Jett Howard assigned to G-League

[Skybox]

And make large donations to the school and are huge in the community… yeah nothing to see here

I get that there are connections...maybe even an inside track to their players...but what are you suggesting? The basketball guys wanted someone else but we chose Jett because the Devos family are Michigan supporters, fans, alumni, whatever? To what end would Weltman handcuff himself? Franz was the steal of the draft - perhaps good info from Howard because he liked what we are building and understands the connection to financial support. I would say maybe an oversell on his son moved him up the draft, but he wasn't drafted as a "favor" to good old UM. That I can buy but the ORL Magic are not drafting lesser prospects for some abstract connection to the school...Maybe all of the UofM administrative offices buy their supplies at 50% markups from Amway.

Mo was signed here and his bro is on the team. Caleb was a value pick in the 2nd round - coming out of HS, he was highly rated.

I'd say there's a relationship. Friends in the college ranks are important for trusted intel...but I don't see some obligation beyond that. Not getting how making large donations TO the school would obligate an NBA team to do them favors in the draft.

I don't think its a direct connection per se.

However, I think when it comes down to picking between prospects its a deciding factor in who they are taking.

And I don't think its necessarily a Michigan University thing. I think it's ALL of MICHIGAN. Gary Harris is also on the team but Michigan State doesn't have a lot of big pro prospects lately.

Reaching now...AG to DEN because we targeted Gary Harris? He was an expiring salary match at the time- just turned out better than RJ and the frp by fluke.

[Knightro]

The only two Michigan players that matter from the Magic's perspective are Franz Wagner and Jett Howard because they're the only two they actually used real assets to acquire.

My guess, and this is just a complete guess, is that the Magic's front office felt like they found a market inefficiency with Michigan players and their respective abilities to become better professionals than they were college players.

Similar to teams undervaluing Kentucky guards over the years due to Calipari's system depressing their production.

Doesn't mean they're correct, but I just don't think it's much deeper than that. Certainly nothing to do with ownership as far as I'm concerned.

[eyriq]

I'm not worried overly much about Jett. His bust criteria is that he's limited by his athleticism, but I didn't think this stands up to the eye test. Need more eye tests though. Curious if he's overly reliant on his jump shot and can't defend but positive signals from his performances in the G-League. Right?

[Fortune Teller]

It's not that they're obligated to take Michigan players, but I think it's quite possible that ownership has influenced some of these decisions, and no, Welt would not have a choice if that were the case.

Has the DeVos family ever shown that they really care about building a winning basketball team? No. Have they shown a propensity to blend the operation of the team with the promotion of their own personal and political agendas? Yes.

The Magic win-loss record is way down on their list of priorities, below party politics, below Christian conservatism, below the church, below the state of Michigan, below Grand Rapids, below the University of Michigan, etc. They don't even live here and never have, for as long as they've owned the team. They've repeatedly let huge stars walk away while they throw hundreds of millions of dollars at political causes and organizations (including donations in the team's name, an unheard of practice).

So is it possible the reaches for Michigan players in the draft are some sort of payback, or favor, to political allies in Michigan? Of course it is. Don't be naive.

[OrlChamps2030]

Draymond and Jaren Jackson Jr are in the league but we ended up with Ignas Brazdeikas and Jett Howard?

This organization can’t even do nepotism correctly

[Knightro]

So is it possible the reaches for Michigan players in the draft are some sort of payback, or favor, to political allies in Michigan? Of course it is. Don't be naive.

You'd have a better point if they just bought the team a few years ago. But the DeVos family has owned the team since 1991.

In that time frame they've made 70 draft picks. Only 3 of them have been from Michigan (technically 4, but Webber was traded on draft night). They've drafted more players from Kentucky than Michigan since they've owned the team, ya know?

Hell... they had the opportunity to pick a prospect in the lottery who was LITERALLY FROM THE SAME CITY AS THEM and who they went so far as to meet and bond with said player significantly in the pre-draft process and the team still did not take him.

That player was Devin Booker.

[Knightro]

Why would the Magic's ownership group all of a sudden develop some extreme and outlandish bias in favor of players from the state of Michigan in 2021 after owning the team for 20 years without any sort of bias existing?

Doesn't that sound a little far fetched?

[basketballRob]

Draymond and Jaren Jackson Jr are in the league but we ended up with Ignas Brazdeikas and Jett Howard?

This organization can’t even do nepotism correctly

They both went to Michigan State.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM Forums mobile app

[JoshuaPotter]

Why would the Magic's ownership group all of a sudden develop some extreme and outlandish bias in favor of players from the state of Michigan in 2021 after owning the team for 20 years without any sort of bias existing?

Doesn't that sound a little far fetched?

I believe this drafting for Michigan players happened right around Juwan Howard a former magic player started as the head coach....

[RookieStar]

Why would the Magic's ownership group all of a sudden develop some extreme and outlandish bias in favor of players from the state of Michigan in 2021 after owning the team for 20 years without any sort of bias existing?

Doesn't that sound a little far fetched?

Cmon, give the guys a break. We all need a reason to breakout our little tinfoil hats now and again

[fendilim]

Why would the Magic's ownership group all of a sudden develop some extreme and outlandish bias in favor of players from the state of Michigan in 2021 after owning the team for 20 years without any sort of bias existing?

Doesn't that sound a little far fetched?

Cause rdv died 2018, and all this michigan players started arriving after 2018…

[MagicMatic]

Why would the Magic's ownership group all of a sudden develop some extreme and outlandish bias in favor of players from the state of Michigan in 2021 after owning the team for 20 years without any sort of bias existing?

Doesn't that sound a little far fetched?

Have they even really had opportunities to acquire Michigan players prior?
Not many real rotation guys have come out of that school since 2000 and again... Orlando has 4 on the roster.

The whole reason its a "conspiracy" at this point is because Jett was mocked nowhere near where he was drafted and he was a pretty out of left field choice given where Orlando was drafting with the talent on the board. Even Bufkin made more sense at that spot.

I'm not saying Jett is going to be a bust, but if people are pretending Michigan doesn't have ties to ownership and their draft decisions you are being dense. Was Brazdeikis an actual rotation guy anywhere but Orlando? lol

What are the odds that they are "buying in" on 4-5 players specifically from one school as opposed to them just having a preference? Its more ridiculous to assume there is no bias whatsoever wouldn't you think based entirely on evidence of them being on the roster? What I mean is that its MORE unlikely that their college affiliation played no part whatsoever and it just happened to be a complete coincidence.

[Knightro]

Have they even really had opportunities to acquire Michigan players prior?
Not many real rotation guys have come out of that school since 2000 and again... Orlando has 4 on the roster.

The whole reason its a "conspiracy" at this point is because Jett was mocked nowhere near where he was drafted and he was a pretty out of left field choice given where Orlando was drafting with the talent on the board. Even Bufkin made more sense at that spot.

I'm not saying Jett is going to be a bust, but if people are pretending Michigan doesn't have ties to ownership and their draft decisions you are being dense. Was Brazdeikis an actual rotation guy anywhere but Orlando? lol

What are the odds that they are "buying in" on 4-5 players specifically from one school as opposed to them just having a preference? Its more ridiculous to assume there is no bias whatsoever wouldn't you think based entirely on evidence of them being on the roster? What I mean is that its MORE unlikely that their college affiliation played no part whatsoever and it just happened to be a complete coincidence.

Michigan has had 29 players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. Orlando has drafted 3 of them.

Michigan State, the school the DeVos family actually has direct ties to financially compared to Michigan, had had 25 player players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. The Magic have drafted none of them.

This is just silly stuff.

[MagicMatic]

Have they even really had opportunities to acquire Michigan players prior?
Not many real rotation guys have come out of that school since 2000 and again... Orlando has 4 on the roster.

The whole reason its a "conspiracy" at this point is because Jett was mocked nowhere near where he was drafted and he was a pretty out of left field choice given where Orlando was drafting with the talent on the board. Even Bufkin made more sense at that spot.

I'm not saying Jett is going to be a bust, but if people are pretending Michigan doesn't have ties to ownership and their draft decisions you are being dense. Was Brazdeikis an actual rotation guy anywhere but Orlando? lol

What are the odds that they are "buying in" on 4-5 players specifically from one school as opposed to them just having a preference? Its more ridiculous to assume there is no bias whatsoever wouldn't you think based entirely on evidence of them being on the roster? What I mean is that its MORE unlikely that their college affiliation played no part whatsoever and it just happened to be a complete coincidence.

Michigan has had 29 players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. Orlando has drafted 3 of them.

Michigan State, the school the DeVos family actually has direct ties to financially compared to Michigan, had had 25 player players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. The Magic have drafted none of them.

This is just silly stuff.

So you think it’s completely coincidental that Orlando has 4 Michigan players on the team and the school affiliation means absolutely nothing. Got it.

[BadMofoPimp]

I sure hope Jett is traded in with some package for a player that can help take this team to another level.

[Skybox]

I’m trying to figure out how drafting Caleb Houstan advanced anyone’s political agenda…I guess I am naive

[Knightro]

So you think it’s completely coincidental that Orlando has 4 Michigan players on the team and the school affiliation means absolutely nothing. Got it.

I don't think it's completely coincidental. I know it is. At least in the respect some of y'all are suggesting (ownership).

To think that the Magic are intentionally selecting players from the University of Michigan because the ownership group is from the state of Michigan is just ridiculous.

The DeVos family is a massive - talking tens of millions - donor to Michigan State for goodness sake. One of Michigan's biggest rivals. They have no ties to the Wolverines other than their houses being in the same state as the school.

Now do I think Weltman feels like Michigan players are/were potentially undervalued and/or more prepared for the NBA since they were coached by Juwan Howard and project out to be better professionals than college players? Absolutely.

Do I think Weltman was feeling himself after "reaching" for a Michigan product in Franz and being proven right, and thought he could replicate it with Jett? Potentially, sure.

But none of that has anything to do with ownership.

[FFBlitzace]

I'm with Knightro on this one. Using Juwan Howard as a link is a reach too, considering he only played one season with the team (and it was one of the worst seasons in franchise history).

[MagicMatic]

I’m trying to figure out how drafting Caleb Houstan advanced anyone’s political agenda…I guess I am naive

Who says it’s political?

It could be as easy as ..

“Do we want Andrew Nembhard(31), Caleb Houstan(32), or Jaden Hardy(37) when we pick? How’s the big board looking?”

“Pick the guy from Michigan that was ranked high out of high school. We know ownership will like that.”

Why is this a stretch to people?

That’s about as far as the “conspiracy” goes. They looked at Jett and Gradey and said… **** it… we know we need exactly this guys skillset but this guy is taller, more of a project, and from Michigan. So is anyone saying it is the main factor? No. But it is A factor. People are being dense if they believe otherwise.

Why may you ask? Because there is no real reason you come out of that draft and think Jett is the better pick according to nearly every single scout and evaluator for years leading up to the day of the draft. Is that going to ring true long term? Who knows. The fact remains that it was a stretch of a pick and people thought it was weird.

[AaronB]

Have they even really had opportunities to acquire Michigan players prior?
Not many real rotation guys have come out of that school since 2000 and again... Orlando has 4 on the roster.

The whole reason its a "conspiracy" at this point is because Jett was mocked nowhere near where he was drafted and he was a pretty out of left field choice given where Orlando was drafting with the talent on the board. Even Bufkin made more sense at that spot.

I'm not saying Jett is going to be a bust, but if people are pretending Michigan doesn't have ties to ownership and their draft decisions you are being dense. Was Brazdeikis an actual rotation guy anywhere but Orlando? lol

What are the odds that they are "buying in" on 4-5 players specifically from one school as opposed to them just having a preference? Its more ridiculous to assume there is no bias whatsoever wouldn't you think based entirely on evidence of them being on the roster? What I mean is that its MORE unlikely that their college affiliation played no part whatsoever and it just happened to be a complete coincidence.

Michigan has had 29 players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. Orlando has drafted 3 of them.

Michigan State, the school the DeVos family actually has direct ties to financially compared to Michigan, had had 25 player players drafted since the DeVos family bought the team. The Magic have drafted none of them.

This is just silly stuff.

So you think it’s completely coincidental that Orlando has 4 Michigan players on the team and the school affiliation means absolutely nothing. Got it.

You keep writing like it is statistically impossible by random event for this to happen without some sort of forcing function.

Possible, but very unlikely. Just looking at the east, the Nets have 3 guys from LSU and the Knicks have 3 from Villanova.

You are actually misapplying statistical reasoning. I will tell you why by example.

Here is the example:

Let's say you start taking a class and there are 30 people in the classroom. What are the odds that someone has a birthday the same as your birthday? it is about 10%.

However, the odds that any 2 people in the room have the same birthday has about a 75% chance of happening. If the class had 75 people, the odds would be almost 99.9% that 2 people would have the same birthday. The key being random people plus random birthday.

So when you have random players plus random colleges, it is not unreasonable to find that multiple players come from the same college. I will readily admit that the odds are not very high for 4 players from the same college, but as I just showed earlier, the Knicks have 3 guys from VIlanova and the Nets LSU (LSU???).

The point being that the odds of this happening randomly are actually much higher than you imply.