Official Speculation Thread ‘17-18’: XVIII: The Long Wait Continues

[Knightro]

That depends entirely on whether or not you consider more wins, a playoff-less post season, and a lower draft pick, a success compared to last season. Clifford and a healthy roster is good, but still obviously not good enough. So we are looking at mediocre?

This year? I think they're going to be mediocre, yes. I am predicting somewhere around 32-34 wins. Probably the 9th or 10th seed in the East.

But Vucevic, Ross, Simmons, Grant, Martin, Iwundu and Birch are all either unrestricted free agents or can become unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason if the Magic are so inclined. That's four for sure rotation players and possibly 5 if Iwundu is the 10th man.

How the team looks right now roster wise and how it will look next year IMO are going to be significantly different.

As much as we wanted sweeping changes this past summer, it wasn't overly realistic. A lot of these guys had little to no value in trades (Vuc, Ross, Evan) or weren't people any of us would have wanted to give up (Gordon, Isaac, 6th pick, future picks).

[BadMofoPimp]

That depends entirely on whether or not you consider more wins, a playoff-less post season, and a lower draft pick, a success compared to last season. Clifford and a healthy roster is good, but still obviously not good enough. So we are looking at mediocre?

This year? I think they're going to be mediocre, yes. I am predicting somewhere around 32-34 wins. Probably the 9th or 10th seed in the East.

But Vucevic, Ross, Simmons, Grant, Martin, Iwundu and Birch are all either unrestricted free agents or can become unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason if the Magic are so inclined. That's four for sure rotation players and possibly 5 if Iwundu is the 10th man.

How the team looks right now roster wise and how it will look next year IMO are going to be significantly different.

As much as we wanted sweeping changes this past summer, it wasn't overly realistic. A lot of these guys had little to no value in trades (Vuc, Ross, Evan) or weren't people any of us would have wanted to give up (Gordon, Isaac, 6th pick, future picks).

Sometimes, players have their best seasons in contract years.

[InFlames]

So I'm trying to buy an Isaac city edition jersey. Might be a stupid question but is officialmagicstoreonline.com legit? They are selling the jersey for 42$ and that seems strange to me.

[fendilim]

So I'm trying to buy an Isaac city edition jersey. Might be a stupid question but is officialmagicstoreonline.com legit? They are selling the jersey for 42$ and that seems strange to me.

Stumbled upon this too. I think its fake. I tried purchasing it at store.nba.com , they still dont have city edition. Also. Freeshipping.com is a scam.

[InFlames]

So I'm trying to buy an Isaac city edition jersey. Might be a stupid question but is officialmagicstoreonline.com legit? They are selling the jersey for 42$ and that seems strange to me.

Stumbled upon this too. I think its fake. I tried purchasing it at store.nba.com , they still dont have city edition. Also. Freeshipping.com is a scam.

Yea I think so too. I can't find an Isaac or Bamba city edition anywhere. Thanks for the reply.

[fendilim]

So I'm trying to buy an Isaac city edition jersey. Might be a stupid question but is officialmagicstoreonline.com legit? They are selling the jersey for 42$ and that seems strange to me.

Stumbled upon this too. I think its fake. I tried purchasing it at store.nba.com , they still dont have city edition. Also. Freeshipping.com is a scam.

Yea I think so too. I can't find an Isaac or Bamba city edition anywhere. Thanks for the reply.

no problem. Lots of fakes online. I bought a doncic jersey yesterday lol and there was a prompt at nba.com for a reimbursement of the 10$ i paid for shipping. I thought it was too good to be true. So i checked freeshipping, apparently its an auto subscription of 12usd per month.

I think the fanatics branded jersey are on sale right now at the nba store. But the nike at regular price.

[Curtis Lemansky]

I have read some stuff about Simmons being used as pg, how many minutes do you guys expect him to receive? Around 20 or closer to 30?

[SOUL]

I have read some stuff about Simmons being used as pg, how many minutes do you guys expect him to receive? Around 20 or closer to 30?

Where'd you hear that?

I'd prob say around 20. He did it a little last season when everybody was injured/ineffective, but I don't really trust him with the ball in his hands that much.

[Curtis Lemansky]

I have read some stuff about Simmons being used as pg, how many minutes do you guys expect him to receive? Around 20 or closer to 30?

Where'd you hear that?

I'd prob say around 20. He did it a little last season when everybody was injured/ineffective, but I don't really trust him with the ball in his hands that much.

https://www.nba.com/magic/news/simmons-impressing-clifford-his-toughness-and-fearlessness-20181007



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[Knightro]

I have read some stuff about Simmons being used as pg, how many minutes do you guys expect him to receive? Around 20 or closer to 30?

He played zero point guard in the preseason. Generally speaking, I wouldn’t listen to Denton on much of anything.

I’m guessing he’ll see 20-25 mpg as the backup SG/SF.

[Dub_Sax]

Anyone else concerned about AG? Seems he's playing more SF than PF especially when JI is on the floor at the same time.
I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to be playing PF. But it seems like he's frustrated because at SF, he's just not as effective. And that's when he starts to play one on one ball which makes him even less effective.

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[InFlames]

Stumbled upon this too. I think its fake. I tried purchasing it at store.nba.com , they still dont have city edition. Also. Freeshipping.com is a scam.

Yea I think so too. I can't find an Isaac or Bamba city edition anywhere. Thanks for the reply.

no problem. Lots of fakes online. I bought a doncic jersey yesterday lol and there was a prompt at nba.com for a reimbursement of the 10$ i paid for shipping. I thought it was too good to be true. So i checked freeshipping, apparently its an auto subscription of 12usd per month.

I think the fanatics branded jersey are on sale right now at the nba store. But the nike at regular price.

I think AG is the only city edition I've found online. **** sucks I love that jersey but I want Isaac, Bamba or Penny and for the life of me I can't find it online anywhere.

[bargnanimvp]

So I'm trying to buy an Isaac city edition jersey. Might be a stupid question but is officialmagicstoreonline.com legit? They are selling the jersey for 42$ and that seems strange to me.

Take special care of your ankles in that jersey

[fendilim]

Anyone else concerned about AG? Seems he's playing more SF than PF especially when JI is on the floor at the same time.
I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to be playing PF. But it seems like he's frustrated because at SF, he's just not as effective. And that's when he starts to play one on one ball which makes him even less effective.

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i’m not concerned as long as he plays within his role.

Im more concerned if reports are true that he wanted to be a facilitator on offense much to the chagrin of management.

[Dub_Sax]

That could be the source of frustration.. what is his role and/or position? Starting Pf or Sf?

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[VFX]

That depends entirely on whether or not you consider more wins, a playoff-less post season, and a lower draft pick, a success compared to last season. Clifford and a healthy roster is good, but still obviously not good enough. So we are looking at mediocre?

How the team looks right now roster wise and how it will look next year IMO are going to be significantly different.

As much as we wanted sweeping changes this past summer, it wasn't overly realistic. A lot of these guys had little to no value in trades (Vuc, Ross, Evan) or weren't people any of us would have wanted to give up (Gordon, Isaac, 6th pick, future picks).

Right. So this season, for the most part, is a complete wash until moves are made. As far as I’m concerned it’s evaluation season part 2 until the management decides to make any kind of moves to shake up the roster. Trading Biz for Moz, drafting “BPA”, and acquiring a backup point guard are extremely minor moves.

Sweeping changes didn’t need to be made, but a direction would be nice. They aren’t committed to tank and this isn’t a playoff team, by rolling out a bunch of vets and having rookies staggered in lineups with players that won’t be available a year from now. Yes, next year will look significantly different due to all the expiring contracts. Even WeHam can at least handle that. It’s about damn time.

[Knightro]

Right. So this season, for the most part, is a complete wash until moves are made. As far as I’m concerned it’s evaluation season part 2 until the management decides to make any kind of moves to shake up the roster. Trading Biz for Moz, drafting “BPA”, and acquiring a backup point guard are extremely minor moves.

I get why you feel that way, but isn’t this the case for almost the entire league?

You have 2-3 teams that can win the title.

You have 2-3 teams that are actively trying to lose.

You have 25 teams somewhere in the middle. Some of them are gonna win 50, some are gonna win 30, but the end result is the same. A wash. A year wasted on nothing of substance without the hope of a top lotto pick.

The reality of the situation is almost every team in the league is middle class, just to different degrees.

I think Weltman and Hammond are firmly convinced that Clifford is a much better coach than Vogel and can really help teach these young guys some winning habits.

If they catch some breaks on health and other teams struggle or decide to punt on the season early, maybe they stay in it and make a token playoff charge this year.

Then next year they’ll hopefully be in a position to add more talented players via FA and trades to the young guys they’re gonna keep.

The direction is “we’re paying for the horrible mistakes of 2016. While we wait for those mistakes to disappear, we’ll add some young talent and improve our coaching.”

My guess is that they’ll be significantly aggressive in the next two offseasons as they’ll actually have a lot going f financial flexibility that they didn’t have in the previous two offseasons.

[VFX]

Right. So this season, for the most part, is a complete wash until moves are made. As far as I’m concerned it’s evaluation season part 2 until the management decides to make any kind of moves to shake up the roster. Trading Biz for Moz, drafting “BPA”, and acquiring a backup point guard are extremely minor moves.

I get why you feel that way, but isn’t this the case for almost the entire league?

You have 2-3 teams that can win the title.

You have 2-3 teams that are actively trying to lose.

You have 25 teams somewhere in the middle. Some of them are gonna win 50, some are gonna win 30, but the end result is the same. A wash. A year wasted on nothing of substance without the hope of a top lotto pick.

The reality of the situation is almost every team in the league is middle class, just to different degrees.

My guess is that they’ll be significantly aggressive in the next two offseasons as they’ll actually have a lot going f financial flexibility that they didn’t have in the previous two offseasons.

Yeah. I don’t view Orlando as middle class, as a team that is supported currently by players that won’t be here in a year or so. Sure, they can squeeze out wins against the rest of the mediocre to bad teams in the east.

I’d like to hope they would be aggressive in the next two offseasons considering they haven’t moved any contracts other than swapping Biz for Moz. On the other side of it, Orlando isn’t an attractive destination for free agents unless it’s a massive overpay, so the best option is playing rookies, trading for potential, and high draft picks. I guess we will see what management decides to do after the second evaluation season.

[Knightro]

Yeah. I don’t view Orlando as middle class, as a team that is supported currently by players that won’t be here in a year or so. Sure, they can squeeze out wins against the rest of the mediocre to bad teams in the east.

Again, you’re absolutely entitled to that opinion if you feel that way.

But the fact is that the vast majority of NBA teams fall under the same umbrella.

Not good enough to come close to winning the title. Not bad enough to come close to earning a high lotto pick.

Practically speaking there’s just no real difference between the Magic and the Pistons, Hornets, Nets, Heat, Wizards, Bucks and Cavaliers. That’s 8 teams in one conference who for all intents and purposes are facing the same fate.

None of those teams are making it out of the first round of the East playoffs if they even make it at all and none of those teams are finishing with a bottom five record.

[pepe1991]

Problem is fact that team that is 50 wins team and not contender is probably 1 trade away ( or 1 year of patience away ) from contending for title, where teams like Kings, Magic, Bulls , Hawks are one jackpot lottery away from entering even conversation for playoffs, let along 50 wins.


Imo gap between great and bottom teams has never been bigger.