2025/26 NBA Regular Season Thread

[OnlyFranz]

8 minutes ago, Soul Bro said:

Is this anything? The best plus/minus players on the Magic.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/best-plus-minus-on-orlando-magic

Paolo’s plus/minus has been rough, and honestly it matches what you see on the court. It’s one thing when the eye test confirms it, but when the numbers back it up too, it gets a little concerning especially thinking long term. We’re talking about a 5-year, $239M commitment to Paolo and right now the impact just isn’t there in terms of winning basketball. The talent is obvious, but he’s got to take a real leap this offseason.

He needs to develop some reliable go to moves. The drive and spin into traffic is becoming way too predictable and it’s leading to a lot of turnovers. On top of that, he’s constantly looking for fouls instead of finishing through contact, which kills possessions especially since he’s not exactly elite at the line (even though he did improve this year). There’s still a ton of upside, but if he doesn’t tighten up those areas, this is going to hinder our teams aspirations of a championship.

[All Eyes On Me]

This also got me thinking, Des is at 80, has played in every single game this season. So if he hits the last 2 and gets to 82, he’d be the first Magic man to do it since Elfrid Payton in the 2016-17 season. Fun stat. Last player to do it before Elf was Dwight in the 2009-10 season.

[A Better DJ & Photographer]

On 3/26/2026 at 11:08 AM, Jamesdin said:

but we ***** them picks for yrs to come

Easy fix. If you tank you lose your pick or get moved to the end of the 1st round.

[fan for too long 2]

9 hours ago, OnlyFranz said:

Paolo’s plus/minus has been rough, and honestly it matches what you see on the court. It’s one thing when the eye test confirms it, but when the numbers back it up too, it gets a little concerning especially thinking long term. We’re talking about a 5-year, $239M commitment to Paolo and right now the impact just isn’t there in terms of winning basketball. The talent is obvious, but he’s got to take a real leap this offseason.

He needs to develop some reliable go to moves. The drive and spin into traffic is becoming way too predictable and it’s leading to a lot of turnovers. On top of that, he’s constantly looking for fouls instead of finishing through contact, which kills possessions especially since he’s not exactly elite at the line (even though he did improve this year). There’s still a ton of upside, but if he doesn’t tighten up those areas, this is going to hinder our teams aspirations of a championship.

Tin foil hat engaged. Maybe Paolo is trying to get traded by being lazy and forcing his way out of town. Or he’s just not that good. Just a thought. 

[Soul Bro]

On 4/9/2026 at 11:34 PM, fan for too long 2 said:

Tin foil hat engaged. Maybe Paolo is trying to get traded by being lazy and forcing his way out of town. Or he’s just not that good. Just a thought. 

A few things are clear to me about Paolo that negatively impact his game:

1. He’s way too loose with his handle, which leads to turnovers and easy fast break points for the other team.

2. His defense is wildly inconsistent. (Even during this winning streak, I’ve noticed opponents targeting him 1v1).

3. His three ball is unreliable.

Can we overcome these deficiencies to become a real threat? I’m not sure.

[Luke_FfS]

I hope that every member of the team and every player fully understand how bad they've been letting go very winnable games, that could have easily got us out of the play-in "lottery" and even allowed to have home court advantage in the first round. The more I think about all the silly games we lost, the more I feel disgusted.

[HeartAndHustle]

How did we lose to a bunch of Dunkin Donuts employees in Boston? This has me really worried about the next couple of games.

[Luke_FfS]

At this point, it's sad to say, but I'm honestly more worried if we somehow get some casual wins in those playin/playoffs, enough to justify the FO to be renewed. We need a total change here, so I'm fully open to sacrifice a few postseason games for a better future.

[TrueMagicFan07]

13 hours ago, HeartAndHustle said:

How did we lose to a bunch of Dunkin Donuts employees in Boston? This has me really worried about the next couple of games.

 

That's a good one, HeartAndHustle. . .too funny!

[Crazyhorse81]

Someone correct me, please, but my understanding was we needed that win so we could at least *host* a play-in game.  If that's the case, surely the owners are looking at the body language of the team that is essentially screaming they don't care to play their play-in game at home.  What kind of message is that to send to the fans that support your team, that they don't care enough to fight?

Hopefully I'm not doing too terrible a job of explaining my thoughts here, just that I think it's a bad look for the entire organization that with the opportunity to host a play-in game, we lose to a bunch of guys randomly pulled from the stands right before tip-off.

[HeartAndHustle]

2 hours ago, Crazyhorse81 said:

Someone correct me, please, but my understanding was we needed that win so we could at least *host* a play-in game.  If that's the case, surely the owners are looking at the body language of the team that is essentially screaming they don't care to play their play-in game at home.  What kind of message is that to send to the fans that support your team, that they don't care enough to fight?

Hopefully I'm not doing too terrible a job of explaining my thoughts here, just that I think it's a bad look for the entire organization that with the opportunity to host a play-in game, we lose to a bunch of guys randomly pulled from the stands right before tip-off.

I believe we will host the second play-in game if we lose to the 76ers.

Yeah, the effort/energy looks like a problem. I don't know how to solve that.