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I'll never forgive Weltman if we don't resign Mo Wagner in the summer. It's such an easy win. His brother is a superstar. He brings immaculate vibes. He's a solid bench big. Give him a 3 year deal and let's move on.

In terms of building a legit team, the player we should be targeting with our money is Jaylen Brown. He'd fit beautifully next to Franz and Paulo.

Amen. Before the season started I put down my marker for a successful season, which was whether we cared about the games in January and February, or if all the attention by then had shifted to tanking. By my criteria, this season is already a success.

Just willing to wish you all, my fellow forum colleagues, Merry Christmas! Hope you all have a great time with your beloved ones, wherever you are!

incredible. He just took over, cementing his legendary status. I truly can't stand Lebron and his ego and joyfully look forward to cheering on Steph in this match to embarrass them.

If you are truly a Magic fan why do you keep posting this stuff about Sharpe? What the f*** is the point of all of this? I really don’t understand what you are trying to prove. There are many many many drafts where the guy we drafted was outshined by other players drafted later. But you keep harping on this one where we actually got a good possibly great player. Please for the love of all good things, leave it be and just drive your family and friends nuts with this crap.

Cole has drastically improved this year, at least on offense. I still don't want to commit to him long-term, at least not yet. Meanwhile, saying Suggs is having career high shooting numbers misses the big picture, imho. For a number 5 overall pick, he's been far worse than anyone expected, and even with his improvement this year, he's only shooting 41% and 31%. Furthermore, he's constantly hurt because of the reckless nature with which he plays the game. As a fan, I was elated when we picked him at 5, but I'm not sure he'll make it in the league, at least as a starter, unless we see significant improvement.

I would argue we have three guys who legitimately serve as “go-to” guys in crunch time: Fultz, Franz and Paulo. What a gift. All of them are better in crunch time than the previous crew of Evan, AG and Vooch.

The Jameer disrespect is out of control in this post

1. Paolo Banchero | Orlando Magic Stats: 19.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 3.6 APG | ROY odds: -950 Best-case All-Star comp: 2014 Blake Griffin Previous ranking: 1 Banchero is running away with Rookie of the Year honors, not just due to his scoring prowess as he's also proving capable of winning at the NBA level too. After starting the season 5-20, the Magic are 19-15 since Dec. 5, likely putting them out of the Wembanyama sweepstakes and into the fringes of the play-in game conversation. Banchero is already one of the NBA's most lethal young shot-creators and has been difficult for even elite defenders to contain in the open floor with his combination of size, strength, skill and aggressiveness. He's an excellent ball handler who can pass on the move, finish aggressively through contact, shoot off the dribble and has terrific touch and creativity around the basket, giving him significant potential initiating pick-and-rolls and pushing off the defensive glass. Better decision-making is the next key in Banchero's development. He relies too much on his iso-pullup game and hasn't been as effective with his 3-point shot (28%) as he needs to be with the way defenses are sagging off him, passing up open jumpers on the perimeter. Defensively, Banchero's basketball instincts, strength and mobility have allowed him to be more effective than most thought he would be early on in his career. He still has some lethargic moments off the ball and isn't a good enough rim protector or rebounder to see as many minutes at center in the modern NBA, but he has held his own more often than not, especially one-on-one. Surrounding Banchero with more shooting will be a priority for Orlando moving forward, but the Magic are already ahead of schedule with the depth of talent they've acquired. It has allowed them to notch some impressive victories this season and gives their fans significant reason for optimism. Banchero looks like the gem of the 2022 NBA draft class thus far and still has considerable room to grow long-term. Jonathan Givony is an NBA draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service used by NBA, NCAA and international teams.

He is still the rookie of the year by far. Zach Lowe went on a rant on his Pod Cast this week about people complaining about his efficiency when he talked about The Magic for a 5 minute stretch. He basically said that people who watch him play can see how he is obviously a future star. His ball handling, first step, free throw rate are very special. I still wouldn’t take anyone of the last three drafts ahead of him. I do think him and a Franz need this break. We forget how hard the grind of The NBA season is on young guys. I also think both will be much better next year as their bodies mature.

2 6 foot 10 players having 0 rebounds is absolutely *****ing inexcusable

Markelle Fultz is who Rob Hennigan thought Elfrid Payton was.

As for Bol, he seems to be maturing and is very early in his career. He could be very valuable if he keeps trending in the right direction.

5-16 in 21 games without Markelle, 11-10 in 21 games with Markelle. Only 3.5 games out of the play-in with 40 games to go.

I'm a bay area native, and I will be at the game tonight. Let's go, Magic!

WCJ saying Issac can play right now and gushing about all his talent …”IF” he does return at some point good luck finding playing time for all those bigs …man would I ever like to see him on the court again just to see what we got

Paolo up to 31% from 3 on the season. Worth keeping an eye on because that was supposed to be a weakness for him but here he is only 3% behind Jabari Smith who's whole deal was shooting. Also he's 12th in the NBA in Free throw attempts. Every single other player in the top 15 is, or has been, an All Star.

That’s 3 consecutive wins against teams with winning records and that are playoff caliber …we bash a lot but gotta give credit when it’s due

Like a black hole in space, no light escapes; in Cole’s case the basketball goes to him and rarely comes back out as anything but a shot. He doesn’t like to pass the ball to anyone else.

I wouldn't give up on Suggs. I found this video interesting: Top 25 Prospects I've Scouted (2018-pres.) - YouTube. It goes through the top 25 NBA prospects this individual has scouted from 2018 to this past year and it has Suggs right at #9, right between Anthony Edwards and Jalen Green. That's someone you give longer to figure things out and don't trade away.

That’s Coles problem in a nutshell sure he made the shot but it was forced and unnecessary. He always wants to take the last second shot no matter how bad of a shot it is.

Jalen Suggs getting tossed on Jalen Suggs night is upsetting. Gives off Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in “Forget Paris” vibes. I’m sure I’m dating myself with the reference but bonus points if you get it lol

Trayce Jackson-Davis my favourite guy in the 2nd round to undrafted range. 18 points, 23 rebounds (7 offensive), 8 assist and 4 blocks is a wild statline. He feels like the kind of guy who gets picked up by Miami or Toronto, puts up 15 and 10 when they're short-handed, and then everyone will say "how do they keep finding/developing guys?!" (When really it's just because he's good at basketball but not "high potential" etc). I'm not under any illusions why he's not highly talked about as a prospect since he's a 6'9 non shooter who will be 23 before he plays an NBA game. But he's so good at so many things that I think he's got a chance to make it work as a small ball bench 5. Good passer and ball handler, smooth post game, sets good screens, blocks a lot of shots especially for his size (2.7 a game), rebounds. In the range he'll get drafted (or not I suppose) it's not exactly likely you'll find an NBA player anyway but I'd rather bet on someone who's legitimately good at basketball than someone with "potential" who's not good.

When are we going to move Cole's helter skelter, me first, inconsistent, slow getting across half court, hero ball playing self from this team. (By the way, I borrowed some of Ball Junkie's words when describing a player--any player--from a previous post) Hahaha! For the position Cole plays--backup point guard, shooting guard, whatever. I'm tired of watching him. I want to see a newbie like Caleb Houstan more and on the court with Kelle, Franz, and Paolo. He is young, has shown flashes in the few minutes he has played, and has so much potential. ***Go ahead and down vote me all you want. That's MY opinion.