Marcin Gortat

Marcin Gortat is a former Orlando Magic player. He played internationally in Poland. He played with the Magic from 2007-2010 and has also played in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns.

Career

The Magic acquired the draft rights to Gortat from the Phoenix Suns during the 2005 NBA Draft but he stayed overseas playing for a German team before finally joining the Magic in 2007. He struggled to find a role with the team early on, but finally got minutes during the 2008 playoffs. For the 2008-09 season, Gortat was officially the backup center to Dwight Howard and was recognized as one of the league's top backup centers. He helped the Magic reach the 2009 NBA Finals.

Following the Finals, Gortat signed a restricted free agent offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks, but the Magic decided to match the offer sheet and keep him in Orlando. Originally unahappy that he was going to return to a backup role in Orlando rather than the starter in Dallas, Gortat showed enthusiasm in trying to help the Magic win a championship and accepted his role with the team. Gortat eventually was traded to the Suns, the team who originally drafted him, in December 2010 as part of a deal that brought Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson to the Magic. Gortat played in 175 games with the Magic, scoring 650 points.

*All stats are as of the end of the 2011-12 NBA season.