Official Speculation Thread (2015-'16)

[Viper1500]

Ye I am not willing to give Jones anymore than 8-10.. Most Houston fans don't even like him

[ezzzp]

then Dipo is being moved i guess. Because both Fournier and Jones are going to want money. Nicholson is due for a new contract this summer also

Bird rights, pay dipo and Fournier whatever market value is

so lets say Fournier wants $14mil? and Jones too. Add in at least $10mil for Nicholson, thats $38mil right there. Then Dipo comes around, he will want $15mil+, Elf and AG after that. so that means we arent adding any FA after Jones to this team, because we wont have the money for it unless its a trade

The Magic will have plenty of salary cap room.

The NBA estimated next year's cap at $89m but most league executives are now expecting at least a $95m salary cap. The following summer the cap jumps to at least $110m.

Next summer the Magic have $60m in guaranteed contracts for 9 roster spots. That means they have $30-$35m before they even hit the salary cap to fill the final four spots. Plus they can exceed the cap to resign their own players anyhow.

If the Magic acquire Terrence Jones to play PF, they aren't paying Nicholson too, plus Frye. It will be one or the other. Same with Smith or Dedmon. It'll be one or the other.

Also by the time EP, Gordon (in 2019) and Hezonja (in 2020) need to be extended Frye and Watson contracts will be long gone, an Vuc and Harris' contracts will be on their last year (2019). Its really pointless to project that far out.

[Ohhwell8]

The warriors being interested in Frye doesn't make sense to me. I don't really think they need more shooting.They've also built an athletic versatile team, two words that do not describe Channing Frye.

[tiderulz]

The warriors being interested in Frye doesn't make sense to me. I don't really think they need more shooting.They've also built an athletic versatile team, two words that do not describe Channing Frye.

its not just shooting, its spacing. Bogut isnt athletic of versatile. But they dont have a big outside of Green that can shoot

[Blue_and_Whte]

The warriors being interested in Frye doesn't make sense to me. I don't really think they need more shooting.They've also built an athletic versatile team, two words that do not describe Channing Frye.

The mere existence of Frye opens the court for their shooters.

[jezzer45]

The warriors being interested in Frye doesn't make sense to me. I don't really think they need more shooting.They've also built an athletic versatile team, two words that do not describe Channing Frye.

Well imagine if you can add a 40% 3pt shooting big man to the best shooting team in the league. He would still allow them to play small in a more traditional way since he is near 7ft so he would play center instead of 6'7 green

[jezzer45]

The problem with the warriors is that they want to give up speights for frye.

[CraZyPraiZ]

I don't have anything personal at all. I just want my team to succeed. I don't care about his box score numbers so much, I see the effort on defense. Coming from the most important position in basketball, while he's been better this year he still doesn't give enough effort. He's 7 feet tall and doesn't even challenge guards in the paint. Or step out to them on a pick and roll.

For example Oladipo last night basically gave Korver open 3 after open 3, but that's because he was trying to help then couldn't recover. It's hard to get mad when he is hustling to make effort plays but we still get burned.

And when I say for years we've been better with Vuc on the bench I mean it quite literally. Look at the advanced stats. Again, he's a really skilled big. I just would rather have someone who gives effort on defense consistently. Not just once every few games.

Vuc has improved tremendously under Skiles. We can't expect him to all of a sudden make all defensive team. I don't see how he is so undervalued by this board.

[SOUL]

https://thecauldron.si.com/there-s-a-d-in-orlando-47cdd3c64405#.altqg73gd

New article about us.

[Optimus_Steel]

I don't have anything personal at all. I just want my team to succeed. I don't care about his box score numbers so much, I see the effort on defense. Coming from the most important position in basketball, while he's been better this year he still doesn't give enough effort. He's 7 feet tall and doesn't even challenge guards in the paint. Or step out to them on a pick and roll.

For example Oladipo last night basically gave Korver open 3 after open 3, but that's because he was trying to help then couldn't recover. It's hard to get mad when he is hustling to make effort plays but we still get burned.

And when I say for years we've been better with Vuc on the bench I mean it quite literally. Look at the advanced stats. Again, he's a really skilled big. I just would rather have someone who gives effort on defense consistently. Not just once every few games.

Vuc has improved tremendously under Skiles. We can't expect him to all of a sudden make all defensive team. I don't see how he is so undervalued by this board.

Dipo actually should get chastised for leaving Korver wide open so many times. I get he was trying to play hard and help but that is actually the worst thing one can do when an elite shooter like Korver is on the floor, that is that you do not help, you stay with that guy all the time. That is just about awareness, knowing the matchup and being alert enough to go against your instincts and force yourself to not help.

And are we really watching the same games? Vuc doesn't challenge shots? Thats absurd.

[UCFJayBird]

https://thecauldron.si.com/there-s-a-d-in-orlando-47cdd3c64405#.altqg73gd

New article about us.

Favorite quote...

“I think guarding shooters. Being able to come off pin-downs, having my body right so I don’t get screened easy. Stuff like that, little things that I can correct,” Oladipo said. “On the ball, off the ball, either way. Guarding people like [Kyle Korver] is something that I need to get better at. I’m just gonna keep going. I’m only in my third season, so I’ve got a lot of room to grow.”

[TreasureCoast]

https://thecauldron.si.com/there-s-a-d-in-orlando-47cdd3c64405#.altqg73gd

New article about us.

Excellent read thank you. Nice to be worthy of a long piece like that again.

[Optimus_Steel]

https://thecauldron.si.com/there-s-a-d-in-orlando-47cdd3c64405#.altqg73gd

New article about us.

Favorite quote...

“I think guarding shooters. Being able to come off pin-downs, having my body right so I don’t get screened easy. Stuff like that, little things that I can correct,” Oladipo said. “On the ball, off the ball, either way. Guarding people like [Kyle Korver] is something that I need to get better at. I’m just gonna keep going. I’m only in my third season, so I’ve got a lot of room to grow.”

I like this one:

Last season, the Vucevic-Frye pairing was an outright disaster on D. They got lit up to the tune of 110.5 points per 100 possessions in over 1,000 minutes of playing time, a pace-adjusted scoring rate allowed that was worse than even the league-worst Timberwolves’ defense. Among the NBA’s 250 most-used two-man combinations in 2014–15, Vucevic and Frye ranked 244th in on-court defensive efficiency. This year, though, has been a much different story.

The 97.5 points per 100 possessions the Magic have allowed with Vucevic and Frye sharing the court this season would rank second to only the Spurs as the best defense in the NBA.

and this:

Of course, Oladipo’s move to the bench hasn’t just been about him. Frye took his place there, and the presence of an elite shooting big has aided the floor balance of the starting unit a great deal. That group (Payton — Fournier — Harris — Frye — Vucevic) has scored a scorching 107.6 points per 100 possessions in the 14 games he’s started, the equivalent of the third-best offense in the NBA. For a team that ranks 20th in overall offensive efficiency on the year, that’s been a big boost. Plugging Frye in has helped clear out space for Harris’ mid-post isolations, Fournier’s jumpers and drives, and, especially, for Vucevic’s opportunities both on the block and near the elbows.

“He spreads the floor so much that it’s hard for his guy to help as much,” Vucevic says. “When you have a stretch 4 like that, it spreads the floor so much for me in the post and for the guards to be able to drive.”

And:

There are few players in the league that combine Vucevic’s volume and efficiency in the post along with deep range on their jumper. Only seven players have finished more possessions with post-up shots, turnovers, or fouls drawn this season than Vucevic, per Synergy Sports, and among the 14 players with at least 100 such possessions, only three (Kevin Love, Dirk Nowitzki, and Carmelo Anthony) have been more efficient. Vucevic has a hook shot that he can drop through the net with either hand, over either shoulder — a wonderfully beneficial skill for which he says credit should go to his father and youth coaches.

“When I was little, every coach that I had really made me work with both hands,” he says. “My dad, he was a basketball player. He did a lot of individual work with me and he always told me, ‘You have to go both ways. It’s only going to help you.’”

One of the NBA’s better jump-shooting bigs, Vucevic has also nailed shots at a 45.9 percent clip from outside the paint and inside the arc. On deep twos between 16 and 23 feet away, he’s at 44.5 percent, which raises the question of why he hasn’t yet taken a step back behind the line. He’s taken only two threes all year. “Everyone asks me about it,” Vucevic says. “I think I could. I think right now, I’m an OK shooter from three. I’m not a straight knockdown shooter. I feel so comfortable in the post and from mid-range, so I don’t want to start extending too much that it might take away from what else I’m good at.”

[Def Swami]

The warriors being interested in Frye doesn't make sense to me. I don't really think they need more shooting.They've also built an athletic versatile team, two words that do not describe Channing Frye.

Well imagine if you can add a 40% 3pt shooting big man to the best shooting team in the league. He would still allow them to play small in a more traditional way since he is near 7ft so he would play center instead of 6'7 green

Given the Kerr/Nash prominence in the organization, it's not a surprise they'd like Channing Frye. Curry/Frye pick n' rolls would be deadly.

It's fun how vital Frye has become to this team. Before the season started, he probably could have been had for a sack of potatoes. But given the commitment to have a stretch 4 on the floor at all times to make our offense passable has increased his value for us. He's not a long term answer, but for this season, we have no other option at PF.