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Some of these comments are sad and cringe worthy all because someone chose to exercise their freedom of choice and speech. The fact of the matter is you can catch this virus having the vaccine or not. Some choose to potentially have milder symptoms by getting vaccinated. Others don’t feel comfortable putting something in their body that hasn’t been tested for very long and would rather let their body do the fighting like it has been doing for many generations before us. This is a personal choice and nobody should be put down for deciding for or against getting the vaccine. More love and less hate, Go Magic!

Magic need to do everything they can to hire him as a shooting coach.

Damn shame a man makes a medical decision on his own and is judged for it.

Good post. Agree. It’s hard because we’ve already seen some bad tendencies from guys like Cole, Mo and even a vet like TRoss. (And we saw it with Evan and AG, too). A clear plan, expectations and accountability are critical in resetting things in OTown. I’m hopeful a guy like Suggs can be the player leader we’ve needed for years now.

I think tanking does have a place, but as you said, you have to try to build/develop. I also "want to see a well coached team ..." I agree with your post 100% Finding that balance, of tanking ONLY when necessary is the hard part. I think our biggest mistakes over the last ten years have been largely a result of getting stuck on Elfrid Payton. He was a large part of the reason we kept Fournier, and traded Oladipo. His shortfalls as a player/point guard stunted the development of those around him. We made poor trades partly to build around his shortcomings, but they never worked. I will be the first to admit, I liked what we saw from him in "flashes", but the problem was we never saw enough of them and they never came together. While I think our front office waited too long to blow it up and start over, I can see part of the reasoning - they needed to see how much development was left once Payton was removed from the grouping, see if there was recovery despite the "stunting", and see what they had to build with/around. They also had to try and build value with those players to make a restart possible. Do I think it could have been done sooner; possibly. Would we have gotten what we did for Vuc and AG any earlier; doubtful.

Not sure why but I am quite excited for this season more than previous maybe because of a fresh start and a lot of what if's

Yes, that is true, Delta did start in India; however, it has rapidly become the primary variant here in the US because 1) it is much more contagious than the original variant, and 2) the large number of people here in the US who were, and remain unvaccinated have given it a ready base of those to infect. While it is true that those who are vaccinated CAN contract the disease, most of the resulting infections are much less virulent. That is why 90+% of those requiring hospitalization/ICU rooms for Covid are those who were unvaccinated. And while there is always a portion of the population who CAN NOT be vaccinated (children below a certain age, and certain adults who are immuno-compromised) we have managed to derail and eradicate other pandemic diseases by mandating that those who can take the vaccine do so. The main difference is that in the past, we have not had politicians (and others) spreading incorrect/alternate "facts" across an information superhighway, and making vaccination and mask wearing into such politically divisive issues. This is not the flu, which in a bad year may kill 60-70,000 people, this is a pandemic that is both much more contagious (4-5X more), and much more virulent (8-10X the mortality rate). This isn't just about one player, or one person; it is about a reckless disregard for the entire community. Frankly, if Isaac comes down with an extended case of COVID (a la Bamba), I hope management will take drastic steps to financially punish him for this recklessness and poor decision; up to and including voiding his contract. Bamba did not have a choice to take a vaccine that might have prevented him getting ill, or mitigated the length of his recovery, so I don't hold any of that against him. Isaac does.

SARS, Influenza, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Legionaires. There are over a million viruses. We spread them every day. COVID is just bad symptoms and easily transmissible. I've had it twice. Once while vaccinated and I had it much easier time of it the second time...so I'm not denying that COVID is dangerous. But it's misinformation to say the vaccinated can't spread COVID. The un-vax religious people did not get other stuff, why should we care about them not getting COVID if we are vaccinated? The fact is, if you are vaccinated you likely survive COVID. This whole hold the un-vax down and jab them thought process is fear-mongering and for the 2022 elections. People are easy to manipulate when they are afraid and they have someone to blame.Been the truth about Mobs for thousands of years. Issac has guts for taking a stand. As long as he plays good basketball, I don't care if chooses not to get vaccinated.

You mean the exact same thing we would do if a player chose to not take care of their body in the off-season and either couldn’t perform or got injured as a result?

He’s putting his own self at risk that’s his choice. If others are vaccinated they should be “fine”. The vaccine is not a cure people who are vaccinated can still catch Covid. So the only person who really is at risk is Issac. I don’t think it’s that deep.

Trade this dumb hurt moron

I think that an important part of avoiding the situation I describe above is to have strong leadership, both from players and coaches. We definitely didn’t have either the last time around. If the coach sees selfishness and someone playing for themselves, they need to bench that player and have a talk with them. There has to be accountability from day one, especially for a young team. Player leadership would be similar, telling the player who’s out of line to cut it out. It is possible that Suggs could provide that kind of leadership but it’s a lot to ask from a rookie.

It's been super difficult this year lol. I always struggle with shooting, but this year seems worse than normal. I know that Orlando is bad, and with the loss of guys like Fournier, the 3 ball is even worse for them in 2K than it was last year, but 14% is just ridiculous lol. Other than that tho, I'm having fun with it. I'll probably be getting in a game or 2 tonight. I try to be positive and optimistic every year. Even if the team is bad, I understand that bad years are part of the cycle of sports. I was excited last year about how we were playing to start the season. Fultz was running the offense well, Vuc and Fournier were playing their role as supplemental pieces, and the youth of Cole, Okeke, Fultz, etc. were all getting significant minutes. I loved what I was seeing from the team, and I didn't think that injuries were a valid reason to blow the whole thing up. But what's done is done. There are still things to be optimistic about. I am excited about Fultz / Suggs / Anthony / Okeke / Isaac, and I hope there's some real pieces in there for our future to build around. I still want to see if Bamba can develop into anything with significant playing time. Our team probably won't be any good this year, but I want us to go out and try to win every single game, and I am going to cheer any and every win we get. I don't care if it lessens our draft chances or anything like that. I never root for a loss.

The problem is that at some point you have to try to build a team and develop your players. The only alternative is to quickly decide to tank year after year, a very high risk strategy that sacrifices your current players and fan base in the hope of getting that next great thing. And when it doesn’t happen, the allure makes you want to come back and try it again the next year, very much like a gambling addiction. I want to see a well coached team playing team basketball and trying hard to compete in every game this season. That’s my benchmark for success or failure , not necessarily wins and losses.

These vaccines are the fastest to ever be made, and your upset cause Issac is exercising his freedom and isn’t quick to take it. Plus idk what you mean about less risk of contracting and exposing, once again it’s not a cure. If you are vaccinated and you are in contact with someone with covid you can still get Covid and spread Covid. The vaccination is there to lessen your risk of dying. If issac wants to take that risk that’s on him.

People who are vaccinated are less at risk for contracting and exposing those to a virus. Those who are unvaccinated are both more at risk to contracting said virus and spreading it. This really isn’t any different than arguing that children be unvaccinated against every other thing that they are required to when entering public schools. Again, that’s how vaccines work and have worked for over 100 years.

Nice videos guys. We are going to need a lot of positive content these next two years. I'm not sure what i was reading but i was linked to a season prevue and realized we will almost assuredly be the last team in our division the next two years. Forget about the whole NBA, just look at our Division. Hawks. Conference finalists, amazing collection of talent. Can't believe how many good to great players they have. All that and added Jalen Johnson and Sharife Cooper. Even having six players on the ESPN top 100, they managed to add some rookies and yet we give away all our second round picks. Those 6 players on the list don't even include Hunter,Reddish,Okongwu or even Lou Williams, former 6th man of the year who exploded in one of their playoff games this past year. If they don't break the Atlanta sports curse in the next 5 years, no Hawks team will. Heat. Recent NBA finalist, it was not even a year ago yet. Full of veterans now, when they recently had at least some youth. Chances are Lowry,Butler,Bam and Robinson will keep them at a high level the next couple years. After that all bets are off. They have little youth after Bam and Herro and no flexibility or picks. If the injury bug hits them they will drop hard, if not they are looking good the next few years. Hornets. Were a playoff team until the injuries piled up. This team can go either way. Looks like they drafted a future star last year with LaMelo. When they are healthy, Rozier and Hayward are worth the contracts. However, because of age, injury or size neither player is a game changer on defense. When your two highest paid players are one sided players your not going very far. They have a nice mix of youth, however. Bridges,Washington,and Oubre Jr. are young and interesting, but old enough for us to know they are not stars. High level rotation players is the ceiling at best for those 3. Still they drafted a few players our fans really liked. Bouknight,Kai and JT Thor could be the future along with LaMelo. In essence, the Hornets are a year or two ahead of us in a rebuild, while paying a few vets who might carry them to a playoff spot. Wizards. Were a play in team. Forget that, however. What is important is they turned John Walls massive contract into Westbrook, then into a few smaller contract players. Now they have options instead of being horrible until Wall was gone. They still have Beal a legitimate star, although small "s". Still having a player who made an all NBA team and almost the leagues leading scorer is a big deal. Now that their cap is more manageable they have a legit shot to keep him. This team can go either way. They have a couple of interesting young players in Deni,Rui and Kispert. However if they sign Beal this team will have to figure out a rotation around him with all those pieces they have or using them to trade for somebody else. Of all the teams in the league we just have no idea how Dinwiddie,Kuzma,Harrell,Pope, and Bertans will play together. Still, all those players easily put them years ahead of the Magic. Each one is easily tradeable. Magic. Jettisoned almost every veteran. A true, true rebuild. Way too far out to trade for a star either this year or next. Have a few interesting young players starting with Suggs,Anthony,Chuma,Rj and Wagner. Have some other young players with more years but almost rookie levels of actual playing time. Isaac,Fultz and Bamba. No bad contracts on the roster after this year and we should focus on keeping it that way for a bit, unless someone gives us a serious draft pick or player in return. Think kevin love or somebody like him. We are almost a lock to have one of the worst 5 records in the league the next two years so taking on a bad contract in that timeframe will not hurt us. Sadly i do not think our management is smart enough to handle that kind of trade. Ok now to the hard part. At most, even with luck i think we might have 1.5 future stars on this roster. At best. So even though it's a bummer next years draft lottery will be just as important as this last one. Thank god Toronto saved us, hopefully we win next years Lotto. Now let's enjoy the youth because this batch of young guys are much more exciting then 2013,2014. Trust me, they won't win much but will be a lot more fun to watch.

Oh yeah Buddy Hield is a great pick up. Yeah that's always the hardest part: figuring out the new jumpshot mechanics each year. I bet it's even harder for a Franchise mode player because of all the different shots you have to learn and not just your own. But yes I will be a more positive person here and I'm also done with tanking so don't stay away forever.

I think that tanking is a proven failing strategy that won't do anything beyond get you a flashy superstar that can create excitement for a few years, but it is not a winning philosophy and you'll be left right back where you started from in the end. I did an episode of my podcast where I actually break down tanking over the last 40 years, and it just simply doesn't work. In my opinion, it should never even be considered as an option. But the reason why I'm not so frequent here anymore is because I don't want to spend my spare time arguing over a losing philosophy. I left a Magic Facebook group I was in for the same reason. I'm on X-Box Series S for NBA 2K. Just started up my Orlando MyNBA. I'm only 2 games in, but the shooting has been insanely difficult for me. I'm shooting like 13% on anything that's not a dunk. That being said, my back court trio of Fultz, Suggs, and Anthony is basically carrying me right now. They have been the only things worth talking about. My coach wanted me to trade Gary Harris, so I checked the trade finder and Sacramento offered me Buddy Hield. I jumped on him, and added him to my lineup, so right now my lineup is Fultz / Suggs / Hield / Isaac / Bamba with Anthony, Ross, Okeke, Wagner, and Carter Jr. coming off the bench.

Ah, yes, I will definitely get 2K22 when I have the time and budget for the $100 version. What console you on? I'm a park player; even no lifed and got to Legend in 2k20. But yeah, I'm sick of tanking as well. That's such a quitters mentality to me. Yes, I understand the logic, but at some point you have to actually try or we'll just continue to be failures and perpetuate a losing culture. I'll admit I all but gave up on this team a few years ago, but I never will again no matter how disappointing it is at times. Yes, I love Isaac. I still think he can be a star. And i will miss Vuc and Gordon, but I'm glad we finally moved on. @Natesroom I feel like Old Ben after playing basketball with the youngbloods earlier today. Not used to the heat down here like I used to be.

I'd participate more, but there's never much conversation going on other than "TANK!", and considering that I am 100% vehemently opposed to tanking... well... there's not much conversation for me to engage in. But it's NBA2K season, and I just started my franchise mode, so my Magic kick is beginning. I'm excited for the youth core of Fultz, Anthony, Suggs, Isaac, and Okeke, and still interested in seeing if Bamba turns into anything. I hope we can be done with the tanking now, and watch our youth go out there and try to win, and start building around them now. No more Fournier, even Vuc and Gordon are gone, and we have expiring contracts over the next year or 2 to open up space to start making moves. I want to see improvement and building from here on out. No more tank mode.

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. A long time.

I miss Jareth too, guys. I'm discount Jareth, but I'll do my best. And yeah, JJZFL, I and possibly MULTIPLE other may in fact participate in discussions on this forum when the season begins. This, according to my sources, of course. Yes, Aussie, I miss those old surreal discussions and tangents as well, though sometimes it was a bit much and for that I will partially apologize for. Another great one was Jackie Treehorn. Funny guy, and no that's not me. We all know everyone on this forum is just Jareth talking to himself anyway.

The proverbial calm before the storm. Give it a few weeks, there’ll be plenty of color. I’m just hoping we get off to a decent start and are competitive, even if we don’t win many games. Multiple blowouts with us being a disorganized mess would be a worst case scenario but is not outside the realm of possibility.

Damn, we traded everyone away. Hopefully this rebuild is MUCH better. I'm here 100%