jmmagicfan

I think Dwight was that kid in high school that was a little too into anime! :tmt:

But, seriously, can we trade Harris?

That buyout is no joke, that becomes $2.22M at today's exchange, and since #5 pick is locked into a maximum first year salary of $3.74M, second year $3.91M it is a pretty big chunk; especially since only the first two years are guaranteed. I am not sure what Hezonja is making in the European leagues right now, so maybe the net of $5.43M over the next two years is a big step up. It is certainly something to look into and consider carefully before drafting him. I am sure Rob and his staff will be doing their due diligence and take that into account if they are considering drafting him. Since we are kind of on the topic, does anyone know if Porzingas has a buyout from his European team, and if so, how much?

I like Hezonja, but I have a couple of concerns about him. 1) He doesn't seem interested in playing defense, at all. 2) At draft positions 5-8 his starting salary might not be enough to persuade him to come over - he might get an offer to stay in Europe. Max for pick #5 is $3.74M for the first year. Attached below is part of the 2015-16 rookie salary cap taken from Real GM http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale/2016 * First round picks can sign for as much as 120% and as little as 80% of the rookie scale. Pick 1st Year Salary 2nd Year Salary 3rd Year Option Salary 1 $4,753,000 $4,966,800 $5,180,700 2 $4,252,600 $4,444,000 $4,635,300 3 $3,818,900 $3,990,700 $4,162,600 4 $3,443,100 $3,598,100 $3,753,000 5 $3,117,900 $3,258,200 $3,398,600 6 $2,831,900 $2,959,300 $3,086,800 7 $2,585,200 $2,701,500 $2,817,900 8 $2,368,300 $2,474,900 $2,581,500 My point being, even if you want to, you can't pay him $4-5M to start. 1st round draft picks are locked in to the rookie scale, and while you can pay 2nd round picks and undrafted players whatever you want, he won't stay on the board that long.You would have to get him as a top 3 pick to pay that, and I don't think he is a top 3 talent.

Right, but most players make their "big" jump between years 2 and 3. He's already completed season 3. I didn't say it is impossible, just a little less likely. I was kind of expecting more of a jump from him this past season. He is definitely still young enough to continue improving, I just am not sure that a "big" improvement that would justify a max contract under the 2016 cap is in his future.

He is past the point where most players make that dramatic a leap, but if he does, then we still have the option to out-bid anyone else with the 5th year and higher raises per year.

Dwight is now 30, he has several disks in his back that have been fused, and is not the same player he was with us. At 30+ the odds on him ever regaining the athleticism that he had pre-injury is quite slim. Since his game is based on athleticism, not position, not shooting, it is highly unlikely that he will ever be the 18+ points a game, defensive player of the year that he was. I think he is still a better defender than Vooch, and probably will continue to be for another couple of years; but, he has a lot of mileage on his body (remember he turned pro at 18) and I expect that he will continue to deteriorate. He has always been a beast in the gym, so I give him 4-5 good years left, but I think with increasing games missed each season. Vooch is a better offensive player, and his rebounds are more from being in the right place. He has shown a strong work ethic, and is still quite young. I think he will continue to improve and be a valuable asset for another 8-9 years. I don't think he has the athleticism to ever be more than an adequate defender, but I do think he has the will and commitment to try.

While I am pleased that Orlando has a MLS team, this is a basketball forum. Let's try to keep on point.

Far more likely he tries to get someone to give him a two-year, near-max deal with the second year a player option. That way he gets decent financial security in case of injury, and has the option to become a free-agent again when the cap goes up. I just don't know if he has the kind of leverage to make that happen, but it would be the win-win for him if he could. I think that we have to match regardless - as the cap going up is based on a league wide, guaranteed revenue increase; so even a max deal this summer becomes a more reasonable deal next. For that matter, we could offer him a 5-year, $75.5M with that second year option first. That is $13M the first year, with the 7.5% raises each year. We agree to give him an opportunity to opt-out the second year, and we add a team-option for the third.

There is another fun thing with this draft, and one I would laugh if it happens. If two teams that are #5 through #14 move into the top 3, then Lakers don't get a pick, Philly gets it. If one of those teams is currently #11-14, then Miami loses their pick to Philly as well. So suppose the Suns and the Magic move into the top three, this pushes Philly's own pick to #5, they would also get LAL's pick at #6, and Miami's pick at #11; as the Lakers pick is top 5 protected and Miami's is top 10 protected. Obviously, I would prefer us being one that moved into the top 3, but I'm not sure I would mind moving down to #7 if both LAL and the Heat ended up losing their picks this year.

So, ESPN is about a third of the way through their annual player rankings and so far I have seen 4 Magic players listed, but not one that I thought would be. #483 Roy Devyn Marble #472 Dewayne Dedmon #370 Kyle O'Quinn #365 Willie Green #314 Ben Gordon #285 Luke Ridnour Now I can't argue too much about Marble, Dedmon or Green, as I don't think anyone has seen enough of Marble and Dedmon to justify going higher with them; and I personally haven't seen much of Green, but he is a career bench player on the back end of his career. But KOQ at #370? Really? Andrew Nicholson hasn't shown up in the rankings yet, they are down around #317 right now. Nicholson is 50+ players better than O'Quinn - really? Can we make it any more obvious that the people voting looked at offensive stats, and haven't actually seen people play? The only thing I can hope is that some GM will look at the rankings and offer us a player with a higher basketball IQ, and an understanding of defensive schemes for 'Drew, because ESPN can't be that far wrong, can they?

#314 Ben Gordon #285 Luke Ridnour Still no sign of Andrew Nicholson - some people throughout the league must be a lot more impressed with him than we are!?!

I missed that one, then. I wonder why he doesn't have some notification on the roster list, since Jameer had FA after he was waived, and Moore's has FA. I would have thought that Randolph's would be updated with the FA as well once he cleared waivers.

You are correct, I missed Ridnour - so we are at 15 once Moore and Randolph are gone/waived, though I won't be surprised if Randolph makes it to training camp. At only 24, and already on a guaranteed contract there doesn't seem to be any reason to not at least take a look at him. We can always waive him later. Edit: just turned 25 on July 15th.

The roster page currently lists 16, but that includes E'Twaun Moore and Anthony Randolph. I am pretty sure the Magic pulled back the Qualifying Offer from Moore, making him an unrestricted free agent, so I am 99% sure he is gone. When Randolph came over in the trade the reports were all saying that he would be released, which hasn't happened yet. If Moore doesn't re-sign and Randolph is released, then we are back down to 14.

You might be selling Vuc a little bit short - he was averaging 15.8 ppg the last couple of months of the season, prior to injury. With another summer under his belt, Frye helping open up the middle, and Payton/Oladipo upping the tempo, I don't think 17-18 ppg is out of Vuc's reach. I don't think the Vic/Vuc combo will average 40 ppg, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them average 35-36.

And I would not be surprised at all to see him get traded again, or get waived. I am just thinking that if he is already guaranteed there probably isn't any harm in at least putting him through training camp and possibly pre-season. You can waive him at any point. Obviously, if you need the roster spot for someone else, or if he is a distraction, you let him go; but if you don't, and you are already paying him, you might as well keep him on the end of your bench. You never know when you may need "trade filler".

I do actually wonder about Randolph, at only 24 he almost sounds like another of Rob's hidden gem possibilities. Didn't he have a 42 point summer league game a few years ago? Depending on when/if his contract is guaranteed, we may see him at least make training camp.

Please say this is a joke - please.

Too bad they couldn't rig it that Cleveland would actually pick the best player, Anthony Bennett anyone, seriously, anyone?!?

You would then also have to consider the rest of the story - isn't that the coach that was fired after one year? Possibly there were other issues? The bottom line is that the media of today is not the media of 30-40 years ago; they don't always give both sides of a story, but tend to pick a side and present it from that perspective. I don't know that is what happened, none of us do; but I think Rob has to be listening to something/someone else, and not depending on a media report/perspective.

I am pretty sure that a team that waived a player can not trade for that player to come back.

I keep forgetting we grabbed Green off of waivers. That is actually the one that confuses me, as he isn't a 3-pt threat, and is a career backup who is undersized for the SG position he plays.

You do have a point, but you also have to look at it from this perspective - last year Nelson, Moore and Afflalo combined for approximately 86 minutes per game. I don't include Price and Lamb, as they didn't play the majority of games. If you split those 86 minutes evenly between Payton, Fournier and B Gordon, then each would get 28-29 minutes per game. Even if you include A Gordon, that is still 20-21 minutes a game each. I am not including Marble, as he isn't signed to a guaranteed contract yet, and I expect he will be used more like Lamb was, on an as-needed basis, end of the rotation. I expect the rotation will still fluctuate a lot depending on how any one player is playing on any given night, but I don't really see a big issue for minutes yet. If the Magic pick up another veteran PG, it may become an issue.

There is a big difference between "no lose", and "low risk". I agree with some of your points, there is definitely some risk; but I think that the mental part of the game is somewhat undervalued. The "overpay" may be nothing more than a psychological ploy to help turn B. Gordon back into the player he was - ie, everyone says you're only worth the vet minimum, but we have confidence in you. The very idea that management has put that value on acquiring you can have an effect on the players confidence and game. I tend to agree we have overpaid, but I bet that Rob has information about B Gordon we don't. He has two guys that hopefully have some insight from their history with the guy.