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They’ll get everything I’ve got tonight. Can’t wait to feel that building rocking!

Not good. Fultz had some big games/moments for us late in the season that helped us win games. When he plays with confidence he is a contributor. Hes also been a great team leader. So far through two games in these playoffs, though, he looks like a player with zero confidence in his game. It’s disappointing. He got cooked on defense multiple times last night within the first couple of minutes after Suggs went down. Mosley made the right call not bringing him back in. I’ll admit that I was happy we didn’t change our roster at the deadline with a move for someone like Murray, and I stand by that. I don’t think he is the player we need long term. Would he help in this series? Sure. More than Fultz for sure. I wish Black was developed more during the second half of the year. His confidence always seems high, from the very first minute he stepped on an nba floor. I do think we have good shooters on this team. I don’t think Gary Trent or someone like that would be a huge improvement over Gary Harris for example. We just need to play better offense and make shots. We’ve done it all year. We won almost 50 games this season. That shouldn’t be disregarded because of two bad road playoff games. We’re young. Let’s see how they respond. This series has been tough so far. They jumped on us twice both games on the road early and we’ve shot the ball like dog****, and that has been the difference. Our defense is our calling card and it’s been there outside both first quarters. They’ve played well, and we’ve played bad. Let’s see what happens Thursday. I’m not ready to call this season over yet. I think we have some fight left in us, and certainly some shot making.

Some good, some bad from Saturday. Somebody wrote that the rotations need to at all times include Paolo and/or Franz on the floor, and I couldn’t agree more. I loved Moe’s playoff intensity. If Wendell isn’t ready to match that, I’d rather have Moe out there. I’d like to see JI stay in the starting lineup. He was a little undisciplined at times early on Saturday. They got some easy buckets because he was jumping at everything and Paolo struggled to give him any help on that end. I think he’ll settle in for this game and Cleveland won’t have anymore 33 point quarters. We need to take care of the ball, and make shots. We can take control of this series tonight! Let’s go!! Got my overpriced nosebleeds for game 3! Make it 1-1 tonight boys!

You crack me up dude. Really enjoy your work. Love winning ugly on the road. Glad it was Paolo that hit the winner after struggling. This is a big team building win for the boys.

I guess the confusing part for me with Fultz is the term “injury maintenance.” That seems a bit misleading if he’s missing multiple games in a row. Maybe just bad comprehension on my part. But yes, great news no concussion for Suggs.

AB has put in a pretty damn good shift too for me.

Agree! The second unit playing like this is what made us so difficult to beat early in the season. Hoping they got their mojo back and we see a whole lot more of this down the stretch and into the playoffs!

We have 5 games over the next 8 nights. It’s not that crazy for some of these injury management guys to be staggered over those games. Fultz out tonight makes more sense than say JI given Cleveland’s size. Also, the way they shot the ball the last time we played them could factor into this particular decision.

+1. Appreciate you, CT!

OKC has a really good team and they shot the ball better than us last night. SGA was mvp level after halftime, especially right after it, and Paolo really struggled to guard Jalen Williams who went for 30+. We didn’t lose this game because of Fultz. That’s absurd. I’d put this game way more on Paolo and Franz. Paolo for his inability to keep Jalen in front of him, and Franz because he was ice cold. Also, JI had one of his worst games of the year and was not a positive for us out there. He gets a pass for me. He can’t be Superman every game. Same for Franz. Also, their bench guys shot the ball really well and answered all of our runs. It happens. The sky isn’t falling. We lost to a really good team that played really well on a night when our super young stars struggled in the areas I mentioned. Onwards and upwards!

Fultz is polarizing for us because his shoulder/shooting issue appears to be holding us back some nights, like the Miami game in particular where he actually scored decent and played well, but their hall of fame coach was able to scheme a defense against us based on his weakness, and we didn’t have an answer. For me, that was also somewhat of a schedule loss. The boys had no energy, Suggs in particular. Last game of a long road trip and we had to fly over our homes to play one last game and we were awful. We’re young and didn’t handle that situation well and got exposed. A growing pain for the youngsters that taught professionalism and full-go every night is of dire importance in this league or you will get stomped. It’s also fair to point out that Miami is an excellent defensive team when they want to be. Its also fair to point out that we beat that same team by nearly 20 points this season with markelle playing 29 minutes. I think ball junkie’s post a little bit back about coach Mose tweaking the offense a bit to makeshift Markelle as a high post center almost on offense against zones is super interesting and something I noticed also. As long as there are 4 shooters around him I want to see more of that. He thrives in that paint area and is awesome in the open court. Awesome. He’s also cagey and experienced and seems to have a really good IQ out there. I love the guy. I imagine most of us do. But the shoulder/shooting thing has cost us some nights up to til now to the point that a significant amount of our fan base wanted to use this trade deadline to get someone with his abilities that can also shoot the ball. It’s not unreasonable in any world to have those thoughts. It makes sense.

This team deserves a chance to grow together and to show how hard they can compete down the stretch and in the playoffs this season. We are so young, but we have something special building here for the first time in a long time. I’m willing to be patient and to let this thing grow organically. I don’t believe there is a team in the NBA that has the chemistry from GM to 15th man that we do. We created that. It’s ours, and it means everything for a team that is so young to be growing their confidence and ability to compete together. And it’s working. Our confidence is building and our ability to compete with any team out there has been on display all season. Bucks, Celtics, Wolves, Lakers, Pacers, Nuggets, Cavs, Knicks, Suns. We have wins over some of the best teams in the league. We are young, we struggle from 3 some nights, markelle’s shoulder, Wendell’s size disadvantage, Cole’s slump…we have issues, but those players in that locker room support each other 100%. They are together and they are here right now this season ready to compete with confidence against anybody. That means something to me. I hope we give this team the chance to show who we are and who we aim to become by giving them a chance to finish this season as is. Dejounte Murray is a hell no for me, and I hope Jeff feels the same. At this point in our growth, chemistry is our biggest strength, and that guy in particular has enough red flags to at least be potentially detrimental to that strength in the short and long term. Not worth it. I mean, of all players, we’re going to bring in the one guy who has had beef with our 21 year old all-star? To play point guard and compete with him for touches? When hes shown to be a whiner when things don’t go his way? Hell no! Not with where we’re coming from and what we’ve shown in terms of growth and ability to compete. I’d be okay with a small move for another bench piece, but I think changing our point guard at this point in the season is potentially disastrous, short and long term, especially if it’s a guy who needs the ball to be effective. These guys know how to play together, even with markelle’s flaws. The off season is the time for a big change like that for a young team in the thick of competing for playoff position and then hopefully playoff wins for the FIRST time. Let these kids show what they got Jeff! We can beat anybody!

It’s interesting you would have waived Isaac already. He at least should be given these next 6 months, or whatever it is before he’s fully guaranteed, to improve his value whether it be for us or for trade. He has had times in his career when his value was up there. He’s quality on the court. He could have a great start to the season and be worth something to us. I was under the impression that our cap owes him what we owe him in terms of if we cut him now or at the turn of the year.

I love this calm before the storm. Thank you to all the contributors who make this thread such a great read every draft season. CT you’re the man! Really appreciate your well thought out takes and insight on Magic draft related stuff. Wish Fultz4thewin would come back. Are you Fultz4thewin??

It’s true. He’d be a great fit. I’ll be happy to have him. I just don’t think he’s the best player. Mine go: 1. Chet 2. Banchero 3-5 in any order: Sharpe/Murray/Jabari