Mid-Summer Power Rankings from NBA.com

[~O~ 565]

Junkie is now Heath Ledger. Someone get Harvey Dent on the line.

[KandiKane 136]

Junkie is now Heath Ledger. Someone get Harvey Dent on the line.

 

rip

[ball junkie 277]

Mr. Captain, I would be remiss without thanking you for going to all of that work for an explanation.....appreciate it.

 

I'm going to quote you on this statement.....

 

So, while you've presented this in a more negative connotation that one would expect should one find their favorite NBA team marked in this article as a loser, what he's actually saying is that people aren't sure what the Magic is doing. It's not obvious to them what the game plan is at this point. I don't see that as positive or negative, I see that as inconclusive.

 

Is it good that into year 3 of the Henny rebuild Zach, or anybody else for that matter can't tell what the game plan is ???...Also, whether it's a positive or negative is subjective, imo.

 

And while we're at it, I stated I didn't want to take anything out of context.....What did Zach Lowe mean by this comment, in your opinion....?

 

Ryan McDonough, the Suns’ GM, has had a killer first year on the job, and he’s not in the business of overpaying anyone on long-term deals. Ask Channing Frye.

 

Lastly, and this is my opinion.....I think it's dangerous to have multiple years in the lottery as we are looking at year 3, again in the lottery....It makes it more difficult to attract free agents and creates an apathetic fan base....Especially in Central Florida where basketball is not the most popular sport and fans seem to only support teams monetarily when they are winning.

 

Thanks in advance.....

[KandiKane 136]

Mr. Captain, I would be remiss without thanking you for going to all of that work for an explanation.....appreciate it.

 

I'm going to quote you on this statement.....

 

 

 

Is it good that into year 3 of the Henny rebuild Zach, or anybody else for that matter can't tell what the game plan is ???...Also, whether it's a positive or negative is subjective, imo.

 

And while we're at it, I stated I didn't want to take anything out of context.....What did Zach Lowe mean by this comment, in your opinion....?

 

 

 

Lastly, and this is my opinion.....I think it's dangerous to have multiple years in the lottery as we are looking at year 3, again in the lottery....It makes it more difficult to attract free agents and creates an apathetic fan base....Especially in Central Florida where basketball is not the most popular sport and fans seem to only support teams monetarily when they are winning.

 

Thanks in advance.....

 

Did you read the article that Zach Lowe referenced? Did you? Because you are yet to reference anything from that, and that article is the answer to why he put the Magic in that column. I am guessing you have read it, but because it does not back up your point you choose to ignore it like almost all articles not posted by you on this forum.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Mr. Captain, I would be remiss without thanking you for going to all of that work for an explanation.....appreciate it.

 

I'm going to quote you on this statement.....

 

 

 

Is it good that into year 3 of the Henny rebuild Zach, or anybody else for that matter can't tell what the game plan is ???...Also, whether it's a positive or negative is subjective, imo.

 

And while we're at it, I stated I didn't want to take anything out of context.....What did Zach Lowe mean by this comment, in your opinion....?

 

 

 

Lastly, and this is my opinion.....I think it's dangerous to have multiple years in the lottery as we are looking at year 3, again in the lottery....It makes it more difficult to attract free agents and creates an apathetic fan base....Especially in Central Florida where basketball is not the most popular sport and fans seem to only support teams monetarily when they are winning.

 

Thanks in advance.....

 

The short version...

 

Long term, the direction of this team, he likes. Regarding free agent moves this summer (the topic of the article), he's unsure. It's not positive or negative at this point. If he thought they were good moves, he would have labeled us a winner, if he thought they were poor moves, he would have labeled us a loser. He isn't saying no one knows the direction of the team in general, he's saying people are unsure about the free agent moves. Remember, the article was written about free agency this summer, not the overall outlook. You're taking comments about people unsure of our free agency moves and applying them in a manner to state that people are unsure about the overall direction of the team, and after three years, people should be able to see what direction this team is headed in. You have to apply the context of the article to his comments to derive the meaning.

 

Long version...

 

This is more my take, but how I arrive at the same place of "not a winner, not a loser". Remember, the article is about free agency.

 

Ben Gordon.

 

Overpaid, for sure. No short or long term negative impact though, so it's inconsequential. Probably won't be much more than a quasi solid bench player, but you aren't spending time trying to develop him either, you can focus on development of the young guys instead. Best case, he plays great and ups his trade value, worst case, he doesn't and his only trade value is an expiring contract (due to the team option on year 2). Some possible reward, but virtually no risk.

 

Channing Frye

 

Initially overpaid, though not by much. I'll find the quote for you if you need it, but one of the talking heads mentioned that the general vibe from GM's at the Vegas Summer League was that Frye's contract was pretty much what he's worth. Quality vet that should provide the type of leadership/example the young guys need. His game should help make things easier for the guards as well. His contract is for four years, we can't get rid of him as easily as we can B.Gordon, but we likely wouldn't want to either. It's not an albatross of a contract like the Lewis signing was, so even if you lean toward the "we overpaid" side of the fence, there isn't much of a significant long term impact here either. If he falls apart and has no trade value, his contract expires at the same time as our two prized rookies. If he plays well, and we need to move him, it's an easy contract to move, especially when you take into account the likelihood of a rising salary cap which will only make his contract more attractive in comparison.

 

Those were our moves at the time of this article. They aren't knock your socks off moves, they aren't pull your hair out moves. They could pan out and be good moves, they could backfire and not be useful additions. Either way, their impact won't be a game changer plus or minus (well, I think Frye has the possibility, depending on how quickly the new guys develop). So, not a winner, not a loser, and I look at the WTF award as a middle of the road. Sort of a you didn't help your team get significantly better, but you didn't hurt yourself either.

 

Considering the youth movement and total rebuild we've undertaken, I'm cautiously optimistic about the next two seasons. While I'd love nothing more than to have seen us make a big push this summer, I see the path. I see a team full of youth that needs to grow into itself, not have a dominant vet come in and take over. Let the team grow into itself, let them take control, let it become their team then find the pieces you need to add later instead of adding pieces now and letting the youth develop into complimentary pieces. That's a big part, in my view, of why Nelson was let go. He was the defacto leader of the team, and Dipo/Payton need to grow into that at this point.

 

That's my personal take.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

In terms of the fan base, I think you misjudge them. Sure, the longer it takes to get back into contention, the more likely it is that season tickholders withdraw a bit, but as soon as we start winning again, it will pick right back up. It's not like they are lost forever once they tune out. Magic games are one of, if not the top draw downtown, especially when they are winning.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

In terms of the fan base, I think you misjudge them. Sure, the longer it takes to get back into contention, the more likely it is that season tickholders withdraw a bit, but as soon as we start winning again, it will pick right back up. It's not like they are lost forever once they tune out. Magic games are one of, if not the top draw downtown, especially when they are winning.

 

Yeah, the notion that fair-weather fans go away when the team is bad and then NEVER COME BACK kind of completely ignores what a fair-weather fan actually is by definition.

 

A week ago, someone I have a lot of respect for tried to convince me that "A couple more bad seasons in a row, and Orlando will be a soccer town," and I've spent a decent amount of time since then laughing to myself about how baffling and silly that statement was. And that's coming from someone who's the kind of rare American who has actually been to Orlando City games this year and in general doesn't mind soccer.

[KandiKane 136]

Enough said. Thank you Hi-Top, I can not see how anyone could disagree with your summary.

[Catman 380]

Junkie is asking questions that have been answered so many times already.

 

The salary cap will be over 80mill in 3-4 years, which makes paying a Frye more than the Suns were wiling to a no brainer for the Magic's cap situation.

 

Being able to "splurge" on Frye is luxury the magic can afford with any penalty due to Rob;s construction of the roster.

 

Frye will have zero effect on our pursuit of any free agent in the future. All he does is dramatically improve this offense and make Payton potentially ROY.

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

From Pelton's chat today. I'm starting to think Ball Junkie needs professional help, he can't seem to let this go.

 

Jim (Orlando)

Your friend, Zach Lowe put the Magic in the "Milwaukee Bucks WTF are they doing" category....Do you know what they are doing ???

 

Kevin Pelton (12:04 PM)

I think Zach was referring to last summer, which was head-scratching because the Bucks made win-now moves that didn't actually help them win now. With the ownership change, and last year's disastrous record, Milwaukee seems to have accepted the inevitable rebuild. I was hoping they would make a run at Eric Bledsoe, who would have been a really ideal fit for them and given them some solid defensive potential, but I can understand going the more conservative route after getting burned so badly in free agency a year ago.

 

I think Jim's question from the beginning was wondering what the Magic were doing this offseason. Specifically Frye for $8 million per, B Gordon for $4.5 million per.

 

 

Kevin Pelton (1:13 PM)

In that case, no. I understand broad outlines -- Frye's shooting is necessary to offset the non-shooting of the draft picks, non-guaranteed second seasons are valuable in trades -- but the specifics are still somewhat hard to understand. The Magic could have paid literally any shooting guard $4.5 million and gotten the same benefits used to explain the Gordon deal, and most of them would have been better choices.

 

http://espn.go.com/s...er-kevin-pelton

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

From Pelton's chat today. I'm starting to think Ball Junkie needs professional help, he can't seem to let this go.

 

 

 

http://espn.go.com/s...er-kevin-pelton

 

 

LOL

[CTMagicUK 1,488]

God help us.