Jason Funderburker

Undersized, super athletic, very active. Can swing between both frontcourt positions

A bit premature to come to either of those conclusions

That was my immediate thought too lol

who are the 2013 Paul Millsap and Demarre Carroll of this group?

@ZachLowe_NBA: Assume the Magic wanted to preserve all potential cap space for next summer. Otherwise, can't figure why you'd want J. Smith over O'Quinn.

booo

alright, just give the ball to Aaron Gordon ever trip down the court

mario misses two dunks lol

It's interesting... I think the fate of Nik Vucevic ties directly in with the development of Aaron Gordon. Vuc is like Jahlil Okafor in that he is sort of a player from a bygone era where his strengths don't really match up with the direction the NBA is moving and his deficiencies could become more glaring with that evolution. Golden State, though they got caught off-guard a few games, showed in the playoffs how to punish that old style of play (though it should be stated GS is pretty much the ultimate form of the 5-out, positionless basketball the league is seemingly trending toward, not the typical team). I have questioned whether a team with a player like Vuc as a centerpiece can viably compete in that NBA. It has been discussed some around here, mostly in talks about trading Nik. As we have said, a big problem with Nik is that he requires an entirely unique player next to him for the team to adequately match up against smaller, faster front-courts. Paul Millsap was not that player, but was still a good fit and would have vaulted the team into playoff contention in the immediate. In Aaron Gordon we find a lot of the potential attributes of that unique player. While he certainly needs to add strength, he has already shown that he can guard basically any type of player that lines up across from him. Hard to tell from last year what his defensive awareness re: positioning and help, but he seems to have good basketball IQ on that end of the floor and will have a better scheme to work in this year. Rim protection is still a question. On offense there are flashes of ball-handling, shooting, passing, rebounding, and we all know the explosive athleticism he has. Down the road I would like to see him add some post work. Of all the player comparisons we have used of his potential, one I have always liked was Amare Stoudamire. Prime Amare was basically a giant SF, and D'Antoni's scheme complemented his skills perfectly. I wish Skiles had brought in a D'Antoni disciple as one of the assistants, because Gordon would fit like a glove in that role, albeit with a smaller focus at this point, with Payton as Steve Nash in the sort-of reverse PNR they employed. (It's also why I wanted Rambis on staff.) If Gordon can become that feature player at the 4 on both ends of the court, Vuc becomes a lot more viable long-term fit, and they would complement each other quite well. Admittedly, it is a lot to ask, and unlikely that AG ever reaches that point, but it is fun to speculate. Just some thoughts

You can see in pictures how funky his gait is

It's interesting how people say we don't have any potential superstars and use Curry as a comparison. Curry was nowhere near the player he is today when he first got into the league. He was already awesome at one almost of his game, sure but the rest of his game has improved dramatically from where he was out of college. If anything he should be an example that guys could end up on that level. Jimmy Butler is another one

When do we play again

I dunno. Basicaly every use of the word "literally" nowadays is an abuse of it

I was preaching this as we got closer to the draft and everyone seemed to write him off as "not a Rob guy". The whole thing was overblown, and even then not necessarily a bad thing

O'Quinn to the Knicks in aS&T

Who is this McMorrow dude

Wonder why we didn't bring back Willie Reed

lol that CJ watson finally ends up in Orlando

I wish he was Gordon Hayward lol

It was the correct move. Doesn't make it exciting

Trying to figure out why anyone would be excited about this

@NateDuncanNBA If the Clips do want to really compete this year though, how about trying to get Channing Frye from the Magic?

More than I would prefer giving him but ok. Now let's find a trade partner

I think he has the physical told to be a good player, eventually

Actually really hoping the Suns get Aldridge so Markeiff comes available