Wilbur

If Bagley is there at 6, a guy that some say has the highest upside of any prospect since Anthony Davis or Ben Simmons, how do you pass that up for Porter and his spinal disc injury?

If the guy Orlando drafts at 6 this year is awful, how good are the next 3 years going to be anyway? This team is hitched to the development of Gordon (assuming he is resigned) and Issac. Those two are going to REALLY need to develop if they are going to overcome a Hezonja (no production in the first three years) type pick here.

The greatest pick for Orlando at 6 in this draft, in my opinion, is Bagley. If your future front line is Gordon 6-9, Isaac 6-10, and Bagley 6-11, all of whom can shoot the 3, pass and handle the ball you have match-up nightmares for opponents. I don't worry much about Bagley's defense because he is athletic and long. In addition, when you have the ability to switch Gordon, Isaac and Bagley he can largely be hidden. But... I doubt seriously that Bagley falls to 6. Assuming the Magic are sitting at 6 looking at one of Young, Carter, MPJ, Mikal, Sexton, Knox or SGA, I'd be real tempted to see what Philly, NY, Cleveland, Chicago, and even Charlotte and LAC were willing to give up to get the guy they want out of that group. I'm not convinced that Young is a better player long term than anyone else on that list.

If the Magic give AG the max... and I think they need to... this is AG's team. There is no second fiddle. Vuc and Evan need to be dealt for a bag of peanuts if necessary. The Magic need to hook AG on the fact that this franchise is going to sink or swim with him in the short term and that help in the form of Isaac and whoever we draft this year is on the way, but it needs to develop. In the meantime, he is the guy that is going to make this team win. He is the guy that has to make the players around him better. He is the guy that needs to control the lockerroom, etc. If AG doesn't buy in, he isn't worth the max deal... and maybe that is why we are hearing the Magic might not match.

To me Ross is in the same boat as Vucevic. They are both 27 years old, entering their walk years. They both do some things that make you believe they can be a piece of the puzzle, but neither one is worth what we will pay them next year and neither one is likely to be here beyond one year. Turn them in for future assets now. Don't wait. If this team were an 8 seed this year with a top 5 pick and the hole at PG, maybe we NEED Ross. But it isn't and the needs are plenty. Better to have a future asset than one year of Terrence Ross. I'm not entirely sure the front office knows what it is building. This off-season will be key. Can the dump the salary commitments to Fournier, Vucevic and Ross? Can they resign Gordon to something less than max without ensuring he is gone when the next contract expires? What happens with Hezonja?

I'd rather Ross be on another roster... along with Fournier and Vuc.

Channeling my inner Colonel Jessep: "Who's gonna do it (defend the PG)? You, Jonathan Issac? You, Evan Fournier?"

The Vuc and Ev show is at an end? About damn time.

I understand that we are limited in what we can offer Hezonja to resign. Isn't it sort a foregone conclusion that he is gone at this point?

Great. Vic version 2.

There appears to be a correlation between Fournier and Vuc getting more shots and our losses. In our loses, they take a combined 5 more shots than when we win. Maybe they will continue playing this way, maximize their value and we can move their salary this winter. I'm starting to buy into the Gordon, Isaac, Payton +1 high end FA future.

The fact that Paul George is in OKC for Magic assets is all you need to know about that Oladipo trade being a problem. It was a panic move by a GM that was pretty solid on the majority of his deals. The two biggest problems I had with Henny are (1) he did not handle the restricted FA stuff well at all. Harris should have been flipped for future assets (picks and young players) before he hit RFA. Instead, Henny gambled and lost on a contract and then had to give him away to clear salary and minutes. I think he did the same thing with Fournier. 2) HE never got the right coach. I'm a huge Oladipo fan. I think Skiles retarded his development by plugging him in as the 6th man.

That might be a problem down the road in the playoffs (Mora: Playoffs! You're talkin' about Playoffs!), but when you are running the chance that the ball is going to make it all the way around to Payton again on a consistent enough basis to impact this team's ceiling is not a valid concern in my mind. I'm generally an optimist by nature, but I don't think these first three games have told us the true tale of this team yet. Gordon and Payton have both missed time and Vuc is playing out of his mind and can not keep this up. We may be better, we may be worse. But FINALLY there is a product that is fun to watch.

I like how we look early in the season, but is now the time to be selling off assets for a score first 28 year old PG with bad knees? It is not as though he is the missing piece to get this team to a championship level. At best he gets us to a playoff level. At worst we hogs the ball, retards the progress we are making and we miss the playoffs having lost assets.

I read an article that mentioned that Payton was mentoring Hezonja. I think that is a good sign. In 2012-13 when this rebuild began, you had a mismatch of young players with upside (Harkless, Harris, Vuc, Nicholson) that needed to play, but were surrounded by vets that were used to winning or not reported to be great teammates (Davis, Nelson, Redick, Turkoglu). In 2013-14 you add Oladipo and see Harris and Vuc as long term pieces to take up the leadership role. Vets like Maxiell and Price are brought in to try to provide leadership, but leadership from bench pieces is difficult. 2014-15 this was going to be Harris, Vuc and Vic with Fournier, Gordon and Payton. Channing Frye and Ben Gordon were going to provide some vet leadership. 2015-2016 Harris gets moved aside. Vuc, Vic, Fournier, Gordon and Payton are the core. Hezonja is the up and coming 6th man. Frye gets dealt. Jason Smith is essentially the only vet presence on the team. Vic seems to be taking over the leadership role. Skiles drags this group to 35 wins with a slump at the end that sends him running for the hills. 2016-2017: Henny panics. Assets are wasted on Ibaka. Cap Space is wasted on Biyombo. Vic is gone. Gordon is playing out of place. Ibaka is cashed in for half the original price. Hezonja looks lost. The point of the painful recap is that except for the Skiles year where Vic seemed to be taking the leadership role (which was also the most successful season), Magic team leadership hasn't come from our most talented, or even our starting, players. I'm pointing the finger at Vuc and Fournier who have been here the longest in starting roles. Maybe that is unfair. Maybe being European (language and cultural barriers) make leadership difficult. So next up are Gordon and Payton. If they are going to seize leadership of this team and demand others follow their lead, we could finally turn the corner. Gordon definitely has that edge to be a great leader. He works hard on getting better and can be vocal when he needs to be. The problem with Gordon being the sole leader of your team though is the same problem with Jordan being your team leader. He can physically do things others can't and he can do them easily. Payton in the mix provides that buffer that checks an MJ coming out of his skin to berate players in practice for their inability to make the physical play. If Gordon and Payton are showing leadership on this team (as reported) I think it may be important to give them the extensions now. Give them the keys. Make this their franchise. In my opinion we've turned the page on Vuc and Fournier. Both are decent players and could play important roles on championship caliber teams, but they aren't worth what we are paying them to us. If Isaac and Hezonja begin to demand minutes, I hope we find a way to turn Vuc and Founier into cap relief/future assets.

I haven't watched any of the games, but the box scores look as though the first option on offense is Gordon. Is that accurate? Much prefer that to Vuc being the offensive focus. Vuc is Will Purdue on a good team.

This FO wasn't brought in to get us to squeak in as an 8 seed. If Gordon and Payton don't look like cornerstones moving forward I expect they will be dealt for future assets to help with a rebuild as opposed to being forced to resign them and further cloud the cap or let them walk for free. If either one is dealt, I don't expect this club to close strong as it likely means that a rebuild is on the way and anyone over 23 is outside the window and needs to be dealt. The flip side is that if Gordon and Payton are cornerstones, I expect we will be over .500 with Vuc and Fournier playing in their best roles... but I'm an optimist.

We should know by the trade deadline whether rebuild 2.0 is necessary. This team is a bundle of ifs right now. If Gordon takes the next step, if surrounding Payton with shooters, etc. Seems to me that if we aren't over .500 on January 1 OR if Gordon/Payton don't appear to be long term building blocks, there is no choice but to tear it down again. No point putting the team in a worse cap situation by resigning players to big deals if they aren't long term building blocks. Ship them off for some future value, clear the decks and hope like hell you hit with the next rebuild.

His stock is at an all time high. Trade him now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you aren't willing to pay him the max, you might as well go ahead and trade him now. I'm not sure he is a max player, but I am sure that Henny's biggest weakness was what to do with players as they hit RFA. He was forced to lock up Harris and then simply dump his contract for nothing. He was forced to lock up Fournier and that decision drastically devalued the asset. He dealt Vic before having to make the decision (which was the right thing to do on Harris and Fournier) in a desperation move to try to keep his job. Losing Gordon for nothing would be a disaster for this franchise. If there is even the possibility that can happen, you have to deal him now for future assets and star the rebuild all over. If you aren't willing to do that, then you have to match all offers.

Vuc, Fournier and to a lesser extent Ross should be available to the highest bidders. This team isn't a contender. The Magic need cap space and future assets. All three of those players are entering their prime and are worth something to a contender, not a team like the Magic looking to rebuild. Here is the dichotomy on this board that boggles my mind. How can Henny be a terrible GM, yet the talent he acquired and relied upon in the rebuild (Vuc and Fournier) be adored by the same fans that trash Henny? Biyombo/Speights/Isaac AG/Isaac/Mario Afflalo/Mario Simons/Mario/Iwundu EP/Mack/DJ

Continuing with the analogy. Just because you don't demolish the whole building doesn't mean you won't change the location of the interior walls. I don't see any reason why Vuc and Fournier should be here when the season starts unless the market for them is so poor that Management decides it makes sense to try to build more value. The problem with that is those guys being around prevents them from seeing what they need to see... if Mario, Gordon and EP are worth NOT Blowing up.

If Hezonja and Gordon both take a step forward this year, will you be disappointed that Management didn't tear this thing to the ground? The Magic changed builders mid construction. The new folks aren't sure it was built wrong. They want to evaluate before they start tearing down. That is good news.

I hope you are right. I just don't ever see EP being a first option or a guy that will bury enough threes to keep defenses from sagging off him. But my point is that we shouldn't be focusing on what EP can't do. We should be focusing on what he does well and put him in position to do that more often.

Hezonja's own comments seem to indicate that he needs to find his rhythm while on the court. When he is worried about earning his minutes by not making mistakes he can't find his rhythm. That's why they need to give him consistently 25-30 minutes and let him prove he is or isn't a future piece. I'm convinced EP is what he is at this point. That isn't a bad player. It is a player that can't be counted on to provide shooting to a team lacking in it. Fine. Don't ask him to do that. Let EP be a facilitator that pushes the pace, finds cutters and runs pick and pop.