The mid season NBA trade bonanza has officially gotten off to a start with the 6 player NBA trade between the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns. Both teams have been struggling as of late with the Magic especially looking for the missing pieces to a championship caliber team in their newly opened arena. The Suns have been having obvious problems in their front court since the exit of Amare Stoudemire.

Orlando Magic Trades – IN: Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu OUT: Vince Carter, Martin Gortat, Michael Pietrus

The Orlando Magic acquire Jason Richardson who’s having a phenomenal year and proving to be one of the best shooting guards in the league. They also are reunited with Hedo Turkoglu, who was one of the biggest pieces of their Finals run just two years ago. Neither he nor the Magic have been the same since he’s exit, so both sides must be happy to reunite once again.

The Magic lose Vince Carter who never ended up being the player he would be. They also send widely labeled ‘best reserve center in the league’ Martin Gortat to the Suns – who will be delighted picking up a quality center at this stage of the season. Michael Pietrus is another quality bench player added to the Suns’ deep and talented bench. 3 million in cash as well as a future first round pick is also sent to the Suns to sweeten the deal.

General Manager Otis Smith didn’t stop there following his team’s recent slump losing 5 of it’s last 6 games. Max contract player Rashard Lewis was shipped to the nation’s capital in exchange for Agent Zero – who was at one point during his gun conviction days labeled as the worst contract in the league. Both have huge and lengthy contracts remaining and are having career low years.

This surely breathes new life into the Orlando Magic, who have fallen sharply in contrast to their rivals in the Championship race: Celtics, Heat and Lakers. With Dwight Howard’s contract expiring in 2012, Smith wanted to make sure not to commit the same mistake they did when Shaq left town nearly 2 decades ago and has given the team a brand new look for coach Stan Van Gundy to twinker with.

The Orlando Magic starting lineup will be an interesting point of conversation for the next few weeks, but initially the matter looks pretty simple. Jameer Nelson will keep his starting point guard position, Jason Richardson will fit in at the two, Turkoglu will go back to his natural position playing the three and Bass and Howard will clog up the middle.

Gilbert Arenas will have to earn his spot on the starting lineup – with Jason Richardson having the far better year (and being a more natural 2) and Jameer Nelson likely to keep his role as the long term floor general of this team. Having Gilbert Arenas come off the bench could do wonders for the Magic – who in past years struggled on the offensive end when mismatch creator D-12 wasn’t around to set everyone up with open jumpers.

Hedo Turkoglu will be the x-factor and his performance will most likely determine whether the Magic have a chance for another Finals appearance. Pierce and LeBron will be the opposing small-forwards, and Turk will have his work cut out for him to bring the Magic back into championship contention.

All in all, a very interesting day for Orlando Magic fans and surely the next couple of weeks will bring more light to whether this was all a gamble worth taking.