All Eyes On Me

Imagine if we made a Siakam like trade at the deadline instead of twiddling our thumbs. We’d probably still be playing :). Good on Indy for taking advantage, but man they’ve had a lot of luck with other teams injuries to get to where they’re at. Bucks without Giannis and Lillard. Knicks with like nobody healthy. Minnesota is different. Incredible build and they’re gonna be contenders for a long time. I’m hoping we take note of the risks they’ve taken with vets to fill weaknesses and how it could benefit a young core.

yeah, if Houstan is in our 10 man rotation next year without injuries happening, something went horribly wrong. I also don’t see the fit of BI on this team. We dont need another ball dominant forward

Whole lot of dirty laundry coming out on the Cavs literally right after they get eliminated lol. Allen didn’t get an injection to play through pain. Mitchell disappointed in the playoff readiness of his teammates. Garland will demand out if Mitchell isn’t traded. Bickerstaff on the hot seat with his job under review… damn lol

Man, screw the Cavs. Mitchell plays like prime Jordan against us and then *****es out with a sore calf in a 2-1 series where they have momentum to make it a series. Boston has the easiest path to the Finals possibly ever.

Only way I want Ingles back is to decline his option and sign him to the vet min. I think we can do better than the current version of Ingles in our rotation next year, would love him back for cheap as a locker room vet and injury depth, but don’t want him back at $11 million

https://x.com/beorlmagic/status/1788636612701691932?s=46&t=O_48d3F9zIM7WbaIMp7sdQ Dwight lobbying to come back and finish his career where it started. While the nostalgia of him coming back home for game 6 was amazing, I don’t trust him to be a good veteran influence on our locker room.

I don’t see any way Boston doesn’t win the East. The Knicks are doing a hell of a job taking advantage of the easy schedule they’ve been granted, but all these guys playing big minutes for them every night are gonna lose gas. I’m pulling hard for the Wolves. It’d be about time one of us from the 89 expansion wins it all!

Could you guys imagine the size of our new death lineup potential?! George/Franz/Paolo/JI/WCJ and Suggs/George/Franz/Paolo/JI lineups would both be top defensive units in the league.

I think we need to get away from thinking of our roster as traditional, position-based basketball. We just need a guy that can shoot, defend and handle the ball to compliment our current pieces. It’d help if he can takeover if others are struggling and he can create in the half court. I think Paul George is at the top of my list this summer as our 5th starter taking the Harris minutes and splitting ball handling duty with Franz and Paolo, as long as it’s a short term deal, like 2 year with a player option or something like that.

The brokenness of the officiating in this league has been on display this postseason. Between our game 7 and then watching the Wolves/Nuggets game 2 it was like watching 2 different sports just based on how the games were getting called and the physicality some crews allow and others nitpick. It’s a major problem that there’s no consistency between game to game on how the refs are gonna call it on any given night. Only sport where the guys in the stripes can fully dictate who wins and who loses any given night

Agreed. I’m here in Denver and the Nuggs are my 2nd team, but they got their one ring, and I don’t recognize the team that played last night from top to bottom. I’ve always had a soft spot for the TWolves since they’re our sister team and we were expansion teams at the same time. It would be great to see them win because it would make it seem real for us to start to dream that way again after this long, long dark period.

Last night going the way it did for the Nuggets is even more validation for me in being ok with us getting out in game 7 of a dogfight series in a dogfight game with this current version of our team. I think it’s better for the team long term to have that small glimpse into our current squad on the national landscape. The strengths were shown and so were the weaknesses and we don’t have to run into playing Boston on TNT, ESPN and ABC with a friendly whistle and potentially getting swept or out in 5 in a non-competitive series while all the pundits bad mouth us on national television for all the casual basketball fans to see. I know some folks won’t agree, and it even feels strange for me to say, and while I’d do almost anything for the Magic to play year round, I’m almost happy to end this season on a cumulative high.

I understand that Weltman’s job is to maintain leverage, and that’s why the video I linked I mentioned GM speak, but I will say that I do have PTSD from the deadline. If we swung a deal when everyone but our GM thought we should, we’d probably still be playing right now. I’m thrilled about this off-season, but trying to be cautious and not get my hopes up too high in case we underwhelm with moves. If we run it back with the idea that AB and Jett are ready to be big time contributors, we’re wasting the cap flexibility we have for a short window before we have to pay Paolo, Franz and Jalen. It’s kind of like NFL teams going all in to maximize roster talent while their QB is still on a rookie deal. We have the money now, and we won’t have the same freedom in the future, so let’s not sit on our hands.

https://x.com/fawzanamer_/status/1787611379580477536?s=46&t=O_48d3F9zIM7WbaIMp7sdQ it’s probably just GM speak, but…. *Cue internal Alarm bells

Wow.. I knew it was bad, but holy wow those stats are damning. Jalen is very much an off-ball 2 guard on offense and should be our 4th option as an initiator in our starting lineup next year only behind our center.

Agreed. And the good thing for Klay at that price is it really only takes up about half of what we could potentially have available. Like, is a Klay, Monk free agency and adding a big at 18 a successful off-season? Klay and Monk both paid between $20-25 mill for a couple years. Jalen/Klay/Franz/Paolo/WCJ Cole/AB/Monk/Jett/JI/Moe/Rookie big Writing it out, I don’t hate it but I don’t love it and it wouldn’t be my first choice. The first thing that jumps out is the depth, we’re honestly set up that we need to consider making a consolidation trade of good assets for a great one.

Yep, will build and Pin now

Big difference between us and OKC is Shai is 25 and just finished his 6th year in the league. When Paolo is that experienced we should be title contenders

I will preface this by saying that it’s not the reason we lost, but the officiating from mid 2nd quarter on, pretty much right after Bickerstaff lost the challenge, was so Cleveland biased it was insane. Suggs and Harris were playing the same D they played all series and all of a sudden they started calling ticky tack ****. Frustrating in a game 7 to lose the consistency and let the refs control the game. 66 free throw attempts between the 2 teams is not basketball anyone wants to watch.

There’s nothing to pinpoint from today or call anyone out over. We overachieved this season, we overachieved this postseason too. These kids are incredible and they gave us a treat this year. The only thing I’m sad about is we won’t get to see em again for 5 months… the holes on our team are crystal clear and were confirmed over and over again and we have the means to address them. We now also have postseason experience all over this squad which is only gonna help going forward. I’d honestly rather go out fighting in 7 games in a dogfight series than get swept by Boston next round. Cleveland is gonna get steamrolled by them. When your 2nd and 3rd best option on O combine for 3-28, it’s just impossible to win a game 7 on the road. They’ll learn from it, and they’ll come back even better… and I can’t freakin wait

Looks like we get Gary back and Allen is not official yet, but rumor is he’s still out for Cleveland. LFG!!! It’s been a loooong time yall. What a season it has been. I’m selfish, and I’m not ready for it to be over!

Twisted his ankle in the 2nd quarter. Landed on it funny going up for a rebound. He played most of the 2nd half, but he was definitely not 100%

Yeah, there’s gonna be gamesmanship with injury reports, but a 36 hour turnaround is gonna be rough on him and Mobley. I don’t think there’s any way they miss a game 7, but they could both be hobbled. I expect Allen back for them too, and I hope we get Gary back.

You damn right lol

So effing proud of this team! It doesn’t even matter what happens in game 7, but eff it, let’s go win it!