Megan Wins To Finish Round 1/Gortat Signed!/Augustine Is Camp Fodder/Who Else Is There?

Congrats to Megan for finishing out the first round of the Cheerleader competition in style with a decisive win over Sabrina. The candidates that are left to square off in round two look pretty fierce, and it's anyone's guess who will win. Check back for more of the competition as soon as there is a slow news day for the Magic.

Speaking of the Magic, they actually kinda sorta almost had a news story yesterday. Well, for Magic fans it was a news story, but for the rest of the world it was just a blip on the radar. The Sentinel is reporting that the Magic will indeed sign Marcin Gortat, as was speculated by Polish tabloids yesterday. This is following his stellar summer league showing and the much-publicized departure of Darko Milicic to the Grizzlies.

I am very happy with the move to get Gortat. My top reason, first and foremost, is that he looks like some sort of lizard with that long neck. Another reason is that we need serious help with depth at the PF and C positions, and with little money to spend this move just made sense. I think the agile-footed Gortat could thrive in Orlando, especially if we use an uptempo offense. The one thing I am worried about with him, as with every Euro big, is that he will be too raw offensively and get into foul trouble. This was the case with "Super" Mario Kasun and Darko when we first got him. Not-too-coincidentally, those two attributes are the things that scouts have said are the biggest knocks against Gortat. With his brand of hustle and penchant for blocking shots, it was impossible not to bring him over this year and I think the Magic will be quite happy they did.

The Magic also decided to keep James Augustine for training camp, but I believe that this is just a) insurance in case they can't land a big man free agent, and b) insurance in case someone gets hurt in training camp. Augustine had a few stinkers in the summer league and that typically doesn't equate into a roster spot.

On a side note: I'm not a fan of how Augustine traded in his shaved head and gotee look from college for his current, "Hi, class. I'm your new substitute teacher" look.

As for the remaining two roster spots (after Gortat signs), the Magic are looking for a veteran big man and there are some bargain basement options out there: Michael Olowokandi, Calvin Booth, Pat Burke, Kelvin Cato, Vitaly Potapenko, Brian Skinner, Iakovos Tsakalidis, Scot Pollard and Mike Sweetney. Out of those names, I could definitely live with Brian Skinner and Iakovos Tsakalidis, two decent former starters. Brian Skinner and Joe Smith actually formed a halfway decent tandem for the Bucks a few years back and word is that Skinner wouldn't mind playing for cheap. Preferably, I'd like to get a starting big man by the way of a trade with our expiring contracts and Hedo Turkoglu, but this seems unlikely:

"We're still short a big [man]," Smith said. "But I don't think you'll see
anything happen any time soon. It's wait-and-see time."

If you read between the lines, it's obvious that Otis just wants to see more of the Magic Cheerleading Tournament.