cedric76 wrote:dsg2021 wrote:I had a relatively boring Saturday, I spent too much time in-between things to imagine targets for the Magic. I looked at like 6+ bigs with even names like Moussa Diabate in the mix. In the end, I had more trouble than I cared to admit to find an upgrade over our jack of all trades, master of none Wendell Carter Jr.
My research roundabout did yield two things so far though.
1) h
I am much higher on Nic Claxton than before. Giving him a concerted look longer than 30 minutes (due to the mentions in here as well), he seems to be one of the elite bigs built for even perimeter defense switching, with gaudy rebounding and blocks at times. Like can you imagine trying to score on this Magic defense with Claxton as the starting 5 and then Isaac coming in for him. I think Claxton has had hot-head antics before, but I don't mind that fire, if he can stay on the floor.
His biggest problem is he will make the Magic's offense worse. He has zero range and he is a legitimate Hack-a-Shaq option. My reasoning for ORL still potentially chasing him is simple. Certain Playoffs series and games might dictate which of our bigs can get away with their weaknesses and should be the closer. As in, Mo Wagner was starting to get a near 23 PER this past season before his injury. He is the offensive 5. Isaac is the blend of someone who can impact defense like Claxton sometimes but not be a complete liability from any range of shooting or the FT line. Remember, if you take a pencil and scratch out JI's last season of shooting, he is still a viable shooter. But it's scary to commit a trade package to Claxton when we are already talking about games where Mo or JI might have to close over Claxton.
2)
With so many entanglements such as looking at NBA.com boxscore play-by-play videos of bigs and commentary articles on defense, NAW showed up on my computer screen again. Open this NY Times article and catch a segment on NAW.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6266788/2025/04/11/nba-all-defense-perimeter-thunder-timberwolves/
Yep, the Magic need to roll out a red carpet for him at 6:01 PM EST on June 30th, the first minute for Free Agency pitches. And Paolo, Franz, Suggs, and Bane should even be there. I don't know how often the Magic will have a 14 mil MLE moving forward, so this is becoming a big deal moment for the team.
Yes, it s very hard to find a big that fit our team better than WCJ, I like Claxton but I don't think he d fit our offensive scheme
As for NAW, I m not sure management will pull the trigger on spending the full mle
However I could see us trading Jett+25 to Brooklyn for 27 (or 35) if we are 100% sure that NAW is our missing piece
Suggs, AB,cojo
Bane, NAW,harris
Franz, TDS, Houstan
P5,ji, Moe
WCJ,goga,#35 (or 27)
the LAST variable I'm considering in trade visions is preserving our existing offensive scheme. Honestly, it's not easy to find a C that can switch like WCJ, but his participation in the offense has been negligible...We've just added so much offensive "proactivity" and firepower in Bane, that I'd be more than satisfied relegating the C to offensive boards and following drivers for lobs & dropoffs. Which also means a C who is content with that...Claxton really fits, imo...and we'd have the same financial certainty for a few years that we value with our whole core now.
Mose is clearly a defense-first coach, so with respect to that, he's got his man to man defensive scheme and players with significant roles and paychecks should fit that...I think that's where Goga, for all of his ability, doesn't really work well enough. He might be much better elsewhere. I think it's also why Isaac at C is always under consideration - even if it hasn't really worked. I think Claxton is the closest thing to an Isaac who plays C (and is healthy).
