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Fultz4thewin

2017 Official Offseason Thread

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Article today on Basketball Insiders by Steve Kyler lists us as one of 6 teams that will be sellers this year along with Lakers, Suns, Hawks, Bulls, and maybe Denver. Lakers selling to free up two max contract spaces for free agency and maybe a first round pick in 2018 if it is NOT 2-5. Rest of the list in rebuild mode. We are described as having lots of pieces with whoever plays well (fits) we keep and those that do not will be up for sale. Makes a lot of sense with FO in evaluating what they see our future to be. Does not look like a season for playoff expectations which is OK because I still think we are at least one pick away (assuming Gordon and Isaac are cornerstones). Would love to get one of Boston's two first round picks next year, Net's or Laker's (Lakers will be 2- nexxt year or Sac. or Philly's first rounder in 2019) with the Lakers pick being the probable one). It will be an interesting season

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Article today on Basketball Insiders by Steve Kyler lists us as one of 6 teams that will be sellers this year along with Lakers, Suns, Hawks, Bulls, and maybe Denver. Lakers selling to free up two max contract spaces for free agency and maybe a first round pick in 2018 if it is NOT 2-5. Rest of the list in rebuild mode. We are described as having lots of pieces with whoever plays well (fits) we keep and those that do not will be up for sale. Makes a lot of sense with FO in evaluating what they see our future to be. Does not look like a season for playoff expectations which is OK because I still think we are at least one pick away (assuming Gordon and Isaac are cornerstones). Would love to get one of Boston's two first round picks next year, Net's or Laker's (Lakers will be 2- nexxt year or Sac. or Philly's first rounder in 2019) with the Lakers pick being the probable one). It will be an interesting season

 

Kyler is just guessing.

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Thinking about the Mario story from the other day. I'm not sure it really matters if he was hurt, bad, or a little of both. He either plays well or he doesn't this season.

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Thinking about the Mario story from the other day. I'm not sure it really matters if he was hurt, bad, or a little of both. He either plays well or he doesn't this season.

 

I would have said that before last season about him, about Payton's shooting, and Vuc's defense. All 3 would be gone if I was GM and DSJ would be our starting PG this year.

 

 

 

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I would have said that before last season about him, about Payton's shooting, and Vuc's defense. All 3 would be gone if I was GM and DSJ would be our starting PG this year.

 

he was fine before last season so I'm not sure why you would have said that.

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Thinking about the Mario story from the other day. I'm not sure it really matters if he was hurt, bad, or a little of both. He either plays well or he doesn't this season.

 

Yea it doesn't matter but it does provide context for the fans. It's something we needed to know even if the team was aware of it.

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he was fine before last season so I'm not sure why you would have said that.

 

I guess I just don't have much patience. IMO I haven't seen anything from Mario to indicate that he is an NBA caliber player. I think a limited minute bench shooter in the Euroleague is more his level of play.

 

 

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Kyler is just guessing.

I agree it is a guess but I do think it is an educated guess based upon salary cap, free agents signee's, power ranking in the Eastern conference, the overall youth of our team. We will have decisions to make. It would make sense for us to be all in on winning as the season opens. Depending upon success or failure as we approach the Feb. trading deadline. then Kyler's guess will either come to fruition or disappear. I would love to think our current roster would let us compete with the upper echelon Eastern Conference teams but I think we are still a player or two away. I think that is what Kyler thinks also. That is why he projects us as a seller.

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I tend to agree with Kyler's article. Oddly, he's complimenting some of our players as complimentary role players that have value.

 

Edit: here's the actual article: http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-am-what-nba-teams-are-sellers/

Thanks for the link because my initial point did not comment on the complimentary parts of Kyler's article. I think we do have competition now after some good free agent signings and as, Kyler points out, some will win and some will lose based on what they do. What he does say is that the "losers" are good enough to be assets to someone else because you cannot be a seller if no one is buying. He is complimenting the new FO.

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The summer is a time for optimism for most NBA teams. But with the season starting early this year, we're already creeping up on opening night. That said, let's do away with the niceties and talk about why your team won't win the NBA Finals this year:

 

Orlando Magic: Mario Hezonja might play 20 minutes a game, the Elfrid Payton experience was renewed for another season, and Jonathon Simmons, a player who’s not great offensively, is still somehow one of the best offensive options on the Magic. New management, same shenanigans.

https://www.si.com/n...s-stephen-curry

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The goals for the franchise have remained the same: make the playoffs at all costs. Realistically, it’s safest to take a “believe it when I see it” approach to the Magic, especially after they took a big step back last season, but there are a few reasons to be optimistic.

 

For starters, consider how absolutely terrible their bench was last season, perhaps the worst in the entire league. Augustin, Watson, Green, Mario Hezonja, and Biyombo formed an anti-dream team of epic proportions, sabotaging the team whenever they hit the court, individually or as a bench mob.

 

In the final stretch of the season, after the Magic traded Serge Ibaka for Terrence Ross, there was reason to be hopeful about what the team could do with their renewed small-ball attack, with Aaron Gordon finally taking his rightful place as the starting power forward. Over the last 24 games of the season, the Payton-Ross-Fournier-Gordon combo — with either Vucevic or Biyombo playing — averaged a +1.4 net rating, per NBA.com. With their core players, the Magic played winning basketball.

 

The problem was, it didn’t matter because the Magic were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of damage done by their bench. Despite being in the green with their core starters, the team averaged a -7.1 net rating overall post-All Star break. Those “good” lineups played almost half of all the minutes during that period, and were completely dwarfed by the contributions of all their bad lineups the other half of the time.

 

If you’re looking for a reason to buy into the Magic — again, a risky proposition — start with the bench improvements. Simmons, Mack, Afflalo, and Speights should all be significant upgrades over their bench counterparts from last season. Jonathan Isaac might even find opportunities to contribute defensively. Even if the reserves are merely average, a net zero, that might be enough to push the Magic into playoff contention.

 

Win Projection: 36 wins. The Magic should see improvement from last season, but it’s hard to believe in them until they play average-level basketball for more than a month at a time. I really, really want to expect more, but like I said before, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

https://16winsaring....ew-9f6c825f43f3

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