Jay Magic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 One trade proposal by SB Nation's James Hansen suggested trading guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Gary Harris, Anthony Black, and two unprotected first-round picks for Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen. Thoughts?? Random offseason talk Quote
MagicMan1979 Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 4 hours ago, Jtsaints said: Would anyone do a trade that included Franz to get Luca? That’s a yes for me as well. You would have to consider it for Luka, Jokic, Gianni’s, or SGA. They are too good not to as they would make us instant contenders. Quote
CTMagicUK Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 1 hour ago, Jay Magic said: One trade proposal by SB Nation's James Hansen suggested trading guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Gary Harris, Anthony Black, and two unprotected first-round picks for Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen. Thoughts?? Random offseason talk Lauri is a super weird fit with our core. I get the idea of "just acquire good players and make it work" but... Lauri basically forces you to play massive jumbo lineups of Suggs/Franz/Lauri/Paolo/[insert a C] and that doesn't really help us with our playmaking issues. The alternative is Paolo at the 5 which he just doesn't have the help defensive instincts (or willingness to do the grunt work) to make work. Quote
Jay Magic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 7 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said: Lauri is a super weird fit with our core. I get the idea of "just acquire good players and make it work" but... Lauri basically forces you to play massive jumbo lineups of Suggs/Franz/Lauri/Paolo/[insert a C] and that doesn't really help us with our playmaking issues. The alternative is Paolo at the 5 which he just doesn't have the help defensive instincts (or willingness to do the grunt work) to make work. Yeah I agree with this Quote
argentinaworldchampion Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 1 hour ago, MagicMan1979 said: That’s a yes for me as well. You would have to consider it for Luka, Jokic, Gianni’s, or SGA. They are too good not to as they would make us instant contenders. giannis and jokic will get old soon luka and sga are a must accept anyway, dream scenario Quote
Jay Magic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 I'm rocking with Franz over trading him for Luka.... Quote
orlandoholic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 15 minutes ago, Jay Magic said: I'm rocking with Franz over trading him for Luka.... Absolutely. American lifestyle and food has done Luka dirty.. That said, i’d love him in Orlando. It’s just not happening. Luka is also a world wide Brand. He’ll end up in a major market and if he decides LA isn’t his preferred destination, then i only see Knicks or Miami as a fit. But it was always said that „career planners“ would eventually get Luka to the Lakers. He started his career at Real Madrid and it was written in the stars that he’d be a Laker one day. Europeans know this lol Quote
Shine88 Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 Orlando: Needing a supporting cast The Magic only won 41 games in the regular season, but that came with the aid of a freakish sequence in which star forwards Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero both sustained extended absences at the same time due to the same uncommon basketball injury (a torn oblique muscle). Add in Jalen Suggs’ season ending after 35 games because of a knee injury, and it’s pretty clear why Orlando dropped off from the 47-win team that took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the first round of 2024. Orlando’s sense of urgency, however, has ratcheted up, because the Magic are now at the point where the roster is getting expensive. Max deals for Wagner and (almost certainly) Banchero will combine with a rich extension for Suggs to have them pushing the luxury-tax line each of the next two years. (Orlando dodged a tax-apron pitfall when Wagner’s injury took him out of All-NBA consideration after a torrid start to his season. That could have raised the cost of his deal by roughly $4 million annually.) The other consideration for the Magic is whether they truly have their centerpiece. Banchero is a dominant physical force with a developing pull-up game, as well as a plus passer whose skill in this area would be more apparent with better shooters around him. On the other hand, he has yet to show that he impacts the team’s bottom line. The Magic have been slightly outscored over the past two years with Banchero on the floor. Banchero-Wagner combinations have been only slightly better. Also, neither player generates a high percentage of shots at the rim (about 21 percent this year for both, although Wagner generates more close-in attempts from floater range), contributing to the perception that everything Orlando does offensively just looks … hard. Additionally, having two similarly sized featured players removes some of the ability to use them in actions together, which happens only rarely. Other teams have worked through this issue — witness the Magic’s first-round opponents, who figured out the balance with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum — but too often right now, it’s a your-turn, my-turn offense for Wagner and Banchero. If Banchero’s efficiency is a concern on the one hand, the degradation of Wagner’s shot throughout the season is equally troubling. ... You see that hitch in the second clip? That showed up out of the blue in the second half of the season. Wagner went from shooting a quasi-respectable 32.1 percent from 3 pre-injury to a ghastly 26.1 percent afterward (including the playoffs). For a guy who is money from the free-throw line (87.1 percent this year, 85.6 percent career), it’s bizarre to see him struggle so much from deep. Heading into the offseason, addressing the lack of shooting and opening up the floor for Orlando’s stars seems like the most obvious place to start. The Magic will point out that nearly every player shot below his career norms this year, most glaringly free-agent addition Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (34.2 percent in Orlando after two years of shooting better than 40 percent in Denver). Even if others progress to the mean, much work remains. Banchero and Wagner need to shoot better, for each other’s sake. A floor-spacing center would help quite a bit; Wendell Carter Jr. at times has been a threat from deep, but he hardly looks at the basket anymore from 3. On the perimeter, Suggs is a volume attempter but has only shot accurately once in four seasons. Lottery pick Anthony Black is a dynamic defender with size, but shooting remains a glaring weakness. And three straight stabs at wing shooting in the draft have borne little fruit, as Caleb Houstan, Jett Howard and Tristan da Silva haven’t been good enough to get on the floor. Another theme that may even be more important is finding a guard who can make the game easier for Banchero and Wagner. Orlando has had near-zero perimeter playmaking the last two seasons, forcing the two forwards to shoulder a massive shot-creation load. Veteran retread Cory Joseph finished the season as the starting point guard, which is a tremendous story but also a cry for help. Landing a dynamic guard who can run two-man actions with the star forwards and get paint touches on his own might be more important than another shot at a Caldwell-Pope or a Howard. Fortunately for the Magic, they have the tools to make deals despite their tax situation. They could easily get below the tax apron just by declining the $11 million team option for Moe Wagner (injured with a torn ACL at midseason), even if they eventually re-sign him at a lower number. Beyond that, they have several middle-class contracts for useful but hardly essential players who can be the salary match in a trade for a playmaking guard. (Cole Anthony, though beloved in the locker room, seems likely to be one piece based on his friendly contract status: a $13.1 million deal for 2025-26 with a team option at the same number for 2026-27.) Players such as Portland’s Anfernee Simons or Chicago’s Coby White might be examples of players Orlando could plausibly import and wouldn’t crush their cap; more expensive types, such as Trae Young or LaMelo Ball, probably aren’t sustainable within this salary structure. Orlando is still in a fortuitous position because it hasn’t put its draft capital in play. The Magic have two first-rounders in 2025 and don’t need any more developmental players. Orlando also has a surplus of future second-rounders and a 2026 pick that has added trade value since it is swappable with the lesser of Phoenix’s or Washington’s if it lands outside the top eight. On draft night, the Magic could theoretically put all six firsts in play. (They won’t, almost certainly, but I’m just saying …) Nonetheless, it seems like the time is ripe for change on the roster. My intel is that Orlando still has a high degree of belief in its last two first-round prospects, Black and da Silva, but it might thin the rest of the prospect herd and bring in a few more veterans. After all, solving the shooting and playmaking questions and getting the right mix around Banchero and Wagner are critical to answering the next question: Exactly how far can those two take them? https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6335960/2025/05/06/orlando-magic-houston-rockets-nba-offense/ Quote
Jay Magic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 15 minutes ago, orlandoholic said: Absolutely. American lifestyle and food has done Luka dirty.. That said, i’d love him in Orlando. It’s just not happening. Luka is also a world wide Brand. He’ll end up in a major market and if he decides LA isn’t his preferred destination, then i only see Knicks or Miami as a fit. But it was always said that „career planners“ would eventually get Luka to the Lakers. He started his career at Real Madrid and it was written in the stars that he’d be a Laker one day. Europeans know this lol Won't lie with Mose here and P5 .. Franz etc Luka the type of player to come to us ... Shane we can't have Luka.. Paolo.. Franz.. Suggsy.... haha 1 can dream Quote
orlandoholic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 https://x.com/thebrettjames1/status/1919866979776610582?s=46 apparently Lilliard could have imagined playing for us before being traded to the Bucks.. If this is true, people need to call the police on Weltman. Put that man in prison.. How the hell do you sleep on prime Lilliard?! Quote
All Eyes On Me Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 If the Cavs get ousted, I’m getting back on the Garland train Quote
Jay Magic Posted May 7 Report Posted May 7 19 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said: If the Cavs get ousted, I’m getting back on the Garland train He not sort injury prone ish? He'd be upgrade massively of course Quote
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