Official preseason thread

[The Neighborhood Bully 266]

Quote

Charles Barkley has carved out a niche as perhaps the NBA’s most prominent analyst, as he’s been firing off takes for TNT since 2000. Apparently, Barkley’s role as someone who observes and comments on the NBA for a living piqued the interest of the Orlando Magic, and according to the Hall of Fame inductee, there were conversations that led to Barkley thinking he was going to change careers.

Barkley appeared on ESPN Radio in Chicago and revealed that, last offseason, he had conversations with the Magic that made him think he was going to take over as the organization’s president. Ultimately, Orlando decided to hire then-Toronto Raptors general manager Jeff Weltman to the role.

As HoopsHype pointed out, Barkley had spoken earlier in the week about almost getting a job last offseason, although he did not indicate that it was the Magic’s vacancy.

“I thought I was going to be one last year, and I was really pissed I didn’t get the job,” Barkley told 98.7FM in Arizona. “I would listen to certain people, but I’m not sure at this stage in my life — but I did, I thought I had the job last year and it pissed me off. They hired another one of those analytical idiots instead of just getting the best players. That’s OK.”

The Inside the NBA crew has become a somewhat popular source for prospective hires in recent years. In addition to the word about Barkley getting a look to join Orlando’s front office, Kenny Smith had an interview for the Detroit Pistons’ coaching vacancy this summer. He did not get the job, which went to another ex-Raptor: former head coach Dwane Casey.

https://uproxx.com/dimemag/charles-barkley-orlando-magic-front-office-president/2/

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

1 hour ago, The Neighborhood Bully said:

https://uproxx.com/dimemag/charles-barkley-orlando-magic-front-office-president/2/

I guess we gave him an interview as a courtesy but he was never a serious candidate. 

[JJZFL 618]

Preseason has ended but the regular season hasn't quite started yet.  Perhaps we need an "in-between seasons" thread or something like that :)?

[Ibn Battuta 127]

I don't think he would've done much worse than what we did last season. 

I'd want to know who he'd hire as GM. If it's someone in the mold of Rob Pelinka, who has tons of player connections and experience handling player's requests, then sign me up. 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

1 hour ago, Ibn Battuta said:

I don't think he would've done much worse than what we did last season. 

I'd want to know who he'd hire as GM. If it's someone in the mold of Rob Pelinka, who has tons of player connections and experience handling player's requests, then sign me up. 

What moves have our GM's made that you disagreed with?

[Ibn Battuta 127]

58 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

What moves have our GM's made that you disagreed with?

idk, the fact that we still have the same core players from the Hennigan era? 

A draft pick that is made of glass?

A predictable/stale coaching hire?

The only move that's really worked for us is Simmons; he's been great. 

[Odin 137]

Fivethirtyeight is predicting us to go 32-50. Not great, but better than a lot of predictions based upon nothing have us going. They have us as the eighth worst team by record.

[ML6 520]

2 hours ago, Odin said:

Fivethirtyeight is predicting us to go 32-50. Not great, but better than a lot of predictions based upon nothing have us going. They have us as the eighth worst team by record.

10 games better than Matt Moore's prediction.

[A Better DJ & Photographer 453]

2 hours ago, Ibn Battuta said:

idk, the fact that we still have the same core players from the Hennigan era? 

A draft pick that is made of glass?

A predictable/stale coaching hire?

The only move that's really worked for us is Simmons; he's been great. 

Yeah I don't like:

that we are trotting out a starting 5 with no new faces

that we didn't make some kind of move to get either SGA, Melton, or one of the other 2nd round PGs to bring along with our young bigs.

that we still have Vuc and his defensive liability

that we are depending so much on Isaac to be a star when he can't even stay on the court.

I do like:

the Simmons signing

the Briscoe signing

drafting Bamba

getting rid of Biyombo and opening minutes for Bamba

getting rid of EP

 

I'm OK with the Clifford signing, I think he will get as much out of the players he has to work with as can be gotten. Vogel was beaten and no chance of recovering his mojo.

 

 

 

 

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

3 hours ago, Ibn Battuta said:

idk, the fact that we still have the same core players from the Hennigan era? 

A draft pick that is made of glass?

A predictable/stale coaching hire?

The only move that's really worked for us is Simmons; he's been great. 

Vuc should be gone this summer. 

Do you think Isaac was a bad pick?

I'm not sure any of us are qualified to judge the coaching hire. Recent history has shown coaching hires are very unpredictable. Clifford might suck or he might be good but I don't think we really know which yet as I think coaches like Clifford coach more to their circumstances than we realize. For example, one major issue Charlotte fans had with him is a 10 man rotation. He would often play all bench lineups. But here he's said his plan is to play a 9 man rotation (we'll have to see if this plays out that way). 

[Originalticketholder 133]

On 10/11/2018 at 10:33 PM, ?4thewin said:

Sure but there's a big gap between "not a playoff team" and "22 win team"

Completely agree.  We were not a 22 win team last year without all the injuries (more a 30-33 team win team last year) and now we add Bamba.  With no major injury loss mid 30's is a good number due to our youth since I think Ross and Vuc will be shopped at the trade deadline.  Only caveat to mid 30 win season is, since tanking does help get better players, to tank at the end if there are a lot of teams bunched together (worked well for Dallas last year).

[Odin 137]

Two more days until the Magic season begins. My optimism is at an all time high right now (even after a so-so pre-season). My brain says we aren't going to be very good, but my heart says that we are winning the championship.