Enemy Lines

an opposing team's scout sizes up the Magic

" Tracy McGrady is the best player in the East. There are only five players I would consider trading him for, and they're all in the West: Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Chris Webber. McGrady is the guy who gives Orlando reason to believe it can win a championship....

Grant Hill's absence last year wasn't as bad for the Magic as you would have thought because it allowed McGrady to establish himself. Now all Hill has to do is fit in. It's going to be a bit of a struggle because he's going to have some rust, but he's an intelligent player....

I can't overstate the value of Doc Rivers's leadership. He has control of the team, and he's going to get [his players] to buy into what needs to be done....

To beat Orlando you'll have to limit points on the fast break, in the paint and on offensive rebounds, and that's hard because the Magic will come at you in a variety of ways....

The Magic has a collection of guys who can have a bad night and not be missed: McGrady, Hill, Horace Grant, Mike Miller, Patrick Ewing, Pat Garrity—any of them can step in and help win a game....

Last year Orlando was 19th in defensive rebounding, but that's going to improve with Grant, Ewing and Hill coming in....

This will be the perfect situation for Ewing as long as he accepts the fact that he's going to play limited minutes to sustain his quality of play throughout the year and not disrupt the chemistry of the team. It wouldn't surprise me I if they won the East. But winning the Finals? Probably not."