Leaderboard

Shout out to Andy Larsson of the Salt Lake Tribune and Kevin Pelton ESPN's resident stat guy who stopped Paolo being unanimous Rookie of the Year by voting Walker Kessler. Some takes are wrong immediately, some take a few years before it becomes apparent they were wrong. And then there are takes that were both wrong at the time and continue to look increasingly more wrong the more that time goes on.

This team is what the Rob Hennigan teams were supposed to be. Shout out to Paolo

I'm no TMF but I couldn't let the season opener not have a game thread.

Suggs made The NBA All Defensive Second Team. Go Magic!!!

We definitely never saw a KCP lineup last year.

I'm not understanding your comments at all. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a point guard having the ball in their hands as long as they use it to set up the other players on the team with good opportunities. in fact, that's the whole point. It's way better than giving the ball to Paulo at the top of the key and hoping he can go 1v5 or make some shot with a very high degree of difficulty. Let's make life easier for the players we hope will be our stars.

Depressing. L

Making a move for a point guard has been long overdue, so let’s just kick that can down the road till eternity. Stadium is full, we good.

Guess I’m the only one watching. Lol. Anyway just heard that the NBA is now kissing the Sheik’s butt and naming the In season tournament the Emirate Cup. Proving once again that Made in the USA or even owned by an American company means Nothing to these big organizations. Bunch of money whores, that don’t give a dam about anything else.

I’m not sure we didn’t offer PG that deal, there was probably a reason he had us set up 3rd in the meeting order and we bounced quickly. There is an argument to be made that Philly’s window is a bit more open than ours the next year or two. I think we also forget just how hard it is to get the perfect pieces for a shot at it all. A lot has to come together to even get one title: - Took Boston 7 years to get it right for Tatum and they had stints with Hayward and Kyrie that failed miserably. -Took Denver 8 years with Jokic. -Golden State needed 6 years to build around Curry.

The reason why people are disappointed with not trading for Murray is he didn’t make a lot and we wouldn't have given up major assets for him. We could easily have him Franz, Suggs, and Banchero without worrying about the luxury tax and keeping most of our picks. Murray makes half of what Paul George makes for example. When are we going to make a move for a ball handler like Paolo wants? We also need way more shooting. These our grown men I don’t care if they aren’t choir boys as far as your locker room point. The off-season isn’t over so I’m not glass half empty yet but so far this has been disappointing. A lot of teams are passing us in The East in my opinion.

Can’t believe the price is takes to get like a tier 3 star in this league, and even that might be generous for Mikal. I’m hoping our fun starts tonight. I’m very much on the side of we have to use our assets and cap freedom while we can this off-season. Standing pat tonight and adding another rookie that won’t crack the rotation is the wrong move. We saw a Pacers team that were better than be aggressive with trades and FA and make the conference finals. We can’t just sit and wait to grow this thing in house, it’s time for our Horace Grant signing. Go get PG or trade for Sexton, Garland, Dejounte or Trae.

https://www.spotrac.com/news/_/id/2234/2024-nba-offseason-financial-previews

Even without money involved, I prefer Garland over Young. Garland has better advanced stats over the past 3 years, and he’s literally 30 pounds heavier, which matters in the postseason. Meanwhile, Young is owed an average of 46MM over 3 years, while Garland is owed an average of 40MM over 4 years. Let me also say I’d love Murray as an option as well. I forgot him on my list.

This is the summer to spend. Franz and Suggs extensions won’t kick in until next summer. Paolo’s Max will kick in the following summer. This is the last time we will have cap space to spend the next few years. They will be able to spend on the core three with no problem at all. That’s pretty much a given those guys get paid. I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t use our cap space this year. We need to sign at least two decent free agents like Monk and Murray. We need some shooting at the very least. I wouldn't trade for 30 million dollar CP3. If we want to trade for someone with that kind of salary I’d hope it would be a real difference maker. If we just run it back it would be a big mistake. The cap is going up also with the new tv deal. Let’s build a contender this summer. Go Magic!!!

I’ve never understood the idea that people don’t believe Paolo is a 1A scorer. “We need another scorer” suggests you want someone who is going to take the ball OUT of Paolo’s hands. When building a TEAM, you can’t just put a bunch of greater scorers together who need the ball. Give me 1 or 2 guys that need the ball in their hands then add 3 guys who play a combination of good defense, make smart passes, and hit open jump shots. THATS IT! Look at the make-up of Denver, Golden State, or Boston as a great template. trading for superstars /big scorers in my mind is overrated. The cost today with the Mitchell, Gobert, and Durant trades are just wild and (IMO) not worth it in the long run. Look at Brooklyn, Phoenix, Chicago, and either LA team. All of them mortgaged their futures to bring in the star scorers on individual teams and IT HASNT WORKED! Why? Because there are little things on the stat sheet that don’t show up that are NEEDED to win - more than just scoring points.

When: TONIGHT! 7.30pm ET. (Or whatever time it will be for you approximately 7 hours and 30 minutes after this was posted.) Where: Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida. Expected Starting Magic Lineup: Jalen Suggs Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Franz Wagner Paolo Banchero Wendell Carter Jr. Expected Starting Heat Lineup (my guess): Terry Rozier Tyler Herro Jimmy Butler Nikola Jovic Bam Adebayo Injury Report: Josh Richardson is the only player listed as OUT currently for either team. The season is finally here.

Apparently the Magic haven’t embraced it because KCP is a shooting guard (or maybe small forward). Someone has to bring the ball up the court and start the offense for the Magic and by process of elimination, that’s Suggs. So I’m not sure what the guy above is talking about.

Seen the nickname: "Da Silva Surfer" kicking about and i like it lol

In each of his two seasons in Denver, Caldwell-Pope -- a career 36.9% 3-point shooter -- has eclipsed 40% from deep while also playing in 76 games both years. As a defender, Caldwell-Pope allowed a league-best 40.6% field goal percentage as the closest defender last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, while frequently taking on the toughest assignment. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40469675/sources-kentavious-caldwell-pope-finalizing-deal-magic

Hopes and dreams. Yep that’s about it. To think our players on the roster right now will suddenly ALL become significantly better in six months is a pipe dream. Small market bs is just a f ing excuse. Last time I checked the owner is a mult-billionaire. He just doesn’t give a crap obviously about bringing a championship to Orlando. Just happy to fill the seats, no matter whose fans are sitting in them.

Murray price was probably even lower in the deadline last february, but even that package is not prohibitive at all, and could have easily being offered by our FO for a player that fits a lot of our needs. But probably guys like him are out of the radar for some character issues, or whatever. As always, too much evaluating and overthinking. CP3 train has passed by a lot of time ago, but if we're talking about a different deal then the ones mentioned for Klay&co., a much lower deal, I would still do it in a heartbeat. But I don't believe he's interested in a role of mentor/backup on a low salary.

Agree! We definitely need a starting PG that can steer the ship while AB gets up to speed. AB is going to be great, but he isn't at the level YET to run the team for the season. We need a seasoned vet to help bring him along.

I wouldn’t argue with that. My point is I don’t want to depend in a big way on AB becoming that guy next season. Way too big a risk from my standpoint.

Hyper-Athlete. High IQ. Great motor. Gym Rat. Name me one player with all 4 of these qualities who didn't turn out to be a great basketball player. If the answer is "I can't," then you bet the farm in 2-3 years minimum Anthony Black figures this out.