2023-2024 General Game Thread

[MagicMan1979 107]

13 minutes ago, TreyMachine said:

FYI, less than a year ago, it seemed like Murray and Paolo had some serious beef. I'm sure being teammates will squash it, but it is something to note and I question whether it could create locker room division if he were to come here. 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10062340-dejounte-murray-opens-up-about-paolo-banchero-incident-you-crossed-the-line#:~:text=The situation appeared to begin,forward and chest-bumped him.

If I recall correctly, Pop in San Antonio wanted him gone because he was too "me first" oriented. I don't know if I love the idea of making him a key player and influence in our locker room if that is the case as this team is (in my mind) for Paolo and Franz. 

We were discussing this a few weeks ago. Since then The Spurs have inquired about trading for him back. Also Pop said in a recent interview he still talks to Murray all the time and he is a huge fan of him as a person. I am back on the trade for Murray train. He just fits so well with his skill set and our timeline. He even has a good contract. 
 

He will probably end up on The Lakers helping them get to the finals lol

[ball junkie 277]

I’m gonna preface this by saying the Magic are under pressure to make the playoffs and they should be …the players have stated as much .

With the Hawks breathing right down our necks in the standings now …and they certainly didn’t look like a team last night that is ready to wave the white flag …why would they trade what looks like their best player for our scraps ? …Unless we just keep losing and fall further down the standings I think continuity is an asset moving forward …evaluate after the season and make your moves then 

[All Eyes On Me 1,213]

12 minutes ago, ball junkie said:

I’m gonna preface this by saying the Magic are under pressure to make the playoffs and they should be …the players have stated as much .

With the Hawks breathing right down our necks in the standings now …and they certainly didn’t look like a team last night that is ready to wave the white flag …why would they trade what looks like their best player for our scraps ? …Unless we just keep losing and fall further down the standings I think continuity is an asset moving forward …evaluate after the season and make your moves then 

The problem with this mentality is it doesn’t allow us to take advantage of guys like Fultz and Harris who are expiring and probably aren’t in our future plans. So if we don’t deal them we’ll be letting assets walk for free and playing the free agency game, which is more of a crap shoot than trades. Also, with the team currently as designed I don’t know how high our ceiling is this season if we stay put. We have serious issues at point guard. After the hot start if we’re a one game and done play-in team this season is a disappointment.

[ball junkie 277]

3 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

The problem with this mentality is it doesn’t allow us to take advantage of guys like Fultz and Harris who are expiring and probably aren’t in our future plans. So if we don’t deal them we’ll be letting assets walk for free and playing the free agency game, which is more of a crap shoot than trades. Also, with the team currently as designed I don’t know how high our ceiling is this season if we stay put. We have serious issues at point guard. After the hot start if we’re a one game and done play-in team this season is a disappointment.

Ok …but what about the other question …the Hawks don’t look like a team that is ready to give up …why would they trade what looks like their best player ? To get players not as good 

[OnlyFranz 293]

34 minutes ago, TreyMachine said:

FYI, less than a year ago, it seemed like Murray and Paolo had some serious beef. I'm sure being teammates will squash it, but it is something to note and I question whether it could create locker room division if he were to come here. 

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10062340-dejounte-murray-opens-up-about-paolo-banchero-incident-you-crossed-the-line#:~:text=The situation appeared to begin,forward and chest-bumped him.

If I recall correctly, Pop in San Antonio wanted him gone because he was too "me first" oriented. I don't know if I love the idea of making him a key player and influence in our locker room if that is the case as this team is (in my mind) for Paolo and Franz. 

That article you posted tells you exactly why Murray had beef with Paolo. It had everything to do with the game and how he felt disrespected by Paolo during the game. Who wouldn’t want that type of fire and competitor on their team? If they become teammates I can assure you it would all be water under the bridge and it probably is already. Having a pg who can get to the basket at will, create their own shot, and not be a liability on defense and who is apparently available on the trade market doesn’t come around too often. We can’t deny that our inconsistent guard play is part of the reason why we are losing games. The time for evaluating this team is over we need to take this opportunity to upgrade our roster and stop playing 2nd and 3rd string guys heavy minutes. 

[OnlyFranz 293]

2 minutes ago, ball junkie said:

Ok …but what about the other question …the Hawks don’t look like a team that is ready to give up …why would they trade what looks like their best player ? To get players not as good 

The Hawks making Murray and Capela available tells me that they are ready to start over. Will it happen who knows but the Magic need to do everything in their power to get Murray if it’s a possibility. 

[All Eyes On Me 1,213]

4 minutes ago, ball junkie said:

Ok …but what about the other question …the Hawks don’t look like a team that is ready to give up …why would they trade what looks like their best player ? To get players not as good 

All the rumors I’ve seen is that the Hawks are ready to blow it up and start over, but I agree with you that pulling off a deal for a good player with a division is rival is tricky

[CTMagicUK 1,488]

At present Atlanta are not far away from being a tax paying team next year with roster spots to fill and they're below .500 this year and were exactly .500 the year before. And they've got a Jalen Johnson extension to think about.

If I were them I'd take this year as a bit of a reset year. Trade Murray, try and get off of Hunter, trade Capela and start Okongwu, trade Bogdanovic. 

Refocus the core as Trae, Jalen Johnson and Okongwu. Add from there using picks and cap space and try and be in a good position to make a trade for when an all star calibre forward or big becomes available. 

There's a trade that works where we send Fultz, Harris and Okeke as salary and then divert DeAndre Hunter to a third team (Detroit is who I looked at, they might actually like to add a competent basketball player around Cade so it may not cost much to make that happen). 

[JJZFL 621]

14 hours ago, ball junkie said:

Not to pick on you Z but the 3 was awesome with a poor possession and the shot clock dwindling .

How in the heck do you have JI on the bench down the stretch ? You can’t tell me he wouldn’t have helped on defense …Hawks are right behind us for the playin and they just closed within another game of us .

During the stretch I was commenting on he took four heavily contested shots on consecutive possessions and missed three of them.  It’s still a team game.  Take a look at the play by play starting at around the four and a half minute mark. 

[MagicMan1979 107]

6 hours ago, ball junkie said:

Ok …but what about the other question …the Hawks don’t look like a team that is ready to give up …why would they trade what looks like their best player ? To get players not as good 

Junkie you know how The NBA is when there is smoke there is fire.  There is more smoke around Murray then Siakam even.  Murray will most likely be traded.  Part of the reason is him and Trae have not worked and they still want to build around Trae.  Every NBA expert from Woj, to Shams has said they are trading him and he is the most likely All Star dealt.  I think last night was an audition.  I also doubt like you and others have said our Front Office will have the guts to make a big move even though they should.

 

Google Dejounte Murray there will be a lot of articles about him.  It seems like he wants out also by the way.

[JJZFL 621]

11 hours ago, All Eyes On Me said:

The only rotation stuff that makes sense is if we’re showcasing someone for a trade or we’re trying to keep the core rotation intact because one of the guys coming back from injury is going to be traded. Moe Wagner has been too good this year to be getting DNP-CDs unless there’s something bigger going on.

If we’re trying to “showcase” Okeke it’s not working too well.  Yesterday he was 3/9 from the field and 0/4 three point range.  6 points total in about 30 minutes of playing time.  +\- of -8 was second worst in a game we lost by 2.  
 

If we’re really trying to increase his value by giving him extra playing time, it may be backfiring and reducing his value instead. It might be best to showcase him by keeping him in full view on the bench.

[All Eyes On Me 1,213]

1 hour ago, JJZFL said:

If we’re trying to “showcase” Okeke it’s not working too well.  Yesterday he was 3/9 from the field and 0/4 three point range.  6 points total in about 30 minutes of playing time.  +\- of -8 was second worst in a game we lost by 2.  
 

If we’re really trying to increase his value by giving him extra playing time, it may be backfiring and reducing his value instead. It might be best to showcase him by keeping him in full view on the bench.

I don’t know if him playing could hurt his base level value of just being a $6 mill expiring, but I see your point. At this point we all know who Chuma is, maybe we’re just hoping for a hot streak to make someone think there’s something there we haven’t developed.