2025 Off-Season Thread

[Soul Bro]

What an exciting time to be a Magic fan. Let’s go!

[orlandoholic]

9 minutes ago, CTMagicUK said:

If Franz gets to 35% from 3 it's literally over for the league. 

I’d like to add a solid midrange game/shot!! That would make him unguardable. 

 

[Shine88]

The Washington Wizards are trading Kelly Olynyk to the San Antonio Spurs for Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley and a 2026 second-round pick (least favorable of Dallas, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City), sources tell ESPN.

Love this move for the Spurs.

[hootie249]

Talking heads are so utterly, wrong sometimes. They are piling on Paolo after the extension and forgetting somehow, that bigs with his skill level dominate the league! This years Finals where point guards were the focus obscured 75 years of the league in their heads!

Large players with skills dominate basketball, case close, nuff said. There will always be a year where the exception is not the rule and having Curry win 4 times with almost perfectly constructed teams have warped gm's brains.

They shouldn't have even won that last one against the Celtics but the Irish messed up and Wiggins and Poole did things they have not done since!

[CTMagicUK]

I'm irrationally optimistic about Noah Penda. 

Summer league interviews everyone is talking about how hard he plays on the court and how much competitiveness he brings. Jase specifically mentioned he can guard 4 positions which is presumably something he's seen in practice. 

And all the answers he gives are super grounded and intentional. He mentioned he was looking forward to seeing how the NBA game is officiated differently in Summer League which is a very detail orientated thing to say when most guys say things like they want to "showcase their abilities" etc. 

[CTMagicUK]

4 hours ago, hootie249 said:

Talking heads are so utterly, wrong sometimes. They are piling on Paolo after the extension and forgetting somehow, that bigs with his skill level dominate the league!

They just need something to talk about in July. 

Paolo was a second year All Star, would have been two time All Star if not for injuries, when do those guys ever not get the rookie max? 

[All Eyes On Me]

3 hours ago, CTMagicUK said:

They just need something to talk about in July. 

Paolo was a second year All Star, would have been two time All Star if not for injuries, when do those guys ever not get the rookie max? 

It’s that, and it’s also the advanced stats nerds that don’t watch games don’t like Paolo because his advanced stats show he’s inefficient but don’t show any context as to why that could be. There’s also trolls everywhere in the OKC fanbase claiming both JDub and Chet are better than him, which is absurd. Weird to be in the heads of a team that just won a title so bad.

[CTMagicUK]

6 minutes ago, All Eyes On Me said:

It’s that, and it’s also the advanced stats nerds that don’t watch games don’t like Paolo because his advanced stats show he’s inefficient but don’t show any context as to why that could be. There’s also trolls everywhere in the OKC fanbase claiming both JDub and Chet are better than him, which is absurd. Weird to be in the heads of a team that just won a title so bad.

Paolo Banchero year 3: 55% TS whilst leading a team to the playoffs despite being the worst shooting team in the league.

Cade Cunningham year 3: 55% TS whilst leading a team to 14 wins. 

Did anyone cry this much about a Cade max? I don't remember it if they did. 

[Luke_FfS]

Empty summer discussions, there was maybe a case for Franz being worth a little less than the max, but I understand you don't want to make one of your core guys angry for that. Suggs is possibly overpaid too at the moment, but only because he has been unable to stay healthy. We'll see, next season will tell us a lot.

(the only thing worth discussing is the player option, that's something rare, only Trae and Luka before, but what is done is done)

[Shine88]

They pretty much cried about every rookie max deal, except Anthony Edwards. I mean, the advanced stats don't work in his favor, and some of that is on him, but the front office and coaching staff has to take some of the blame, too. The man spend damn near his entire rookie contract playing without a PG, a coaching staff without an offensive coordinator after Tibbet left and the worst shooting situation probably in NBA history.

I like what Weltman did this summer, but he always seem to be a year behind. I think that has played a part in the development of both Paolo and Franz, too.

[Luke_FfS]

I believe that a lot of us see those defects on Paolo, but it's actually a great thing that he has space to improve, would been a lot worst if he was already at his top. But the way max contracts works now, almost every very good player is able to make it, even when it's not fully deserved. Banchero is surely one of the most clear max given in the last few seasons.

Btw, OMD has already repeated in various articles that trading Suggs will be the only solution in the future to solve the second apron issues. 

[CTMagicUK]

10 minutes ago, Luke_FfS said:

Btw, OMD has already repeated in various articles that trading Suggs will be the only solution in the future to solve the second apron issues. 

I don't believe this is true. Suggs has got the easiest contract of all 4 top paid guys to navigate around because it declines in value. 

In 28/29 Suggs makes 13.6% of the projected cap. That's the equivalent of someone making about $21m this coming season. There are currently about 90 guys in the league who make $21m or more this coming season. 

Obviously a lot depends on his health and dependability but in a world where the Magic are contending and Suggs is healthy and impactful I can't imagine why we'd need to trade him. We may at some point want to trade him for something else I suppose. 

I think if you're looking at contracts that are looking less likely to be played out with the Magic we should be looking at Isaac and Wendell first and foremost, after that maybe you get to Suggs but I imagine a lot depends on the next year or maybe two before you make a decision on it.