CTMagicUK

Everyone is throwing out wild theories but... Occams razor. The real reason we're sitting him is because he has a knee issue.

I appreciate that.

Anthony Black has changed his hair to braids. RIP the fear mongering.

This is unbelievable.

I guess my 10,000th post is thanking you for the kind words. Literally didn't know such a milestone was coming up and honestly I'm wondering how much time I've spent on this board to have posted 10k times and feeling very old all of a sudden (the crazy thing is for the 10k posts there's probably another 1k posts I got half way through typing and then thought "nah this is getting too long no one will read this" or "I'm just not getting into this argument again" lol). On the good and bad years, I actually joined this board the summer we traded Dwight. So the good years have been slim pickings haha. I'm looking forward to them now though.

Yes. Jett is still getting paid his full salary. The two way guys (Queen, Harris, Schofield) make half a million a season. Exhibit 10 guys (guys who were with us for preseason and then went to the G league, so like Matt McClung etc) get a bonus that can be up to 75k from the Exhibit 10 contract and then their G league salary on top. The standard, I believe flat, G league salary is 40.5k for the 5 month season. Also worth noting a lot of G league guys could go overseas and make more money (the average euro league salary is like 400+k a year but some guys make legitimately more than an NBA minimum salary) but being in the US means they can be signed to 10 day contracts which could help them get full contracts and the real money. Plus there are obviously family/culture reasons to stay in the US. Long story short, no need to feel sorry for them.

Just watched UConn/Creighton. Stephon Castle is a phenomenal defensive player on the perimeter and he has some ball handling and passing. Plus he's just long and strong, he just bounces off guys going to the rim. Feels like a guy that someone in the lottery will convince themselves they can teach him to shoot but boy were Creighton not guarding him on the perimeter. I think I've said it before but Baylor Scheierman should get drafted. So often "being good at basketball" is like an overlooked part of the draft process. Sure he'll be 24 when he plays an NBA game and he's not a stand out athlete by any means (and if we're being honest he's a white guy with a funny name and some scouts still have those subconscious biases), but he's just good. 6'6, strong, good shooter, solid ball handler, really good passer. Gets after it on the boards. Feels like a guy the Heat pick up as an undrafted player and everyone is like "where do they get these guys from" when it's blatantly obvious he's good at basketball. I'm not sure I'd pick Donovan Clingan in the lottery. I get it, he's massive and he protects the rim and he's not immobile for someone his size. But I think his stock owes quite a lot to Walker Kessler's success and he's just not as good statistically as Kessler was. Don't get me wrong I think he could be a solid starting C for a team wanting to play drop but I'm not rushing to use a lottery pick on him. Plus I think it remains to be seen if he can play 30+ minutes a night. Averages 20mpg, some of that is probably due to fouling early in games as that's something he's struggled with but I wouldn't be surprised if there's some conditioning issues given how huge he is. Trey Alexander might go back for his senior year but he should also get drafted if he comes out. Enough to like I think. Ryan Kalkbrenner is a guy who it doesn't look like will get drafted but I'd be interested in him as an undrafted guy on a 2 way, 7'1 senior but quite thin. Pretty good drop big with rim protection without fouling, has flashed a 3 point jumper on occasion too. Alex Karaban didn't have an impressive game at all.

To be clear I'm saying guys I'd rather have TDS than, not the other way around.

I'm still a big fan. His jumper has come back down to earth from the scorching shooting in non conference play but that doesn't really matter to me. 6'10 guys who can pass, dribble and shoot are always valuable. Still have him first round and there's at least 5 or 6 guys in ESPNs first round I'd rather pick TDS over.

New ESPN mock has been released. Every time a mock gets released there's massive movement. I can't really get a read on this draft at all. That being said the mock has us at pick 18 getting Dalton Knecht which is a huge W. And picks 16 to 21 are all interesting prospects to me (Kevin McCullar Jr, Devin Carter, Dalton Knecht, Tyler Smith, Jared McCain, Ryan Dunn)

Struggling to see the downside of a trade for a 25 year old All star PG in his prime, with 3 years left on his contract, who averages 27 points and 11 assists and hits 3 3s a game. (Provided we don't give up any of Paolo/Franz/Suggs which I'd be against).

The Nets have fired Jacque Vaughn.

Why does anyone care about the all star game? Players make a big deal about not being included and then nobody tries anyway.

Yea it's definitely closer to nothing than something. But also I'm pretty into the idea of trading for Trae so why not feel hopeful?

I haven't seen the exact video but I'm pretty sure he said he'd be taking his family to Disney World. But. Paolo and Trae have been pictured chatting. Sooo... Maybe get hyped? Lol

Now's the time when David Steele asks: Is This Anything?

This is random but I'm pretty sure I stumbled upon this guy on Reddit. Either that or there are two guys out there posting long rants about how they knew Pascal Siakam was going to be great when he was at New Mexico State lol.

Pretty meh showing from Paolo in the Rising Stars game but I'm hoping he's just pacing himself over the weekend.

Not to mention the idea that we need more shooting so the guys 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the team in 3PA should shoot more to accommodate the PG who's made 1 3 all season.

I agree with this. I always admired the Magic's stance on only retiring players who won a championship. Personally think Shaq politicked his way into getting a retirement and since he has we should also retire Dwight Howard's #12 because if Shaq deserves it so does Dwight. But stop there. Until we do Paolo/Franz for the championship(s) they bring us lol

Was at 43 on ESPNs rankings previously and jumped all the way to 17.

Wow how rude of me.

Nobody flamed anyone we asked questions about it. To discuss it. The point of a forum. Then you had a thin skinned meltdown and only returned for some nonsense victory lap.

"created by the mods" but not All Eyes and not your boy Soul lol subtlety of a sledgehammer. Nobody created anything. The "Fultz situation" doesn't exist "here" it's a discussion happening everywhere in Magic fandom. Some of those discussions are a lot more toxic than the ones on this board. And the discussions are happening for good reason because anyone who actually watches this team play can see clearly with their own eyes how Markelle both helps and hinders this team.

Everyone is cheering for Markelle to succeed because if Markelle succeeds the team will be better. Criticism is a part of a message board. This would be a really boring place if it was just everyone saying "yay for this roster" over and over again. What's actually happening is one or two posters are white knighting for Markelle and acting like everyone is still mad we didn't trade him at the deadline when most of us have already moved on and are just trying to discuss the go forward position of this team.