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2020-2021 Official Magic Season Thread

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1 hour ago, All Eyes On Me said:

So, I’ve been thinking about this a lot, especially recently considering how competitive we’ve been lately. Next year under contract, assuming no offseason trade and us picking up the team options on WCJ and Mo:

Fultz/Harris/Okeke/Isaac/WCJ

Anthony/RJ/MCW/Ross/Bamba/2021’ Magic first round pick/2021’ Bulls first round pick?

that’s a super fun, athletic team that could really make some noise, especially where the picks may fall. I don’t think this rebuild is gonna be that painful as long as we can stay healthy.

Yea it's the health really isn't it? Isaac, Fultz, Bamba, Carter, Harris and even Okeke have all had histories with bad injuries.

If they can all keep all that behind them though that team could easily win 40 games. The difficult part will be getting minutes for the two 2021 guys if we don't make any moves. Have a feeling we might trade at least one of Ross or Harris in the summer for that reason. 

We look a little thin at SF with both Porter and Ennis expiring. I wonder what market Otto Porter will have in the summer? I'd be tempted to keep him around on a 1 or 2 year deal up to the MLE if he's interested, it's not like we're likely to attract anyone else with that money and he might be a decent trade chip. Saying that though it might just be cheaper and just as worthwhile to keep James Ennis.  

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So the Bulls have been really bad defending the pick and roll all year, both before and after the trade. WCJ struggled mightily for the Bulls in that time defending it. But with the Magic so far, I've not seen that, he moves quick, he's defended the rim well, he seemed to do well when asked to double up on the ball handler once the ball handler went past the screen. Obviously super small sample size so I don't know how much this is just Clifford being a good defensive coach or WCJ being actually pretty decent/good but it's been a pleasant suprise that I wasn't expecting from him. If he keeps improving like this while with us he's going to be really solid.

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2 hours ago, crisby pancakes said:

So the Bulls have been really bad defending the pick and roll all year, both before and after the trade. WCJ struggled mightily for the Bulls in that time defending it. But with the Magic so far, I've not seen that, he moves quick, he's defended the rim well, he seemed to do well when asked to double up on the ball handler once the ball handler went past the screen. Obviously super small sample size so I don't know how much this is just Clifford being a good defensive coach or WCJ being actually pretty decent/good but it's been a pleasant suprise that I wasn't expecting from him. If he keeps improving like this while with us he's going to be really solid.

He can’t be worse than Vuc

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7 hours ago, crisby pancakes said:

So the Bulls have been really bad defending the pick and roll all year, both before and after the trade. WCJ struggled mightily for the Bulls in that time defending it. But with the Magic so far, I've not seen that, he moves quick, he's defended the rim well, he seemed to do well when asked to double up on the ball handler once the ball handler went past the screen. Obviously super small sample size so I don't know how much this is just Clifford being a good defensive coach or WCJ being actually pretty decent/good but it's been a pleasant suprise that I wasn't expecting from him. If he keeps improving like this while with us he's going to be really solid.

As we saw the last couple nights, WCJ is going to be a solid addition. Birch should not be the starter going forward.

...But I think this officially pushes Bamba to 3rd and his minutes will start to decrease from here. It's a shame, he's never been able to get out of Cliff's dog house. We will either trade him or decline a qualifying offer.

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Okeke has been a breath of fresh air in the same way JI was starting last year. I was high on Okeke as a draft pick even though it was a stash pick. However his performance in his last year at college really showed his feel for the game and the confidence in his game. If he gets starter minutes the rest of the season, he may average the same amount of points Fournier was putting up and basically ends up replacing the production he had. It also solidifies him as a 3/4 if his FG% holds - Playing him with JI is going to be way easier then Gordon ever would have been due to AG's bad shooting decisions and percentage and iso heavy playstyle. Okeke already looks like a Team player when he plays instead of the "out to get mine" mindset.

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28 minutes ago, Natesroom said:

Okeke has been a breath of fresh air in the same way JI was starting last year. I was high on Okeke as a draft pick even though it was a stash pick. However his performance in his last year at college really showed his feel for the game and the confidence in his game. If he gets starter minutes the rest of the season, he may average the same amount of points Fournier was putting up and basically ends up replacing the production he had. It also solidifies him as a 3/4 if his FG% holds - Playing him with JI is going to be way easier then Gordon ever would have been due to AG's bad shooting decisions and percentage and iso heavy playstyle. Okeke already looks like a Team player when he plays instead of the "out to get mine" mindset.

I watched part of 2 Nuggets games. I noticed that Gordon is not used the same way he was used in Orlando. The ball is not in his hands a lot, meaning there is not a lot of iso/dribbling. After the ball is brought up court, he runs and stands in the corner.

I'm not saying he's not playing well. His points on scoring speaks for itself. But he is not handling/dribbling the ball a lot the way he did in Orlando. The Nuggets players move the ball around a lot. And, boy, as has been mentioned in the media about their center (Jokic?), well he is a great passer. He sees the court very well and throws a bullet in tight spaces to his teammates for a score.

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I know we aren't supposed to be winning games right now, but....

As the eternal optimist, is anyone else feeling the excitement of Okeke? If we get healthy, we already have a nice young nucleus of guards/forwards. I weirdly like the rotation of Birch/WCJ/Bamba because there doesn't seem to be the dramatic dip in defense/rebounding like there was with Vuc. If those guys are just asked for rebounds, blocks, and defense...then if one of them gets hot (like WCJ was the other night) and has a 20 pt game, then that's just a plus. 

Fultz/Anthony/Hampton/Okeke/Isaac --> that's a fun rotation if everyone is healthy. Then mix in Harris/Ross/Bacon/Porter and the rest of the bigs...even before you get the draft picks. I'm not saying we soar to #1 in the East...but at least you have some excitement to build around (similar to what Memphis and Charlotte are doing)

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1 hour ago, TrueMagicFan07 said:

I watched part of 2 Nuggets games. I noticed that Gordon is not used the same way he was used in Orlando. The ball is not in his hands a lot, meaning there is not a lot of iso/dribbling. After the ball is brought up court, he runs and stands in the corner.

I'm not saying he's not playing well. His points on scoring speaks for itself. But he is not handling/dribbling the ball a lot the way he did in Orlando. The Nuggets players move the ball around a lot. And, boy, as has been mentioned in the media about their center (Jokic?), well he is a great passer. He sees the court very well and throws a bullet in tight spaces to his teammates for a score.

  Oh iv'e seen a ton of Nuggets highlights since the trade, your completely right. It's all about where he gets the ball. As long as he cuts and moves he gets some good looks and dunks. In our offense he either camped the line or simply dribbled too much. In the highlights i saw of Denver they would send him inside then out to the 3 point line, drawing a defender. Easy weakside cuts from all the attention Jokic and Murray receive. Small sample size but we all have been saying this for years. 

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9 minutes ago, hootie249 said:

  Oh iv'e seen a ton of Nuggets highlights since the trade, your completely right. It's all about where he gets the ball. As long as he cuts and moves he gets some good looks and dunks. In our offense he either camped the line or simply dribbled too much. In the highlights i saw of Denver they would send him inside then out to the 3 point line, drawing a defender. Easy weakside cuts from all the attention Jokic and Murray receive. Small sample size but we all have been saying this for years. 

I’m in Denver, have been for about 3 years now, so it’s cool to see Aaron utilized the right way on my second team. The local media here loves him and the deal, and it’s been amazing to see how locked in he is defensively and committed to his role

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oh i dont doubt he'll be good up there i just meant the way we were constructed AG was never going to play the way he is going to play in Denver. I'm not sure if we were trying to make him be the Hedo of this team or He thought he could be the man of our team.

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Gary Trent jr just scored 24 points in one of the most lopsided victories in NBA history. With the second best +/- in NBA history! 

Seriously, let's all sign  a petition to fire Weltham and hire a few of you guys as GM. Lol. Kudos to you on this board who watch more games and know these players. 

I mean the guy was a highschool all American and went to Duke. This folks right here is why not to get too caught up in draft slots. 

Remember Mitchell is the leading scorer on the team with the best record....this year! What slot was he drafted again?

It's about who you pick, not when you pick.

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31 minutes ago, hootie249 said:

Gary Trent jr just scored 24 points in one of the most lopsided victories in NBA history. With the second best +/- in NBA history! 

Seriously, let's all sign  a petition to fire Weltham and hire a few of you guys as GM. Lol. Kudos to you on this board who watch more games and know these players. 

I mean the guy was a highschool all American and went to Duke. This folks right here is why not to get too caught up in draft slots. 

Remember Mitchell is the leading scorer on the team with the best record....this year! What slot was he drafted again?

It's about who you pick, not when you pick.

Agreed, two of the best players in that draft class went 13th and 14th - Mitchell and Adebayo. So sometimes a team can hit it lucky and find a star outside the top few picks like the Warriors did with Curry, Thompson and Green.

One of the things with Mitchell at the time was his size, 6’1 for a shooting guard is undersized. He’s got point guard size with the game of a shooting guard, though he’s capable of playing the point. I believe if Mitchell was nearer 6’4 or 6’5 he would have been selected much higher.

That said, if our front office does a good job they can find franchise changing and contributing talent outside those top few picks.

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