Let's Talk About Mario

[OrlChamps2030]

There is only a few teams that will have cap space this offseason anyways, so if there was a good time for him to become an unrestricted FA it would be now. I think he will get 8-10 on the market and im honestly fine with paying that.

I believe the MLE is higher than what we can offer him

So I believe theoretically every team in the league can offer more money than we can

[PrimeThyme]

There is only a few teams that will have cap space this offseason anyways, so if there was a good time for him to become an unrestricted FA it would be now. I think he will get 8-10 on the market and im honestly fine with paying that.

I believe the MLE is higher than what we can offer him

So I believe theoretically every team in the league can offer more money than we can

Yeah forgot about the signing restrictions that we had since we declined his option.

[T-Cat]

Read on Twitter

damn right. i dontt blame them. but wish they had more patience. and vogel didnt put him in a position to succeed either

I wanna know how can they make a decision on Mario without really seeing him play stable minutes in our rotation?

They "Felt Rushed"? His option was 5 million for one year, what's there to lose?

[Gordon]

With most of the teams over the cap i don`t think he will get offers much bigger than 5 million per on the open market. If he likes it here, and team promises him stable role going forward, he might even sign that one-year qualifying offer.

Ben McLemore, who had similar stats and was also high draft pick signed for 10.5 million over two years with the Grizzlies last summer when there was more money available.

[Spalato]

Magic are run by clowns. You can't even make this stuff up.

Draft a clearly talented - albeit raw - player at pick 5 with a high ceiling to help a struggling organisation. The plan from the beginning was to invest time in him to allow him to develop which can only be achieved with playing time, because the returns were potentially high.

Instead the Magic place a short leash on him, drag him off the floor after every little mistake and reduce him to a waterboy with 2 minutes playing time a game, and then wonder why this guy is not developing.

Magic then write him off thinking he's a bust.

But then he gets some serious minutes, only because of injuries, and they are shocked to see with playing time he is actually fulfilling his potential, as was the plan when they first drafted him.

Then realise that you are either losing this potentially great player because you nearly screwed his career or you are going to have to resign him at a much higher price.

Genius. As I said, you can't even make this **** up.

[fendilim]

I wish Dante or somebody from the radio would directly ask the GMs about this decision. As much as I’d like to believe at twitter link, hearing it directly from them is reliable.

Nonetheless, i think vogel is the one to blame here and not Weltman nor Hammond.

[MagicFan4Lyfe]

Magic are run by clowns. You can't even make this stuff up.

Draft a clearly talented - albeit raw - player at pick 5 with a high ceiling to help a struggling organisation. The plan from the beginning was to invest time in him to allow him to develop which can only be achieved with playing time, because the returns were potentially high.

Instead the Magic place a short leash on him, drag him off the floor after every little mistake and reduce him to a waterboy with 2 minutes playing time a game, and then wonder why this guy is not developing.

Magic then write him off thinking he's a bust.

But then he gets some serious minutes, only because of injuries, and they are shocked to see with playing time he is actually fulfilling his potential, as was the plan when they first drafted him.

Then realise that you are either losing this potentially great player because you nearly screwed his career or you are going to have to resign him at a much higher price.

Genius. As I said, you can't even make this **** up.

Once upon a time the franchise was a model of success. Now it is definitely run by clowns.
This franchise is making it so hard for me to root for. If they seriously want to sell me on buddy ball with Fournier and Vucevic, might as well start planning to relocate this team because I can't imagine people supporting this garbage any longer.

[The Effect]

for all people mad at them making the decision not to pick up that option and calling them stupid........

Go back and read the thread about us not picking it up, few people cared or blamed them, most wanted him traded and the first two post said that Iwundu was a better player before he even played a game

So saying stuff like "why not just pick up the option, its only 5 mil, whats the big deal" is alot easier said in hindsight

[Tayswagzzz]

Can we get a sign on I-4 that says “#StayMario” please and thanks

[fendilim]

Back to his game..

Mario has shown steady improvements to finish around the basket. But still need to see him develop using his left hand.

[ChosenSavior]

Watch on YouTube

That jump stop into the floater he pulled at 1:28 on the vid was a thing of beauty. Getting a lot more confident with his ball handling. His dribble isn't so loose compared to the other two years in the league. He needs to be starting over Simmons once AG is healthy.

[rusoopE]

With most of the teams over the cap i don`t think he will get offers much bigger than 5 million per on the open market. If he likes it here, and team promises him stable role going forward, he might even sign that one-year qualifying offer.

Ben McLemore, who had similar stats and was also high draft pick signed for 10.5 million over two years with the Grizzlies last summer when there was more money available.

Ben was drafted like 7th i guess and i think hezonja is prolly more hyped right now then mclemore before the contract. Hezonja is playing better and better and mclemore was loosing playing time on a putrid kings roster. So i guess he's gone. I think not extending him was a risky and dumb move but im not sold on hez anyway.

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[SOUL]

for all people mad at them making the decision not to pick up that option and calling them stupid........

Go back and read the thread about us not picking it up, few people cared or blamed them, most wanted him traded and the first two post said that Iwundu was a better player before he even played a game

So saying stuff like "why not just pick up the option, its only 5 mil, whats the big deal" is alot easier said in hindsight

On the other hand, a lot of people were clamoring for minutes and letting him play through mistakes for about two years before that decision was made so that it would be easier to make a decision like this. This franchise has tanked for 5 years but operated as if it should've been winning from almost the beginning, leaving very little in terms of player development. It's so easy for other teams to play their young future together in a style that suits them almost immediately, but it's like pulling teeth here. It would happen at the end of a season for a month, once of them would be traded for peanuts, then rinse, repeat.

[pepe1991]

That guy is still one of few reasons why i enjoy watching this team . I watched him in Barca, hell I even watched him when he was 16 and won gold and MVP at youth Eurobasket. Proud to see him grow as a player.

About his development and not picking up his option. I'll always goback into start of 2016-17. Through first 52 games, he collected 12 DNPs and played less than 10 freaking min in 20 of them. So in 32 of 52 games he got NOTHING . At age of 21, as 5th overall pick. In favour of Jeff Green .
That period of time was biggest disaster in Magic history where they lost Oladipo and Sabonis, pretty much ruined Hezonja and played Gordon out of position. It was worst than Jerry West kidnaping Shaq in middle of night ( because we did this to ourselfs for literally no reason ).

[p0peye]

We **** up, but Mario played like hot garbage and definitively didn't look like NBA player. Turning down our team option on him probaby lit the fire under his ass and he finally started performing.

Maybe he felt freed and with nothing to lose, mental lock was released, he no longer worried about what will Vogel say when making a mistake - he started auditioning for his next team or otherwise he'd be out of the league.

Anyways, tough luck. I'm not among Weltham's supporters, but they did work with amount of data Mario provided to date when they made decision, so if they had to make one (release or extend) - it is understandable. What's not understandable is why didn't they simply pick team option on next year and see where it ends up, it's not like it costs much.

[fendilim]

We **** up, but Mario played like hot garbage and definitively didn't look like NBA player. Turning down our team option on him probaby lit the fire under his ass and he finally started performing.

Maybe he felt freed and with nothing to lose, mental lock was released, he no longer worried about what will Vogel say when making a mistake - he started auditioning for his next team or otherwise he'd be out of the league.

Anyways, tough luck. I'm not among Weltham's supporters, but they did work with amount of data Mario provided to date when they made decision, so if they had to make one (release or extend) - it is understandable. What's not understandable is why didn't they simply pick team option on next year and see where it ends up, it's not like it costs much.

ive always said getting inconsistent minutes last yr didnt help him get into his rhythm. And even before breakigg out this year, he did struggle to get into it. But the injuries helped him and glad he took advantage of the situation. Truly bittersweet.

[ensergiog]

I can see the reason for turning down his option. He was nothing close to this. So I think hindsight is a little unfair.
But in the end is gonna be painful, cause current Hezonja is probably more than a MLE player. I would like to offer at least that and develop him as an small forward.

[fklt]

I think one of the biggest problems with mario throughout his years with us that his playing style and rawness coincided with gordon too much. I had the impression this season that he was playing better when gordon was off the floor and decided to check if there is any truth in it. here's what I've found.

mario with gordon on the floor
effective field goal: 39.7
true shooting: 41.7
usage: 13.1
field goal percentage: 35.9

mario with gordon off the floor
effective field goal: 56.6 (+17)
true shooting: 58.8 (+16)
usage: 20.0 (+7)
field goal percentage: 47.8 (+12)

discuss. weirdly I feel like his usage being upped 7 percent is the most telling stat for me.

[MagicMadness]

for all people mad at them making the decision not to pick up that option and calling them stupid........

Go back and read the thread about us not picking it up, few people cared or blamed them, most wanted him traded and the first two post said that Iwundu was a better player before he even played a game

So saying stuff like "why not just pick up the option, its only 5 mil, whats the big deal" is alot easier said in hindsight

Yeah, but we were also not giving him any playing time, either.

Then just as soon as we declined him, we started developing him. That's the frustrating part.

[bobbeaver]

I think one of the biggest problems with mario throughout his years with us that his playing style and rawness coincided with gordon too much. I had the impression this season that he was playing better when gordon was off the floor and decided to check if there is any truth in it. here's what I've found.

mario with gordon on the floor
effective field goal: 39.7
true shooting: 41.7
usage: 13.1
field goal percentage: 35.9

mario with gordon off the floor
effective field goal: 56.6 (+17)
true shooting: 58.8 (+16)
usage: 20.0 (+7)
field goal percentage: 47.8 (+12)

discuss. weirdly I feel like his usage being upped 7 percent is the most telling stat for me.

That is not that unusual. Look at the context. Gordon was given precedent to basically any player out there. He played unsuccessful hero ball and it killed the team, the will of the players and the flow of the game. Vogel obviously favoured Gordon. If Mario did anything semi selfish he would be automaticaly benched, even though he was balling. Vogel killed Marios rythm on every turn. That is if he actually got the freaking ball. But i bet you if you look it up you will get the same stat difference with other players. You could see mentaly he would laps into the old passive Mario.
Although right now if Gordon came in things would be different. He was at the beginning same with Furnier around differing to him, but he has come into his own slowly.