2023 NBA Draft Day Thread

[Jon 30]

3 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

There's a weird thing where if we picked Coulibaly loads of people who are down on Black would be happy but he's also a defense first, questionable jumper guy. 

I wouldn’t pick him at 6 but since you brought him up. He shot a better percentage the Black. Plus his size. His shot also has looks way better than Blacks and has more lift.

I wouldn’t like it at 6 but I could at least see something other what we got now.

[DestroidMengars 22]

Here's the thing, most people outside of Orlando feel like we have our backcourt starting lineup set but feel like we don't have any long-term starters in the frontcourt. While we like Kelle here, and I count myself among those who do, most of the league views him as a backup, and he hasn't exactly established trust as durable over the long-term. So, is it a bad idea to take another shot at a PG if most in the league view our guard room as full of backups? Hopefully, with another year of development and a new face, someone can differentiate himself from the pack and step up to clearly become that long-term lead guard. I don't get the hate for Anthony Black. I don't love the fit, but most scout rankings would have said he was best available (outside of Whitmore, who seemed to have other issues) or very close to it. If we're talking best player available and not concerning ourselves with fit, he was the right pick and I get it. If nothing else, we don't have to worry so much about not having a pass first playmaking PG if Kelle decides to stub his toe again and miss a quarter of the season.

[Mauro Pedrosa 1,033]

10 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

I like Powell personally lol, think I'd rather have him than Holmes.

Haha, to me he's just one of those guys that doesn't do much on the court. I'd be super frustrated to see him as a starter

[Jon 30]

2 minutes ago, DestroidMengars said:

Here's the thing, most people outside of Orlando feel like we have our backcourt starting lineup set but feel like we don't have any long-term starters in the frontcourt. While we like Kelle here, and I count myself among those who do, most of the league views him as a backup, and he hasn't exactly established trust as durable over the long-term. So, is it a bad idea to take another shot at a PG if most in the league view our guard room as full of backups? Hopefully, with another year of development and a new face, someone can differentiate himself from the pack and step up to clearly become that long-term lead guard. I don't get the hate for Anthony Black. I don't love the fit, but most scout rankings would have said he was best available (outside of Whitmore, who seemed to have other issues) or very close to it. If we're talking best player available and not concerning ourselves with fit, he was the right pick and I get it. If nothing else, we don't have to worry so much about not having a pass first playmaking PG if Kelle decides to stub his toe again and miss a quarter of the season.

Lol this is my point. Our lineup is what it was last year. We used our best asset to duplicate? Are we content with being a treadmill team? Are we just going to do this over and over again until some years from now we get the number 1 pick again and Paolo is wanting out because we didn’t move the needle at all?

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

3 minutes ago, Jon said:

I wouldn’t pick him at 6 but since you brought him up. He shot a better percentage the Black. Plus his size. His shot also has looks way better than Blacks and has more lift.

I wouldn’t like it at 6 but I could at least see something other what we got now.

I personally don't see the shot looking way better he's very stiff, he shot a few percentage points better on lower volume. I think the jury is out for me on who's the better shooter at the moment, though I concede it could very well end up being Bilal.

Yea he is bigger. He's also not even in the same realm as a passer/playmaker.

[CTMagicUK 1,491]

13 minutes ago, Mauro Pedrosa said:

Haha, to me he's just one of those guys that doesn't do much on the court. I'd be super frustrated to see him as a starter

Oh yea he's not a starter. I think that's part of the problem if he just played 10 mins a game off the bench he'd probably be more well regarded. I know he plays with Luka getting him open looks but he's statically an awesome finisher around the rim. 

[Jon 30]

1 minute ago, CTMagicUK said:

I personally don't see the shot looking way better he's very stiff, he shot a few percentage points better on lower volume. I think the jury is out for me on who's the better shooter at the moment, though I concede it could very well end up being Bilal.

Yea he is bigger. He's also not even in the same realm as a passer/playmaker.

I don’t hate Black the player. I hate our decision making and how we are constructing our roster. We finally got a number one pick and a possible all star in Paolo. So what do we do? We use our best assets to duplicate talent with same weaknesses as what we already have. This feels like the Bamba draft except worse because Vuch had value.

Does Weham need another two years to evaluate like he did when he got here? Just don’t think they can build a winning team.

[All Eyes On Me 1,215]

31 minutes ago, Jon said:

I don’t hate Black the player. I hate our decision making and how we are constructing our roster. We finally got a number one pick and a possible all star in Paolo. So what do we do? We use our best assets to duplicate talent with same weaknesses as what we already have. This feels like the Bamba draft except worse because Vuch had value.

Does Weham need another two years to evaluate like he did when he got here? Just don’t think they can build a winning team.

I actually agree with you, and I don’t think there was anybody at 6 in this draft that addressed our weaknesses. I’ve been on team trade the picks from the get-go. Pick 6 and pick 11 on paper pre draft had more value than the players we drafted do now. I’m gonna talk myself into it because it’s easier for me that way and I’m a lifelong fan, but I would’ve rather traded up for Scoot or traded the picks for a vet. 

[orlandoholic 137]

 

Somebody made a video with all his shots.. 

Black is weird. His shooting form looks good, his shot looks good. He rarely takes i’ll advised shots. But yet his shot is all over the place lol. That’s the feeling i got early from him. 

Sometimes he shoots it straight forward. The next time he’ll shoot it wide right. Next time he’ll be short, just to follow up with a swish three. It’s all over the place. (early in the season i actually thought this was a vision problem from his hair. Just because that shot was spread all over the place)

The good thing about this is that Black doesn’t have to learn how to shoot from the ground up. His form is nice. 

He also has all other NBA skills already. He doesn’t need to learn how to change speeds, how to manipulate a defense, how to set up players. His midrange is solid and his drive to the rim as well. He can just drill threes all off season long. 

Second, most important part is that he doesn’t have to learn how not to take bad shots. He doesn’t force shots

[Jon 30]

9 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

I actually agree with you, and I don’t think there was anybody at 6 in this draft that addressed our weaknesses. I’ve been on team trade the picks from the get-go. Pick 6 and pick 11 on paper pre draft had more value than the players we drafted do now. I’m gonna talk myself into it because it’s easier for me that way and I’m a lifelong fan, but I would’ve rather traded up for Scoot or traded the picks for a vet. 

That’s what I would’ve done. Those picks are more valuable before the draft than after. That was the time to be aggressive. Instead Weham uses the same logic behind drafting Bamba.
 

Difference is Vuch had more value as a 7 footer who could stretch out the floor, rebound, play adequate enough defense and was an all star. Fultz has no value (outside of being an expiring which gets you others dead weight) as he is a lower tier PG who isn’t even in the top 20 that hesitates to shoot high volumes of threes.

 

[ball junkie 277]

Orlando Magic: B-

Round 1: Anthony Black (No. 6), Jett Howard (No. 11)
Round 2: None

Black very much fits the mold of the Orlando front office, which loves rangy players, sometimes independent of their shooting ability. The 6-foot-7 Black brings great size to the Magic's backcourt, which has plenty of options (including veteran Markelle Fultz and recent first-round picks Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs) but no clear anchor.

Howard going ahead of Michigan teammate Bufkin was one of the night's biggest surprises. Given where Howard was projected (20th in ESPN's final mock draft), drafting him without moving back seems like a failure to maximize value.

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/37901984/nba-draft-2023-grading-spurs-hornets-blazers-every-team-night

Clippers and Lakers had a worse grade than us …Memphis and Phoenix had the same B- …Pelton graded every other team higher 

[orlandoholic 137]

47 minutes ago, Jon said:

I don’t hate Black the player. I hate our decision making and how we are constructing our roster. We finally got a number one pick and a possible all star in Paolo. So what do we do? We use our best assets to duplicate talent with same weaknesses as what we already have. This feels like the Bamba draft except worse because Vuch had value.

Does Weham need another two years to evaluate like he did when he got here? Just don’t think they can build a winning team.

just for some perspective.. What would have been your scenario?

I mean my picks would have been a close call between Walker and Black. 

I started to anticipate that Hendricks could fall to 11, that’s why i could see myself choosing Black..

Then Cam fell and i definitely would have drafted Cam. 

That wouldn’t have addressed shooting issues either.

 

But i am also not too concerned. I believe in individual improvements and i also believe that with more and better playmaking, we will open up more open spot up shots.