CTMagicUK

'The Magic can bolster that young core or fortify their war chest if they trade Gordon this offseason, a move many around the league expect them to make. And multiple agents say their clients have no issues with Orlando as a city or the Magic as a franchise. Says one, "I think Jeff and John have a plan, and we're about to see it pay off."'- https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2900927-a-basketball-showcase-in-nba-purgatory That's quite a balanced little article with some quotes from unnamed execs and agents. Some suggestion that we haven't done enough to rebuild and some suggestion that there's a plan and hope that it'll pay off. I think it hinges on Fultz. And maybe it's rose tinted glasses but I'm on the bandwagon of Fultz being a future all star.

Markelle Fultz is sitting out the Lakers scrimmage. This is because he's not got back to 5-5 yet in practice since he joined the bubble late.

Here's just a public reminder that this scrimmage means nothing win or lose and is almost exclusively about conditioning. Getting through it without an injury is the number 1 priority.

I listened. Maybe I'm a homer but I really can't buy some of the discussion on Fultz. At one point they say "is he just going to be like an Ish Smith or will he develop the jumpshot". He's already had a better season than Ish Smith ever has at 21. There was also a comment about how he's not as dynamic a driver as he looked in college which I think's pretty harsh as well considering he gets into the lane and finishes at the rim quite a lot for a guy who defenses can sag off. For the most part I agreed about what they said on Isaac that he's probably your worst offensive starter but a top 10 defensive player but a lot of it is dependent on health. And Bamba I'm more hopeful about than they are but i do think that's more just flat optimism because I couldn't really disagree with anything they said.

I haven't seen any suggestion that Isaac has been cleared to play. He's been listed on the Magic's roster for the restart of the season. Which he would be since he's in the bubble practicing with the team etc.

Karim Mane is a guy who fits our profile if he's still on the board in the second round and he stays in the draft. Coming straight out of highschool, allegedly 6'5 with a 7'0 wingspan, apparently patterns his game after Jrue Holiday. Hammond also has previous for drafting a guy out of highschool with Thon Maker. Speaking of guys straight out of highschool Kenyon Martin Jr intrigues me in an "it'd be fun if nothing else" kind of way. It's highly doubtful he'll ever be a big time rotation player in the NBA given he's like 6'6 and plays like a center but he's young and insanely athletic so maybe you could try to mould him into like a PJ Tucker or something. There's a big chance he doesn't even get drafted though so you could always just invite him to training camp if you liked him rather than use a pick.

Nice to know that Fultz is a popular guy among the team.

Apparently AG is shooting over 40% on 3s when he receives the pass from Fultz. Which is kind of crazy and probably just a small sample size thing but maybe encouraging.

Playmaking AG is probably the thing I'm most interested in with the restart. If he continues what he has been doing and we continue to look like an improved offensive team, particularly in the playoffs, I think that's going to dictate whether we believe we should trade him. Because playmaking AG with healthy, All NBA defense Isaac combined with hopefully improvements from Fultz and Bamba might be enough to convince us to do what all Magic fans seem to lament lately and "wait and see". We were one of the best offensive teams post all star break with AG being a big part of that. Even if that regresses more to league average but the defense stays top 10 (it might even be better than 'just' top 10 with a full year of Isaac) next season that's probably like a 5 seed. I'm prepared to wait and see on a 5 seed with still quite a lot of potential for internal improvement.

Rumours that a backup PG is a priority for Golden State and that MCW might be a target (although that might be conjecture based on similarity to Shaun Livingston). I hope we can keep him I really like his energy and defense off the bench. The Warriors only have the taxpayer MLE so the max they could offer him is like $5.8 mil a year but if they did offer him all of that I think you just have to wish him well, congratulate him on the contract and move on.

RJ Hampton is interesting to me. He was not good in his one season overseas in the NBL but he was a really high recruit, superb athlete who shows flashes as a passer, ball handler and slasher and by all accounts he's an incredibly hard worker who's been locked in a gym with Mike Miller working on his jumpshot. He's tough to predict because I think there's a world where a team in the top 10 take a chance on him and I think there's also a world where he slides into the 20s.

Not entirely sure, I think it was 48 hours for everybody else but not sure if that was because they'd been having regular tests on the run up whereas that may have not been the case for Fultz.

Ennis also in the bubble now and its confirmed he was the one with Covid.

Fultz has arrived in the bubble.

I'm not as high on Bane or Riller. I don't think they're worth picks in the teens. I like both and if we had a late 1st/high 2nd, or if they're there in the 40s, id be interested in both but at 15 or 16 I think thatd be reaching. I do like Bolmaro though he really gets after it on defense and he can handle and pass like a PG at 6'7. A lot of mocks have him in the late 20s or second round but the old Draftexpress guys at ESPN (Givony and Schmitz) like him a lot and have him in the teens I think. He's probably a reliable jumper away from being at least a really good rotational player.

There's a zoom conference with Bamba on the Magics site and holy crap does he look huge. Says he weighed in this morning at 252 lbs. Still feels comfortable running, jumping and moving laterally. Would love for him to have an impact in these 12-15 games.

To change gear a bit, thinking about potential free agents we could buy low on, someone like Denzel Valentine might be worth kicking the tyres on if the indication is that Chicago won't resign him. He's had some injuries, missing all of last season, which may have affected his numbers this year but he's a decent jump shooter and a good passer for his size. He could still be a good bench player and he probably wouldn't cost much.

There hasn't been a single second round pick selected since Weltman and Hammond took over that could actually replace Evan Fournier. There are some that could be decent players (emphasis on could, I can't see any that are currently starting on a decent team from a quick glance). But the second round is such a crap shoot, its unfair in my opinion to say "this management is terrible, where are our second round picks or G League guys that are successful?" Because most organisations don't hit on the majority of G League or 2nd round guys. Iwundu wasn't a bad pick. I think he was worth a shot, I'll be surprised if he's back next year on anything but a minimum deal but I think he's been ok for a second round guy. Khem Birch was a summer league guy who got a second contract with us. I'm not saying I want Vuc and Fournier as our best players. (I actually think Gordon and Isaac are better players than Fournier, just not better scorers). But the thing is real big time scorers don't grow on trees. Scorers good enough to lead you to a high playoff seed and beyond are literally the most coveted asset in basketball. It's not like we've passed on a bunch of those guys because we like Vuc and Fournier better (except for I suppose Oladipo which happened before Weltman took over). To be clear, I want change too. I don't want us to give Fournier a new 4 year deal and bring back this exact core for the foreseeable future. Far from it. But if he opts out we lose him for nothing and get worse with no long term benefit. If we trade him, either in the off-season or at next season's deadline (and there's definitely an argument about the risk vs reward of waiting until the deadline), we can add players that might better fit or assets that could make us better in the long run. Or maybe we keep Evan and trade Gordon, or trade Vuc. I know we need a shake up but I just think we shouldn't pretend that Evan Fournier is a bad basketball player who's somehow the problem with our team.

Hey man, I'm as good as can be in these trying times. How are you? I don't consider Evan a journeyman. But that might be more of a difference in our understanding of the words. To me James Ennis is a journeyman. He's had 7 NBA teams in 6 seasons. Evan Fournier isn't an all star, I'm not arguing he is, but he's a valuable starter on a playoff team. That's more than a journeyman to me. It's not Evans fault we traded Oladipo. It's not this current managements fault we traded Oladipo. (In hindsight Oladipo and Fournier probably could have played together too). Holding something against him that's completely out of his control isn't a very level headed way to approach things. And I think that's the problem with Magic fans at the minute. They're not evaluating things. They're not being level headed theyve just decided they're fed up of the same roster and want a shake up. But they have to understand that there isn't a better perimeter scorer on our roster, in this draft at our pick, or in free agency (that we could realistically acquire) than Evan Fournier. If we lose Evan Fournier for nothing, we get worse. I too am optimistic about the development of our young players. But none of the three guys you mentioned have shown the ability to do what Fournier does. Chuma Okeke hasn't shown anything. I love the idea of Okeke, I think a healthy Okeke is more valuable than a top 10 pick in this draft. But until he touches an NBA basketball we can't reasonably predict he'll be able to replace Fourniers shooting or shot creation. I'm as high on Fultz as anybody. I think if he can be a better perimeter shooter, both catch and shoot and then, more importantly, off the dribble he can be an All Star. But he needs space to play in and Evan is one of about 3 guys on our roster who has a jumper worthy of attracting perimeter defenders and providing space. I think Isaac is a long shot to be a great offensive player. He's not been an efficient offensive player with his low usage so just giving him more shots isn't going to help (unless he improves his handle and his jumper greatly, which he could do). But Isaac really doesn't need to be a top offensive player to be one of the most impactful players on the court. His defense does that. If he's healthy, he plays defense like he can and he hits 35% from 3, he's immediately our most important player. He can be a guy you run no plays for and he still gets 15 points. And then can play some of the best defense in the league on the other end. But asking him to replace the offense Evan provides will almost certainly not go well.

I'm pretty sure it's James Ennis who has COVID.

Hey thanks man! Appreciate it! Yea I wish it was busier here too, hence all my posts. With all this time in lockdown I've just dived in to thinking about the Magics off-season, the draft, potential free agents etc all just to keep me from being bored (and keep my mind off of the horrible things happening right now). I'm just using these threads as a place to file some of those thoughts, even if nobody replies haha

They also talk a lot of random non NBA stuff so be prepared for that.

If you're interested in what the bubble is like TRoss has a podcast now and the second episode is about Day 1 in the bubble. Pretty enlightening on what life is like in the bubble.

I know this thread is essentially me talking to myself so sorry but here's one more thought: I wonder what would happen if we get to pick 16 or whatever we have and Aleksej Pokusevski is still on the board. 7'0, 7'3 wingspan. Shoots and moves like a forward and passes and handles like a guard with good defensive instincts. The knocks on him are he's stick thin which affects him on both ends and he plays in the Greek 2nd Division. I think he's the ultimate Boom or Bust pick. And of course John Hammond famously selected another Boom or Bust pick from the Greek 2nd Division in about the same range pick as where we'll be. I'm not comparing him to Giannis in any way other than they're both unique prospects from the same European league, and we definitely don't need another big on the roster right now. But I can see why some front offices, maybe ours, would find it difficult not to pick him.

Seen some rumours that there's a mutual interest between Oladipo and Miami next summer. I've got to tell you it would really suck to see one of our draft picks playing for the Heat, and possibly winning playoff series (if he's healthy and paired with Butler and Bam).