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While we should be active in free agency this summer, it is far from a certainty that we will be able to land players that come in and make an immediate impact. With the amount of assets we have, you have to believe that Henny will have his eyes on the trade market, as well. With the hike in cap, Warriors & Spurs dominance, and general state of some teams...there should be some decent talent available.

You have your teams that have already been built but are severely disappointing...

-Sacramento: DMC has been a name tossed around on this board quite a bit. 100% chance Karl is fired and you would imagine that they will basically allow DMC to pick the coach or at least have final say. Unless, of course, they decide to move on from him as well. Rudy Gay could be seen as a bargain to a lot of teams, based on the upcoming spending spree. If they move those two pieces, they will certainly be able to shed the remaining guaranteed contracts that they have (Bellineli, Koufos, Collison) and they will be prepped for a complete rebuild.

-Houston: Dwight Howard will not be returning. It will be Houston's second attempt at building around Harden. The guaranteed money is worth holding on to (Ariza, Beverly, Brewer). There really isn't any young talent to speak of that they would move to help build. Unless we were trying to get draft picks, there isn't much to gain from dealing with Houston.

-Washington: Washington took a big step backwards this year and is on the verge of missing the playoffs. Building around John Wall is proving to be tougher than expected. Injuries to Beal and others have played a part but at the end of the day...they really aren't very good, even when 100% healthy. Beal is going to be a RFA and is likely to get paid big. I do think that a Beal + Wall duo at the G spot is one that you can build around...but there isn't much else there. They grabbed Markeiff Morris at the deadline to pair with Gortat down low. Those two are locked in. Outside of that, they have some room to work. They are going to have money to spend, even after matching an offer for Beal. Nothing really to gain from trading with Washington, as they will be looking to add...not tear down.

-Chicago: Derrick Rose & Jimmy Butler don't seem to work well together. Both aspire to be ball dominant players but aren't exactly guys you want always dominating the ball. Derrick Rose needs to evolve as a player and Jimmy Butler needs to become more of a playmaker for the rest of his team. That is a lot to ask. I don't believe either are suited to be the #1 guy...both are great #2's, when paired with the right #1. When it comes to the cap, Chicago is pretty strapped in....unless they find a market for Derrick Rose's expiring contract. I think the right move for Chicago would be to prepare for the summer of 2017. They will have a ton of flexibility at that point. I don't see them moving Jimmy Butler...he is on what will become a very reasonable contract for his production. Does anyone else on their roster interest us? Taj Gibson maybe?

Then you have teams that will likely change course if they playoffs don't go well...

-LA Clippers: A lot of statistics show that the Clippers are better off without Blake Griffin. If things don't go well in the playoffs, you can be certain that Chris Paul will want changes. Roughly 70 million is locked up between CP3, DeAndre, Griffin, and Redick. I include Redick because of how well he pairs with CP3...I don't see the Clipps moving him or Redick wanting to go anywhere any time soon. DeAndre also pairs incredibly well. Griffin...does not. He will be on the block if the Clippers come up short in the playoffs. I would imagine that if Griffin gets moved, it would be a multi-team deal where the Clippers got a good return of players who can help now. They won't be looking for young talent or picks.

-Memphis: Injuries have destroyed this season for Memphis. They have a solid playoff seeding but it is highly likely that they are eliminated early. If Memphis wants to...and Conley is on board...they can keep heading down their current path. They can hope that everyone stays healthy and they make a strong playoff run next year. Even if that is a possibility, I am sure they ask themselves...does that compete with SAS or GSW? If they bring Conley back, they would still have some flexibility to add another piece...would that be enough? The only real piece from Memphis that could benefit us is the one that will be available in free agency.

-Indiana: Paul George has shown that he has fully come back from the big injury. I think that is really all Indiana wanted to see this season. Next to him, they have a bunch of mid-level type contracts and mediocre talent. They will be looking to make moves, adding through FA and via trade. The guys they'd be looking to move don't really bring anything to the table that we need. Ian Mahinmi is attractive but he is a FA that we can grab on our own.

-Atlanta: They explored blowing it up before the trade deadline and held off. Since then, they have turned it around and played some great basketball as of late. They enter the playoffs as a top seed...again. If they falter and don't at least have a strong showing against Cleveland in the ECF, they are likely to pull the trigger and blow it up. If they let Horford walk, we could see Millsap and Teague become available. Both would be worth exploring.

-Cleveland: They are expected to at least make the Finals. LeBron expects to win the Finals. If by some chance they don't make it to the Finals...I would imagine all hell breaks loose. First, does LeBron opt out? If he comes back, Love is as good as gone. The return is unlikely to be all that great. Unfortunately for Cleveland, that is likely going to be their only route to improvement. They are strapped in by the cap with not much else supporting Kyrie & LeBron. Are we even sure those two actually work together? IMO, they don't. It will be really interesting to see how they proceed this summer.

-Dallas: After last season, I think a lot of people expected this to be Dirk's last season. However, he bounced back and has looked really good at times. Now he is saying that he wants to play through his 20th season. Thankfully for Dallas, he is the kind of guy that will take a big pay cut just to stay in Dallas and compete. After Parsons' season ending surgery, I expect him to opt in and go for a full season of health, in order to gain a bigger, long term deal. Wesley Matthews appears to have been a big overspend. I would imagine that they will shop him hard...but I don't know that there is much of a market. You know Cuban will be in the market to add pieces and there really isn't much for them to send out, outside of Matthews or Parsons.

So who do we go hard after? Atlanta could be the best trade partner. Chicago may have something to offer. A lot of people will continue to call for DMC from Sacramento. Unfortunately, going in to an offseason where the cap blows up...teams don't necessarily have to start from scratch to build. Teams like Houston or Washington have the ability to hold on to their key guys and add more. I think our best options on the trade market will be Teague, Millsap, and Gibson.

How about none since we're mostly 24 & under, loaded with cash and have another lottery on the way. I wouldn't be surprised if Henny pulled the trigger but I would say it's not necessary. I say do a Dallas free agency, where everyone is off the books in a year,and wait till 2017 where the bigger fish fly(especially if KD and LBJ do 1+1 contracts this summer). Fans salivating for the playoffs may not like my opinion but c'est la vie.

I believe LeBron and Kyrie are on different wavelengths. I think LeBron is more worried about his legacy with Curry becoming the preeminent player in the NBA, while Irving is more interested in establishing himself as a star. I don't think Cleveland has much of a chance to win the title this year, and I expect them to do something really significant after the season.

I think Atlanta is going to blow it up this summer regardless. The problem they have is the age of their core. Their significant pieces are all going to be due for new contracts over the next year or two, and they are all going to try to cash in. At their ages, Atlanta is looking at spending a ton of money on players that will spend almost the entirety of those contracts in decline and without any reasonable chance at winning a title. I expect they will get what they can and try to rebuild around Schroder.

If Cleveland makes Love available, I would hope that our front office pursues him. His stock is way down right now, but players of his quality, age, and contract terms seldom come available.

I got Chicago blowing it up this offseason. BOth players and FO. if it happens, I'm first in line for Jimmy Butler and Mirotic.

I'm still on the bring in Conley, Batum and Mahinmi bandwagon.

OrlandoTill wrote::sleep2:
How about none since we're mostly 24 & under, loaded with cash and have another lottery on the way. I wouldn't be surprised if Henny pulled the trigger but I would say it's not necessary. I say do a Dallas free agency, where everyone is off the books in a year,and wait till 2017 where the bigger fish fly(especially if KD and LBJ do 1+1 contracts this summer). Fans salivating for the playoffs may not like my opinion but c'est la vie.

Not really sure I follow your view point. How is it not necessary for us to pursue proven talent over 24 years of age? That is basically where we are...we need proven guys that can immediately help take us to the next level.

As for the Dallas free agency...I just think of failure when I think of how they've done things. Every attempt they've made to make a splash in FA has failed pretty badly.

I'm with you on the continued growth through the draft and developing our young guys...but unless we don't think any of our guys are going to develop to an all-star level, we need to start filling in the holes with impact players.

Nemesis21 wrote:I'm still on the bring in Conley, Batum and Mahinmi bandwagon.

This is my dream FA crop. It will be incredibly hard to get two out the three...three out of three might be asking too much. Mahinmi is a guy we could likely get as long as we were down with the price tag. Conley would simply need to want to come here...a max deal is in his future and he will have an assortment of teams to select from. That is where things get tough with him. Batum is hard to gauge. Charlotte will definitely want to keep him. He is the glue holding that team together and the reason they are finally playing decent basketball. I've always been a big fan of his. Would he want to come to another team that needs to be glued together after he did it pretty successfully in Charlotte and Portland. Would he want to start new, again?

Those questions are why we have to discuss trades, as well. We are going to strike out on at least one or two guys that we target before FA is said and done. If we miss out on Conley, Jeff Teague becomes incredibly attractive in a trade. If Atlanta blows it up, getting him at a bargain rate via trade could prove to be the next best option after missing out on Conley.

We are a mid-market team that has a shady history when it comes to stars and free agent signings. I can understand a player's initial hesitance in signing with us...we need Henny to break that mold. Until it happens, we are likely looking at plan A & B failing with plans C & D having the best shot.

Dream Plan that doesn't really count: Durant
Plan A: Conley, Batum, Mahinmi/Ezeili
Plan B: Teague, Batum, Biyombo
Plan C: Teague, match Fournier, Biyombo

Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic and demanding as a fan, but if our big acquisitions are Conley and Batum, with a sprinkling of Mahinmi or Ezeili, I will not at all be excited or even motivated to watch Magic basketball. That team, at absolute best, is second round fodder for the duration of those contracts.

EAS Law wrote:Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic and demanding as a fan, but if our big acquisitions are Conley and Batum, with a sprinkling of Mahinmi or Ezeili, I will not at all be excited or even motivated to watch Magic basketball. That team, at absolute best, is second round fodder for the duration of those contracts.

Maybe youve been spoiled by the broncos but Id like to see what a shooting PG could bring to this team.

I see Orlando coming out of the off-season with Horford and Noah. If that means Atlanta and Chicago thus "blow-up" their rosters, maybe there is bench depth to add in trades around those FA signings.

shinoff2183 wrote:

EAS Law wrote:Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic and demanding as a fan, but if our big acquisitions are Conley and Batum, with a sprinkling of Mahinmi or Ezeili, I will not at all be excited or even motivated to watch Magic basketball. That team, at absolute best, is second round fodder for the duration of those contracts.

Maybe youve been spoiled by the broncos but Id like to see what a shooting PG could bring to this team.

I'm not saying Conley is a bad option, only that after the clearing of all of this cap space and potential there, if overpaying him is our big move, I'll have to be convinced that it's worth watching.

I think a lot of fans get caught up in simply looking for whatever polar opposite to our team and expecting that if we had that polar opposite, we'd somehow be good. No different than the Vuc or unicorn defensive stopper that is also an offensive force argument.

We've had shooting PGs. Everyone complained that we needed taller, defense first, driving, pass-first PGs.

Now we have Brandon Jennings, who is a shooting PG, admittedly he's no Conley, but my point is that we need someone of substantially higher talent than we have on the roster, not someone who's a fringe all star.

Some reason I see us coming out of free agency with DeMar DeRozan and Al Horford.

Bigmagicfan82 wrote:Some reason I see us coming out of free agency with DeMar DeRozan and Al Horford.

I really dont see DeRozan leaving Toronto unless its for LA

EAS Law wrote:Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic and demanding as a fan, but if our big acquisitions are Conley and Batum, with a sprinkling of Mahinmi or Ezeili, I will not at all be excited or even motivated to watch Magic basketball. That team, at absolute best, is second round fodder for the duration of those contracts.

Nothing wrong with it but yes, you are overly optimistic if you don't see that as a home run for us in FA.

We are not getting a star for a few reasons.

1. There are only 4 that will potentially be available and are they really stars? Dwight, Beal, Drummond, & DeRozan. I don't include LeBron and Durant because that would be taking the optimism to a delusional level. I don't include Wade, Gasol, or Dirk because they aren't leaving their situation for Orlando.

2. Of the players available, you can eliminate Drummond and Beal due to being restricted FA's. Personally, I would eliminate Dwight...because I never want to see him in a Magic uniform again. He is declining rapidly. DeRozan leaving the #2 team in the East to come to the #11 team in the East seems like a pipe dream.

3. Our situation is not attractive to a player who is already playing at an all-star level. Other than flashes here and there, this team has shown no sign of growth. A star isn't going to want to take a lotto team to a 2nd round exit...they're going to want to take a 6-8 seed to a conference contender, at the very least.

We need to show signs of improvement and growth before we become a potential destination for a stud. We should take steps to sign some guys who bring maturity, experience, and make an immediate impact. That is why Conley is so attractive. He would allow Elf to focus on his development...rather than leading a team he isn't ready to lead. He would be a great example for Elf to learn from. He is also (currently) a big improvement at that position and brings great consistency. Batum is the glue guy that we don't have. Mahinmi is a big man who has finally developed and is in his prime...and is the defensive force down low we are in need of.

You bring in a couple of those guys and then if all goes according to plan, we make the playoffs and put up a fight as a lower seed. Those players would help our roster overachieve. Then you enter the summer of 2017 with your sights set on grabbing a star, if possible.

I voted for Magic to blow it up.

BadMofoPimp wrote:I voted for Magic to blow it up.

considering how long Detroit has been in the lottery, they should blow it up too.

think of all the 5+ years of fans time and money they have been wasting

tiderulz wrote:

BadMofoPimp wrote:I voted for Magic to blow it up.

considering how long Detroit has been in the lottery, they should blow it up too.

think of all the 5+ years of fans time and money they have been wasting

Then, I remember how many Ships they have won and it becomes all worthwhile.

It just took them 5 coaches in 6 years to find the right coach.

BadMofoPimp wrote:

tiderulz wrote:

BadMofoPimp wrote:I voted for Magic to blow it up.

considering how long Detroit has been in the lottery, they should blow it up too.

think of all the 5+ years of fans time and money they have been wasting

Then, I remember how many Ships they have won and it becomes all worthwhile.

It just took them 5 coaches in 6 years to find the right coach.

so Orlando still has some room to go, good to know.