hootie249

Talented players i wanted in that draft in order, Mobley,Cade,Kuminga,Suggs not sure i even wanted Wagner before we drafted him. Glad to be wrong.

I think the big thing is he doesn't need the minutes. Of course he will get them but as a long time vet he is good either way. A guy like Theo Maledon would need minutes because he is trying to stay in the league and prove he belongs. And as far as Franz and his shot, all the good forwards from the last 20 years usually took 3 to 5 years to develop a makeable 3 point range. I'm not talking about the shooters who come into the league with it like Trey Murphy or Doug McDermot. I'm talking about the great two way forwards like Paul George or Kawhi. Even Lebron. They were just flat out great at scoring and slowly moved their range outwards. Most of those guys and other lesser forwards like Gordon Hayward and big guards like Jaylen Brown took years to get their shot.He has to learn on the way it to not let it mess with his other game. He does everything else well enough to make up for a poor shooting night. Just can't have more 1-15 moments, it will shake his confidence. Just go to the basket more and if it's being defended pass. And soon we will have the shooters to make the decision easier.

Yeah that about sums it up. Cory couldn't even get the last spot on team Canada. He is here to be our vet minimum and be an influence on the young guys. Now it's all about getting to the regular season with no injuries, this would normally be when i check out for a few months but we still have the Olympics to watch. Will Canada upset USA? Can Germany finish second? Stay tuned Magic fans!

He is ok but at least you would think they would keep the roster spot open for waived players. Oh well.

Smart move. Play on a contender, rebuild your worth. He is young enough. Now that i'm living in Denver i am surprised more free agents aren't willing to ring chase for the Nuggets. Are guys just really into the money now? When i was younger plenty of players would sign low money one year deals in hopes of getting a ring.

I didn't watch the game. How did Hawkins look for the pelicans? Smooth shot or did he just jack it up 18 times!

I'll go even farther back and remind you of OG Anunoby. Another guy long and athletic like Hampton. Henny secured us the second of two first round picks from the Raptors in that terrible trade with Ibaka that we pretty much had to make because he messed up. I remember at the time i couldn't believe he could only get the second pick not the first or both. Well later on Weltham take over and rumor is they wanted OG Anunoby but he was scooped up a few picks earlier by......Toronto! So the Magic trade the pick we got because now our guy was taken by the freaking team we traded with! Ibaka and the Raptors get a ring and we get taken to the cleaners. Luckily we got to root for the Human Torch for a few years but he really wasn't very good.

I'll never understand the Markelle thing. He never looked like what was described by either the pre draft guys or his videos online which i have watched after we picked him up years ago. Always looked like an average point guard to me and he never moved in a way that suggested number one pick in my mind. Now when someone only plays one year of college ball they have limited film but he was going to be a 3 level scorer. Now that suggestion is laughable but is it hindsight or was it a smokescreen? And forget about the 3 point shot, where is the burst off the dribble or his ability to break his man down. Forget about when he injured his leg after he signed his SECOND contract with the Magic, where was it before? TOS doesn't take that away, nor does it explain his average handle that somehow gets overhyped. I say smokescreen. Haven't we learned anything about the NBA. Some GM's only look at certain kinds of players(Henny,Weltman,) some barely watch college ball and rely on underlings who are heavily influenced by the media sometimes. It's not absurd that the hype around Markelle was a smokescreen created by agents and other scouts and gm's. Look at out current situation where almost everyone believed the Magic were going to draft Smith! It was always a coin flip draft between Chet and Paolo, always! Before the college season played out they were the blue chip prospects. Yes Jabari Smith had an incredible year in college but c'mon! If you can't see that the Magic were being targeted by media and scout tom foolery you need to pay more attention to the NBA. He was only speculated to go to the Magic because we needed shooting and were starting to develop a reputation of making bad decisions. Thank god they picked Paolo. And this brings me full circle to saying i never understood the Markelle pick. Quick edit i mean number one pick flashes. Obviously the guy has skills, he showed them finally two years ago when he looked pretty good for us, just NBA good, not all-star good. Did he ever for one second look like Scoot Henderson or Ja Morant? No he did not. Did he ever have a handle like Haliburton who was hyped as a top 5 pick for most of the year but dropped because his athleticism was kind of average. He also couldn't shoot like Haliburton either. He had a good initial burst, but not even elite like half the ignite athletes the last 5 drafts. The guys getting drafted based on pure physical talents. So, average handle pretty good to great burst and limited passing skills. He was drafted high for being projected as a 3 level scorer. Take away the 3 point shot and you have exactly what happened. A bust.

I think they already asked him. Meaning he is not doing it for reasons.

Wow that article in the Ringer was money. Next year will be our "Why not us,why not now" year all over again.

Let the Clippers be the lesson for chasing after old stars. Guys in the their 30's are not suppose to get paid top dollar. Unless that contract started in their 20's. The PG signing in Philly is going to be a disaster unless they win it all this season. Guarantee either him or Embiid are injured every post-season. LeBron And Curry are the outliers. Both have produced at a high level as they aged. Most guys do not and fall off quickly. Look at Blake Griffin.

For those who didn't read one of the ringer guys thinks the Magic can be the biggest threat to the Celtics. He is right its just a matter of staying healthy and getting experience. Go Magic! The situation is so much better then the 90's Magic because the rules changed. Suggs,Banchero and Wagner are basically locked in here for years.

So ingles is the future coach of the Osceola Magic. Heard!

Orlando kept it's draft picks so they can give tanking teams picks to take salary off their hands in the future. It's what they should have done4,5,6 years ago but every gm is convinced they are drafting a HOF player with every pick. Draft capital is exactly that and teams like the Celtics and OKC use them both ways. Some picks you draft good players other picks you use to get rid of players.

I'll gladly take an NBA title next season, raise of hands anyone who thinks we win it all next season? Nobody? Ok now that that's out of the way i am fine with how things turned out and the fact that we didn't make any big mistakes. The KCP signing is great and exactly the winning vet we have all been wanting for years. He is just not a big name. Would be perfect if he was a penetrator as well or a savant with the ball in his hands but can't have everything. By this time next year if we stay healthy they should all have plenty of experience and maybe a deep playoff run. Would have been nice to get a great player in a trade but honestly like i said a few pages back, there was only DJ. I'm sure the Hawks purposely traded him to the west, i'm just shocked it was New Orleans and not the Spurs. I hated the idea of PG at his age and salary and the other shooters on the market all had major flaws. Now it's all about players discovering a new level or just getting better. look at Suggs becoming a much better shooter. Remember how hot Paolo was in early 2024? Maybe Wendall plays defense like he did in 2023 and not last year. You know one of Caleb,Jett or Tristan is gonna pop at least as a spot up shooter. What if they do other things. Alot can happen. Imagine Gary coming in and nailing 3's off the bench now that the pressure is off.That said, much of our success depends on Cole,Suggs and Black taking care of the ball but it's not everything. You know if they fail the ball will just be in Franz and Paolo's hands 70% of the time. If that doesn't work they will figure it out later. Either way we get to see those guys grow because like i said we ain't winning it all this year, no teams win it all this young. Celtics are the current blueprint and it's amazing how much the Magic look like them except for the 3 point shooting. Biggest difference is they slowly traded away what didn't work while getting guys back who were already a finished product. They kept the big wings and slowly changed the whole team around them. The Magic can do that too now with all the flexibility. Hopefully most of these guys become champions and they don't have to make trades. But it's set up for that now, more then ever.