jmmagicfan

It was interesting, because he said at #6 you have to go for the BPA, but sometimes that can also be a position of need; so that does seem to lean towards Young; but with this front office, I don't have a good read on them, so it may just be a smokescreen.

Larry Bird Magic Johnson Joe Dumars Robert Parrish Hakeem Olajuwan (never could spell it, though) David Robinson

You can swap one year and trade the next - you just can't trade away both without getting a first back in one of the two.

Expiring reasonable contract, solid offensive player, with enough 3-pt range to open up the middle if you have a solid defensive 4/5 next to him.

Evan Fournier for Faried and #14 would work for me. Then if we could just get rid of Vuc, say maybe trade straight up for Jeremy Lin and it looks like the beginnings of a plan. Alternatively, we could do Vuc for Faried & #14, but I'm not sure if that would work for salary matching reasons.

Except it's not in the middle of his season, this is from the press conference for the Euroleague Final Four, where he was asked if these would be his final two games for Real Madrid. Yes, it might just be a "politically correct" statement, since he is still under contract until these games are over, and he may have every intention of coming over; but a la Fran, it could be he is using the NBA draft as a bargaining tool for his next contract with Real Madrid. The actual statement that he made today could certainly be taken either way. “Ι’m not sure if these are the last two games [in EuroLeague]. We have yet to make this decision. Perhaps after the season,” Doncic said when asked if the Final Four matches are the last two he’ll play in EuroLeague.

Except that because of the rookie scale (see attached), the farther down he is picked, the less likely that he comes over; as the more likely that Real Madrid can/will offer him more to stay. The #1 pick maxes out at about $8.1M for his first year, #2 at about $7.24M, and #6 pick maxes out at $4.8M. I haven't seen anything about him hinting he might stay in Europe. If he does, then he is immediately off my list. We don't need another Fran Vazquez situation where it becomes a wasted pick. https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale/2019

I assume you mean Ayton, but they would draft Doncic for the same reason they might draft Ayton. Either is better than the player they currently have in that position.

I guess you forgot that that wasn't the current management; and most of us were not crazy about that trade to begin with. Also, I'm still not convinced that Oladipo becomes the player he now is without that year of working/practicing/learning from Russell Westbrook.

I see your point, and I think we just have different views on Isaac's future and long-term value. Either of us could be right, or we could both be wrong, it could end up somewhere in the middle. I see Isaac as a young man who is still growing, and currently suffering injuries that may be associated with that fact. I think another off-season working out and gaining muscle, plus the time to finish growing may result in a future defensive player of the year candidate. We have already seen some pretty amazing defensive instincts in his first season adapting to the speed and athleticism of the NBA. Supposing that we have pick #5, that gives us both Isaac and another young player with potential to hopefully become a star. You see a young man (Isaac) who has injury-prone ankles that may permanently limit his career. In Doncic you see a young player who has already done things in Europe no one ever has, and presumably, a better chance to become a star than either Isaac and/or whomever we might get at #5. I agree with you that Doncic has greater potential that anyone who is likely to be available to us at #5 (or #6-8 if we drop). He may even have a better chance of becoming a star than a healthy Isaac; but like any rookie, he may be over-whelmed by the speed and strength of NBA players.

1) We don't know where we are picking. 2) I would not give up Isaac plus another top ten pick for Doncic 3) I would give up pick #5 - 8, plus #35 for him.

I'm going to assume that English might be your second language. You can certainly argue that Jordan, in his prime, was the best to ever play the game; but currently, at 55 years old and long retired, he is no longer that player. That isn't a knock on him, just accepting that everyone ages, and becomes less adept at a physical activity like basketball. There are currently any number of players who are in the league right now who would be able to beat Michael Jordan now, since he is older and not the player he was. Could they beat him in HIS prime, probably not. It has nothing to do with whether you saw Jordan play or not; no one is saying he wasn't great, they are simply talking about who is the best in the league, TODAY, in 2018.

I think you mean Michael Jordan is the GOAT (greatest of all time). I have no doubt that Michael can still play, but I think there are more than a few players who are currently playing/in their prime that could probably beat up on the now 55 year old Jordan, or the now 39 year old Kobe Bryant. Father Time is still undefeated, he gets the best of everyone.

That's also why it is so important to rank players by tiers, and to have a decent feel for how other teams have ranked them. For example, let's say you have the second pick, and you want Doncic, and have Young as your second choice; but you know the team ahead of you is going to take Doncic. Rather than pick Young with #2, you could start working the phones with teams below you who might want Ayton, Jackson, or Bamba and would be willing to take Young for you, and give you something else as well if you pick their guy for them. That is kind of how the Magic ended up with Penny Hardaway. They had him in and loved his game and his fit, but Weber was the consensus #1; so the Magic went looking for a deal that would bring them both their guy (Penny) and something extra. I don't think we will see a deal where we could get our guy and two future firsts like we did then; but we might be able to pull our guy plus one. Remember every player and every pick is an asset, so it's not just about this year's fit.

No, it's not. You can bet on NBA games in Vegas, you can't on WWE. That right there should tell you something.