JJZFL

That's a very good question. I guess the thought is that he set up the franchise for success going forward. To say that remains to be seen is quite an understatement.

Don't want more reclamation projects who don't shoot. We've had way too many of those IMO.

How about Jeff Green coming back as a player-coach?

Agree. Always thought that was most likely given the short time frame from when Cliff decided to leave. Barely have had time to interview more than a few. And of course if we’re lucky in the draft it could make the post more desirable although that can work both ways if we aren’t lucky.

Agree. The other thing is that we had concerns about his intensity and effort (AKA motor) well before COVID, unfortunately.

Fantastic

True. But a young coaching prospect with no track record as a head coach will be judged harshly for a strongly losing record, even if their talent is inferior. So while someone like Vogel who is a known quantity gets another chance with much better talent, a young prospect with a terrible record after a couple of years of Hezonja and Payton might not.

Maybe. On the other hand, a Vogel can rebound from some bad years with us because he’s an established NBA coach. A coach getting their first coaching job with us may never get another offer if they have a record way below .500 over 2-3 years. People who want to advance in their careers have to consider stuff like that.

Oh, I completely agree that they won't have any trouble filling the job. The question is whether the best prospects are going to want to come here. I think coaches, especially aspiring ones looking to advance and show what they can do, evaluate the opportunities because if they go 60-104 over two years, that is not exactly a steppingstone to further success.

And two of the last three coaches (Skiles, Clifford) have chosen to leave, forsaking millions, which is very unusual. I still think it won’t be easy to convince a good to great coaching prospect to come here. If they fail, which seems very likely, it may hinder them from getting another chance elsewhere.

I could see them packaging some of the picks to move up depending on how the lottery turns out. Too early to tell.

That gives them very little time for such a big decision, though. Barely 2 weeks to interview and hire a coach and his staff. I’m not sure that’s possible. And the other argument is that if by some chance we get a very high pick, it could possibly make the job more appealing, and in my opinion we need all the help we can get along those lines.

I agree again. We may even wait to interview altogether until after our draft positioning is known.

I mostly agree with you. I'm not sure he's as unwilling to work with younger players as is being suggested, but I agree with everything else.

I sincerely hope that you're right. However, the last 5 Magic coaches have not prospered with the Magic, and two subsequently won championships after they left us. I think Cliff dislikes tanking much more than he dislikes younger players, but we can differ on that. We will see what kind of coaches want to come here at some point soon. For a brief period after our trades, on the West Coast trip, this team looked like it had some potential. Then it collapsed. Maybe that was on purpose. Regardless, I just don't see coaches tripping over each other for this job.

What is your take on his post? You think Clifford decided to leave because he thought this team had good prospects?

We can call him names but I agree with the substance of his post.

This doesn’t bode well going forward. Cliff clearly sees this team being on a losing trajectory for a significant amount of time to come. Given Orlando’s history as a head coaching graveyard these past few years, and our recent futility, I can’t imagine that many good candidates would be enthusiastic about coming here. Quoting from Bianchi in today’s Sentinel: “Weltman’s strategy is a common one: Lose big now so you can win big later. While this is the accepted way of rebuilding in the NBA; it is still a longshot. Clifford, it seems, simply wasn’t willing to roll the dice on the rest of his career by betting that this latest iteration of a Magic rebuild was actually going to work. And who can blame him? After all, this isn’t what he signed up for.” Jacque Vaughn, anyone?

I remember all the people on our forum who didn’t want Trae Young, felt he was one dimensional, wouldn’t work in the playoffs etc. Sone were even thanking Atlanta for making a historic mistake which allowed us to get Bamba.

Depending where we land, I could see them combining some of the picks into a trade to move up if that option becomes available.

Anything is possible but in general it’s usually not ideal. In Memphis case, two of the starters are older veterans, and a third is Morant, so a different situation. Also, 8 players on that team are 24 or older.

Good summary. I would argue that such an exaggerated youth movement is not a good thing and would retard our teams development.

This. I don't care who it is, I want players who make the other 4 guys on the court better on the offensive end, not worse. I think even if the team has deficiencies on offense, all the more reason why it's important to try to find open shots. I don't want one guy chucking the ball up even if he's the best shooter, it messes up the offense for everyone else.

Definitely been a problem. If we’re going to get the young guys to play team basketball, you can’t have a veteran playing like that and getting tons of minutes.

Scoring is definitely a concern. I believe in the modern NBA you need multiple solid three point threats on the floor at all times.