Mark October 9 on your calendars, Magic fans. It marks the official opening of the 2013-14 season.

Orlando will host the New Orleans Pelicans at the Veterans Memorial Arena in downtown Jacksonville in their preseason opener, the team announced. The game will be at 7 p.m. and the rest of the preseason schedule will be released later on.

This will mark the Magic's third trip north to Jacksonville, with the last coming in 2008. That was technically a Heat home game, which the Magic won 100-92 with Dwight Howard scoring 26 points. At least Michael Biamonte will not be making this trip.

Jacksonville will obviously get a very different treat this time around as the Magic are not coming off their first trip to the second round in 12 years and beginning to start a season that saw them run to the NBA Finals. No, this is a team that will be welcoming a new top-two draft pick and still rebuilding with an eye more on the future than on the present in a lot of ways.

It is not even certain what veterans will remain on the team, who that draft pick will be (reportedly Ben McLemore's workout did not go as expected and Victor Oladipo is pulling ahead), or what the makeup of this roster will be by October 9.

These non-NBA city neutral site preseason games though are fun to mix up some of the monotony of the routine and expose new markets to the NBA. The Magic definitely want to stake some sort of claim to Jacksonville and attract fans down to Amway Center every once and a while.

Orlando will open training camp in Orlando on October 1. It cannot get here soon enough.

Tuesday morning, Chad Ford of ESPN.com reported the "next shoe to drop" for the Clippers following the completion of their blockbuster Kevin Garnett/Doc Rivers deal would be to acquire Arron Afflalo for Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler.

I wrote about this couple weeks ago, but if LAC can strike deal with BOS, nxt shoe to drop may be Bledsoe/Butler to ORL for Afflalo

— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) June 18, 2013

Then more shoes kept dropping in some weird insectoid scenario that seemed to make this analogy irrelevant.

Namely, as has been reported just about everywhere, the Celtics and Clippers broke off conversations regarding that potential Kevin Garnett/Doc Rivers deal with the Clippers seemingly unwilling to take the financial pill of paying the rest of Doc Rivers' and Kevin Garnett's contracts. That ended a fun few days of churning the rumor mill.

It also puts a wrench in that report from Chad Ford.

This weekend, the NBA rumor mill was kicked into overdrive when stories broke out reporting the Celtics and Clippers were negotiating a deal whereby Kevin Garnett and possibly Paul Pierce would join the Clippers along with Doc Rivers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe and DeAndre Jordan. The deal seems more in its formative stages as the Clippers are trying to hold on to Bledsoe it seems as an insurance policy should Chris Paul leave them this summer (there are rumors of that too).

It has been widely reported that the Magic too are interested in acquiring Eric Bledsoe. Reports broke out earlier this month on that matter and Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported there seemed to be mutual interest on a deal centering around Bledsoe and Arron Afflalo.

Even Arron Afflalo is carefully watching these developments.

Orlando is in a position where it wants to explore every option available to it, and this potential Eric Bledsoe deal is certainly one of those options. There is one opportunity that surely Orlando is exploring and these major negotiations serve as a good time to remind everyone else of this option:

The traded player exception.

What is the traded player exception? A traded player exception is required under the collective bargaining agreement if teams over the salary cap make trades, even if it is to decrease salary. A trade exception is created, according to Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ, when "[a]ny trade which leaves the team over the salary cap requires an exception -- even if the team is moving downward in salary." This enables teams over the cap to still make moves while satisfying the salary matching requirements of the collective bargaining agreement.

Tonight, the NBA Finals makes its final turn for home in a critical Game Five faceoff in San Antonio between the Spurs and the Heat. The winner moves one win away from an NBA championship.

I have been contributing throughout the Finals for our friends over at Project Spurs, learning that Manu Ginobili is quite the divisive issue for the Spurs fan base.

My latest is contributing to the Project Spurs roundtable on WOAI in San Antonio. In this discussion we talk about what the Spurs are doing right and wrong in the series and whether Manu Ginobili or Tiago Splitter needs to step up more:

Be sure to check out all the great coverage over at Project Spurs for what should be an exciting end to the NBA Finals.

Anthony Bennett visited the Magic for a workout and interview Friday, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported. The 6-foot-8 power forward is one of the more intriguing prospects in this year's Draft because of his bullish low post game, but also for his ability and potential to step out and hit jumpers.

Finally landed in Orlando

— Anthony Bennett (@AnthonyBennett) June 14, 2013

Orlando is crackin' , weather is nice too that's always a plus lmao

If it were not for February 12, Nerlens Noel would know exactly where he would be drafted. This is the guy that was the runaway favorite to be the top pick in the Draft from the moment he stepped foot on campus in Lexington -- and probably beforehand.

Noel was the super athletic, shot-blocking and defensive machine that NBA teams dream about protecting the rim. He looked like a young Ben Wallace with the crazy hairdo (the flat top is back again?) and the will to change a game defensively (albeit at the college level).

February 12 changed everything though.

Nerlens Noel came crashing down to the floor after running into the basket stanchion trying to do the thing that had separated him from the rest of his potential draft class -- coming from behind and blocking a shot. The will and desire was there and shown in his play. The agony and pain was shown in that next moment when he clutched his knee on the floor in Gainesville.

A torn ACL is not a death sentence in sports anymore. But it is still a gruesome injury that leaves more questions than answers for athletes, particularly when they go from the unpaid ranks of the NCAA to the professional level of the NBA.

Noel will not be ready to play in any meaningful action until December. Maybe even later (see: Rose, Derrick). There are both reports of how far ahead of schedule he is and also how far behind. It seems like one of the surer things in this Draft  which was not considered strong at the top to begin with has turned into one of its bigger mysteries.

He was good at Kentucky, particularly on the defensive end. Scouts knew that he would use his athleticism to dominate games on that end and that offense would come slowly. He met expectations. Then the injury happened. And the inescapable questions that come after a major injury ensued.

These days, Doc Rivers is probably enjoying his vacation more than anything. He is probably playing a lot of golf at Interlachen and spending time with his family, something he truly enjoys.

He also truly enjoys coaching and being in the NBA. Rivers has turned into one of the very best coaches in the league since he was fired in Orlando in 2003 after a disappointing 1-10 start. Rivers became Boston's head coach and helped guide the Celtics to the 2008 title and the 2010 Finals with his unique motivating style.

There is a desire to win for Rivers and the Celtics' uncertain future -- regarding Paul Pierce's upcoming non-guaranteed contract year and Kevin Garnett's future in the league -- has him mulling over his future with the organization. In all likelihood, Doc Rivers will be the Celtics coach next year. There is nothing to suggest that will not be the case.

However, several reports which came out Tuesday and Wednesday suggest Rivers is at least thinking about what he might do should Boston go in a rebuilding mode. Again, as Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald points out, the odds are "overwhelmingly" in favor of Rivers staying in Boston and coaching another year.

Orlando though will always have an allure for Rivers. It is his offseason home and he still has roots to the city which gave him his start as a coach. He still talks glowingly about the organization and his time with the Magic -- which included the Heart & Hustle team for which Rivers won the NBA's Coach of the Year Award.

The Magic have a lot of needs right now. This is, after all, Year Two of a rebuild that could take several years to complete. Certainly it will take another year. The Magic are not in a hurry to win quite yet -- the 2014 Draft and 2015 free agent class is when Orlando appears to be planning to make their major moves for the future.

That does not mean Orlando is not thinking about the future. Acquiring Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris were moves with an eye toward the future and collecting assets the Magic can begin rebuilding with and around. This year's Draft pick -- or whatever it becomes -- will be part of that.

And so with some solid young pillars in place at center, power forward and small forward, a lot of fans have turned their attention toward the point guard position. That is where longtime starter Jameer Nelson has manned the helm, but everyone sees the end of his career coming -- or at least he end of his effectiveness as a starter. His value as a leader could quickly become outstripped by his physical limitations as an aging veteran.

In steps the fascination with Trey Burke, perhaps the best point guard available in this Draft.

Burke is a strong point guard candidate who very well could have been a first round pick after his freshman year two years ago. His decision to stay proved to be a good one as he improved and led Michigan to the national championship game.

He showed better leadership and some improvement with his shooting and point guard abilities. He did not answer all the questions though about his weaknesses -- such as his quickness or his overall skills as a potential NBA point guard.

When it comes to being the leader a point guard needs to be, nothing is better than reaching the national championship game. That is where Michigan got for the first time since the Fab Five (if we are still counting those wins, which is another issue entirely).

Still, there is some leeriness about using the No. 2 overall pick on Burke. Scouts still have their questions about him even though he has done about everything he can as a college point guard.

For those into NBA fashions, one of the big days of the year is the NBA Draft. It is the first real piece of team gear each player puts on to represent his team. And who can forget Chris Webber and Anfernee Hardaway literally switching hats after the 1993 draft day trade.

There have been some great NBA Draft hat designs.

The NBA has released what the Magic's upcoming draft pick will be donning when he walks across the stage to shake David Stern's hand. Take a look (h/t SLAM Online)

I do not know if I am completely sold on the understated design, although I do like the blue highlighting the black-on-black coloring for the hat. The one thing you do not see in this image is the Magic logo placed under the bill of the cap, which is kind of cool.

If you like what you see, the NBA Draft hats are available online at the NBA Store for $27.95. You can browse through all the Draft hats there too.

And while we are at it, check out these great Draft hats of the past (after the jump):

Dwight Howard's performance in the 2009 Playoffs is the lone Magic player that cracked Kevin Pelton's ranking of the greatest individual Playoff performances for ESPN.com coming in at No. 37. That does trail 2009 LeBron James, who according to Pelton had the greatest postseason from a player who did not win the championship.

Howard averaged 20.3 points per game and 15.3 rebounds per game in the 2009 Playoffs. However, his impact was truly felt on the defensive end. He had 2.6 blocks per games, but his advanced numbers were even better. In the 2009 Playoffs, Howard led the league with an on-court defensive rating of 98 points per 100 possessions and 1.9 defensive win shares, according to Basketball-Reference. With Howard off the floor, the Magic were 12.6 points per 100 possessions worse.

There is no doubt Howard had an incredible postseason in guiding the Magic to the NBA Finals. Pelton writes on Howard's postseason that year:

Tucking his cape beneath his Magic jersey, Howard became Superman to lead Orlando to an unexpected spot in the NBA Finals. Howard grabbed better than one in four rebounds in the postseason, the best postmerger mark by any regular not named Dennis Rodman. Howard finished an Eastern Conference finals upset of LeBron James and the Cavaliers with 40 points and 14 boards, shooting 14-of-21 from the field and 12-of-16 from the free throw line.

Pelton rated Michael Jordan's 1991 Playoff performance (his first title) as the best in NBA history. Notably for Magic fans included on the list is 2009 Kobe Bryant at No. 17, 2009 LeBron James at No. 22 and 1995 Hakeem Olajuwon at No. 30.