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All Eyes On Me

2021-2022 Orlando Magic Season Thread… Let’s Goo!!!

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9. Keep an eye on the young Magic -- including a forgotten big man

The Magic are kinda fun -- even though two of their key building blocks (Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac) are still out, and another (Chuma Okeke) returned Saturday on a minutes restriction. Franz Wagner is good. (More on him next week.) Cole Anthony is all moxie and audacity.

But keep half an eye on the long forgotten, assumed-he-was-a-bust Mohamed Bamba.

The Bamba-Wendell Carter Jr. double-center look is treading water -- or at least not drowning -- which is surprising on multiple levels. Carter has just enough malleability for the setup to survive; he tries to space the floor -- Carter has hit 39% from deep and is already approaching a career-high in attempts -- and chases stretchier power forwards on defense, allowing Bamba to stick near the rim.

But Bamba is producing over a minutes load (almost 32 per game) that seemed frankly preposterous just a few months ago. He has hit 40% on 3s and 57% on 2s, and looks steadier on defense -- staying down on fakes, keeping his equilibrium, and effecting more shots without leaping into oblivion.

He and Carter cover enough space to compensate for brief missteps. They've flashed some nice communication, toggling assignments on the fly to snuff openings:

Let's not go overboard. There's a reason the Magic extended Carter, but not Bamba. Bamba still has quarters, even games, when you barely feel his impact. He needs a way of helping the offense beyond shooting 3s, which go hot and cold. He should be a more dangerous rim-runner -- he rarely catches lobs -- though the Magic have not put him in good position for that given the blah shooting around him.

Bamba has to prove he can do this for 70 more games. If he does, he'll have suitors (at the right price!) in free agency.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/32553843/lowe-10-things-point-center-joel-embiid-miami-ridiculous-start-long-forgotten-big-man

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7 hours ago, Eskobar said:

Is it possible they're keeping Isaac out for no other reason than to keep our win total down? Is there another athlete with an ACL tear that had a similar recovery time that he's dealing with? It's usually a 10-12 month thing, and he's well beyond that. Something just seems a bit fishy.

Kevin Durant was injured in June 2019 and didn't play an NBA game until Dec 2020. 

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On 11/5/2021 at 3:18 PM, All Eyes On Me said:

One of the stranger parts of this whole JI thing is he can only miss 3 more games total of the 73 left (and spoilers he probably ain’t playing tonight) this season or else he’s already sacrificed that $2.6 million incentive for the season. He’s already been out 4-5 months longer than the expected recovery time and theres zero timeline on his return. There’s so many red flags around this kid.

I said that when we drafted him. Love his game but he is VERY fragile. I would rather have drafted someone not quite as good that can actually play most of a season.

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So, Vooch and all he meant to the team was great and I’m not downplaying that at all. But right now that trade is:

Vucevic and Aminu’s terrible contract for

Wendell Carter Jr, Franz Wagner, the cap space from Otto Porter’s expiring and a 2023 first round pick still to come. 
 

what a trade!!

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3 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

So, Vooch and all he meant to the team was great and I’m not downplaying that at all. But right now that trade is:

Vucevic and Aminu’s terrible contract for

Wendell Carter Jr, Franz Wagner, the cap space from Otto Porter’s expiring and a 2023 first round pick still to come. 
 

what a trade!!

I am sure some Bulls fans already think that Wendell just by himself is better than Vuc ))

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6 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

So, Vooch and all he meant to the team was great and I’m not downplaying that at all. But right now that trade is:

Vucevic and Aminu’s terrible contract for

Wendell Carter Jr, Franz Wagner, the cap space from Otto Porter’s expiring and a 2023 first round pick still to come. 
 

what a trade!!

This will go down as an all time fleece of a trade. What a stupid trade from Chicago, good to be on the other side of the trade for once 

 

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8 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

So, Vooch and all he meant to the team was great and I’m not downplaying that at all. But right now that trade is:

Vucevic and Aminu’s terrible contract for

Wendell Carter Jr, Franz Wagner, the cap space from Otto Porter’s expiring and a 2023 first round pick still to come. 
 

what a trade!!

I think this is kind of karma for having such bad luck, terrible trades, horrible picks and awful injuries during all Magic history. 

1% positive compared to negative, but still, a good move nonetheless

Now, if we can have a couple more of this, then we are onto something.

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13 hours ago, harley said:

This will go down as an all time fleece of a trade. What a stupid trade from Chicago, good to be on the other side of the trade for once 

 

I knew it was a fleecing at the time. The fact that we got the expiring contract and not a 3rd team and two draft picks? I was blown away even being cautious about WCJ. Then it came through that they took Aminu's ****ty contract. I thought i was dreaming. That trade will be infamous a couple years from now. 

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