Jump to content
Soul Bro

Official 2015 Offseason Thread

Recommended Posts

I don't see anything wrong with projecting Mario to be a star. At the end of the day we need one of these guys to be one in order to get to the next level. I think Mario will be that guy. One reason besides his natural skill set is that he is not a party guy and he is a gym rat. That is super important to maximizing potential in the NBA and is why Aaron Gordon looked so good in summer league.

 

He had a full ride to Kentuky and turned it down. I think if he had taken that offer, we'd be looking at a top 2 pick, and he would have gone over Russell.

 

Thats just me thinking out loud since there is nothing to talk about, but my main point is that the people saying the Magic have not had a break in the lotto with the ping pong balls and have not drafted a star may have spoken too soon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't see anything wrong with projecting Mario to be a star. At the end of the day we need one of these guys to be one in order to get to the next level. I think Mario will be that guy. One reason besides his natural skill set is that he is not a party guy and he is a gym rat. That is super important to maximizing potential in the NBA and is why Aaron Gordon looked so good in summer league.

 

He had a full ride to Kentuky and turned it down. I think if he had taken that offer, we'd be looking at a top 2 pick, and he would have gone over Russell.

 

Thats just me thinking out loud since there is nothing to talk about, but my main point is that the people saying the Magic have not had a break in the lotto with the ping pong balls and have not drafted a star may have spoken too soon.

 

 

That's delving way too far into hypotheticals. Let's just see him in a few preseason games before we anoint him as savior.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Orlando represents the promise and the danger of splitting the difference between the two results. Orlando followed the standard rebuild curve we began by talking about. They traded Dwight Howard and were terrible for a year. Then they drafted Victor Oladipo and added Nikola Vucevic, tanked again, drafted Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon, tanked again (though this time not on purpose) then landed Mario Hezonja this past June.

 

They have been awful. That's helped them build talent, but it's hurt their culture. They tanked out after trading their best player ... but wound up with the second pick in the 2013 draft, which was one of the worst drafts of the past five years. Oladipo honestly may wind up as the best player from that draft (and that's with Noel, Rudy Gobert, and Giannis Antetokounmpo rivaling for that title), however he's still not the kind of transcendent player you expect from a No. 2 pick. This is the danger in following that pattern. If the draft you hit the lottery in doesn't line up with the most talented draft, you're kind of screwed.

 

The Magic fired their coach and brought in Scott Skiles, who's less about development and more about winning, and have added some fringe veteran talent to help them go forward. They wanted to make the playoffs last year -- that was a mistake in pushing too early, but lucky for them (I guess) they were still bad enough for it not to hurt. They weren't good enough to limit their chances of getting a real impact player like Boston (Hezonja could be the steal of this draft) and they still have a core that as it improves, should start to win.

 

However, there's only two real ways this season can go for Orlando: The young core starts to develop, Hezonja looks like a legit star, the team comes together and they at least vault into the B-version of the 2009 Thunder -- which is to say not a good team, but you could see where they're going. Or, the glass-half-empty result, they wind up being mediocre again, and instead of a young, building team, they're just a mediocre team with young talent that isn't going anywhere.

 

The Magic suffer from the same problem as the Celtics in that you don't know who their best player is. The difference is that if Isaiah Thomas is the Celtics' best player in two years, they're in major trouble. If Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon, Tobias Harris, Hezonja, or Nikola Vucevic is the Magic's best player in two years, it means they made the leap. The Celtics have guys who could make that jump (Smart in particular, but also Sullinger, Olynyk or Crowder), it's just not the same level. That's to be expected, those players weren't drafted as high as Orlando's were. Yet the Magic are also committed to this core, whereas the Sixers aren't committed to anything. They could trade Nerlens Noel tomorrow and it would simply be "part of the process." Same for Jahlil Okafor. They're free to do anything because they have nothing to lose.

http://www.cbssports...s-celtics-magic

 

Article compares the Philly/Boston/Orlando rebuilds.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's delving way too far into hypotheticals. Let's just see him in a few preseason games before we anoint him as savior.

 

Mario = next MJ

 

What??????? Believe it and it will come true!!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Posted: Aug 04, 2015

August 4, 2015

 

ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have signed forward Melvin Ejim (EDGE-um), General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deal are not disclosed...

 

Dan Savage Orlando Magic

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

exum tore his acl

picks 2,3,4,5,7 from 14' have all had serious injuries

 

picks 8 and 9 did nothing as rookies.

 

right now elfrid payton may be the no.2 player of the 14' draft, depending on how all these guys bounce back

 

Payton = next Magic Johnson

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

exum tore his acl

picks 2,3,4,5,7 from 14' have all had serious injuries

 

picks 8 and 9 did nothing as rookies.

 

right now elfrid payton may be the no.2 player of the 14' draft, depending on how all these guys bounce back

 

That's sad. Such a deep draft completely decimated by injuries

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm looking forward to Melvin Ejim taking the reigns from our veterans once they retire.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm looking forward to Melvin Ejim taking the reigns from our veterans once they retire.

 

It's a non guaranteed training camp contract. He's going to be on erie

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×