hootie249

While i sort of believe this is true,NBA fans are so harsh. Yes i think even peak MVP Harden was more of a regular season dude then a playoff monster. However the guy has taken over games and even series in the Playoffs. We just always remember the last games. He singlehandedly won a few games for Philly last year. It was just ruined by his extremely poor shooting in the losses.

Yeah honestly after how badly we got burnt on the JI and Fultz extensions the first time i see them taking their time. That said if Cole and Fultz look good in camp expect something to happen. And yes they can extend both players if they feel confident in them.

Dejounte Murray just got his extension. It's about 30 million per. I think it's significant because i think this is the year Fultz makes a jump. Disregard draft position for a second. Fultz and Murray came into the league and started very slowly then got injured and missed a year. I think they are similar players. Murray has one more year then Fultz but his big jump came 2 years ago on a bad Spurs team. I think this is the year Fultz breaks out, he just needs to stay healthy and make free throws. If he can hit a few more 3's a game that would be great but if he can't stay healthy or make 80% or more of his freebies he has probably hit his ceiling offensively. What is a fair extension for Fultz before or during the season? How high can it rise if we wait and he has a breakout season?

All Magic first overall picks are HOF players it's a lock.

Murray was who i wanted if our pick had dropped past 3. Not Ivey,not Sharpe! If we are picking our favorite non Magic players from that class he is my boy!

At this point Sharpe is going to have to be MJ to justify these dumb conversations. I think ten years from now Paolo will have more ALL-NBA selections then any other person in his draft class. It's an easy bet,bigs dominate the NBA. Guards can rise to the top but big men still run the league. Curry changed the game and MJ changed the sports world but those guys were one of a kind. Look at the last 5 years, either highly skilled or highly physical big men are winning all the MVP's. Paolo is just 20 and looked like a man among boys already.

Bachero was not the third best prospect. Going into the college season he was seen as the best prospect and then the narrative changed. Smith had a great year and Chet who was maybe considered 1A had a decent year on a good team. The lottery was what really changed the national media. After we won the first pick everyone just said we needed shooting. Paolo was always the right pick we just couldn't agree on this board. He is freaking 6 foot ten, 240 and can handle,dribble and score at all 3 levels. Nuff said.

Also Haliburton. He was a top of lottery rated guy all year and he fell simply because he wasn't some freak of nature jump out of the gym athlete.

Exactly. Lets focus on Simons. His contract is in the twenties and fits the timeline. He is not a star, in fact he has had just the one season with high usage or volume. However, unlike our guys he has already put up the numbers and his metrics show he is getting better. He is the shooter you all talk about so much. He's just not a star, never will be.

Ok then i see it's mostly about reaching the salary floor. Still dumb but good on them for at least making it a team option.

Kelle or Cole will both probably be extended this year. I think they are playing it a little safe considering what happened last time(Fultz and Isaac both were injured). That Vanvleet contract is just dumb. Who else was going to pay that much? I get that Houston wanted to reach the salary floor but it's still dumb and i will laugh when they are paying the luxury tax 3 years from now because Fred is taking up 30% of their cap.

It's not just that, he is not really a basketball player. He only needed to hang around the basket swat balls and pull down rebounds for ten minutes a game. That is all the lakers needed and he couldn't even do that.

Not even that.

Yeah it's hard to imagine something big happening. It would seem for a really big splash we would have to waive Bol and Gary. However, that seems unlikely since Gary is cheap,on a one year deal and our best 3 point shooter. So i'm with everyone else, expect small moves. I still say they take a shot at acquiring Hartenstein from the Knicks, they wanted him last summer.

The most obvious thing happening is we keep everyone and do almost nothing. I see we could have the fourth most cap space at 24 million. Not sure this figures in the two rookies at about 13 million and obviously we are going to waive about 3 guys. Most likely offering Mo and Goga a contract but who knows. I think cheap back-up center and /or forward is all you can expect this week.

The first 10 second round picks were traded. Mostly to teams over the cap with no room to sign free agents or teams that had no first round picks.

I just want to remind the forum i wanted either Walker/Hendricks and Wallace with number 11. OKC moving up to get Wallace even when they seem to have no need for him makes me sick to my stomach. Presti just toys with the Magic. Time will tell.

My life in Denver has been chaotic and i have moved 3 times including a big move this week. However i am still a Magic fan so i'm going to comment on the draft. First, i can't believe that our gm's passed on the two forwards. Guess i read them all wrong. Or maybe it's because we have our starting frontcourt already. Either way i am shocked because either Walker or Hendricks would have been great depth on cheap rookie deals for 4 years. I bet one of them becomes an All-star. As far as Anthony Black, i just don't know. Like every Magic fan has said he has strong Elfrid vibes going on. Lots of mock drafts had us picking Black while most Magic forums were not even talking about him as a possibility. Studying history shows us the future and that pick reminds me of Bamba. Tons of mocks had us picking Bamba and it just seemed like the kind of pick made because the guy they really wanted was gone. As far as Jett that was a more predictable pick. Nepotism all the way, but he is a good player and scorer, so he fits the idea of what we wanted. Anyhow it was a surprising draft, go MAGIC!

Air Gordon!

I get what your saying but Braun is jacked and had the dunk of the game.

26 more days until the Draft.

Of course the Knicks will be looking to just straight up salary dump Evan. For whatever reason he has been glued to the bench in New York. And they have a ton of 1st round picks to do it. They are all picks from other teams that either will not convey or be mid to late teens,so yeah whoever wants that can have it easily.Evan and another first just to take on one year. I would just want Isaiah as well.

Take on the last year of Evan Fournier's contract from the Knicks as long as they send Hartenstein back with him. Send them back Goga and Chuma. For us this means kicking the can on free agency one more year. So if your stuck on us signing anyone like Trent or Brown this year ignore my post. Now there are many reasons both teams would do this and mostly it's about money. New York would be interested because they need to clear cap to keep Hart and still have cheap bench players. Rose is coming off the books for them. We can absorb most of the traded money without sending matching money back. Those two things help NY a ton. So it makes losing Hartenstein worth it. They also get two young players who in theory Tom Thibodeau can mold into his guys. For us it's really simple. We wanted Hartenstein and we get him. Our Gm knew we needed to beef up around the post and we still do. Evan has a nice homecoming and he can knock down the 3 ball. Both players are expiring so they can give us cap relief or trade bait or whatever during or after the season. Hopefully Isaiah plays well and sticks around. This allows us to draft the best players available and have a couple vets who fill needs. Not sure what was going on between Evan and Tom but the guy can still hit the 3 and is usually healthy. Hartenstein was a beast in the Cavs/Knicks series and i'm sure they don't want to lose him but Robinson is still the starter. This simple moves helps the bench this year and leaves a clear path to extending all of our drafted players moving forward.

I didn't get to watch the game but i'll look at the highlights. Just remember in last years finals Brown looked like one of the best players on either team. That said, the guy has flaws.