TreyMachine

The fact is that 5 years in, I think they’re both playing similar roles as scoring punches and leaders off the bench. TJ McConnell is good enough to go for 15-20 on any given night and I think Richardson will be the same. Also, $5 says you asked ChatGPT/AI to write that Analysis. Lol

Bring him to Orlando!!! He’s for a long time been seen as one of the best basketball minds behind Sam Presti. Absolutely wild but also Toronto hasn’t been producing, so I get the axe has to fall somewhere.

I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Jase, but I wanted to throw one out there I didn’t see that we were all watching recently - TJ McConnell. He’s an undersized, high motor guard who is a good defender and a shifty shot creator. having someone like that on our team as a bench guy is super ideal. Maybe it’s not a perfect fit but when I heard the strengths and weaknesses, that’s immediately whom I thought of.

Great for the wizards. Why you’d take a head case like Poole and match him with a head case like Zion just seems like a receipt for disaster.

LETS GOOO!! Look - we gave up a lot. But here’s how I see it: The Good: - This is a 26 year old who is one of the best 3PT shooters in the league and plays stout defense while being apparently an absolute DAWG in the gym. He fits our timeline and unlike KCP, he can create offense for himself and it’s early 30’s on the decline. - Of the 4 firsts, 3 will likely be picks in the 20+ range - players whom will not play much with our current depth and “win now” mode. The only pick that is terrible to trade is that Phoenix pick, which might be a top 10 next year. - To boot, Bane is apparently also a devout Catholic who does a whole heck of a lot of charity work, which fits the type of person the Magic brass like bringing in. The Bad: - With Paolo, this will be the 4th player we have on a max contract (Suggs, Wagner, Bane, Bachero) and will really start to hamper us from keeping good team depth while being over the luxury tax very likely. - I think there wasn’t much room for Cole in the rotation and his hot-and-cold streaky shooting was annoying, but I think he was the boisterous “fun” of the locker room and a voice guys will miss having as both Franz and Paolo are soft spoken and more serious and Suggs is an intense vocal leader. You need someone to keep things light hearted and Cole was that. I think our team chemistry next year will miss him. overall, I will take this “swing for the fences” over staying put and am glad, even if we perhaps overpaid, to get someone we think pairs nicely with our core for years to come.

Here's my take: the team is decently well-constructed. Paolo and Franz just do not bring the energy to make the guys around them believe they can be better. That was lost with Mo and with Suggs, and these two injuries have been the primary catalyst for our free-fall. Paolo and Franz are both great, but neither of them inspire greatness in the other players, and neither does Mo. We have lost our on-court vocal leaders in Suggs and Mo and that has made all the difference in the world during this free-fall, not the roster construction, but the personalities that mesh together to create a cohesive unit.

Real Question: if we don't turn things around and keep losing at this clip, I feel like Mose has lost the locker room. We clearly were great just a month ago and this has been a really rough patch. If we don't turn things around before the end of the season... Is it justified for us to fire Mose? Or is he too integral for the culture or our young team for the Magic brass to make such a change? I can't imagine us doing so but if we go like 5-20 the rest of the way, I don't see how we don't fire him or someone's head rolls.

I'd like to point out one month ago the sentiments of this board were the above statement. We had one bad month. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater that we didn't get something completed at the trade deadline and recently bias calls for the head of both Mose and Parker. Let's see how this month goes. If we end this badly, we certainly will be having a small reset this off season.

Chiming in - I think we like cohesion. We care about the fact that the locker room is tight and we've clearly shown we had a deep team that can win while Paolo / Franz were out. "Let's not blow it up yet" is the feeling I would guess that they had.

Mose deserves COTY and Parker/Weltman deserve executives of the year. No one is doing more with less proven players. We're still 4th in the East without our two best players. With that being said, it probably goes to Kenny Atkinson. People had real questions about the Cavs and their future and those are really quiet as they sit 29-4 with a new head coach. Really unfortunate as I think Mose is doing an unbelievable job this season.

I don't mind the idea but I just don't think he's a chemistry fit. We play young, fun, and hungry, and he more (from my understanding) is a no-nonsense dude with a small sense of humor. I also don't think they trade Jimmy within the division. Plus he's getting paid $50M per year so one of Franz/Suggs is leaving in that deal and it's therefore a no from me for that reason.

I’m so happy we’re playing this good with Paolo out. It gives everyone else a boost of confidence before he comes back.

Not to be a Debbie-Downer, but we were 24th last year in 3P% and 15th in FG%. I think we'll make SOME improvement there, but I don't see up jumping to a top 10 true shooting team. If we can jump from 24th to like just league average (15th!), I think that's a win. Let's temper expectations on "good shooting team" here. We'll make good decisions and will make smart passes, leading to good looks that we can hopefully hit. Excited for the season to start already!!

Franz and Moe playing some great basketball against the NBA's best. We really have a special duo in them.

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