Official Spec Thread: I guess now's the time to blow this dumpster fire up and bask in the glow!

[basketballRob]

Basketball Reference says 35% at SF, 61% at PF.

I think his SF minutes were out of necessity over anything else.

Over the last couple of weeks Ennis and Ross have both been out injured which left the Magic without much at the 3.

Plus Gordon and Aminu were back, so they only way for Okeke to really get on the floor was at SF.

Now that Gordon, Aminu and Clark are all gone, I suspect Okeke will pretty much play PF only at this point.

He's looked very good at SF to me.

The guy I compared Carter to when he was coming out of college was David West. They have a similar height, weight, and wingspan.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westda01.html

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2776562-nba-combine-results-2018-thursday-measurements-highlights-and-top-prospects.amp.html

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Really? I thought David West was an undersized PF cuz he was only 6'7 in shoes? The only thing that made him effective in being a PF cuz his era was more physical and he had the girth to bang down low? I could be wrong but thats how I remember him.

No, he was 6'9" 250 lbs 7'4" wingspan. Carter is 6'8.75" w/o shoes 255 lbs 7'4.5" wingspan.

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[BlueBalls]

After sleeping on it, I think we should have gotten a lot more than what we did, for Gordon especially. But I do like most of the players we got in return, with the possible exception of Harris. And I love the picks. We’re doing the rebuild we absolutely had to do. Maybe we get 1-2 good FAs and get lucky in the lottery. I’m just glad they finally gave in and embraced the punt.

Also really excited to see Bamba and Hampton get some run.

[PrimeThyme]

Lets skip the per 36 crap...Bamba's an All-Star there too.

Bamba is an intelligent, thoughtful guy...I just wonder if he recognized Vuc's clear skill superiority and seniority and was naturally more deferential. Perhaps the challenge of a peer might bring out a little much needed chip on his shoulder. Just a thought...he and WCJ might be too smart for their own good. Carter could have gone to Harvard apparently...they both probably need to not overthink themselves out of the league.

Stark difference. The two really aren't even comparable. This isn't the same as using the per 36 numbers of 14 mpg game guy who has career averages of 5 ppg/4rpg and claiming those would be his averages with increased minutes. Carter in 24 mpg this season has averaged 10 ppg and 7 rebounds. People seem to be overlooking this. He has already proven to be a far more productive player than Bamba has.

Is it seriously that much of a reach to think he could be a walking double-double type player with increased minutes? I don't believe so. Hell, he pretty much already is. Clifford is going to get a lot out of this kid.

[jonbob17]

Bulls fans seem to think he's undersized to play center and his desired position is PF.

He's 6'10" 270. If that's not big enough to play center in the modern NBA, then I don't know.

I'd like to see Clifford split Carter and Bamba's time 24/24. Then have a quota on how many shots they got to take in each game. if they don't hit it they get punished in practice. Put Okeke on that quota plan too. Maybe the opposite for Cole when he gets back.

[RookieStar]

He's looked very good at SF to me.

The guy I compared Carter to when he was coming out of college was David West. They have a similar height, weight, and wingspan.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/westda01.html

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2776562-nba-combine-results-2018-thursday-measurements-highlights-and-top-prospects.amp.html

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Really? I thought David West was an undersized PF cuz he was only 6'7 in shoes? The only thing that made him effective in being a PF cuz his era was more physical and he had the girth to bang down low? I could be wrong but thats how I remember him.

No, he was 6'9" 250 lbs 7'4" wingspan. Carter is 6'8.75" w/o shoes 255 lbs 7'4.5" wingspan.

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Wait David West? The same David West that played for Xavier in thr ncaa and played for the CHA Hornets was 6'9? Wow.. my bad then, I always thought he was only 6'8 at most with shoes on.

[MoMM]

Considering our lack of PFs this season, I think that WCJ will play some time at 4, at least some backup minutes I'd say.

C: WCJ / Bamba / Birch
PF: Okeke / WCJ / Birch
SF: Porter / Ennis
SG: Ross / Harris
PG: Cole / MCW / Hampton

[RookieStar]

Bulls fans seem to think he's undersized to play center and his desired position is PF.

He's 6'10" 270. If that's not big enough to play center in the modern NBA, then I don't know.

I'd like to see Clifford split Carter and Bamba's time 24/24. Then have a quota on how many shots they got to take in each game. if they don't hit it they get punished in practice. Put Okeke on that quota plan too. Maybe the opposite for Cole when he gets back.

Agree.. look at Dwight 6'9-6'10ish 265 in his prime.

Unless WCJ is not 6'10 but more 6'8 then yeah, he better lose 30-40lbs if he wants to be a PF.

[Knightro]

Considering our lack of PFs this season, I think that WCJ will play some time at 4, at least some backup minutes I'd say.

C: WCJ / Bamba / Birch
PF: Okeke / WCJ / Birch
SF: Porter / Ennis
SG: Ross / Harris
PG: Cole / MCW / Hampton

You're kidding yourself if you really think Clifford isn't going to play Birch

[Knightro]

Unless WCJ is not 6'10 but more 6'8 then yeah, he better lose 30-40lbs if he wants to be a PF.

His pre-draft measurements are verified.

He was 6'8" 3/4th barefoot. +1 inch in shoes.

The NBA rounds up 3/4th to the next inch, so he's listed on the NBA media guides at 6'10".

[RookieStar]

Yeah ok so he is Dwight's size except heavier in mass and less athelticism

[basketballRob]

Bulls fans seem to think he's undersized to play center and his desired position is PF.

He's 6'10" 270. If that's not big enough to play center in the modern NBA, then I don't know.

I'd like to see Clifford split Carter and Bamba's time 24/24. Then have a quota on how many shots they got to take in each game. if they don't hit it they get punished in practice. Put Okeke on that quota plan too. Maybe the opposite for Cole when he gets back.

I was looking at his combine measurements.

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[jonbob17]

Yeah ok so he is Dwight's size except heavier in mass and less athelticism

He's about the same as Vuc. Combine without shoes Carter is 6'9", with a 7'4.5" wingspan Vuc 6'10" with a 7'4.5" wingspan. Similar weights. Basically Vuc has an 1.5" on him

[basketballRob]

Wendell with a nice tweet to Bulls fans. He's a pretty bright guy and I think I remember him having an Ivy league scholarship.

Read on Twitter

?s=09

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[BadMofoPimp]

Looking much looking forward to seeing Oladipo in a Heat uniform!

[jonbob17]

Kevin O'Conner said on his podcast today he had heard Orlando strongly considered drafting RJ Hampton at pick 15, or at least they really liked him.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Wendell with a nice tweet to Bulls fans. He's a pretty bright guy and I think I remember him having an Ivy league scholarship.

Read on Twitter

?s=09

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At the end of the day he may end up being a better center than Bamba, but I'd like to see them battle out this year and next.

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You can’t make this stuff up...

[Skin]

Wow... Minnesota beat Houston. 1 game difference between the 2 and they play again on Monday. We did not gain ground to 3rd worse with today's loss.

[Knightro]

Wow... Minnesota beat Houston. 1 game difference between the 2 and they play again on Monday. We did not gain ground to 3rd worse with today's loss.

Houston is going to finish with the worst record by a mile.

They may only win 1-2 more the entire year. I expect Minnesota is going to easily pass them.

[Skin]

Wow... Minnesota beat Houston. 1 game difference between the 2 and they play again on Monday. We did not gain ground to 3rd worse with today's loss.

Houston is going to finish with the worst record by a mile.

They may only win 1-2 more the entire year. I expect Minnesota is going to easily pass them.

Yeah, I think you may be right. Beasley was suspended the last 12 games. He's coming back on Monday.

Detroit is also pretty pathetic though.

[Xatticus]

I think its more of the owner wanting to pay lux tax if we can really be contenders.

lux tax then pretenders isnt gonna cut it.

Ok fair enough, but you have the CEO Martins and the President of Basketball Ops Weltman both within 10 days of each other suggesting publicly that they thought this team was good enough to compete for homecourt in the first round and that they were just killed by injuries.

If they really believed that is true, then why wouldn't they keep the team together give it another shot next year when everyone is healthy + a top 5 pick who might be able to come in right away and make a positive impact?

If the luxury tax was the primary concern, there would have been ways to get under via trades.

But for argument's sake, let's say avoiding the luxury tax was a no questions asked mandate from ownership.

They couldn't have predicted all these injuries.

So Weltman is telling us that the master plan was for the Magic to win as much as possible this year, but then they were willingly going to chose to be worse in 2021-2022 because of financial reasons.

That is indefensible, right?

Fear.

I wouldn't put too much into what Martins said. He is just relaying Weltman's narrative. Weltman is using that 6-2 start to push the idea that everything was peachy until we were beset by a cataclysmic series of injuries.

I would expect that there were serious doubts about next season and the rebuild is just a calculated risk to prolong the tenure of this administration. I think Weltman is largely being truthful, but without a viable means to upgrade next year's roster, there was probably growing fear that next year would be a disappointment as well and that would end his tenure here. He is trying to have his cake and eat it too by pushing the narrative that this roster was working, but now the status quo has changed such that it made sense to shift directions. I think it's going to work. I believe they have bought themselves an extension.