Magic to sign C Freddie Gillespie to a 10-day hardship contract

[Knightro]

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Currently leading the NBA G-League in blocked shots.

Played 20 games for the Raptors last year. 24 years old. Former teammate of Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler at Baylor.

[CZ Eddie]

I'm a Longhorns fan... rival to Baylor Bears... so, I feel like I should recognize the name.
But, I don't.

[drsd]

Undersized centre that is a pretty good rebounder. Sounds like a hustle guy to me. That's nice.

[RichCollab]

Are we finally giving up on Bamba?

[drsd]

Are we finally giving up on Bamba?

He's injured. Right now Orlando's C depth chart is Lopez and Gillespie, as Carter, Bamba, and M-Wagner are all out.

.,.

[JBSouthpaw]

Doesn't seem the worst to take a flyer on.

12 games G-league stats
https://stats.gleague.nba.com/player/1630273/

last year of college:
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/freddie-gillespie-1/gamelog/2020/

[uraverage]

Still wish we would have used our 2nd round pick to draft Bassey....

[drsd]

Still wish we would have used our 2nd round pick to draft Bassey....

Jason Preston was the player drafted at that slot and he begins his NBA career the next time the Clippers play.

But looking at what was available, Orlando does not look to have lost out. Mulder so far looks better than any of the 2nd rounders.

[Xatticus]

Still wish we would have used our 2nd round pick to draft Bassey....

Jason Preston was the player drafted at that slot and he begins his NBA career the next time the Clippers play.

But looking at what was available, Orlando does not look to have lost out. Mulder so far looks better than any of the 2nd rounders.

I don't think I could disagree with this more.

Mulder is not an NBA player. He is 27 years old. He can't defend. He can't create. He stands in a corner and shoots threes. He got minutes with GS when they were trying not to win games and I heard nothing good about him when he was there. I don't really understand why he would even be on the radar of an NBA team. If you get to the point where you need to play him, your season is already lost. You can get any number of comparable talents on 10-day contracts at any point in time.

I'd take pretty much anyone drafted in the 2nd round over him, but there was a number of guys available that I really liked in the second round. McBride, Dosunmu, Kessler Edwards, Jared Butler. These are all probably better players at this very moment. Edwards is on a two-way contract, so we know he would've signed even if we weren't offering a guaranteed deal.

I don't really care how they rationalize their decision to punt/dump 2nd-round picks. To me, it's just a tacit admission that they have no confidence in their ability to scout players.

[drsd]

I'd take pretty much anyone drafted in the 2nd round over him (Mulder), but there was a number of guys available that I really liked in the second round. McBride, Dosunmu, Kessler Edwards, Jared Butler.

The question really is if management was wise to sell the pick or have yet another sub-20yo on the roster.

If I was the GM, I would have drafted Jared Butler, or some other NCAA senior like Herb Jones.

But back to the topic: Freddie Gillespie. Would you rather the Magic have a rookie second rounder or him on the court in the next game?
I have no opinion myself except to say that these overachievers, like Gillespie, are fun to watch even if they are not actually NBA talents.


..

[tiderulz]

I'd take pretty much anyone drafted in the 2nd round over him (Mulder), but there was a number of guys available that I really liked in the second round. McBride, Dosunmu, Kessler Edwards, Jared Butler.

The question really is if management was wise to sell the pick or have yet another sub-20yo on the roster.

If I was the GM, I would have drafted Jared Butler, or some other NCAA senior like Herb Jones.

But back to the topic: Freddie Gillespie. Would you rather the Magic have a rookie second rounder or him on the court in the next game?
I have no opinion myself except to say that these overachievers, like Gillespie, are fun to watch even if they are not actually NBA talents.


..

they didnt have to use a 2nd on a sub-20 yo. but they could have used it on Dosunmy, Thor, Boston, Garza. plenty of options there to develop and improve the overall talent on the team and bench. and under cost control.

[zaymon]

Still wish we would have used our 2nd round pick to draft Bassey....

Jason Preston was the player drafted at that slot and he begins his NBA career the next time the Clippers play.

But looking at what was available, Orlando does not look to have lost out. Mulder so far looks better than any of the 2nd rounders.

I don't think I could disagree with this more.

Mulder is not an NBA player. He is 27 years old. He can't defend. He can't create. He stands in a corner and shoots threes. He got minutes with GS when they were trying not to win games and I heard nothing good about him when he was there. I don't really understand why he would even be on the radar of an NBA team. If you get to the point where you need to play him, your season is already lost. You can get any number of comparable talents on 10-day contracts at any point in time.

I'd take pretty much anyone drafted in the 2nd round over him, but there was a number of guys available that I really liked in the second round. McBride, Dosunmu, Kessler Edwards, Jared Butler. These are all probably better players at this very moment. Edwards is on a two-way contract, so we know he would've signed even if we weren't offering a guaranteed deal.

I don't really care how they rationalize their decision to punt/dump 2nd-round picks. To me, it's just a tacit admission that they have no confidence in their ability to scout players.

I was a fan of Dosunmu but lets be realistic who would we cut from rotation when everybody is healthy ? Even now we have too many guys. Signing veteran was a good process but Mulder was a bad decision imo. I would rather see Gravett more for his ability to setup offense.

[Knightro]

I have been very disappointed with the player development process of the Magic under this regime.

I was very excited when the Magic announced shortly after Weltman took over that they were going to finally have their own G-League team. Toronto has really excelled on the player development front over the years and I was hopeful the Magic would be able to adopt some of those same practices here.

But it's been a whole lot of nothing. The Magic don't use 2nd round picks. They don't use their two-way contracts on anyone with any sort of of long-term value. They don't use Lakeland effectively whatsoever.

There's nothing happening on the player development front on the margins. Beyond that, there's very little happening on the margins period. The Magic's front office seems perfectly content to just let full seasons play out and then make draft picks wherever they land.

They should be acquiring distressed assets and doing whatever they can to accumulate more picks. Even if you don't use the picks, they can be used as trade currency and the Magic just do none of that.

The only thing the Magic have done on the margins since Welman and Hammond took over was acquire Fultz. But they need to be doing those sorts of transactions all the time.

[zaymon]

I have been very disappointed with the player development process of the Magic under this regime.

I was very excited when the Magic announced shortly after Weltman took over that they were going to finally have their own G-League team. Toronto has really excelled on the player development front over the years and I was hopeful the Magic would be able to adopt some of those same practices here.

But it's been a whole lot of nothing. The Magic don't use 2nd round picks. They don't use their two-way contracts on anyone with any sort of of long-term value. They don't use Lakeland effectively whatsoever.

There's nothing happening on the player development front on the margins. Beyond that, there's very little happening on the margins period. The Magic's front office seems perfectly content to just let full seasons play out and then make draft picks wherever they land.

They should be acquiring distressed assets and doing whatever they can to accumulate more picks. Even if you don't use the picks, they can be used as trade currency and the Magic just do none of that.

The only thing the Magic have done on the margins since Welman and Hammond took over was acquire Fultz. But they need to be doing those sorts of transactions all the time.

I think you are a little unfair. They found some guys, but we have too many high draft picks to eat up rotation minutes. Even mid first rounder Hampton is out off rotation when we are healthy where are minutes for second rounders ? People are angry when Birch is taking Bamba minutes but at the same time they are angry we doesnt draft and play second rounders ? Thats crazy.
They also did what you just pointed out, they dealt picks for future picks accumulating assets. They never traded picks straight for cash.

ps. They found Birch, Jeffries (with Rockets now), Iwundu was not bad for second rounder, Dawtin is on 2 way with Warriors. Its not great but not awful either

[Knightro]

I think you are a little unfair. They found some guys, but we have too many high draft picks to eat up rotation minutes. Even mid first rounder Hampton is out off rotation when we are healthy where are minutes for second rounders ? People are angry when Birch is taking Bamba minutes but at the same time they are angry we doesnt draft and play second rounders ? Thats crazy.
They also did what you just pointed out, they dealt picks for future picks accumulating assets. They never traded picks straight for cash.

ps. They found Birch, Jeffries (with Rockets now), Iwundu was not bad for second rounder, Dawtin is on 2 way with Warriors. Its not great but not awful either

One thing I've been extremely guilty of is assuming health. Guys get injured. Those 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th men and beyond are going to play. It's inevitable.

It's not necessarily about all these guys being rotation players, that's not realistic. But it's about having as few non-useless players in slots 8-15 as you can.

[zaymon]

I think you are a little unfair. They found some guys, but we have too many high draft picks to eat up rotation minutes. Even mid first rounder Hampton is out off rotation when we are healthy where are minutes for second rounders ? People are angry when Birch is taking Bamba minutes but at the same time they are angry we doesnt draft and play second rounders ? Thats crazy.
They also did what you just pointed out, they dealt picks for future picks accumulating assets. They never traded picks straight for cash.

ps. They found Birch, Jeffries (with Rockets now), Iwundu was not bad for second rounder, Dawtin is on 2 way with Warriors. Its not great but not awful either

One thing I've been extremely guilty of is assuming health. Guys get injured. Those 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th men and beyond are going to play. It's inevitable.

It's not necessarily about all these guys being rotation players, that's not realistic. But it's about having as few non-useless players in slots 8-15 as you can.

Our players in slots 8-15 are either young with potential or quite decent veterans. Its 15-21 who you actually talk about.
Look player nr 14 is Wagner who has the biggest balls on our team and others treat him like a leader. 15 is Moore who got minutes last year on a contender.