TreyMachine

Their depth is gone and Harden will be playing pickup ball. I'm confident we will come back to win in the 4th with how gassed their team will be if they push to always have one of those 4 players in.

Only reading the comments and saw the box score, but we were basically one possession away from beating the Lakers who went to the Western Conference finals last year. Let's not overreact here. We are one possession away from being 3-0, with Paolo playing terrible basketball to start the season. On to the next one!

I'm wondering if JI was kept out to keep his legs fresh as a precautionary measure because he'll be expected to guard LeBron / PG over Monday/Tuesday. Only thing that makes sense on these rotation moves.

it's clear our team chemistry and the support for each other is top 5 in this league. Tibbets pointed that out. Guys even huddled up and prayed it looks like before the first preseason game. Call it what you want, but Weltman doesn't just care about who guys are on the court, but who they are off the court. This is going to be a team that makes waves this year, and honestly, if y'all want to get a little crazy, if you bet $25 the magic win the Championship this year, the payout is $7,500. Take it while you can!

Last night's game got me excited that we are truly looking at a team that will be the 4th or 5th seed in the East. We are SET UP for success for a long time with a lot of team-friendly contracts and guys buying into their roles and being GREAT teammates to each other. Man... I'm SO EXCITED for this year, y'all.

I feel like we are all watching this team and I actually want to put money on the over/under this year. Each year I'm like "this could be our year," but this year legitimately feels like all the pieces will come together to get us to 45+ wins.

Cole, if he plays like this all season, is going to get a bag at the end of the year and he'll likely be gone to be a starter somewhere.

I think it speaks a lot to how people view Franz Wanger with him so high on this list (#52 best player in the league) - ahead of guys like Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Zion, and Marcus Smart. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38549013/nbarank-2023-best-players-2023-24-100-51 I'd like to see Markelle Fultz crack into this list next year, which I think should be able to get done. Wendell Carter has a chance to crack it as well. Paolo is top 50 already, which is super fun to think about.

I feel like a 45 win season isn't out of the question in my mind. You have so many talented pieces. Only 2 have to pop from where they were last season to get us there since we played .500 ball most of the season. That would put us at 6th-8th in the East, which I think is a great place we'd want to expect to be.

I talked to CT and it seems like we haven't had one of these in a few years: A Board Member Get-to-Know Thread, where board members can share some fun facts about their real selves and Magic history as much as they desire, understanding and accepting that some people may want to stay anonymous to some level. I'll share a few standard prompts that can be reused by others (feel free to add / subtract and others can use this as a template if desired): Name: Current Location: Industry You Work In: The Origin of Your Username: How You Became a Fan: Favorite All-Time Magic Player: Favorite Magic Memory: Most Visceral Magic Memory: Worst Personal Magic Take: Other Interesting Facts:

I have questions just on JI's ability to stay healthy with how many leg issues he's had. Frankly, I'm not banking on it, but it would be a welcomed bonus. I think we could be a 4 or 5 seed in the East for sure. I just don't know if we're beating Boston or Milwaukee in a best of 7 series. I hope this post comes back to bite me and we can. Would be amazing.

I haven't watched him a lot, but is Buddy Heild a significant upgrade from Gary Harris? We would do so much better with a great 3P threat on the floor with Paolo / Wagner / Fultz driving.

I had thought Weltman would have his history with Milwaukee included, but I guess Hammond was technically the decision maker then. With that being said, I think it's unfair to call Jalen Suggs a "strikeout" of a pick at this point in his career. But everything else I agree with. I do love the fact that we've had 3 triples (3B) with Wagner and Paolo as well as the Vuc trade. I can see Paolo turning into a HR next year. Either way, 21st seems good for him. He's consistent but never taken any chances with trades or otherwise.

Haliburton has been doing so well from the eye test. Both he and Reeves play so well together. Also, Brandon Ingram saying he was going to be the "KD of the group" lol

https://x.com/orlandomagic/status/1695444410845061294?s=46&t=rjjADBqgH7KAiUU-bXq_a have we figured out how to embed tweets now that Twitter is dumbly known as "X"?

https://x.com/orlandomagic/status/1695444410845061294?s=46&t=rjjADBqgH7KAiUU-bXq_aQ LFG BANCHERO

He's got a good enough looking jump shot that I'm not overly worried.

Man, she was young. All the love to the Van Gundy family.

I don't see where he fits on the depth chart, so this is probably a G league contract. The guy has crazy athleticism, so maybe with the right surrounding influences, he can be a good end of the bench type of player. You also know his dunks in practice will get that entire team hyped. Haha

That national televised number can change though, right? If Paolo comes out like the All-Star champ we believe he can be and the Magic are in contention for the 4th/5th seed, I would hope to expect more televised games... or do these not change at all, no matter whatever hot streak is happening?

I don't always agree with our management, but one thing they do really well is draft high character guys who are not going to be headaches in the locker room. He much was praised about the posture and humility of Paulo, which goes right in the face of the preconceived notion that young guys who are good early come into the league entitled. Paolo's composure is indeed like Tim Duncan, and I can very much live with that type of leader that leads with humble, hard work.

Paolo getting a lot of praise from Isaiah Thomas. https://www.si.com/nba/magic/news/orlando-magic-sensation-paolo-banchero-gilbert-arenas-podcast-isaiah-thomas

E'twaun Moore... lololololool HOW HAVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS??

It's amazing that we say "Franz wasn't dominant" and yet he's the highest scorer of the game. Perhaps he just needs to impose his will more? Or maybe he only takes over when he feels like he has to? No one likes playing with a ball hog and it feels like Franz genuinely wants to play team ball and only looks to score in the rhythm of the game as he sees it.

So I'm looking at this USA team and I'm thinking... surely this isn't our Olympus Team for 2024... but can they add guys down the road? Some names that aren't on the team: Kevin Durant Jayson Tatum Damian Lillard Devon Booker Jimmy Butler Jamaal Murray Steph Curry Deandre Fox Evan Mobley Bam Adebayo and the list goes on. I mean, we have Josh Hart, Bobby Portis, Cam Johnson, and Austin Reaves on this team. That's not to say they're bad but how do we have them on the Team USA roster and not on the Select Roster?? I mean.. we have 2 ONE TIME ALL STARS (Halliburton and Edwards) on our team AND THAT'S IT! Someone please tell me we're just playing these guys for the qualifier and that the reinforcements will come next summer...