Vince Carter Thinks Rasheed Wallace Can Help the Magic, and He's Right

Once upon a time, Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace were almost teammates -- the former Tar Heels missed each other at North Carolina by just one season. A decade and a half later, Carter hopes to make up for lost time, openly campaigning for Wallace to sign with the Orlando Magic.

"He's a veteran guy who knows how to play the game first and foremost," Carter said on Saturday. "He's an unbelievable shooter. He's very smart and he's a motivator. Just from playing against him, he knows how to play basketball and he makes very [few] mistakes on the court. So, I think that's big for our team.

"A guy like that who makes [few] mistakes at that level can get the team over the hump, because he's been there. Not only has he been in the Finals, he's won one. He knows what it takes to win. So, hopefully, we can bring him aboard, and I'm doing all that I can."

The fact Orlando is interested in Wallace isn't a surprise -- Tim Povtak first reported Orlando's interest last month -- but it can't hurt to have a fellow Tar Heel applying pressure.

Although Wallace played only two years at UNC, anyone who's heard his constant trash talking with teammates in the locker room knows he's fiercely proud of his school. In fact, it's been said by more than a few observers that the biggest reason Larry Brown commanded so much respect from Wallace during his time with the team was because he, too, was a disciple of Dean Smith.

While many presume the Celtics to be the favorite to land Wallace, I won't be surprised in the least if he lands with the Magic. In fact, I floated the idea last September and again in April long before Carter's arrival:

He'd fits into the team's offensive philosophy of surrounding Howard with three-point shooters, but he can still get his points on the post when he wants to. More importantly, teaming up with Howard in the post would give the Magic one of the most daunting defenses in the league. Who knows if this is actually a possibility, but Wallace has gone out of his way to praise and help Howard in the past.

Is it a possibility? So long as Wallace understands that no team is likely to pay him more than the mid-level exception, the Magic have just as much of a chance at landing him than the Celtics or Spurs. (In fact, the Magic and Spurs might actually have a leg up on the Celtics, at least when you consider the states of Florida and Texas don't have a personal income tax.)

It seems like most of the rumors involving Wallace have centered on the Celtics, but that could just be due to massive echo chamber that is Boston's sports media. If the salaries being offered are equal and Wallace is solely interested in winning (while sticking with his preferred style of play), it seems likely he'd choose the Magic, a young team on the rise and the reigning Eastern Conference champs, as opposed to the Celtics or Spurs, where he'd be just another aging veteran desperately hoping to prop the window of success open one more year.