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CTMagicUK

2021 NBA Draft Thread

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1 hour ago, CTMagicUK said:

https://www.si.com/.amp/nba/2021/07/20/nba-mock-draft-cade-cunningham-evan-mobley-jalen-green?__twitter_impression=true

New SI mock. Here are the snippets on the Magic: 

"5. Magic: Scottie Barnes, F, Florida State

Height: 6' 8" | Weight: 225 | Age: 19 | Freshman

With two top-eight picks in hand, the Magic have a lot of say over the flow of the lottery at the moment, with enough ammunition to feasibly attempt to move up from here. But with the top three teams most likely entrenched in those spots and comfortable with the players on the board, at the moment it feels more likely Orlando makes this pick. While their front office is notoriously airtight with its intentions, there’s a level of belief around the NBA that the Magic covets Barnes at this spot. On paper, that makes a lot of sense. Barnes would be a strong match for Orlando, possessing the length and versatility that fits their traditional draft ethos, and a galvanizing personality that could help stabilize their young locker room. A frontcourt pairing of Barnes and Jonathan Isaac as a backbone for the rest of the team is pretty intriguing in concept."

 

"8. Magic (from Bulls): Keon Johnson, SG, Tennessee

Height: 6' 5" | Weight: 185 | Age: 19 | Freshman

The Magic are widely believed to be open to trading this pick, but there’s also a sense that the asking price may be somewhat steep. Johnson is a major risk-reward pick, but his considerable ceiling could enhance Orlando’s roster, as a stellar defender and athlete who can add value as a high-level supporting piece, even if he doesn’t fully turn the corner as a go-to scorer. Johnson needs to become a better shooter and refine his offensive game to maximize his considerable potential, but has better feel than a typical project wing, and a defensive mentality that should expedite his pathway to useful minutes. The fact the Magic have two picks should help them feel comfortable taking a big swing here."

Us being believed to be open to moving the 8th pick is super interesting. 

Also we take JT Thor at 33. Win.

So at 5 and 8 we take two guys who are athletes and defensive standouts but not reliable scorers?   That might work on a team that has some shooters but I don’t know that it would work well for us

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2 hours ago, Franchise408 said:

All came from building teams.

Shaq came as the team was an expansion team, putting players together like Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott. Penny came after the team was the model of the "mediocrity" this forum complains about - the team with the best record of all teams that missed playoffs.

Dwight came when we had our franchise player in Tracy McGrady, but still had an all-time franchise bad year, didn't trade the superstar to tank the season, and tried to pair Dwight around T-Mac, but T-Mac insisted on leaving regardless. The franchise still built that same off-season they drafted Dwight by also acquiring Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson, and trading T-Mac for Steve Francis (all star caliber player), Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Kato, who all later turned into the pieces dealt away in the moves that would clear out our salary cap for Rashard Lewis.

The franchise was attempting to build both times.

Unfortunately......zero championships. Close (twice to the NBA Finals), but no cigar.

I believe that with the young talent we have today and the one that we are going to add in the next couple of years, the Magic win it all, once or more between 2025 and 2029. Cheers !!!

 

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10 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

So at 5 and 8 we take two guys who are athletes and defensive standouts but not reliable scorers?   That might work on a team that has some shooters but I don’t know that it would work well for us

Yea the quote does mention our FO is notoriously tight lipped so none of this information is coming from them. It's just guesswork. 

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21 minutes ago, JJZFL said:

No.  We went out there trying to compete and win every game. There was no talk of benching people or playing weird rotations to lose on purpose.  We had plenty of veterans.  We competed every game and just barely missed the playoffs.  This was the opposite of tanking.  

I agree it was not tanking it was a change of direction and rebuilding, exactly what we are doing now.  That heart n hustle team was predicted to finish with the worst record in the league.   Tanking might be one of the worst buzzwords ever introduced into sports.    

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1 hour ago, og magic fan said:

I agree it was not tanking it was a change of direction and rebuilding, exactly what we are doing now.  That heart n hustle team was predicted to finish with the worst record in the league.   Tanking might be one of the worst buzzwords ever introduced into sports.    

What we did at the latter half of last season was tanking.  We were mostly playing G-league players to avoid winning “meaningless” games.

What we did with Hennigan was tanking.  Put a bunch of young players out with an inexperienced coach and see what happens.

With  heart and hustle we tried to build a competitive team even though we were rebuilding.  They played to win every game. The attitude was completely different  

 

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1 hour ago, CTMagicUK said:

Yea the quote does mention our FO is notoriously tight lipped so none of this information is coming from them. It's just guesswork. 

Very true.  I’ll have the same concerns if it does work out that way, though.  How many times can we do exactly the same thing?

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3 hours ago, JJZFL said:

So at 5 and 8 we take two guys who are athletes and defensive standouts but not reliable scorers?   That might work on a team that has some shooters but I don’t know that it would work well for us

The most interesting part of this entire article in my opinion is the feeling we would potentially be open to trading #8. 
 

I would assume we would be wanting a Vet in return to add some leadership. 
 

 

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7 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

9 days until the draft. It can't get here quick enough.

You better believe that regardless of what I've said all year and even how I might react on draft night I will no doubt talk myself into whoever we pick by the end of the weekend after the draft. 

Exactly 

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9 hours ago, O_SteveO said:

To save you a lot of reading, he thinks we should’ve kept Vuc to stay competitive, which totally fine if that’s his preference, but has also repeatedly stated that we would’ve also still gotten the 5th pick, meaning that he doesn’t think keeping Vuc wouldn’t helped us win another single game lmao. 

If we would have kept Vuc we would have won too many meaningless games and probably one pick in the 10-15 range and 40-45... and sucked again next year anyway! This FO made the right move IMO!

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On 7/19/2021 at 12:24 PM, Franchise408 said:

Except you pointed out the exception on why Kyrie doesn't fit your narrative - he was paired with Hall of Fame LeBron James. I.E. the opposite of tanking.

What did Kyrie do before LeBron? What has Kyrie done since LeBron?

Tanking for Kyrie didn't bring Cleveland a championship. Signing arguably the greatest player of all time LeBron James did.

And the fact that you even pointed out that picks 1, 2, and 3 don't win championships with their original teams is exactly the point. Tanking to get a top 3 pick just makes you a feeder team to the actual championship teams. It doesn't actually improve your franchise.

At rhe start of this discussion my point was that picks 1, 2, and 3 lead to more championships than all other picks in the history of the NBA.  True 

To further prove that statement and negate your final statement in the last 41 years of the NBA, the NBA champion in those years had a pick 1, 2, or 3 on their roster and, in fact, in every one of those 30 years it was that teams original pick (all different teams and no duplicates),  So in approximately 75% of the NBA champs that team had a pick 1, 2 or 3 pick that THEY picked.  And free agency started in 1976.  When teams treat their players well, those players tend to stay. 

On the Kyrie scenario I could ask the same questions.  What did LeBron do before Kyrie--Nothing until he moved to Miami to be with two other superstars.  LeBron does not win the 2016 tit;le without Kyrie as much as Kyrie does win that title without LeBron so tanking in 2010 to get Kyrie did work.  Not Rocket Science to figure that one out.  

I do not like tanking but if I were an NBA owner and having a bad season/injury season and I was a middle of the road team and knowing picks 1, 2 and 3 would help my team become better I would not focus on how many wins I chalk up.  I would put a plan in place to help my team for the future.  I think that is what Weltham/Hammond did this year and hopefully will result in a fantastic Magic future.  Too bad we did not get pick 1, 2 or 3 but 5 and 8 (get them right) might be just as good.

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