The Offseason thread

[Ducklett]

We don't need to tank for better picks, we just need to draft better with the picks we're given. In the course of our rebuild we could have taken Giannis, or Gobert, or CJ, or LaVine, or Booker, or Siakam, or Mitchell, or SGA.

Even in our current form as a team teetering between the 10-17 picks, we could've been in position to take the likes of Giannis, Gobert, Siakam, Mitchell or SGA.

Put simply, we've not seen any additions from the last 3 drafts who look positioned to carry our future, and we're going to have to wait another 2 seasons to even see how close they can get.

WeHam need to get more aggressive in pursuing a draft star. That doesn't mean tanking, it just means doing a better job of the draft.

How many of those players you listed have what it takes to lead a team to a championship? I count 1.

I love it how in this short term attention span era it's Championship or fail.

82 games is too many. 5 dribbles is too many. Let's just play 3 on 3 half court with a 10 second shot clock and 4 point line.

Imagine if the Utah Jazz were broken up in 1995 after their 2nd first round exit in 3 years...
"This Malone/Stockton/Hornacek core has peaked. they are all over 30, it is time to move them for picks and blow it up."

The same trio led the Jazz to back to back NBA finals in 1997 and 1998 as 34 & 35 year olds.

One team out of 30 wins the Championship.

One.

The other 29 teams are not failures needing to blow it up.

Only nine different franchses have won NBA titles since Michael Jordan freaking retired, and 4 of those 9 franchises were led by either Lebron or Kawhi.

I understand patience being worn thin by long term fans but some people need to let go of the title or bust philosophy.

That philosophy led to the Magic dumping Hedo after the 2009 Finals and bringing in Vince Carter to be a 'Kobe like scorer', and the team kept digging itself into a deeper hole and got worse each of the next 3 years until Dwight left.

We are a small market team. There are no free agents signing with the Magic that will lead the team to a Championship.

None.

Even if we traded for a player capable of leading this team to a Championship, they would probably refuse to play for the franchise and demand a move to a bigger market (Can you really see Giannis, Lebron etc playing in Orlando?).

Occasionally a small market team strikes gold in the lottery. Cleveland did it. Dallas did it. San Antonio did it. We did it already.

Twice.

What are the odds another generational talent drops into our laps?

The Denver/Utah/Toronto model is the only one proven to work for small market teams.

Make smart moves, small upgrades, don't take big risks, and hope for a lot of luck along the way.

Vuc is one of the most accomplished players in Magic franchise history. If he was on a team with TMac back in the day, or had Rashard Lewis, Hedo and Jameer around him, he's probably a widely celebrated fan favourite with some deep playoff runs.

Because he can't drag a roster full of overachieving, undertalented players to a better than .500 record by himself, he gets picked on for not being a rim protector, in a league that has restructured rules to make it a silly idea unless you have the natural athleticism and instinct.

I don't expect big moves. I don't expect to go from 8th seed to finals.

I hope, for small improvements year by year both in talent pool and quality of play. I saw that last year.

This year was a pandemic driven, injury riddled mess, and yeah, I wanted more from the season, and I want more next season, but my god... The Championship or bust brigade needs to come back inside off the ledge, because if you aren't going to jump you will be out there threatening to, for the next 30 years.

Your own post disproved your theory. If you don't have a superstar, you don't win.

[drsd]

Vuc or Gordon +5 is more attractive to top 3 teams than Vuc or Gordon + 15.

I do not understand. Please expand.

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

The #5 slot is not a slot Orlando would strive to move up towards. That is what I was trying to get at. It is Gordon and the #15 for the #2 or an expiring and the #15 for the #9. Those are the kinds of trades Orlando could be imagined to go for.

My point is that : the Cavs was horrible and gets to select 5th. The Hawks was horrible (but for a different reason) and gets to select 6th. Similar for the Pistons at 7th.

And the worst managed franchise in basketball, the Knickerbockers, tanked their way to the 8th pick.

"Blowing it up" can no longer be a management strategy.

[Ducklett]

I do not understand. Please expand.

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

The #5 slot is not a slot Orlando would strive to move up towards. That is what I was trying to get at. It is Gordon and the #15 for the #2 or an expiring and the #15 for the #9. Those are the kinds of trades Orlando could be imagined to go for.

My point is that : the Cavs was horrible and gets to select 5th. The Hawks was horrible (but for a different reason) and gets to select 6th. Similar for the Pistons at 7th.

And the worst managed franchise in basketball, the Knickerbockers, tanked their way to the 8th pick.

"Blowing it up" can no longer be a management strategy.

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

[drsd]

I do not understand. Please expand.

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

One anonimus executive told Brian Windhorst that he expects first round picks to be sold for cash this year due lack of money to go around.
That's new NBA and 2020 draft. You probably can buy your way into lottery by attaching some player and bag of money.

One owner said

"I don't know what will happen, but I may lose $50 million next season," one owner told ESPN. "If that happens, I have three options: I could borrow the money, I could sell part of the team or I could do a cash call and me and my partners would have to write checks."

This is part of us understands that tanking isn't even option. Not for Magic but for not a single nba team in upcomming years. Simply terrible money situation.

If Orlando could trade #15 and cash for the #9, then the Wizards would save millions a year in the rookie deal. As a concept this makes sense.

It might be a reason for the Warriors to trade out of the very costly #2 slot.


In 2020/21:
Wiggins and the #2 is a cost of $29,542,010 and $7,665,900 = 37.2M !!!!

Gordon plus Mr #15 Rookie is $18,136,364 + $2,884,600 = 21M

That's a 16M difference. Yes there needs to be some throw ins, but expiring deals could make that work.


In conclusion: I agree we might see some VERY unbalanced trades this off-season.



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[Skin]

Almost every year 3rd and 4th year former lottery picks are shuffeld around nba teams, most of bad teams are desparate for hope so they buy that players. Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson,Jah Okafor, Marqueese Chriss, Josh Jackson, Pöltl, Maker... I had to google most of them to figure are they even in NBA any more. Just like that, 10 former lottery picks in last 5 drafts, as complete no factors in nba.

or even new ones, just a year and half ago Nassir Little was projected to go as top 5 pick. Due his craptastic performance at college he ended up being 22# pick that can't get off piss poor Porltand bench as Hezonja outplays him. Imagine multi million dollars team that once considered tanking for him.

Look, i don't even suggesting what do to. To be fair, i have no clue. I'm as cluess as anybody. I discuss options. Tearing down roster is proven to be terrible therfore i find zero reasons for using that as valid strategy. Nobody won more first overall selections than T wovles who passed first round of playoffs -once in 30 years. Team that 17 times in 30 years had top 7 pick.

I do not disagree that NBA teams draft busts. But that can't scare you away. If you have a good GM then you shouldn't fear as much. Do we have that? TBH, I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt so far. I've liked their picks even if they weren't totally 100% mistake free. I also think they could've been more aggressive in trade ups. But whatevers. The young core we have could still be building blocks despite the current despair that many display. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon that all our young players suck. That's YOUR fear factor game. My fear factor game is believing that we will keep holding on to Henny's guys too long and stunt the growth of our young players.

Who is this 3rd year player who became an All-Star this year after 2 years of forgettable play?



It's Bam Adebayo. What did the Heat do to enable him to emerge? They got rid of Hassan Whiteside which opened up a bigger role and more playing time. Now he's the talk of the town. Took guts, but the Heat believed in their scouting of him and they invested in their draft pick. In terms of Bamba, I feel like he did one of the hardest things to do... mold his body. Now if Swole Bamba can work on his conditioning over the offseason and start to show signs of progress next year, then WeHam should show the same belief that the Heat did when they used Whiteside as a trade chip and created room for Adebayo.

Giving us false hopes about progression just because we make the playoffs is living a lie. Our progression is real when our young players develop their games. Fultz was a good story this year. Isaac was until he got hurt. Next year, I hope Chuma shows us something. If we can hit on our pick 15 then that will be another step of real progression.

[Skin]

I do not understand. Please expand.

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

One anonimus executive told Brian Windhorst that he expects first round picks to be sold for cash this year due lack of money to go around.
That's new NBA and 2020 draft. You probably can buy your way into lottery by attaching some player and bag of money.

One owner said

"I don't know what will happen, but I may lose $50 million next season," one owner told ESPN. "If that happens, I have three options: I could borrow the money, I could sell part of the team or I could do a cash call and me and my partners would have to write checks."

This is part of us understands that tanking isn't even option. Not for Magic but for not a single nba team in upcomming years. Simply terrible money situation.

Not lottery picks bro. C'mon now.

[drsd]

Let's just play 3 on 3 half court with a 10 second shot clock and 4 point line.

I for one would love to see outside, hard-court, half court 2X2 (or 3X3) in the Olympics. It is a parallel to what volley ball does with beach volleyball.

Frankly there are more street ball players than hardcourt players and I think that should be reflected in competition sport.



p.s. but I also want the standing long-jump and Team tug-of-war in the Olympics. So maybe listening to me is never a good idea.



EDIT: here is the standing long-jump world record -set at the NFL combine of all places:

Watch on YouTube

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[Skin]

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

The #5 slot is not a slot Orlando would strive to move up towards. That is what I was trying to get at. It is Gordon and the #15 for the #2 or an expiring and the #15 for the #9. Those are the kinds of trades Orlando could be imagined to go for.

My point is that : the Cavs was horrible and gets to select 5th. The Hawks was horrible (but for a different reason) and gets to select 6th. Similar for the Pistons at 7th.

And the worst managed franchise in basketball, the Knickerbockers, tanked their way to the 8th pick.

"Blowing it up" can no longer be a management strategy.

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

[Skin]

I do not understand. Please expand.

5 and 15 are draft pick spots. It's be easier for us to move up with a better pick.

The #5 slot is not a slot Orlando would strive to move up towards. That is what I was trying to get at. It is Gordon and the #15 for the #2 or an expiring and the #15 for the #9. Those are the kinds of trades Orlando could be imagined to go for.

My point is that : the Cavs was horrible and gets to select 5th. The Hawks was horrible (but for a different reason) and gets to select 6th. Similar for the Pistons at 7th.

And the worst managed franchise in basketball, the Knickerbockers, tanked their way to the 8th pick.

"Blowing it up" can no longer be a management strategy.

Gordon and #15 for #2 is not a management strategy. It's a management dream.

The strategy is the higher your draft pick is, the more value you hold. 5, 6, 7 are all better than 15. That's the point. Gordon and #5 just might get you #2.

[drsd]

The strategy is the higher your draft pick is, the more value you hold. 5, 6, 7 are all better than 15. That's the point. Gordon and #5 just might get you #2.

You have the Cavs and the Warriors in a 3-team deal that involves Gordon, the #15 and what to get the #2 ?


/..

[drsd]

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

This is exactly my point. The new lottery system does not favour the outcomes of the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.

Today, the worst team is most likely to draft 5th !


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[Ducklett]

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

This is exactly my point. The new lottery system does not favour the outcomes of the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.

Today, the worst team is most likely to draft 5th !


..

They outtanked us so they got the better pick. They ended up with Doncic and we ended up with (LOL) Bamba. It all came down to them throwing games and us winning.

[pepe1991]

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

This is exactly my point. The new lottery system does not favour the outcomes of the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.

Today, the worst team is most likely to draft 5th !


..

They outtanked us so they got the better pick. They ended up with Doncic and we ended up with (LOL) Bamba. It all came down to them throwing games and us winning.

That was last lottery with old odds. 2019 draft had fixed lottery odds and that's why Suns fell from second worst record all the way to 6th pick.

[Skin]

Certainly worked for the Mavs with Doncic.

This is exactly my point. The new lottery system does not favour the outcomes of the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.

Today, the worst team is most likely to draft 5th !


..

"Most likely" didn't happen this year or last year, ever since the new rules take place tho.

[pepe1991]

Almost every year 3rd and 4th year former lottery picks are shuffeld around nba teams, most of bad teams are desparate for hope so they buy that players. Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson,Jah Okafor, Marqueese Chriss, Josh Jackson, Pöltl, Maker... I had to google most of them to figure are they even in NBA any more. Just like that, 10 former lottery picks in last 5 drafts, as complete no factors in nba.

or even new ones, just a year and half ago Nassir Little was projected to go as top 5 pick. Due his craptastic performance at college he ended up being 22# pick that can't get off piss poor Porltand bench as Hezonja outplays him. Imagine multi million dollars team that once considered tanking for him.

Look, i don't even suggesting what do to. To be fair, i have no clue. I'm as cluess as anybody. I discuss options. Tearing down roster is proven to be terrible therfore i find zero reasons for using that as valid strategy. Nobody won more first overall selections than T wovles who passed first round of playoffs -once in 30 years. Team that 17 times in 30 years had top 7 pick.

I do not disagree that NBA teams draft busts. But that can't scare you away. If you have a good GM then you shouldn't fear as much. Do we have that? TBH, I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt so far. I've liked their picks even if they weren't totally 100% mistake free. I also think they could've been more aggressive in trade ups. But whatevers. The young core we have could still be building blocks despite the current despair that many display. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon that all our young players suck. That's YOUR fear factor game. My fear factor game is believing that we will keep holding on to Henny's guys too long and stunt the growth of our young players.

Who is this 3rd year player who became an All-Star this year after 2 years of forgettable play?



It's Bam Adebayo. What did the Heat do to enable him to emerge? They got rid of Hassan Whiteside which opened up a bigger role and more playing time. Now he's the talk of the town. Took guts, but the Heat believed in their scouting of him and they invested in their draft pick. In terms of Bamba, I feel like he did one of the hardest things to do... mold his body. Now if Swole Bamba can work on his conditioning over the offseason and start to show signs of progress next year, then WeHam should show the same belief that the Heat did when they used Whiteside as a trade chip and created room for Adebayo.

Giving us false hopes about progression just because we make the playoffs is living a lie. Our progression is real when our young players develop their games. Fultz was a good story this year. Isaac was until he got hurt. Next year, I hope Chuma shows us something. If we can hit on our pick 15 then that will be another step of real progression.

But there is no GM in the world without some turd. Warriors between Curry and Klay drafted with highest pick they had - Ekpe Udoh.

As for Adebayo and letting him breath, look at year 2. 9 points, 7 rebounds ,1 steal, 1 block, 2,2 assists, 62% TS ,1,8 BPM, positive value of taken shots, 71% shooting inside 3 feet, 40% mid range , while in same time being 61% EFG scorer in pick&rolls as rolling man AAAND being the best pick& roll defending big man , according to efficiency.

All that at age of 22. Doesn't that scream " give him more playing time" ? Not to mention in same time having declining Whiteside.

And it only takes you 5 min to actually see how Bam moves to see he is Ferrari and Bamba is... Fiat Multipla. I watched nba playoffs with friend who isn't even fan of nba and after 4 min of watching Heat he asked "who is that tall fast guy" ... it was Adebayo. His mobility for center is remarkable. He defends smaller players better than any center in current nba . And he is such a solid passer for center. Like, he doesn't get trapped - at all.

Main issue with Bamba was drafting him. Wasting lottery pick for center without any basketball skills other than being tall, with long limbs, and not athletic, was all red flags good GM needs to pass on him. But our GM drafted Henson and Maker so let's not pretend he is good at evaluating centers. Oh he also gave worst Plumlee brother some epic contract, i just forgot how much. All i know guy was out of nba year and half later.
Nobody forced Magic into drafting x1,2 speeded version of Roy Hibbert, we did that to ourselfs. And one day that 2018 draft will cost them their job , or at least will be argument for them losing their job.

[drsd]

"Most likely" didn't happen this year or last year, ever since the new rules take place tho.

And-1

For 2019: Three of the four teams who held the top four picks of the draft this year rose up from at least six spots in the lottery, including the New Orleans Pelicans, who won the first pick with 6 percent odds.

For 2020: The worst team is drafting only second. And the 7th and 9th worst teams moved to the top-4. The second worst team (and arguably the least talented team in the NBA) is drafting #5.

[Skin]

Almost every year 3rd and 4th year former lottery picks are shuffeld around nba teams, most of bad teams are desparate for hope so they buy that players. Justise Winslow, Stanley Johnson,Jah Okafor, Marqueese Chriss, Josh Jackson, Pöltl, Maker... I had to google most of them to figure are they even in NBA any more. Just like that, 10 former lottery picks in last 5 drafts, as complete no factors in nba.

or even new ones, just a year and half ago Nassir Little was projected to go as top 5 pick. Due his craptastic performance at college he ended up being 22# pick that can't get off piss poor Porltand bench as Hezonja outplays him. Imagine multi million dollars team that once considered tanking for him.

Look, i don't even suggesting what do to. To be fair, i have no clue. I'm as cluess as anybody. I discuss options. Tearing down roster is proven to be terrible therfore i find zero reasons for using that as valid strategy. Nobody won more first overall selections than T wovles who passed first round of playoffs -once in 30 years. Team that 17 times in 30 years had top 7 pick.

I do not disagree that NBA teams draft busts. But that can't scare you away. If you have a good GM then you shouldn't fear as much. Do we have that? TBH, I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt so far. I've liked their picks even if they weren't totally 100% mistake free. I also think they could've been more aggressive in trade ups. But whatevers. The young core we have could still be building blocks despite the current despair that many display. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon that all our young players suck. That's YOUR fear factor game. My fear factor game is believing that we will keep holding on to Henny's guys too long and stunt the growth of our young players.

Who is this 3rd year player who became an All-Star this year after 2 years of forgettable play?



It's Bam Adebayo. What did the Heat do to enable him to emerge? They got rid of Hassan Whiteside which opened up a bigger role and more playing time. Now he's the talk of the town. Took guts, but the Heat believed in their scouting of him and they invested in their draft pick. In terms of Bamba, I feel like he did one of the hardest things to do... mold his body. Now if Swole Bamba can work on his conditioning over the offseason and start to show signs of progress next year, then WeHam should show the same belief that the Heat did when they used Whiteside as a trade chip and created room for Adebayo.

Giving us false hopes about progression just because we make the playoffs is living a lie. Our progression is real when our young players develop their games. Fultz was a good story this year. Isaac was until he got hurt. Next year, I hope Chuma shows us something. If we can hit on our pick 15 then that will be another step of real progression.

But there is no GM in the world without some turd. Warriors between Curry and Klay drafted with highest pick they had - Ekpe Udoh.

As for Adebayo and letting him breath, look at year 2. 9 points, 7 rebounds ,1 steal, 1 block, 2,2 assists, 62% TS ,1,8 BPM, positive value of taken shots, 71% shooting inside 3 feet, 40% mid range , while in same time being 61% EFG scorer in pick&rolls as rolling man AAAND being the best pick& roll defending big man , according to efficiency.

All that at age of 22. Doesn't that scream " give him more playing time" ? Not to mention in same time having declining Whiteside.

And it only takes you 5 min to actually see how Bam moves to see he is Ferrari and Bamba is... Fiat Multipla. I watched nba playoffs with friend who isn't even fan of nba and after 4 min of watching Heat he asked "who is that tall fast guy" ... it was Adebayo. His mobility for center is remarkable. He defends smaller players better than any center in current nba . And he is such a solid passer for center. Like, he doesn't get trapped - at all.

Main issue with Bamba was drafting him. Wasting lottery pick for center without any basketball skills other than being tall, with long limbs, and not athletic, was all red flags good GM needs to pass on him. But our GM drafted Henson and Maker so let's not pretend he is good at evaluating centers. Oh he also gave worst Plumlee brother some epic contract, i just forgot how much. All i know guy was out of nba year and half later.
Nobody forced Magic into drafting x1,2 speeded version of Roy Hibbert, we did that to ourselfs. And one day that 2018 draft will cost them their job , or at least will be argument for them losing their job.

Not comparing Adebayo to Bamba. Different strengths and weakenesses. Don't change the FG posts. You tried to say 3rd year players don't break out. I've been saying we gotta move Vuc. Whiteside was moved and that created a huge opportunity for Adebayo's All-Star year.

[Xatticus]

This is exactly my point. The new lottery system does not favour the outcomes of the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.

Today, the worst team is most likely to draft 5th !


..

They outtanked us so they got the better pick. They ended up with Doncic and we ended up with (LOL) Bamba. It all came down to them throwing games and us winning.

That was last lottery with old odds. 2019 draft had fixed lottery odds and that's why Suns fell from second worst record all the way to 6th pick.

It's not really fixed. They didn't eliminate the incentive to tank. They simply reduced it. Finishing with the worst (or a worse) record still yields a better EV for your draft pick pre-lottery. The Mavericks weren't guaranteed a better pick than Orlando in 2018, but they certainly had a better chance of landing a higher pick than Orlando. The same would be true today, though to a somewhat lesser extent.

[TheGlyde]

I do not disagree that NBA teams draft busts. But that can't scare you away. If you have a good GM then you shouldn't fear as much. Do we have that? TBH, I'm still giving them the benefit of the doubt so far. I've liked their picks even if they weren't totally 100% mistake free. I also think they could've been more aggressive in trade ups. But whatevers. The young core we have could still be building blocks despite the current despair that many display. I'm not jumping on the bandwagon that all our young players suck. That's YOUR fear factor game. My fear factor game is believing that we will keep holding on to Henny's guys too long and stunt the growth of our young players.

Who is this 3rd year player who became an All-Star this year after 2 years of forgettable play?



It's Bam Adebayo. What did the Heat do to enable him to emerge? They got rid of Hassan Whiteside which opened up a bigger role and more playing time. Now he's the talk of the town. Took guts, but the Heat believed in their scouting of him and they invested in their draft pick. In terms of Bamba, I feel like he did one of the hardest things to do... mold his body. Now if Swole Bamba can work on his conditioning over the offseason and start to show signs of progress next year, then WeHam should show the same belief that the Heat did when they used Whiteside as a trade chip and created room for Adebayo.

Giving us false hopes about progression just because we make the playoffs is living a lie. Our progression is real when our young players develop their games. Fultz was a good story this year. Isaac was until he got hurt. Next year, I hope Chuma shows us something. If we can hit on our pick 15 then that will be another step of real progression.

But there is no GM in the world without some turd. Warriors between Curry and Klay drafted with highest pick they had - Ekpe Udoh.

As for Adebayo and letting him breath, look at year 2. 9 points, 7 rebounds ,1 steal, 1 block, 2,2 assists, 62% TS ,1,8 BPM, positive value of taken shots, 71% shooting inside 3 feet, 40% mid range , while in same time being 61% EFG scorer in pick&rolls as rolling man AAAND being the best pick& roll defending big man , according to efficiency.

All that at age of 22. Doesn't that scream " give him more playing time" ? Not to mention in same time having declining Whiteside.

And it only takes you 5 min to actually see how Bam moves to see he is Ferrari and Bamba is... Fiat Multipla. I watched nba playoffs with friend who isn't even fan of nba and after 4 min of watching Heat he asked "who is that tall fast guy" ... it was Adebayo. His mobility for center is remarkable. He defends smaller players better than any center in current nba . And he is such a solid passer for center. Like, he doesn't get trapped - at all.

Main issue with Bamba was drafting him. Wasting lottery pick for center without any basketball skills other than being tall, with long limbs, and not athletic, was all red flags good GM needs to pass on him. But our GM drafted Henson and Maker so let's not pretend he is good at evaluating centers. Oh he also gave worst Plumlee brother some epic contract, i just forgot how much. All i know guy was out of nba year and half later.
Nobody forced Magic into drafting x1,2 speeded version of Roy Hibbert, we did that to ourselfs. And one day that 2018 draft will cost them their job , or at least will be argument for them losing their job.

Not comparing Adebayo to Bamba. Different strengths and weakenesses. Don't change the FG posts. You tried to say 3rd year players don't break out. I've been saying we gotta move Vuc. Whiteside was moved and that created a huge opportunity for Adebayo's All-Star year.

I don't think it happens in a vacuum though. We aren't just looking at two players on paper and saying "look at these per36 numbers man!" These guys are evaulated daily in practice.

I imagine during/after 2018-19 the Heat evaluated Bam and Whiteside in practice side by side, multiple times, and determined Bam was ready to take the leap, and Whiteside was on the decline, and so then you make the move.

If (and I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I think it is likely), Vuc is having his way with Bamba each and every day in practice, in multiple facets of the game, theres just no incentive there to move Vuc on and give Bamba the minutes when it means less wins, less sponsors, less fan interest, less merch (how are those Bamba jerseys selling in Switzerland?) and less money for the team as a whole in a cash strapped NBA.

Both have 3pt range but Vuc is a better rebounder, passer, screener with infinetely better midrange and post up game (even though he rushes things often). Bamba over Vuc I see only has one advantage and that is his natural instincts for weak side help shot blocking.

The hope would be for them to keep battling in practice week in and week out, until we get to a spot where Bamba is at least close to Vuc in whatever roles they want the C to fill.

The fact that Birch went from 3rd string to starting when Vuc rolled his ankle tells us we aren't there yet. Bamba has MUCH better shooting range than Birch, but again Birch is a better screener, rebounder, man to man defender and showed a nice inside game in the bubble. They both have bad hands for passing and catching, and Bamba again has the better rim protection.

Cliff was giving Bamba the 2nd unit minutes, over Birch who I would surmise outplays him in practice in most facets as above, because this was seen as a small negative in favour of Bamba's long term development.

But when Vuc went down, starting Bamba was determined to be high risk, low reward, and Birch started in his place.

Until he can outplay Birch in practice and closes the gap to Vuc, I think we hold onto Vuc and keep Bamba in the 2nd unit. Once he is outplaying him, or at least close to it, I think thats a different story and we saw that theory hold true with Fultz being inserted into the starting lineup over DJ.

[MasterGMer]

Looking at what Miami Heat is doing against the Bucks just makes me jealous. Pat Riley is just a genius. Heat has it all: Franchise player, All Star, Veterans and young players. Future is bright and the talk right now is Miami Heat could be a huge player in 2021 Free Agency Class. Their salary cap is shaped that way. Maybe Giannis to the Heat? Darn, I will turn NBA off if that happens