Fran Vazquez News

With Mickael Pietrus officially heading to Orlando, the Magic will now look to add a free-agent point guard and will also try to trade either J.J Redick or Keith Bogans for an additional point guard or power ...

It was a surprise and it wasn't. Going into the draft, all signs basically pointed to Orlando selecting Courtney Lee, the polished senior from Western Kentucky.

Never were the Orlando Magic's recent draft-night failures more glaring than in the playoff loss against the Detroit Pistons in which Tayshaun Prince, Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey repeatedly burned them.

Italy's Danilo Gallinari is the most highly regarded international draft prospect.

“But . . .it's the buy-out. It's pretty substantial.”

The Magic say that former lottery pick Fran Vazquez of Spain wants to play for the team next season, but the roadblock is the $7-million buy-out in Vazquez' contract with European powerhouse FC Barcelona. via The Orlando Sentinel

“What have you done to make the Orlando Magic champions?”

In all of the hullabaloo and hoopla surrounding the Magic's first real playoff success in 12 years, you barely saw the man responsible for so much of it. via Detroit Free Press

Fukudome, Howard can end jinxes Philip Rossman-Reich Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Sports I have seen Superman fly. via The Daily Northwestern

The Magic are virtually locked into the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race, unable to go up or down in the final 10 games, barring bizarre happenstance. via The Orlando Sentinel

“How Steve would influence our young guys was a concern”

Since the Magic made no trades before Thursday's NBA deadline, let us use this space today for the long-overdue commemoration of one of the must underappreciated deals in sports history. via The Orlando Sentinel

Long before he ever became a Los Angeles Laker or even a Memphis Grizzlie, Pau Gasol was a trailblazer of sorts. via FloridaToday.com

“It's been bothering me the last couple of weeks. When I take time off practice it feels better, but now it's like I keep aggravating it”

Orlando general manager Otis Smith isn't expecting 2005 runaway lottery pick Fran Vazquez to show up in a Magic uniform anytime soon, but he hasn't ruled veteran center Tony Battie out for the season just yet. via FloridaToday.com

“It looks as if Fran is prepared and ready to make the leap. The next step, in the next few months, will be to let Barca (Vazquez's Spanish team) know the players' intention, and listen to their opinion to see if we can reach an agreement.”

Fran Vazquez, the 2005 lottery pick who stunned the Orlando Magic by refusing to play for them so he could remain in Europe, has told a Spanish newspaper he hopes to soon play in the NBA with the Magic. via Floridatoday.com

“We heard what people were saying about us, but we knew we were better than that”

Every time he comes to town, Danny Granger drudges up an uneasy past.

It happened again Friday night.

It wasn't so much the 27 points he scored to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 115-109 victory over the Magic, but the recurring memory of the Magic bypassing him in the 2005 draft to take long-lost Fran Vazquez, who is still playing in Spain.

'Yes, they are one of the teams that let me slide past,' Granger said. 'But everything worked out for the best -- at least for me it did.'

When the Magic took Vazquez, who was playing in Europe, with the No. 11 pick that year, Granger kept sliding, finally falling to the Pacers at No. 17. Read more