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After all the drama last night, today I meditated a little bit and I think now I can pronunce some sentences about it. Please don’t take it as a moaning, it’s not. I really like Banchero. I really see in him a terryfic offensive player, with a lot of strenght and the will to succeed. I think he can do the Magic’s offense better in a lot of ways. But I still think Jabari was the #1, for several reasons: defense, shooting, development ceiling… I can live with this just fine. But I still don’t fully understand some things around the draft process or the GM’s moves. 1) Why hiding so much your pick when you have the number one? 2) Why didn’t you bring your number one player to practice? If the answer to the first question is that they expected to trade down with Houston, that was a gigantic fail. If the answer to the second question is that Banchero didn’t want to working out, why can’t you talk to him and make him see that you are really considering him as the number one pick? I’m not comfortable with treating the GM like the are all-knowing persons, and right now I’m very confused about the Magic ones after the draft. And I think we earned as fans the right to question their decisions. With all been said, I hope Banchero lead us to the glory. And that’s all I’ve got to say about that :P (sorry for my grammar, I'm not a native)

It’s so weird to me they brought him back. He’s gonna kill the fun style that team liked to play with and yell at them for all the swagger. Also can pretty much guarantee Kemba is gonna wind up back there on the vet exception or minimum now.

lol. I can't think of a less fitting combination of star/head coach than Lamelo/Cliff.

I'm happy. Paolo/Franz....what a couple of forwards to build upon.

One would have to believe that Banchero was our pick all along. We had nothing to lose by trying to get other teams to believe we wanted Jabari (esp OKC and Houston). If Houston had their sites set on Jabari they would've made the move to trade with us and we could've grabbed Banchero @ 3. Not working Banchero out help support we were all in on Jabari or Chet. We knew OKC was all in on Chet. Houston either didn't bite because they had Banchero rated above Jabari, or we didn't trust they were moving up to draft Jabari and would've lost out on our guy. It was worth the dog and pony show to try to get more asset's. I have a bigger issue with us squandering and selling second round picks every year! 2nd's can be combined to move up. Are we so strapped for cash we have to sell them?

Agree on most of these points. It’s still early to say but I think Paolo could be our Batman. He along withFranz, Fultz and WCJ are the core for now. Of these four, two need to step into the Batman/Robin roll and I’m confident the other two will still fit in. Cole and Suggs are kind of in a weird spot in that they both need to find ways to contribute without dominating the ball. JI is a complete mystery to me at this point. I simultaneously feel he’s our best player and will never see the court again.

Thank you for that last sentence. I, like so many of us, were duped by the media and even the Magic, that Smith was the best fit for the Magic (best three point shooter (which we sorely need) and best defensive player) so Banchero came as a surprise. As Bilas said draft night there were 3 #1 picks. So we got one of them and a very good one. We are now a better team after Thursday night. How good we will be is up to Moseley and our management development team. In fact we are a team with one of the best rosters (potentially) in the NBA. A team with 2 #1 picks, 1 #5 pick, 2 #6 picks, 1 #7pick and 1 #8 pick. Add Okeke and Anthony along with RJ and we have a very good roster of 10 young players. (not even counting Ross who could be really good with the rest of these guys around him--glad he was not traded). Chemistry and development/improvement will have to now be the primary focus. And we have two first round picks next year. But this front office always leaves us head scratching. We did get a great pick but did not, for all our posturing, turn that into anything but a great pick. Trading that second round pick for one "6", yes "six" years later (plus cash--hope it was a boatload) for a pick that has to be in the top 5 to match what we had, and I do not cuss much, is a "WTF". Laker front office probably was saying "Hey, watch what we do to the Magic?" and did it!!! Not sure if Weltman's infection disease of "youngitis" requires treatment at this point. Perhaps the good point is that if we kept pick 35 we would all be debating "what were you thinking taking that guy at pick "35" so we were spared. Even yesterday and today as other teams are signing players to two way contracts and summer league rosters we are twiddling our thumbs. (i.e. a poor man's Jabari Smith Jr was Dom Barlow (who we worked out I think), a SF was signed by the Spurs). Too young?????? Bad scouting?? Other teams are aggressive and manage to do these things. Not us???? Having said all that we have a good roster despite not being aggressive (do not bring up the Chicago trade because that fell in our lap not anything we inititated) this is not just nit picking. On draft night announcers praised the Warriors on how they draft and manage their roster. Other teams entered into their dialogue at other times but not us.. We never do. And what are we going to do with our FA money (only one of five teams that have money to spend and we have the most--+ $27,000,000). Will we do anything? Even if we do not want to get a player then taking on bad contracts can net a team more assets (Memphis and New Orleans pre-draft rade last year.). I would guess we do nothing which is what is so frustrating to me. I just do not see this FO as being elite.

Holie s#¥€t …can we tank again …oh my goodness …talk about multiple championships

I'm still stunned Paolo was our guy all along. When he was drafted I was sure he was off to Houston. That said I don't think it is that difficult to understand why the Magic want teams in the dark. For over a month the story was Smith's shot and defense. Just about every expert was praising him. If you convince OKC or HOU they have to draft the guy, you get assets plus the guy you want. Apparently neither met the Magic's price or wanted Paolo so the Magic just drafted the guy they wanted. What was gained was the prospect of turning #1 into more than Paolo. It didn't work, but kudos to them for at least trying.

I agree that Banchero was our guy all along. I'm sure we got offers for our pick, but none strong enough to risk losing our guy. Banchero is going to be a star in this league. He's got a lot of great moves and can bully his way to the hole. He's strong enough to finish through contact and should get us a lot of and 1s. I agree on the 2nds. We have a few guys that need to get a lot better or be replaced.

I wonder if Shaedon Sharpe will play or reclassify himself so that he opts out of summer league.

Guys I just re-watched This Magic Moment. I know that team ended badly without winning anything and I know Paolo Banchero is almost certainly not Shaq. But I'm flooded with optimism that maybe one day Paolo and Franz might make me care about a team so much I get heartbroken when it ends (hopefully after like 4 championships lol)

Losing a vet/locker room guy like Lopez and replacing him with Dwight is about the last thing I would want for these guys lol

Paolo is much more suited for the pace and space of the NBA than college. Duke seemingly almost never got out in transition in the games I watched but he's a 6'10 250 dude who can handle and has great vision he should be feasting in the open court.