Woj: Afflalo agrees to 1yr deal with Orlando

[andyhop]

The new FO is signing vets that have actual skill in areas that the Magic need to address. Afflalo is a 3 and D guy, although not elite, that can help the team.
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You have to play defense to be a 3 and D guy

[EAS Law]

I wonder how this thread titled, "Afflalo agrees to 1yr deal with Orlando" has diverged into a thread about how the Orlando Magic aren't a championship quality franchise in any realm or universe.

I'll remind some of the posters here that a franchise can change fortunes in literally one move. Nobody is claiming that the Magic are even making the playoffs, so I don't see the point of this circular argument that the Magic, who were recently in the lotto, are a bad team, and therefore unlikely to be a good team next season.

We get it--nobody sees our players as any good until they end up being good.

We signed Afflalo to a 1 year deal. Developing a culture in Orlando rather than leaving the team to a ton of rookies and crap vets.

Give it some time and see what happens under the new regime. The Magic have only been a bad team in recent memory, yet people swear up and down that we are and always have been just a place that players go to die.

I imagine that if Otis Smith or Tob Hennigan had a dolt like Billy King hand them 3 future unprotected 1sts for the corpse of Hedo Turkoglu and the declining Dwight Howard, we'd be pretty set right now too.

[EAS Law]

The new FO is signing vets that have actual skill in areas that the Magic need to address. Afflalo is a 3 and D guy, although not elite, that can help the team.
.

You have to play defense to be a 3 and D guy

Yes, Afflalo, a guy the built an entire career as a 3 and d wing doesn't play defense.

Maybe, as I stated, he's on a 1 yr minimum deal to teach and mentor. Players get old man. Nobody said he was a great player.

[andyhop]

The new FO is signing vets that have actual skill in areas that the Magic need to address. Afflalo is a 3 and D guy, although not elite, that can help the team.
.

You have to play defense to be a 3 and D guy

Yes, Afflalo, a guy the built an entire career as a 3 and d wing doesn't play defense.

Maybe, as I stated, he's on a 1 yr minimum deal to teach and mentor. Players get old man. Nobody said he was a great player.

Yes he has been touted as a 3 and D guy all his career and yes he has never played good defense outside of his rookie year. He just has that reputation despite all of the evidence

[SF_Warriors]

I think if you ask every Orlando Magic what they think of the starting lineup, most will admit that it needs to be improved. But in an earlier post you said that the starting lineup was absolute garbage, and that is just purely incorrect. After the All-Star break, the starting lineup improved tremendously. It was in fact, the bench that cost us countless games down the stretch. If you're asking the silly question, "why haven't the Magic improved the starting unit and added a superstar or 3?", well then -- with your team monopoly of stars -- I can't help you understand how much of a premium there is on those guys.

So if the starting lineup in its current iteration (sans Ibaka) was a plus, it only stands to reason that short of drafting a hopeful top player and undoubtedly attempting to acquire a star player and variably failing, the next logical thing to do is try to shore up a bench that was nearly historically bad and hope that the young players in the starting lineup continue to improve.

I have since changed my description to definition of mediocre as pure garbage was a bit too much. I did not say it was going to be easy to build a contender, far from it. The magic have a long way to go in that respect. I did not say the moves they made this offseason were bad. I actually have high praise for what they have done (draft isaac, sign simmons, one year deals to vets).

I am just pointing out that bolstering the bench is nice, but in the end, the starting lineup will eventually need some turnover and will have to feature better players in order for them to be a perennial playoff team that can go deep into the playoffs. I am sure most magic fans realize this. Now, acquiring the player(s) that can help this team take the next step will be the biggest challenge.

I was mistaken when some fans said the starting lineup was fine and I thought they meant there does not need major changes at all. But they meant to say that there shouldnt be any immediate/shortsighted changes like the ones henigan made, which actually completely makes sense, especially when guys like gordon and payton still have room to improve and are in a contract year.

In your opinion, what is the next logical step towards playoff contention now that the bench is better?

Simply put: player development. If that doesn't answer your question, you need to gain some perspective. People act like it's so easy to improve a starting lineup but several things have to go a team's way. So unlike more attractive destinations due to a winning atmosphere, potential superstar players, or a thriving mega city, Orlando has to develop its own incumbent talent before attempting to improve the starting lineup with outside players. It isn't gonna improve greatly by trading for a superstar because we don't have the talent to send anything of substance back. What we can do is shore up the bench, assume the young players will at least grow nominally from the year before, hope that another year getting acclimated to Vogel's system will instill familiarity and confidence in the players, and lean on the brittle Eastern Conference being so bad that we'll be able to sneak in the 8th spot.

You got the right idea, I guess the main concern would be that the players do not develop into all star caliber players. At which point it would be interesting to see the direction the team goes. Ideally, isaac and gordon develop into all stars with payton being a steady presence at PG which he already is, but with extended range. Both him and gordon are due for an extension, which will muddy the waters a bit next offseason. The team simply does not have any direction right now thanks to the previous FO. The wait and see approach is definitely the right move for them. The FO has done basically what I would've realistically wanted them to do as a fan, no long contracts, reasonably priced players, and a nice draft pick. Hopefulyl this will not become one of those situations where hammond is drafting in the mid to late lottery year after year trying to hit a homerun

[EAS Law]

You have to play defense to be a 3 and D guy

Yes, Afflalo, a guy the built an entire career as a 3 and d wing doesn't play defense.

Maybe, as I stated, he's on a 1 yr minimum deal to teach and mentor. Players get old man. Nobody said he was a great player.

Yes he has been touted as a 3 and D guy all his career and yes he has never played good defense outside of his rookie year. He just has that reputation despite all of the evidence

Do you care to share any evidence, or are we just throwing out statements to feel big and bad on the internet?

[andyhop]

Yes, Afflalo, a guy the built an entire career as a 3 and d wing doesn't play defense.

Maybe, as I stated, he's on a 1 yr minimum deal to teach and mentor. Players get old man. Nobody said he was a great player.

Yes he has been touted as a 3 and D guy all his career and yes he has never played good defense outside of his rookie year. He just has that reputation despite all of the evidence

Do you care to share any evidence, or are we just throwing out statements to feel big and bad on the internet?

Negative DBPM every year of his career apart from his rookie year, Negative DRPM for every year it has existed, negative DRAPM every year since 2010.