Lebron pushing for a Battie return?

[TheAdmin]

Brian Schmitz - Orlando Sentinal

"The Magic need to do whatever they can to keep center Tony Battie. Battie can become a free agent after the season, and his former teammate, LeBron What'sHisName, has dropped hints. . . ."

Lebron already working the phones for next years team. Doesn't sound like a man who wants to leave.

 

[hughes1988]

I think lebron really wants to stay and the cavs will offer him some big big big bucks but if we dont make playoffs this season hes gone and i wont blame him...

 

[LyXo]

Battie was a nice inside presence for our team when he was here. You could always rely on him to give Z some nice spells. He brings the same intensity as Henderson does, but with extra inches of reach and a bit more attitude.

I always liked him here and would not hesitate to welcome him back to be the primary sub for Big Z.

 

[aaronr]

Notwithstanding all the speculation last year that Battie's knees were shot, he's playing decent minutes as a starter this year. If he stays healthy, he'd be an ideal back-up to Z next year. He wouldn't score much, but he can still rebound and he'd be the team's best defender at center and power forward.

 

[cdt]

I loved Battie's time here, he contested everything that was offered in the paint. He could hit the mid range jumper with a high percentage and he doesn't miss those gimme's down low. If Orlando is out of it soon, I'd place a call to see how available he is.

 

[KI4MVP]

that's be great to get him back and still have both guys we traded him for. 10-15 minutes backing up Z, ready to spell other guys when fouls or injuries dictate it. I think his knees could handle that.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

Lebron James will not leave the Cav's if we don't make the playoffs this year, which is a remote possibility in and of itself, that would require a complete and utter collapse like we had last year and lightening doesn't strike twice in the same place. for one thing, we can present him an offer sheet which requires that he play another year for us, and if we make the playoffs next season, that would be as good as making them this year. but all of that talk about missing the playoffs is fiddle dee dee, because we have the second best record in the east and are barrelling our way to the number four seed in the eastern conference playoffs.

we should sign battie because he was the heart and sole of our interior defense. i'm not sure about what that would do to us under the salary cap or the players tax situation but i'm sure that ferry can work out those details. they seem to do it ok in san antonio and that's where he learned how to do it.

why trade for battie when we can sign him for nothing over the summer.

 

[Wine and Gold]

Indeed. The one time we had a team that started to get it defensively was after the trade that landed us Eric Williams and Tony Battie. Two strong intangible guys that did all the little things ...problem was they were on a team of players that could n't do any of the big things ....he'd be a fit.

 

[Karma]

Yeah I have to fully agree. Battie firstly gives us insurance as a player who could start and play quality minutes if Ilgauskas goes down. Playing backup center allows Battie to keep his ailing knees in check. He gives us a fundamentally sound defender at the center spot, and has an adequate offensive game to take advantage of any scoring opportunity. Battie should come at only part of our MLE that we will be receiving this summer.

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

all of this would be less of a concern if we had not filled up our roster with minimum contract players with skills to match.

we have more players playing for minimum contracts than any other team. we have seven minimum contracts while no other team has more than five (the heat and the magic). most teams have one or two minimum contracts. look at our sensational seven: kelenna azubuike, obinna ekezie, zendon hamilton, alan henderson, jahidi white, mike wilks, martynas andriuskevicius. lots of names that don't even get into the game or onto the roster. plus we paid some team to take jiri welsh off our hands and we are paying him more than most of these seven players combined, and he is not even a cav anymore.

it troubles me that the cav's are the leader in signing cheap free agents.

 

[Maximus]

Azubuike, Ekezie, and White are not being paid by the Cavs. Their contracts were only guaranteed if they made the team....which they didn't.

 

[Maximus]

http://www.realgm.com/src_min_player_contracts.php

Here's a list of minimum contracts....

 

[PIP]

I would love to have Battie back...

 

[Karma]

Battie Wants To Return To Orlando

Florida Today - 12/27 - 3:17 AM EST
Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos was making the rounds in the locker room recently and before center Tony Battie could offer his greetings, DeVos cut him off.

"We have to talk this summer, right?" DeVos said to a shocked Battie.

The question was in reference to Battie's pending free agency. Battie said that he desperately wants to re-sign with the Magic because he is happy with his teammates and he has grown to love Central Florida. But he also pointed out that DeVos' devotion to his players is also a strong selling point in wanting to return to the Magic.

"I've played for four different teams and I've never had an owner like Mr. DeVos, who comes around and talks to you the way he does," Battie said. "He'll sit down and talk to you like a neighbor, and not just about basketball. He invites you to his house. I had never been to any other owner's house, but he let us come to his house and look all around. He talks to you about managing money and that's something different."

Battie is making a strong case for the Magic to re-sign him, playing some of the best basketball of his career. He had 13 points and nine rebounds last Monday against Toronto, 13 points and 10 rebounds against New Jersey and nine points and eight rebounds against the Lakers. Battie is averaging seven points and 5.6 rebounds for the season.

Battie, who is making $5.2 million this season, said he is trying to not think about the fact that his play this season will likely determine the length and worth of his next contract.

"You just go out and play. When you are thinking about it too much. then you're getting nervous," Battie said. You want to play well, but mentally it can give you the jitters when you think what's on the line. My motto is just play hard and whatever happens happens." No captain. Magic head coach Brian Hill said the Magic haven't named a captain for this year's team yet -- and that's by design. Because he's in his first season with the team, Hill wanted to get to know his players better first before a captain was chosen. He said he hasn't decided yet whether he will allow the players to vote for the captain or whether he will name the captains.

"We just haven't done it yet, but it might be something we do as we move further along in the season," Hill said. "I want to get a better feel from the guys. It's not something you have to have, but your leadership can usually decide it."

Grant Hill was voted the Magic's captain last season by his teammates. Unlike Milwaukee's captain, Michael Redd, Hill did not wear the 'C' on his jersey, signifying his captaincy. Tracy McGrady was the last Magic player to wear the 'C' on his jersey, doing so during the 21-61 2003-04 season. Etc. Orlando's 34-point first quarter Monday night was its highest scoring quarter of the season. The Magic previously had 33 points in the fourth quarter on Dec. 14 against the New York Knicks. The Magic's high for a first quarter this season was 27 against Toronto last week. . . . Magic reserve center Kelvin Cato played Monday night for the first time since Dec. 5. Cato has been out the past three weeks with a badly sprained ankle that he hurt in practice. Like Battie, Cato is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end. . . . Brian Hill said that he prefers that rookie Travis Diener remain with the Magic -- as opposed to being assigned to a Developmental League team -- because "it allows him to get more used to defending NBA caliber guards and running a team" in practice. . . . Monday's game was one of four this season not to be televised in Central Florida.

Link

 

[FlyerTE]

"Lebron James will not leave the Cav's if we don't make the playoffs this year, which is a remote possibility in and of itself, that would require a complete and utter collapse like we had last year and lightening doesn't strike twice in the same place."

This is Cleveland man....we have seen it all, and shouldn't take anything as a given. If there is anywhere lightening strikes twice in the same place, its in Cleveland.