The same competitive drive that spurred Marcin Gortat through four trips to NBA summer leagues has the 25-year-old center disappointed that the Orlando Magic matched his five-year, $34 million offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks.
Gortat has said all along that no matter what happened this off-season — whether he went to Dallas or returned to Orlando — that he would be a "happy man."
Still, he did have his heart set on going to the Mavericks because the Mavericks were going to give him the chance to start at center. So, it's no surprise that his agent, Guy Zucker, told the Orlando Sentinel that Gortat is "very disappointed" that the Magic have matched the offer sheet.
“His reaction naturally was that he was disappointed, because clearly he signed the offer sheet with Dallas with the intent of going to Dallas, which for him represented a tremendous opportunity to potentially start with an excellent team," Zucker said. "He’s a competitor, but he’s also realistic enough to know that the chances that he will start ahead of Dwight Howard are extremely, extremely low. He saw that Dallas made a tremendous commitment money-wise but also basketball-wise to making him a starter for their team for the next five years. He had been very excited about signing the offer sheet, and he was he understandably very disappointed today when I called him and told him they decided to match.
“If you’re a competitor, you’d like to get a chance to measure yourself as an equal to other players, and he felt confident that given the opportunity he could prove himself to be a legitimate NBA starting center.”
Gortat is in his native Poland and was unavailable for comment.
A trade somewhere down the line is a possibility. Centers are in high demand in the NBA — as shown by the Mavericks' offer to Gortat — and Gortat could command a high price. But the NBA's collective bargaining rules prevent the Magic from trading Gortat until Dec. 15 if that's what the Magic decide to do.
Magic General Manager Otis Smith said there was no need to speak to Gortat immediately.
“Guys who have good character, once they get in the gym, their character falls back into form," Smith said. "Courtney's not happy about the trade to New Jersey, but his character will carry through. So, I'm not overly concerned about that part of it. Once you get back in the gym, you have a tendency to earn your time."
Zucker said the Magic have indicated to him that the team has no plans to trade Gortat.