Should Tyreke Evans be our number 1 free agent target?

[Uncommon]

Hill was a trade, and he was hurt. McGrady averaged 11 ppg the year before in Toronto, and came off the bench. He wasn’t a star.

Orlando has never signed a real established star in free agency. So the idea that we need to save our cap space to go after superstars is silly. They’re not signing with us. We have to build through the draft. And our young players need to be developed. Which means we have to sign veteran players with some level of talent to help the youth.

We need a guy who can get the ball to our young frontcourt. There’s really no reason to save cap space, because trying to attract superstars is a pipe dream. It’s not logical at all.

This is very, very wrong.

I won’t even bring up Duncan in your “Orlando has never signed a star” argument, but Orlando has signed Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, and Rashard Lewis.

For all intents and purposes, Hill was a free agent signing. It was a sign-and-trade after Hill agreed to sign with Orlando. The Magic and Pistons agreed to the trade so Orlando could get some cap relief in trading out players and so that Detroit got SOMETHING for letting Hill go.

Tracy McGrady did NOT average 11ppg in Toronto before he signed with the Magic. He averaged 15ppg. And what’s more, he started off pretty slow at the beginning of his last season with Toronto, but halfway in the season, he completely took off after Toronto gave him some real minutes. After about the 45th game, he began to start and averaged almost 38 mpg and 19 ppg, 7 rpg, and 5apg. He was a very coveted free agent that offseason and courted hard by Toronto, Miami, and Chicago.

Rashard Lewis averaged 22 ppg in Seattle before signing with Orlando. The Heat and Sonics wanted his services and he chose to sign with Orlando. Sure, the Magic outbid themselves, but he was the number 1 marquee free agent on the market the summer.

This notion that the Magic have never signed free agents is categorically false. The Magic aren’t major players in the FA market as long as they’re a bad team. Most teams aren’t players either if they’re not winners, except for maybe LA. Once the Magic begin to win again, of course they’ll be able to sign FAs. It’s absurd to think otherwise.

You won’t bring up Duncan, because there’s nothing to bring up. He didn’t sign with us.

Hill was trade. Period. Nothing really to discuss there.

Rashard Lewis was not a superstar. Everyone knew when we signed him, including us, he wasn’t worth the money.

Whether it was 11 or 15, McGrady wasn’t a star.

The only error I made was McGrady’s ppg.

I repeat, we’ve never signed a star in free agency. Nothing you’ve said changes that. On top of that, acquiring Hill and McGrady was 18 years ago.

No one is coming here. Stop doing drugs.

You’re wrong, and now you’re mad.

It’s all semantics. Did LeBron sign with the Heat as a FA? Technically, no, he was traded. Do you know what a sign-and-trade is? No one with an IQ above 6 would argue that LeBron to Miami wasn’t a free agent acquisition. It’s the exact same with Grant Hill. Tell me, what is your IQ?

By the way, good job backtracking. 2 separate occasions you use the word “star,” specifically when you said, and I quote, “Orlando has never signed a real established star in free agency.” No one is arguing that Rashard Lewis was a superstar. Hell, there’s only like 3 or 4 of those in the NBA at any given moment. But star? Lewis definitely was a star, and the Magic got him. So your point is automatically moot.

Your butchering of McGrady’s PPG tells me a couple things: 1) you don’t fact-check and bother looking up what you’re arguing, 2) you rely on shoddy memory and opinions and pass them off as fact, 3) you’re not especially knowledgeable about the NBA or Magic. Either you’re totally non-credible and anything you should immediately be questioned and treated with absolute skepticism.

Like I said, outside of a very select few exceptions like Los Angeles, a winning team, culture or environment (and available cap space) provides the best chance at drawing free agents. When Orlando has had those, they’ve attracted free agents. You just honestly sound very dumb arguing otherwise using your silly arbitrary semantics.

[ralphie9898]

And what exactly should we be saving our cap space for? What do you envision Orlando doing with said cap space?

Better talent. Better draft picks, more space to attract guys. Right now I would love to be the Lakers who actually have cap space to lure not only one free agent but two which is major sticking point that is a big factor in free agency. Kind of like when we were able to get both Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. Tyreke Evans is just more of ho hum signing that hurts our cap even further as signing a guy withe MLE just puts us more over the cap. And he doesn't make us that much better nor do I view him as long term option. The cap space is not just for PG. It is rather for the whole team as we simply have lack of talent almost everywhere. I like Bamba a lot but he is no sure thing yet nor is Gordon and certainly Isaac too. We need more then just a PG. So Tyreke doesn't even solve that position and hurts our ability to add talent. Cap space isn't always earmarked for free agents. There are other things you can do with cap space. Like resign your own young talent that actually shows some promise and also could be used to take on a big expiring contract and get at least one or more good picks for our trouble. So again no thanks. I would be fine not using the mid-level. I don't have very high expectations for this coming season so I say no to Tyreke Evans unless he comes here for a one year deal which I am not sure he would.

Hill was a trade, and he was hurt. McGrady averaged 11 ppg the year before in Toronto, and came off the bench. He wasn’t a star.

Orlando has never signed a real established star in free agency. So the idea that we need to save our cap space to go after superstars is silly. They’re not signing with us. We have to build through the draft. And our young players need to be developed. Which means we have to sign veteran players with some level of talent to help the youth.

We need a guy who can get the ball to our young frontcourt. There’s really no reason to save cap space, because trying to attract superstars is a pipe dream. It’s not logical at all.

Hill was a free agent and still wanted to come here. We almost got Duncan as well. And McGrady was a star. Maybe not a super star but he is a pretty big name and scored better then that. And you need to look at history again. Rashard Lewis? The problem is that Orlando has not always had the resources to be a team that can. That is just the circumstances. Why because when you don't have cap room then you are not going to be much of factor in free agency unless you can negotiate a sign and trade for someone but that is tricky. We can if we build something that will attract talent to join us. Tyreke doesn't do that and hurts us from doing anything else. Yeah we do need to build through the draft right now. I haven't said that we shouldn't Right now we don't have the cap space but that doesn't mean we have to sign a vet. We have vets to play with our young talent. I also don't think we even have to have those vets. I don't care how well this season goes.Tyreke doesn't make us that much better. Yes I would go for a PG but not someone like him and I doubt he signs for the mid-level anyway. And it is not silly to think that in a couple of years we could be in a situation similar to LA or Philly where we have great young talent that could entice someone to join.

[AshBlackstone]

This is very, very wrong.

I won’t even bring up Duncan in your “Orlando has never signed a star” argument, but Orlando has signed Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, and Rashard Lewis.

For all intents and purposes, Hill was a free agent signing. It was a sign-and-trade after Hill agreed to sign with Orlando. The Magic and Pistons agreed to the trade so Orlando could get some cap relief in trading out players and so that Detroit got SOMETHING for letting Hill go.

Tracy McGrady did NOT average 11ppg in Toronto before he signed with the Magic. He averaged 15ppg. And what’s more, he started off pretty slow at the beginning of his last season with Toronto, but halfway in the season, he completely took off after Toronto gave him some real minutes. After about the 45th game, he began to start and averaged almost 38 mpg and 19 ppg, 7 rpg, and 5apg. He was a very coveted free agent that offseason and courted hard by Toronto, Miami, and Chicago.

Rashard Lewis averaged 22 ppg in Seattle before signing with Orlando. The Heat and Sonics wanted his services and he chose to sign with Orlando. Sure, the Magic outbid themselves, but he was the number 1 marquee free agent on the market the summer.

This notion that the Magic have never signed free agents is categorically false. The Magic aren’t major players in the FA market as long as they’re a bad team. Most teams aren’t players either if they’re not winners, except for maybe LA. Once the Magic begin to win again, of course they’ll be able to sign FAs. It’s absurd to think otherwise.

You won’t bring up Duncan, because there’s nothing to bring up. He didn’t sign with us.

Hill was trade. Period. Nothing really to discuss there.

Rashard Lewis was not a superstar. Everyone knew when we signed him, including us, he wasn’t worth the money.

Whether it was 11 or 15, McGrady wasn’t a star.

The only error I made was McGrady’s ppg.

I repeat, we’ve never signed a star in free agency. Nothing you’ve said changes that. On top of that, acquiring Hill and McGrady was 18 years ago.

No one is coming here. Stop doing drugs.

You’re wrong, and now you’re mad.

It’s all semantics. Did LeBron sign with the Heat as a FA? Technically, no, he was traded. Do you know what a sign-and-trade is? No one with an IQ above 6 would argue that LeBron to Miami wasn’t a free agent acquisition. It’s the exact same with Grant Hill. Tell me, what is your IQ?

By the way, good job backtracking. 2 separate occasions you use the word “star,” specifically when you said, and I quote, “Orlando has never signed a real established star in free agency.” No one is arguing that Rashard Lewis was a superstar. Hell, there’s only like 3 or 4 of those in the NBA at any given moment. But star? Lewis definitely was a star, and the Magic got him. So your point is automatically moot.

Your butchering of McGrady’s PPG tells me a couple things: 1) you don’t fact-check and bother looking up what you’re arguing, 2) you rely on shoddy memory and opinions and pass them off as fact, 3) you’re not especially knowledgeable about the NBA or Magic. Either you’re totally non-credible and anything you should immediately be questioned and treated with absolute skepticism.

Like I said, outside of a very select few exceptions like Los Angeles, a winning team, culture or environment (and available cap space) provides the best chance at drawing free agents. When Orlando has had those, they’ve attracted free agents. You just honestly sound very dumb arguing otherwise using your silly arbitrary semantics.

Rashard Lewis had been to exactly one All-Star game(2005) when he signed with us. Not a star. Just a role player, who we paid star money to.

McGrady was a gamble, and not an established star.

Even if I were to give credit for Hill, that would make the one star we signed in free agency, 18 years ago, and he was damaged goods.

Every year I read you fools posting about your scenarios where the top free agents will end up here. Pretending that we aren’t anything more than the Eastern Conference version of Sacramento.

Anyone actually worth a max contract won’t come here. Get your heads out of the clouds.