Official Speculation Thread ‘18-19’: XX: Year of the Vuc

[Bergmaniac]

I hope he is wrong, Rozier is extremely overrated.

[Tarheel]

Is Kyler usually accurate with this sort of thing?

I'm guessing from Knightro's comments that he isn't.

[pepe1991]

lol
Career 38% FG shooter

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

No Vucevic tonight. 20 point blowout loss coming?

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[VFX]

Read on Twitter

No Vucevic tonight. 20 point blowout loss coming?

Considering there hasn’t been a plan without him offensively in 7 years, I’d say so.

Here’s rooting for Orlando to miraculously pull this one out. Hopefully to show management they don’t need Vuc to score 20 points off mid range jumpers and non-contact around the rim play every night to remain competitive. Not going to hold my breath.

[pepe1991]

Optimistic side of me says : more shots for everybody else yeeey
Realistic side of me says : more shots for everybody -exposure of reality

[NotACat]

Optimistic side of me says : more shots for everybody else yeeey
Realistic side of me says : more shots for everybody -exposure of reality

We may see AG as the focal point of the offense tonight.

[pepe1991]

Optimistic side of me says : more shots for everybody else yeeey
Realistic side of me says : more shots for everybody -exposure of reality

We may see AG as the focal point of the offense tonight.

and his mirror reflection when he does it is playing on opposite team

[Knightro]

The one thing I will say about Rozier in a positive respect is that he's shown to be significantly better with more minutes and a higher usage, which is almost certainly what he'd get here in Orlando.

Look at his career splits...

As a starter (37 games): 16.1 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 5.4 APG on a .400/.371/.792 slash, .498 eFG%, .530 TS%, 112 ORTG, 107 DRTG
As a reserve (204 games): 6.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.9 APG on a .375/.347/.767 slash, .454 eFG%, .482 TS%, 101 ORTG, 106 DRTG

Break it down even further and his 3PT%, TS% and ORTG are all actually quite good when he plays over 30 minutes a game. Even his FG% is creeping more towards acceptable the more he plays and more shots he gets up.

.416 FG%, .420 3PT%, .560 TS%, 117 ORTG when playing 30-39 MPG.

I would absolutely sign him this summer if the price was right.

[Nightman]

Time for Bamba to step up tonight.

[BadMofoPimp]

It's Kyler, so take it with a grain of salt. But he says the Magic are more interested in Rozier than Russell.

Read on Twitter

Geez. I sure hope not. I would hate to get stuck with another overpaid Bismark or Delladova type backup.

[Magic_Johnny12]

Bamba is going to foul out in 3 minutes.

Birch will play a big role today, might even have a Mozzy showing.

[OrlandO]

Time for Bamba to step up tonight.

I would say it's more AG and Fournier who have to step up as they will be option 1 and 2. Isaac will also need to play smart on offense as he moves into AG's usual role. Rookie Mo just has to play with a ton of energy... should not be hard for his first career start.

[PrimeThyme]

Lol it would be funny to see the reactions here if we won by 20+ tonight without Vuc. I'm expecting a loss though.

[EAS Law]

It isn’t like we’ve made some huge mistake by trying to finally put a competitive team out there with competent coaching.

You know what’s depressing? Knowing that next year Zion, Barrett and all the top talent in the draft will be playing anywhere but in Orlando and we will be peddling the same team again with a minor tweak in starting PG.

Only, every year it seems that *insert top college player* is this coveted savior—look at Fultz and how that worked out. We haven’t had a 1st overall pick since Dwight left.
Zion and Barrett both look great at their current level, but so did Ingram, Ball, Okafor, Fultz, etc.

Then you have guys like Giannis and Gobert, who were much deeper in the draft, one is talked about as the heir apparent to the “best in the league” title and the other has been a bonafide starter for years. Point being, let the chips fall where they may and see what you have.

Just remember that the only times in franchise history we've been better than a 1st round exit is with a team built around a superstar that was a #1 overall pick. Chips falling where they may is a recipe for unending mediocrity, waiting for dumb luck to bail you out. Screw that.

I want championships. Championship teams have superstars. Easiest way to get a superstar, in the draft. Best spot in the draft a superstar, #1. Easiest way to land the #1 pick, have the worst record. Best way to have worst record, have worst team....

You can't count on dumb luck saving your franchise, what you can count on is mathematical odds and yourself. Controlling your destiny by playing to the best odds is a lot faster way to get to the promised land. Sitting on the fence between tanking and contending with a team who's ceiling is capped at a possible fluke upset series win into 2nd round of playoffs is just a waste of everybody's time.

Success is proactive, not reactive.

So your position is that you don’t want to rely on dumb luck, so we should rank year after year to enter a LOTTERY, the winner of which is based solely on luck, to hope we’ve evaluated the talent correctly, to then draft a superstar who IS a superstar, just not enough of one to prevent us from getting the first overall pick again, until we look like a good team on paper.

Come on dude. You know your posts are just dripping with opportunity to complain—whether we are winning games or losing, you’re complaining.

[PrimeThyme]

Time for Bamba to step up tonight.

I would say it's more AG and Fournier who have to step up as they will be option 1 and 2. Isaac will also need to play smart on offense as he moves into AG's usual role. Rookie Mo just has to play with a ton of energy... should not be hard for his first career start.

Has it been confirmed that he is starting? I could easily see Cliff starting Birch to allow Bamba to stay in his role off the bench.

[OrlandO]

Time for Bamba to step up tonight.

I would say it's more AG and Fournier who have to step up as they will be option 1 and 2. Isaac will also need to play smart on offense as he moves into AG's usual role. Rookie Mo just has to play with a ton of energy... should not be hard for his first career start.

Has it been confirmed that he is starting? I could easily see Cliff starting Birch to allow Bamba to stay in his role off the bench.

You might be right. Just assuming he starts.

[Def Swami]

Rozier is probably the easier player to acquire. His value will never be lower. He's having a rough season, he gets few minutes to showcase himself, and everyone knows it will be hard for Boston to keep him in the off-season. I could see Orlando liking Rozier in a trade situation; they'd probably have to part ways with less to get someone like Rozier compared to Russell. Russell continues to play well offensively, is a better shooter and playmaker, and is younger. I'm not convinced that the Nets want to part ways with Russell yet. He's playing too well.

[basketballRob]

I think our offense will look better tonight.