[外電] Magic to retain center Gortat
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4324941
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Magic to retain center Gortat
Updated: July 13, 2009, 7:41 PM ET
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The Orlando Magic will keep Marcin Gortat by matching the five-year,
$34-million offer sheet extended to him by the Dallas Mavericks, the Orlando
Sentinel first reported Monday.
The Magic made the announcement Monday.
"Having quality big men is an absolute must in our league, and Marcin has
worked very hard to fit into that category," Magic general manager Otis Smith
said in a statement. "He provides tremendous depth to our frontcourt and
we're happy to bring him back."
Gortat's agent, Guy Zucker, said the center "was definitely very disappointed
today." He said Gortat was back in his native Poland, where he'd already been
telling everyone he was headed to the Mavericks.
Gortat was hoping to play alongside Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki and, most of
all, compete with Erick Dampier for the starting job. Dampier is going into
the final year of his contract.
In Orlando, Gortat will likely see spotty playing time behind Howard.
"It was definitely about the opportunity to find out how good he can really
be," Zucker said. "We had requested that Orlando not match the offer. We
stated the fact that he sincerely wanted the chance to carve his own path, be
his own man, so to speak, which is not going to be realistically possible in
Orlando."
Gortat averaged just 3.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game last season and 3.3
points and 3.2 rebounds during the Magic's run to the NBA Finals, but his
opportunities in Orlando were limited behind All-Star center Dwight Howard.
The 6-foot-11, 240-pound center made about $700,000 last season, his first
full year in the NBA. He likely will remain in a backup center role or play
sparingly alongside Howard at power forward.
But Gortat earned the big pay raise in large part because of some highlights
in the Magic's playoff run.
Gortat filled in for Howard in the Game 6 clincher against Philadelphia in
the opening round after Orlando's All-Star was suspended, adding a few
powerful dunks that earned him the nickname the "Polish Hammer" from
teammates. He also had a pair of blocks on Cleveland's LeBron James in the
conference finals, and he saw his minutes increase in the Finals because of
the size of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The decision is a bold and costly one for the Magic, who will plunge further
into luxury-tax territory than many rivals anticipated after their recent
trade for Vince Carter by first signing Brandon Bass away from Dallas to a
four-year deal worth a reported $18 million and then matching on Gortat.
Retaining Gortat and adding Bass will likely take the Magic's payroll into
the $80 million range for next season, which would force Orlando to cut a
luxury-tax check of more than $10 million in July 2010 barring roster moves
between now and June 30 of next year to lower that figure.
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