Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLV "Re-Building" Edition)

[Ballah]

If we could've got Evan Turner or Wilson Chandler we would have got them, so no we couldn't.

So you don't make the trade.

And then magically a better offer appears?

[ChildishGambino]

Some of you guys are **** babies. Get over it. The deal is done let's move forward with what we have and build though draft's and trades. I'm excited for the upcoming season, the young guys will get plenty of run and we can see what we have.

thank you man.....i can't believe people are still crying about this when we knew about the deal since yesterday.....what's done is done.....people need to remember that we were at rock bottom in the past and we rose up.....i believe we are a bit more prepared for the future so our rise might be a bit quicker than we think....personally i just can't get too angry about a situation i can't control....i'll tell you what though if this happened in 2k i would of been furious lol but i can control that....this situation is out of our hands...accept it and you'll feel better about our current situation....this will be a trying time...it will also weed out the fairweathers from the diehards

[Def Swami]

If we could've got Evan Turner or Wilson Chandler we would have got them, so no we couldn't.

So you don't make the trade.

And then magically a better offer appears?

Still had a month til training camp to get some. I think even trading for Bynum and then using him as a trade chip at the deadline would have been better. Would have had a lot more teams in the market for him.

[InFlames]

Who is living in fantasy land? Surely you're not talking about me. You don't see me talking about other deals. I am fine with not getting Bynum or Iggy. What I'm not fine with is getting good young talent. We gave up the best player and we couldn't get Evan Turner or Wilson Chandler? Come on, that's not unreasonable. Everyone is blasting us, there is a reason.

Obviously we couldn't get them, otherwise we would have. We had no leverage.

[Noonskadoodle]

FIRST of MANY to come Im guessing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEn_BCxkLU&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/youtube]

[ChosenSavior]

The Magic GM isnt RC Buford or Sam Presti if this trade is any indication. He basically got a 15th round pick(Harkless) and 3 protected 1st rounders for Howard. That is horrible.....ridiculously horrible. When Bynum, Gasol, and Iggy are in play and you cant land any of them in a deal involving Howard....that is beyond bad.

Please. How in the world do you know what Buford or Presti would have done in this situation seeing that neither franchise had to deal with a narcissistic, whiny POS like Dwight who only wanted to go to Brooklyn. When that wasn't available, he requested the next best thing which was the Lakers.

[PigsEatHam]

As a tall fellow, I appreciate all this new leg-room on the Magic bandwagon. There is a lot of despondency, rending of garments, slashing of wrists, et cetera in this thread, and it's really uncalled for.

Is our goal to win a championship? Yes. The second Dwight indicated he would not resign with us, our current window was gone. In truth, it was probably gone before that, but no Dwight made it official. So we were going into a rebuild. You don't want to rebuild around a marginal all-star talent (Iggy) or an injury-prone center who's even more immature than Howard (Bynum) or a decent, but not game-changing center on a max contract in Brook Lopez. Nor do you want Al Horford and scraps (even though Horford is a very good player), because we don't want very good players while we're trying to suck and build our foundation via the draft.

So those were our options--or a deal with the Rockets. And for those of you clamoring, We should've done a deal with Houston for all their rookies, cap relief, and picks--number one, that wasn't the deal, and number two, all those rookies were mid-first round picks (as in the same region of first-round picks we're going to end up with from our trade today [and Mo Harkless and Nikola Vucevic, a couple of other mid-first round selections]).

In all honesty, I like this trade. We get rid of Dwight, who obviously hasn't wanted to be a part of our team since last summer. We get rid of Duhon and Richardson (both positive moves), we get five draft picks (all positives, particularly now that we have employees capable of scouting), we get some youngins' in Harkless, Vucevic, Eyenga, and McRoberts. We get a hard-nosed twenty points a game-capable player in Afflalo, and a moveable contract in Harrington. Probably flip him for a late pick to a contender down the road.

Other than that, we get flexibility, competitive players, and a fat TPE.

It's all good. Let our front office build what they're going to build. In two years, we'll have thirty million or so in cap space to sign a couple up-and-coming free agents (we won't throw money at the likes of Chris Bosh or whatever other aging, big name player is available come 2014; we'll pay some McGrady or Harden, about to breakout type good money to go along with our two lotto picks, ideally high-lotto picks).

And in the meantime, we have players who will give their all and set the cultural tone for the organization: Jameer, JJ, Afflalo, Davis, Nicholson, O'Quinn--all guys who've shown good character and a willingness to learn and compete (can't speak of Harkless, Eyenga, or McRoberts, but who knows, I'll give our front office the benefit of the doubt).

We'll be back on the rise in a few years--and this time, if things go according to plan, it'll be a long-term one, not a flash in the pan like our last championship-caliber team.

To summarize, welcome new players. I'll see everyone in November. Go Magic.

[J-Mezzy]

Oh well. I hope that this trade pans out eventually but we need to seriously tank next season. Gotto go after that first pick

[MagicTownBaller]

Ya know, I was pretty upset about the Dwight Howard trade earlier. I was thinking that "Hennigan is outta his mind!" and "He turned our team into a joke." But, then I was thinking about another team that was pretty similar and was considered a joke of a franchise. Do you know who that other team was? The Seattle Sonics.

Then, I looked up Sam Presti's introductory press conference, where he got introduced as the new general manager of the Seattle Sonics, and everything he said sounded so familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it until I re-watched Hennigan's introductory press conference also. Rob Hennigan says and does everything just like Sam Presti!

In each of their press conferences, they talked about getting better incrementally, talked about wanting to change the culture (I don't know if Presti used the word culture though), talked about wanting to be a professional team, talked about wanting players who WANT to be there. Both were also hired at age 30.

Also, if you look at their transaction history, they're very similar also.

Rob Hennigan
Signed & Traded Power Forward Ryan Anderson to the New Orleans Hornets for Gustavo Ayon

Sam Presti
Signed & Traded Forward Rashard Lewis to the Orlando Magic for a future second round pick

Ron Hennigan
Traded our STAR Dwight Howard, Chris Duhon, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark for Moe Harkless (Rookie), Arron Afflalo, Nikola Vucevic, Al Harrington, Josh McRoberts, Christian Eyenga, and 5 draft picks (3 first rounders and 2 second rounders) to form another super team in Los Angeles

Sam Presti
Traded the Sonic's STAR Ray Allen and a second round pick (Glen Davis) to the Boston Celtics to form a super team for a first round pick (Jeff Green) and Delonte West.

Rob Hennigan
Hired San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Jacque Vaughn as the head coach of the Orlando Magic

Sam Presti
Hired San Antonio Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo as the head coach of the Seattle Sonics

Do you see the pattern yet? Both are planning for the future. They are both consummate professionals and Hennigan will prove that soon enough. The thing that's funny is, that's only Sam Presti's first year, and he kept making a good decision after good decision that led to the Thunder eventually being as good as they are today.

Point is, I'm a Magic fan until I die and I'm going to be sticking it out and root for my team and be excited about them every time I watch them. I'm going to trust Hennigan and I'm going to trust the process that he is using to build our team. Eventually, we will be a good team again, it may take time, but we will be a good team and a championship contender.

For anyone that wants to watch the Sam Presti press conference, here it is.

http://www.nba.us/sonics/news/presti_video1.html

[OrlandO]

I wish people complaining would criticize the deal from a future standpoint, like 2-3 years from now. Seems some are just concentrating on the present, so of course it's going to sting.

[MasterGMer]

As a tall fellow, I appreciate all this new leg-room on the Magic bandwagon. There is a lot of despondency, rending of garments, slashing of wrists, et cetera in this thread, and it's really uncalled for.

Is our goal to win a championship? Yes. The second Dwight indicated he would not resign with us, our current window was gone. In truth, it was probably gone before that, but no Dwight made it official. So we were going into a rebuild. You don't want to rebuild around a marginal all-star talent (Iggy) or an injury-prone center who's even more immature than Howard (Bynum) or a decent, but not game-changing center on a max contract in Brook Lopez. Nor do you want Al Horford and scraps (even though Horford is a very good player), because we don't want very good players while we're trying to suck and build our foundation via the draft.

So those were our options--or a deal with the Rockets. And for those of you clamoring, We should've done a deal with Houston for all their rookies, cap relief, and picks--number one, that wasn't the deal, and number two, all those rookies were mid-first round picks (as in the same region of first-round picks we're going to end up with from our trade today [and Mo Harkless and Nikola Vucevic, a couple of other mid-first round selections]).

In all honesty, I like this trade. We get rid of Dwight, who obviously hasn't wanted to be a part of our team since last summer. We get rid of Duhon and Richardson (both positive moves), we get five draft picks (all positives, particularly now that we have employees capable of scouting), we get some youngins' in Harkless, Vucevic, Eyenga, and McRoberts. We get a hard-nosed twenty points a game-capable player in Afflalo, and a moveable contract in Harrington. Probably flip him for a late pick to a contender down the road.

Other than that, we get flexibility, competitive players, and a fat TPE.

It's all good. Let our front office build what they're going to build. In two years, we'll have thirty million or so in cap space to sign a couple up-and-coming free agents (we won't throw money at the likes of Chris Bosh or whatever other aging, big name player is available come 2014; we'll pay some McGrady or Harden, about to breakout type good money to go along with our two lotto picks, ideally high-lotto picks).

And in the meantime, we have players who will give their all and set the cultural tone for the organization: Jameer, JJ, Afflalo, Davis, Nicholson, O'Quinn--all guys who've shown good character and a willingness to learn and compete (can't speak of Harkless, Eyenga, or McRoberts, but who knows, I'll give our front office the benefit of the doubt).

We'll be back on the rise in a few years--and this time, if things go according to plan, it'll be a long-term one, not a flash in the pan like our last championship-caliber team.

To summarize, welcome new players. I'll see everyone in November. Go Magic.

WOW, well said. Looks like Orlando Magic Official State of Union address. Well said. So basically we will tank for this upcoming season according to you, right?

[ChosenSavior]

As a tall fellow, I appreciate all this new leg-room on the Magic bandwagon. There is a lot of despondency, rending of garments, slashing of wrists, et cetera in this thread, and it's really uncalled for.

Is our goal to win a championship? Yes. The second Dwight indicated he would not resign with us, our current window was gone. In truth, it was probably gone before that, but no Dwight made it official. So we were going into a rebuild. You don't want to rebuild around a marginal all-star talent (Iggy) or an injury-prone center who's even more immature than Howard (Bynum) or a decent, but not game-changing center on a max contract in Brook Lopez. Nor do you want Al Horford and scraps (even though Horford is a very good player), because we don't want very good players while we're trying to suck and build our foundation via the draft.

So those were our options--or a deal with the Rockets. And for those of you clamoring, We should've done a deal with Houston for all their rookies, cap relief, and picks--number one, that wasn't the deal, and number two, all those rookies were mid-first round picks (as in the same region of first-round picks we're going to end up with from our trade today [and Mo Harkless and Nikola Vucevic, a couple of other mid-first round selections]).

In all honesty, I like this trade. We get rid of Dwight, who obviously hasn't wanted to be a part of our team since last summer. We get rid of Duhon and Richardson (both positive moves), we get five draft picks (all positives, particularly now that we have employees capable of scouting), we get some youngins' in Harkless, Vucevic, Eyenga, and McRoberts. We get a hard-nosed twenty points a game-capable player in Afflalo, and a moveable contract in Harrington. Probably flip him for a late pick to a contender down the road.

Other than that, we get flexibility, competitive players, and a fat TPE.

It's all good. Let our front office build what they're going to build. In two years, we'll have thirty million or so in cap space to sign a couple up-and-coming free agents (we won't throw money at the likes of Chris Bosh or whatever other aging, big name player is available come 2014; we'll pay some McGrady or Harden, about to breakout type good money to go along with our two lotto picks, ideally high-lotto picks).

And in the meantime, we have players who will give their all and set the cultural tone for the organization: Jameer, JJ, Afflalo, Davis, Nicholson, O'Quinn--all guys who've shown good character and a willingness to learn and compete (can't speak of Harkless, Eyenga, or McRoberts, but who knows, I'll give our front office the benefit of the doubt).

We'll be back on the rise in a few years--and this time, if things go according to plan, it'll be a long-term one, not a flash in the pan like our last championship-caliber team.

To summarize, welcome new players. I'll see everyone in November. Go Magic.

Thank you.

[Driguez]

FIRST of MANY to come Im guessing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzEn_BCxkLU&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/youtube]

Not gonna lie, watching that felt kinda good lol

[Driguez]

Oh well. I hope that this trade pans out eventually but we need to seriously tank next season. Gotto go after that first pick

This

[SpursFan4Life]

The Magic GM isnt RC Buford or Sam Presti if this trade is any indication. He basically got a 15th round pick(Harkless) and 3 protected 1st rounders for Howard. That is horrible.....ridiculously horrible. When Bynum, Gasol, and Iggy are in play and you cant land any of them in a deal involving Howard....that is beyond bad.

Please. How in the world do you know what Buford or Presti would have done in this situation seeing that neither franchise had to deal with a narcissistic, whiny POS like Dwight who only wanted to go to Brooklyn. When that wasn't available, he requested the next best thing which was the Lakers.

Spurs or OKC would have made sure to get trade assets for future picks and more cap relief. Two teams tried to sign Lopez to a max deal for example..the Bobcats and the Trailblazers...hence that makes Lopez a trade asset if they(the Magic) take the Nets deal. So they get Marshon Brooks, 4 unprotected 1st round picks, and Lopez who they can flip to two teams willing to give more draft picks and young players for him. And the Magic better hope Bynum doesnt turn into an absolute beast in Philly...cause thats gonna make this really bad. He's already saying he's willing to sign an extension there.

[arsenal6106]

So it begins. https://twitpic.com/ahvwxd

[LetItRain]

I still can't believe Duhon is gone. That alone, is worth this whole trade

[MagicMan89]

Lets focus on some positives.
- We are going to have youth and athletes at every position.
- A coach willing to play young players and letting them learn
- No more Dwight at the foul line
- We can watch college ball and bank that we will land one of the best players
- We have players that will slash, not just shoot
- Duhon is on another team

[NEM]

After further thinking this trade over, I am warming up to it. I still don't like Arron and Al's contract situations, but it is what it is and I feel that those contracts won't really hinder us from building the team that Hennigan has envisioned. This trade has opened up the possibility to rebuild through the draft (numerous picks that are spread out over a couple of years, giving us 2 first rounders in the next few drafts). It has also opened up the possibility of building through trades. We have numerous young assets now as well as draft picks to offer in trades. The reason I dont think the contracts of Afflalo and Harrington matter a lot is because Rob is not looking to SIGN big name guys. He might trade for them or draft well and develop them, but he won't be signing them (See OKC, SAS).

Here is the main reason I am warming up to this trade. We got a good blend of youth and veterans. As Rob pointed out, there is such a thing as having too much youth, and you will need veterans to guide those young guys in the right direction. By the time we are ready to compete again, these guys will be off their contracts. The guys I am talking about are Afflalo, Nelson, Redick, Davis, and Harrington. As Rob said, Arron is a "young veteran" meaning he is still young enough to contribute now and 4, 5 years from now, but he is very mature, and has made himself into the player he is today, and he is someone the young guys can look up to.

If I can re-grade this deal, I will take it from the D+ I gave it earlier, to a "B"

I think those two contracts are still bugging me, which is why I am only giving it a "B" and not something higher.

[MagicStarwipe]

I'm more excited to watch Magic ball this season than I was last season.