DestroidMengars

The Denver Nuggets are trading Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected 2032 first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

Sources say that the Orlando Magic are among the teams to express interest in Tyus Jones, who played alongside new Magic marquee acquisition Desmond Bane for three seasons in Memphis. Source: Marc Stein @ marcstein.substack.com

Yes, I've thought about that Suggs for Garland. While I love Suggs, his game predisposes him to injuries.

I still hate that we took Jett Howard with Dereck Lively and Gradey Dick still on the board.

One positive ramification about this trade being the first one out of the gate: it sets the market high. Therefore, other teams wanting to make similar trades are going to have to likely give up more to get the players they want because the Magic set the bar so high.

I'm fine with the trade. Bane is one of the better fits and a player I've long coveted for the Magic. Any players we'd draft in these next few drafts would likely develop after our window closes. Look at Black, whose draft position is a decent guess at where the Suns pick ends up--while he's shown promise, he's a year or two away from developing into a big-time contributor. Now, think of us ending up with a similar player next year at the Suns spot and that player having a similar career trajectory. It'd be too late for our window. Draft Clayton Jr. with the Den pick and we likely have our Cole Anthony replacement. Otherwise, I'd kind of like to go with a big in Joe Wolf given center is our weakest position and there's a good chance we'll need to replace Mo after this year because he'll want more than we can give him. Bane is an underrated playmaker, but it'd be nice to have some more playmaking off the bench. Tyus Jones could provide that role in a cheap, perhaps even minimum deal.

Ok, so we don't have a 2026 pick now. Who has the Orlando pick next year, though? I keep seeing in discussions of the trade that it likely means Memphis ends up with the Suns pick because the Wizards pick is top 8 protected. Who likely has the Orlando pick? Charlotte, Phoenix, Washington, someone else? Unknown at this time?

Do the Magic still have a first round pick next year? Every time I try to understand this damn multi-team swap Suns, Wizards, craziness, I just get confused. WAS has the right to swap its 2026 1st round pick, protected for selections 9-30, for PHX's 2026 1st round pick; ORL then has the right to swap its 2026 1st round pick for the less favorable of the PHX pick and the WAS pick if conveyable; MEM then has the right to swap its 2026 1st round pick for the least / less favorable of the PHX pick, the WAS pick if conveyable and the ORL pick and CHA will receive the least favorable of these; if the WAS pick is not conveyable, then the commitment to WAS will be lifted and ORL will instead have the right to swap its pick for the PHX pick (via PHX to CHA) Did they just give their right to swap up to Memphis?

The comments about Jalen at that link are interesting given that we're back to asking him to play point guard again: Jalen Suggs Orlando Magic SG Last year's rank: Not ranked. Good things come to those who wait. Jalen Suggs was almost unplayable offensively when he got to the NBA. Emphasis on "almost," because Suggs was so dang pesky on defense that no number of missed 3-pointers could keep him off of the floor. Those reps paid off for him last year, because his 3-point shot hovered around 40% without any decline defensively (in fact, he was better there too). The Magic probably have to make peace with what Suggs isn't at this point. The hope that he could grow into a primary ball-handler on offense that partially informed his draft position has likely faded. But if he's going to be among the NBA's best perimeter defenders and a knockdown 3-point shooter, that alone is more than enough to warrant inclusion on this list. He's a shooting guard, not a point guard, and once the Magic fully embraced that, he turned into the player he was always meant to be. -- Sam Quinn

I'd love to get KAT to upgrade the center position with a better, bigger floor spacing big. Haven't seen any talk of him here, even though a lot of reports say Minnesota will need to trade him.

I'm firmly in the sign Isaiah Hartenstein, trade for Anfernee Simons camp.

This year, I'm mostly hoping Suggs takes a big enough step forward with his shooting to take hold of the starting SG spot or Jett flashes and shows defensive potential at the position. SG is our biggest weakness by far. We really need someone to take the reins there.

He was the highest scorer with 18 points, two rebounds, and four steals. Hit the game winning shot.

There seems to be a lot of backlash due to the team not playing Kai Sotto. I could care less, personally.

Nope. The Cavaliers first season with LeBron was actually very similar to Paolo's first season: "The Cavaliers lost their first five games of the season, leading them to an awful 6–19 start. However, they played .500 basketball for the remainder of the season, finishing fifth in the Central Division with a 35–47 record."