case, Lee — a very promising player who was otherwise abused by Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals — will fight Chris Douglas-Roberts for the starting job.

Equally plausible is that the Nets have opened the door for another power forward, with Anderson heading south. That could provide the necessary impetus to draft Tyler Hansbrough.

No matter how bootleg the mock draft, we have not seen Psycho T in the top-11. More likely, the Nets will opt for DeJuan Blair if he’s still on the board. But this trade isn’t really about the Draft, or that whole circus of speculation. It’s about a young assassin: Courtney Lee. A much healthier and younger shooting guard, Lee will more than adequately take over Carter’s scoring and slashing duties. Alston and Battie, who both are on the last legs of their goodbye tours, are in the last year of their contracts and will put the Nets below the salary cap in 2010. According to Chad Ford, the Nets save $40 million over the life of their deals.

Air Canada gives the Magic the option not to re-sign Hedo Turkoglu this summer; although paying luxury tax for the versatile forward would make for one hell of a roster in Orlando.

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  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 6:17 pm
    Nice work Orlando! That solves thier PG problems and gives them a bona fide slasher. This is a huge upgrade for them.

  • Exile Posted: Jun.25 at 6:19 pm
    Definately gives them flexability… But a slasher? Some days yes…. most days… no.

  • andrew Posted: Jun.25 at 6:20 pm
    big. Hopefully VC stays healthy. I wanna see Orlando win one day. Just not yet. VC needs two seasons there to satisfy me.

  • Ciolkstar Posted: Jun.25 at 6:20 pm
    Whoa. I wonder what this will mean for Hedo? I’m guessing he won’t be back in Orlando. I’ve also heard that the Nets plan to take TWill with the 11th pick.
    They’re clearly rebuilding but Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, T Wil, and Brook Lopez is an solid (And AWESOME!) young nucleus. They’ll just need to find a PF (I guess they still have Yi right?) and develop some depth.

  • B. Long Posted: Jun.25 at 6:21 pm
    I fail to see how they got better. They traded away their second best player in the finals in Rafter(When he was on the court.).

  • Exile Posted: Jun.25 at 6:21 pm
    Still… RJ, Vince and the Diesel moving before the draft give me hope for an exciting evening….

  • tealish Posted: Jun.25 at 6:22 pm
    Jameer
    VC
    Dwight
    Shard
    Turk
    If they keep Turkoglu, that is one fine roster. People don’t give VC the respect he deserves — he can definitely still be amazing.
    Side note: And talk about all the games they’ll win now on last second 3 feet behind the line fadeaway threes with Turk AND VC!

  • B. Long Posted: Jun.25 at 6:22 pm
    Great deal on the Nets side of things. No disrespect to Vince.

  • NBA kid Posted: Jun.25 at 6:24 pm
    If magic resign Hedo, they’ll get their title.

  • doyouwantmore Posted: Jun.25 at 6:25 pm
    This is a better trade for the Nets. VC’s good but I think some people are just star-struck.

  • Statik Posted: Jun.25 at 6:25 pm
    We’ve been talking about this a couple hours now. It gives them another shooter since he loves the three and he gives space for Dwight to work if he ever finds a post game…but with this move Hedo isn’t needed

  • dma Posted: Jun.25 at 6:27 pm
    this at least potentially damages Turk’s value on the open market. So if Turk is about winning, he’d resign $7/8M a year for 4-5 years. If he’s about money, see ya in Detroit or Portland.

  • tealish Posted: Jun.25 at 6:27 pm
    I don’t see how this is so great for NJ? They have to stick with Devin Harris, so Rafer will continue to be a malcontent on the bench. Courtney Lee has an upside, but Orl definitely wins this deal, no question about it. Let’s face it, VC has never been on a team that had serious title aspirations. I don’t forgive it, but I can definitely see where motivation in such circumstances can wear a little thin.

  • TADOne Posted: Jun.25 at 6:32 pm
    Orlando isn’t playing around. On a somber note, Michael Jackson is in a coma.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 6:35 pm
    orl HAS to resign the michael jordan of turkey. i want to see this team

  • TADOne Posted: Jun.25 at 6:35 pm
    Now they are reporting he has actually passed away. Sad day.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 6:35 pm
    This is off-topic, but I’m going to say it anyways. Rest in peace, Michael Jackson.

  • Doctor Robato Posted: Jun.25 at 6:37 pm
    this trade is rubbish.

  • Statik Posted: Jun.25 at 6:38 pm
    RIP MJ

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 6:43 pm
    orl is gonna miss battie, he can hit that midrange all day.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 6:44 pm
    EFF MICHAEL JACKSON. I HOPE HE BURNS IN HELL. FN CHILD MOLESTER.

  • Cheryl Posted: Jun.25 at 6:44 pm
    Wow, Michael. Rip.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 6:45 pm
    EFF MICHAEL JACKSON. SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE SHOT HIM A LONG TIME AGO FOR WHAT HE DID TO ALL THOSE KIDS.

  • The Last Kings Fan Posted: Jun.25 at 6:45 pm
    Co-sign moose

  • Z Posted: Jun.25 at 6:48 pm
    (ignoring tarzan) wow, people are really down on vince, eh? i can’t really rate this move until we know what’s going to happen with hedo. aj is going back to his back up pg spot. they still have pietrus coming off the bench. looks good on paper. very good.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 6:48 pm
    Tarzan, get some respect for a talented individual who contributed a lot to our society as we know it today through the influence of his music. Yes, he molested kids. But the man just died and it is definitely tragic. You stay classy.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 6:48 pm
    Tarzan, get some respect for a talented individual who contributed a lot to our society as we know it today through the influence of his music. Yes, he molested kids. But the man just died and it is definitely tragic. You stay classy.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 6:50 pm
    …..and, when somebody dies, think about the positives first before the negatives. Yes, he had a crazy and slightly messed-up life, but you can’t change the past. REST IN PEACE, King of Pop.

  • bolletrie Posted: Jun.25 at 6:50 pm
    keep hero turkoglu. vc comes off the bench.
    rip mj

  • James the balla Posted: Jun.25 at 6:53 pm
    RIP MJ … DAMN man. My boy is going to be devastated!!

  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 6:53 pm
    VC off the bench? No way. Turk is expendable with this trade. VC is an upgrade. If they have the cash to resign him though he’d still be a nice player to have. That’s one heck of a starting 5.

  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 6:55 pm
    I’m not gonna disrespect MJ, but I certainly won’t respect him either. This ish doesn’t need to be brought up on SLAM anyways, lets talk about trades and the draft.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 6:59 pm
    moss, you are a simpleton, yeah he made some classic music. but so the eff what? HE R@PED LITTLE KIDS. how is his death tragic at all??? im glad that sick fcuk is gone. he hated his black skin so he turned it white. plus he R@PED LITTLE KIDS. if he was on fire i wouldnt piss on him to put it out.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 7:01 pm
    Trazan, when a man dies, you appreciate him, not condemn him. This is a legend here; I think he deserves or respect for the moment.

  • Moose Posted: Jun.25 at 7:03 pm
    Tarzan, when a man dies, we need to appreciate him, not condemn him. MJ just passed away, he deserves our respect at least for the moment. I am not making excuses for his sins, but this is a legend we’re talking about here.

  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 7:04 pm
    He doesn’t “deserve our respect”. I’m not gonna go crazy like Tarzan, but seriously, he doesn’t deserve anything for singing and dancing.

  • Sources: Nets Send Vince Carter to Magic Posted: Jun.25 at 7:06 pm
    [...] a Lottery pick to make tonight. Sayth Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger : It is now likely th click for more var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : [...]

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 7:06 pm
    moss, you can keep that hollywood legend bs. i dont give a damn who you are, if you r@pe little kids, youre a piece of siht. hes lucky he died from a heart attack. if i would have ran into him i would have made dog food out of that ho

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 7:07 pm
    moss, you need to reevaluate your definition of “man” if you consider michael jackson one.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 7:08 pm
    anyways, im excited about vc in orl. i hope they keep turk. i wish they could have kept battie.

  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 7:13 pm
    I would love to see Turk in Detroit. He’d be a niece piece for them and he’d give them a 3 point shooter that they DESPERATELY need. Trade Prince and draft Earl Clark to backup Turk and that’s a solid duo at the 3 spot…unfortunatly thier front court still sucks.

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jun.25 at 7:14 pm
    i want to see mcdyess go to sa. tiago come over, and a healthy manu.

  • MillionDollaMindz Posted: Jun.25 at 7:14 pm
    This trade is giving the balance to the East Coast

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Jun.25 at 7:16 pm
    @Ryne: as you might remember, I’m a huge Nets fan. And I can assure you: in no way will they take Blair with the 11th pick. He’s been off the radar for a few weeks already. Thorn is a huge fan of Hansbrough since they worked them out, so it could be him if they’re going for a power forward. It will either be Willians, Henderson or Hansbrough. (unless huge name falls to the 11th spot). By the way: what hasn’t been reported is that Ryan Anderson was also traded to the Magic for their trade exception.

  • Daniel Dragicevich Posted: Jun.25 at 7:33 pm
    wow that is a real nice trade

  • wayno Posted: Jun.25 at 7:34 pm
    This offseason is already like 30 times better than last year. Last year sucked. It’s been instant action since the finals finished up…love it!

  • Krishan Posted: Jun.25 at 8:52 pm
    I carter goes to orl, give the DPOY to dwight again right now, because no one else in the entire starting lineup is going to play anything resembling good D.

  • Krishan Posted: Jun.25 at 8:52 pm
    *If

  • LeoneL Posted: Jun.25 at 8:54 pm
    Hey Vince, remember when your cousin used to play for Orlando?

  • GGG Posted: Jun.25 at 8:55 pm
    I’d actually prefer Hedo to VC. Trying to get Mr Pulledaheartmuscle to slash to the basket and take high percentage shots has proven to be difficult.

  • K Posted: Jun.25 at 9:36 pm
    It’s not like Hedo barrels his way to the basket or plays D either. They are both lazy players, but VC is way more talented. And who knows how Hedo plays AFTER he signs a fat contract? The bigger issue now is how Orlando rebuilds their supporting cast.

  • Dallas STOKES Posted: Jun.25 at 9:42 pm
    Thats how you make a deal. The eastern conference may be interesting to watch on tv for a change this year!!! How many times can we watch the Celts and Cavs and wish besides Orlando and the Bulls and wish there was something else out there? Poor Knicks.

  • NBA China Posted: Jun.25 at 9:53 pm
    Courtney Lee was a great player…not much that separates him from the likes of Monta Ellis. He’s a better shooter and defender in fact.

  • Joel O's Posted: Jun.25 at 9:58 pm
    Okay. As much as VC hoists too many jumpers and could definitely be more aggressive… make no mistake, he is, when he wants to be, a hell of a shot maker.

  • franko Posted: Jun.25 at 10:42 pm
    Nice trade. SHAQ and LBRON, HOWARD an VC. what next? i want more…

  • Diogo Posted: Jun.25 at 10:45 pm
    FREE RAFER!

  • maurice Posted: Jun.25 at 11:27 pm
    terrible. vince is old and rusty

  • JoeMaMa Posted: Jun.25 at 11:42 pm
    Don’t call him Air Canada. We here in Canada are better than that.

  • BigMoney Posted: Jun.26 at 1:12 am
    VC FOR LIFE. Vincanity was the best and still is- this coming from an avid Toronto fan and citizen.

  • jose Posted: Jun.26 at 1:24 am
    hedo needs to be der. for me to clearly have me seein dem wit da chip.

  • rob Posted: Jun.26 at 2:55 am
    I know!!! lets resign turkoglu and trade him to the rockets for tracy mcgrady and have a family reunion with tmac and VC and also have Tmacs return party!WOOOOO

  • larrylegend Posted: Jun.26 at 3:19 am
    lee is a big, BIG loss, hope they don’t regret it soon. rafter too, but i’m happy he’s now back in nyc. for vince…relight the fire, remember what you learned from dean.

  • Joey E. Posted: Jun.26 at 5:29 am
    step your game up boston. old shaq and old vince > coming off an injruy KG

  • catalan Posted: Jun.26 at 6:16 am
    nets win

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jun.26 at 6:38 am
    Im surprised how many people are scoring this as a win for NJ. Sure Lee has a lot of potential but there is no way he is going to be better next year and he is never going to get much bigger (we saw Kobe abuse his size in the finals), but there is no way Carter doesn’t help them next year more than Lee would. As for Alston, he wasnt going to get any minutes next year anyway. This trade cannot be graded until we see how it affects Hedo’s status. ORL has to sign a big…they lost battie and probably will lose gortat (sp?).

  • RedRum Posted: Jun.26 at 8:25 am
    I don’t get it… at this moment of their career Turkoglou is ahead of VC… unless they have a plan to bring both, if VC is a Turk replacement then in my mind they have downgraded…

  • BETCATS Posted: Jun.26 at 9:17 am
    The Nets took Terrence Williams. UNFORGIVEABLE.

  • davidR Posted: Jun.26 at 10:11 am
    nba china, because 20 ppg on 53% shooting and 19 ppg on 45% (even after the injury) isn’t that much better than what clee has done this season. cmon man, you must not watch monta play at all if you think there isn’t much seperating him and clee.

  • kev Posted: Jun.26 at 10:18 am
    hedo is gonna be gone, no way orlando is going to sign him for the money he is about to comand.

  • Anton Posted: Jun.26 at 1:04 pm
    moar lyke the king of poppin little boys

  • niQ Posted: Jun.26 at 1:43 pm
    orlando is looking good. but, jameer better stay healthy if they want any chance. actually, the healthy part applies to carter as well. lol

  • Kevin Wilson Posted: Jun.26 at 2:30 pm
    Orlando’s really really really going to miss Courtney Lee. They don’t beat Boston without him.

  • Roy Posted: Jun.26 at 3:05 pm
    The Magic should keep Hedo anyhow…

  • SLAM ONLINE | » 2009 NBA Draft Grades, Pt. 1 Posted: Jun.26 at 3:46 pm
    [...] Jersey has decided to build for the future. By trading off arguably their top player in Vince Carter for among others, Courtney Lee and some cap space, the [...]

  • Caleb Posted: Jun.26 at 4:34 pm
    People think VC is a downgrade from Turk? C’mon. No, he isn’t. Turk… at his absolute best, is a 20/5/5 guy. That’s Vince at his worst (who he is these days basically) but with generally a slight upgrade in shooting percentage. Vince also gets more steals and blocks and actually turns the ball over a lot less than Hedo despite having the ball in his hands more often. Hedo’s PER this past year – 14.8 Vince’s PER this past year – 19.3. UPGRADE.

  • tealish Posted: Jun.26 at 6:34 pm
    @Moose: I know you’re young but this is something you would come to appreciate. Respect is a nice thing to give, but you have to evaluate whether he, as a human being, is deserving of it. You can and should respect his influence on pop– scratch that, music as a whole. But I will never in my life, under any circumstances, say that I respect him as a person. That’s a vast vast vast difference.

  • tealish Posted: Jun.26 at 6:37 pm
    Anton’s one liners have no bounds!

  • BostonBaller Posted: Jun.26 at 9:31 pm
    I take it Tarzan wishes the same fate on all those priests that did/do the same to kids on a daily basis.

  • BostonBaller Posted: Jun.26 at 9:35 pm
    This trade could be good for both sides but not likely. C. Lee was great in the playoffs but w/out a big man and 2 sharpshooters on your team that everyone is paying attention to will he be able to sustain last year and be consistant?

  • The Promise Posted: Jun.27 at 2:11 am
    Should be an improvement. VC aint what he was, but he is what they were missing against L.A., a guy who could put up points in a hurry. Now, this takes pressure off Shard to hit a buncha 3s for them to win, and could open up Dwight. If teams double D Howard, Vince could go back to being a 25+ point scorer. I think hes still that good.

  • D12FSU Posted: Jun.27 at 5:14 am
    next up for the magic…signing Antonio Mcdysse (sp?) that would be a dream come true.

  • Meloman20 Posted: Jun.28 at 3:35 pm
    Respect MJ (jackson) and stop hating. RIP

  • Big Kobe Fan Posted: Jun.28 at 11:25 pm
    nice job magic vince s a huge upgrade he still has alot left in him

  • Slobodan Chutzpah Posted: Jun.29 at 6:41 am
    I just don’t understand how people don’t seem too appreciate Hedo’s importance to the Magic. He’s their primary playmaker and crunch-time guy. VC can get some assists on drives, but he cannot run a team’s offense. Not even close. Moreover, VC is a lazy defender who mostly settles for clanking fallaways instead of trying to make something happen. The Magic can absolutely not win a title with VC, Dwight and Lewis as their top three. It’s not happening. They will come to sorely regret it if they let Turk walk.

  • The Promise Posted: Jun.29 at 6:14 pm
    @Chutzpah: I agree. And, I read in the paper today that Hedo informed the Magic that he is opting out, so, looks like the Magic are back where they were, looking for one more bonafide scorer. Hedo was the key to them getting to the Finals, and if he does in fact get away, I’m willing to bet that Orlando is not going back to the Finals again, cause Boston is gonna be there, save an injury, and Cleveland now has the still most dominant player in the League, so its going to be a lot harder for them to get back, especially without Turkoglu.

  • jeff blake Posted: Jun.29 at 11:47 pm
    Stupidest trade ever i hate VC he’s a bich but come on just a dumb trade by a dumb and horrible team. Personally i think courtney lee should get starting job cuz Terrance williams aint gonna do sht and um who is Chris Douglas-Roberts again. i could play better then these wannabees (except Courtney) and im fourteen. btw i love slam it’s the greatest dog.

  • bk10 Posted: Jun.30 at 1:58 am
    what is a-body talkin bout, VC is a bonafide 20 ppg guy who is one of the most talented playas in da association, VC, talentwize, is on par wit kobe, wade, and perhaps lebron himself, he just seems to lack the championship heart and winning spirit, wit orlando he will be a superstar, guaraunteed, huge upgrade

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