Official Speculation Thread 2016 Volume VII - Defense Wins Championships

[OrlandoDream]

Don't know if this was posted here yet..

Interesting stat.

"According to the NBA's player-tracking system, opponents have made only 40.7 percent of their shots this season when Gordon has guarded them. The Grizzlies' Tony Allen, a perennial NBA All-Defensive team stalwart, has limited opponents to 40.8 percent shooting this season. The San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard, the two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, has held opponents to 45.2 percent shooting."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-sp-orlando-magic-aaron-gordon-1228-20161227-story.html

Like I said, Vogel and Forcier are slowly but surely releasing the East Kwahi Leonard. AG(and EP) are improving by the game in an unprecedented rate since they came to the league. I mean they have just played 35 games under Vogel. I hope this continues bc they are gonna be different players when the season ends.

It's amazing how much of an impact the right coach can have. We've had nothing but bad coaches wrong for these young players since the rebuild. The coaching staff of Vogel and Forcier are a godsend.

[tiderulz]

I'll just got on record saying Biz turned down more lucrative contract offers to join the Magic (Read: multiple Max offers). He wanted to be here, to join the young team and get the opportunity to play big minutes. He's still young, hopefully he continues to grow like Elf and AG need to.

got a link to that? because i searched and couldnt find any info about him receiving a max offer from anyone else. And btw, he didnt get a max from us either

Just keep it in mind when/if the story actually breaks.

this was 5-6 months ago. story would have broken if it was there

[RickB-Orlando]

I can counter-argue that given the same period of time, Dipo and Harris has shown just as much if not more than AG or Elf has.

The comparison would be Ibaka and Fournier, the two guys that replaced them in the lineup. At this point, I am happy with the two we have over the two we had.

I wouldn't call Fournier a replacement given that Dipo and Fournier played together much of the time while one didn't replace the other.

Fair enough - I consider him to have replaced Dipo at the starting shooting guard position. when they played together, most of the time Furnier was playing out of position. Also, using the logic in your post - AG and EP didn't replace anyone either, since they played with Fournier much of the year.

At the end of the day, in my mind we have a new starting 2 (Fournier) and a new starting 4 (Ibaka). Those are the measuring sticks against Dipo and Harris.

If we're not going to compare like for like, we might just as well say that Dipo sure is outpacing CJ Wilcox, who took his roster spot.

[PrimeThyme]

I honestly dont want to see any trades happen. Elf and Ag are having the best month of their very young NBA careers. I dont want to see us make any trade that could jeopardize minutes for either player. AG is a guy we could potentially build around if his game keeps developing like it has of late. He is a game changing talent. In Elfs last 12 games he is averaging 15.1 points on 52% FG%, 38 3pt FG%, and is averaging 6.8 assists. Both of these guys are making jumps and we need to clear the path for them to do that not add anybody else via trade that is going to take away minutes and prevent it.

[PennytoShaq]

If the Magic could get Jrue Holiday or Bledsoe for a Vuc/Green package and not have to give up a draft pick I would do it. I love Payton and believe that having a scoring point in front of him would be huge for us. Payton is so long that we can play him next to the other guy so they would both get a lot of minutes.

That tweak would stabilize our offense, which is currently either really good or really bad. Vuc has not really helped with that, as he has been rather streaky as well.

If the Magic could get Holiday they could start Holiday/Evan/Gordon/Ibaka/Biz. Then they could go smaller with Elf/Holiday/Evan/Gordon/Ibaka. Rotate in Meeks to give Holiday a rest and then hopefully Mario will be ready to step up again, if not - Rudez for now.

Our offense would be a lot more consistent if we could land one of those guys.

People don't want to make a trade now, but next time we lose all I read about are people asking for the team to be blown up and everyone should be traded. So it is funny to read the polar opposite opinion just a week later.

[Magic_Johnny12]

For some reason I feel like we don't give up on Gordon at the 3 experiment so soon. If we make a trade I bet it will be to bolster our bench or to capitalize on a players value. With next years draft being so stacked I wouldn't be surprised at all if we trade Hezonja/Vucevic etc. for the highest picks possible.

[ReadyOrlando]

This organization has had enough inconsistency. I would not change anything until the off season. Let our players continue to grow with the teammates/system that they're used to and make tweaks in the summer.

[OrlandoDream]

For some reason I feel like we don't give up on Gordon at the 3 experiment so soon. If we make a trade I bet it will be to bolster our bench or to capitalize on a players value. With next years draft being so stacked I wouldn't be surprised at all if we trade Hezonja/Vucevic etc. for the highest picks possible.

If we make a deal to move up it will be in draft day. It would be dumb to trade Vuc in the middle of the season. He isn't perfect but he is important right now for our defense and bench scoring. Also we have 50ish games left. Ibaka and Biz injury can happen. Also think that this 3 big man rotation had been good for player longevity. Each of our bigs doesn't have to play 40 mins and gives them a chance to test and decrease chances on getting injured.

[darthcheech2000]

No trades, unless we're giving up and tanking.

We're a borderline Playoff time right now and this team hasn't even played half a season together.

If continuity can bring us some extra wins and we start hovering around .500 then we should hold off on trading any of our rotation players. Unless an Star becomes available.

[Optimus_Steel]

Don't know if this was posted here yet..

Interesting stat.

"According to the NBA's player-tracking system, opponents have made only 40.7 percent of their shots this season when Gordon has guarded them. The Grizzlies' Tony Allen, a perennial NBA All-Defensive team stalwart, has limited opponents to 40.8 percent shooting this season. The San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard, the two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, has held opponents to 45.2 percent shooting."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-sp-orlando-magic-aaron-gordon-1228-20161227-story.html

That is indeed interesting and he'll only get better as time goes by. Don't trade this guy.

Thats impressive. He has shown tremendous defensive abilities since he came here.

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[Viper1500]

This organization has had enough inconsistency. I would not change anything until the off season. Let our players continue to grow with the teammates/system that they're used to and make tweaks in the summer.

I agree, there are no moves that are logical and improve our long-term development. Let this be the year where AG shows his SF capability and where Elfrid/Vucevic run the show off the bench until one or both are ready to start again.

[jp4est]

For some reason I feel like we don't give up on Gordon at the 3 experiment so soon. If we make a trade I bet it will be to bolster our bench or to capitalize on a players value. With next years draft being so stacked I wouldn't be surprised at all if we trade Hezonja/Vucevic etc. for the highest picks possible.

Don't think it's an experiment at this point. He's proven to have elite small forward defense plus his handles and shooting have progressed this year. We'll see him get run in small lineups at the 4 but it won't be his primary position again.

[Nightman]

I didn't include any Magic players unfortunately, but I made this post on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/5krr0p/allnba_teams_based_solely_off_of_player_headshots/?st=ix9kvw97&sh=5ac35d7b

[Blue_and_Whte]

got a link to that? because i searched and couldnt find any info about him receiving a max offer from anyone else. And btw, he didnt get a max from us either

Just keep it in mind when/if the story actually breaks.

this was 5-6 months ago. story would have broken if it was there

Ah the legend of Biyombo... There's no story because he wasn't offered multiple max deals.

[BadMofoPimp]

Just keep it in mind when/if the story actually breaks.

this was 5-6 months ago. story would have broken if it was there

Ah the legend of Biyombo... There's no story because he wasn't offered multiple max deals.

I bet many teams are feeling lucky now that they didn't spend Max on acquiring Biz.

[Blue_and_Whte]

this was 5-6 months ago. story would have broken if it was there

Ah the legend of Biyombo... There's no story because he wasn't offered multiple max deals.

I bet many teams are feeling lucky now that they didn't spend Max on acquiring Biz.

Uh yeah.. Although we didn't max him out we totally fell for his playoff performance. I don't mind him being here but imo it was a bit of an over pay.

[thelead]

Wait til average starters start regularly seeing 25 mil per... I can't wait til we see the reaction to those contracts.

[tiderulz]

Ah the legend of Biyombo... There's no story because he wasn't offered multiple max deals.

I bet many teams are feeling lucky now that they didn't spend Max on acquiring Biz.

Uh yeah.. Although we didn't max him out we totally fell for his playoff performance. I don't mind him being here but imo it was a bit of an over pay.

i knew a team was going to jump on him for 1 playoff series and hoped it wasnt us. But if so, i was hoping we would get him reasonably. My hopes were dashed on both accounts

[Blue_and_Whte]

I bet many teams are feeling lucky now that they didn't spend Max on acquiring Biz.

Uh yeah.. Although we didn't max him out we totally fell for his playoff performance. I don't mind him being here but imo it was a bit of an over pay.

i knew a team was going to jump on him for 1 playoff series and hoped it wasnt us. But if so, i was hoping we would get him reasonably. My hopes were dashed on both accounts

That's exactly how I felt. Although I was glad to see Hennigan aggressive and taking chances finally, I was on the fence about him. I thought we gave him too much money.

[OrlandoDream]

What does everyone think KCP is worth? He seems like a player Vogel would love. He is a defensive wing who can shoot and pass the ball. He is looking to cash out this off season.