TreyMachine

If we haven't heard anything on the twitter, it probably means JB is not with us going forward.

Very true. What about Grant Hill? Same concept. If I had a guess, I would assume that both of them want to explore A) More time with family (both are very family oriented) B) Explore more of life than just basketball (entrepreneurial spirit)

I'm with HeHateMe on this one. Just don't believe the guy can grow on the offensive end and therefore has a very limited upside. Ceilings are much higher on other players at #5.

We've been in the high lottery each of the past 3 seasons and had a focus on developing the experience and skills of our young core. You don't spend max money on a big name or two (or 2nd tier guys whom you have to pay max money to) if you your primary goal is to acquire and develop young talent. This summer, he might spend. But in the end, it's a slow growth approach. To try and accelerate a process like this lands you in the 5th-8th seed for a decade.

Are there any updates out there about player workouts and such? It's 20 days until the draft and I would figure we would hear much more about player work out rumors and such.

I would absolutely love Jameer back. Truthfully, he should have never left. We'll look to go for cheap to someone else, but honestly, being a cheap, good player means that you can be traded more easily - which is what happened in Dallas. I can 100% see Jameer coming back if a true contender does not emerge that wants to have him. We would welcome him with open arms and it would be a feel-good story for the season. Also - does anyone think jameer will eventually go into coaching? With his leadership abilities, I could even see him coming onto Skiles staff in 2-3 years.

Draymond Green is getting paid by someone. His intensity level fits the magic PERFECTLY in my mind. Would not surprise me at all if we gave him a rather large contract offer. Described as the "heart and soul" of the Warriors, he plays with tenacity and passion with every second he is on the court. I feel we won't leave, but the warriors may not be able to afford it.

WCS is known for his lack of effort during some periods of time on the court. That hasn't been the case for ANY of our players drafted in the last 2-3 years. They may not be as skilled, but you never questioned their concentration or work-ethic on the floor. For this reason alone, I am 99.9% sure we will not draft WCS.

On the topic of Bogut, I wonder how much Vuc's defense steps up under Skiles. Vuc has tools to do well on defense. Rim protection, in my mind, is having a good rotational system and an athletic big man. WCS is that... but so is Dwayne Dedmon, and with more discipline, I think Dedmon could turn into that rim protector we need. WCS has only done well offensively because of his size, which he won't have as much of an advantage of in the NBA. On the other hand, having an big athlete who can shoot the lights out is much - much - tougher to find in the NBA. You teach Mario (like Rashard Lewis) to play good TEAM defense, and that's all you need.

I think Moe has to be a better overall decision maker. I think his ceiling is clearly Trevor Ariza, but Moe still looks lost when dribbling and when he gets into a jam, he looks like a deer in the headlights; not to mention he still doesn't have a consistent 3-pt. jumper. I will say this though: Scott Skiles is known to get a lot out of his players. If Moe is willing to work hard and be a student of the game, I think he has a role in Skiles' rotation.

KG plays big and had an unmatched ferocity. Porzingis is about as fierce as the pillsbury doughboy.

Would they pick Mario with the 3rd pick? Would be crazy, but wouldn't surprise me either. Can it be the draft already?

I was happy too. On an unrelated note, why - oh why - do you still have a signature with Dwight Howard 4 years after the Dwightmare? :chairshot:

Overall, I'm impressed. We know he knows how to coach, so this isn't JV all over again where we're like "Great philosophy - can he coach?" Rather this was "Good Coach - will he have a good relationship with players?" I don't seem him having rifts with players. Perhaps I'm naive, but I just don't see it if the person who was on the podium shows up each day.

Someone had to ask it. It's only fitting it would be Bianchi.

He's either very political or is someone who legitimately believes in a team mentality for everything. He also refused to comment on individual players because he wanted to have his first interaction to be with them and not through the press. At the very least, he's proving to be someone whom sounds like he is a good relationship coach who holds his players accountable.

If truly true, this is a pleasant surprised and really good.

Alex seems to be selling me that this was really all Rob. I'm not surprised by this, but it does seem to be all on him. Nice shout out to James Borrego too for his work last year.

Link to presser: http://www.nba.com/magic/live Note: it's not on currently and there is a rather obnoxious steady beep if you don't have your computer on mute.

Sometimes I read blogs / twitter feeds and I wonder how many actual bloggers / writers / Magic-twitter-handles are on this board with us. His position and word choice sounds eerily similar to a few people on this board. haha

Here's the real question: will he be different from his last coaching stops? http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/scott-skiles-is-the-new-head-coach-in-orlando--for-better-or-worse-212941307.html I'm interested to see what he and the Magic brass say during the press conference.

The reactionary tweets from Magic fans are hilarious / disheartening for my faith in the competence of the Fanbase. I've never seen so many people so upset and throwing in the towel since last time we hired a "cancer coach" named Stan Van Gundy. That one clearly didn't work out well. B)

Andrew Bogut was thought of as someone who did not reach his potential before Scott Skiles got ahold of him. Their offense was centered around the post game and their defense thrived with him at center. I have no idea why you think we would trade Vuch at 24 years old and being a fundamentally sound 7 ft. scorer.

I think that's interesting. He'll get paid $15 million this season, and yet he think he's worth more? Sure he has name recognition, but with how many games he misses, I think that would be absurd to pay him $20 million / season for the next 3 years, even with the salary cap bump. I think it's also a slap in the face to Wade that they won't fork over money due to him (like Kobe - not worth it but paying him to stay) vs. giving Chris Bosh the MAX last summer.