Where do you stand?

[NBAchamps2017]

Yeah I would hold onto Gordon though he isn't untouchable. I wouldn't trade up for Jackson. I like him as a player but not big on him for us. I would pass on Gallinari as he doesn't makes us that much better to make it even worth signing him unless he comes on a one year deal. I would simply try and clear cap space rather then complicate it further with Biyombo or Augustine like deals. I would try and use some of our young talent like Payton, Hezonja, Vuc to help rid us of Biyombo or Augustine while maybe netting a pick or two or young prospects. I would largely sit out this free agency as well except maybe one year deals or if we can get one of the younger guys on a reasonable smaller deal then ok but no thanks to the expensive older players who don't help us that much and could harm our draft position for next year. Give our new front office some time to make a couple drafts and hopefully we will be better positioned for free agents next year or the year after. But it time to try and start over and go for another rebuild even though it will be tough to watch.

It only make sense that the new PBO & GM will clean up the house and get rid of a crappy roster. Under new management! Can't have a 'band-aid' solution once again! Can't wait for another year or two to make a move though (as you have suggested). I was hoping the new managers are far more experienced than the one we fired! They have to start somewhere this year. I wont be greedy, I will settle for the second best. Jrue and Gallinari can be a second best where we can build around.

Build around Jrue and and Gallinari? They are not that good plus they probably consume up most of our cap space to where we wouldn't be able to add much to them while they are on the books. It is going to take a lot of money to lure them here. At best we would be a team stuck in the middle for a few years just waiting for another rebuild while also missing out on higher picks that have better chances of actually reeling in a star. Those two don't make us that much better. We did this last year when we gave money to Biyombo and Augustin and it didn't turn out well did it. Jrue is better than DJ and yes we have a hole at SF where Gallinari would fill but I don't see them making us that much better.

Maybe we move into the late lottery but that is where we would remain as adding those two aren't that enticing for players to join them nor would we have that much money to offer them. Sorry but this is our fate. Free agency isn't the answer right now. I know it will it will be tough to watch but that is sports. That is just where we are. I am not talking about a band-aid approach. That kind of approach means you are just targeting a couple guys. Which is what you are talking about which would simply be band-aid to another rebuild. We need to get out of this rebuild and adding a couple decent but not great free agents doesn't do that. We need more than those two to become a good team that free agents might want to actually join. I would rather try and clear some space for the coming years while trying to get the best pick for next year. Hopefully we get better lottery luck and we add that pick to the one we get this year as well as Gordon and whatever else remains from hopefully getting rid of contracts like Biyombo and Augustin. Gallinari and Holiday would simply be bandaids added to a bad team making us at best an average team.

No thanks but free agency isn't the answer. Yeah the draft may not be either but I would rather go with potential to be great rather than good but not great vets that don't help us that much. It is how we got out of the rebuild we faced after Shaq left. We went to the draft and got Dwight and we were able to build around him. We are not going to build much around those two.

What more can you ask for? The 'new starting five' I've proposed is a combination of above average vets and young athletic talents in Dennis Smith Jr, Josh Jackson, and add a bruiser in Jordan Bell for the 25th pick. That's 3 first round talents we can develop with higher probability of having an all star ceiling. Adding freshmen Frank Jackson and Tony Bradley are potential good role players as well. Getting Jrue and Gallinari will take the new management some serious maneuverings to even bring these two to Orlando. This could be the start of our future:

Jrue / DSJr
Ross / JMeeks / Frank Jackson
Jackson / Garino
Gallinari / Thomas Robinson / Jordan Bell
Jerebko / Mason Plumlee / Tony Bradley

[Optimus_Steel]

There is no choice but to rebuild.

[Mike1989]

What path would you take if you were in charge: Youth movement or keep what we have and go for playoffs

Youth movement:
Obviously we aren't winning the title any time soon with the warriors running the league for the next couple years. So this is the perfect time to go all in on youth. Put the ball in the hands of young guys( Gordon, elf, Mario, draft picks) and see if we can build a on court chemistry of the likes of the spurs and warriors. Trade some of the vets for picks or some young guys who haven't gotten a chance to breakout. Sign some vets that won't take away crucial playing time but that can command the respect of the young guys. Sure we might not be good for a couple of years but atleast we would have something to look forward to in the future.

Keep what we have:

We stay the course of pushing for a playoff spot. Keep the roster mostly in tact except for the new rookies and new vets. Keep riding the Fournier and vooch duo to see if they can lead us to the playoffs. Then hope for Gordon, elf, Mario and some of the rookies to step up. Hope biz and ross find some consistency.

What would you do? I'm curious to see where most of us stand. I personally would go youth movement and hope we are the next dynasty after the warriors.

Things can obviously change between now and the start of the season to influence what team's rosters will look like in the east, but I honestly do not see us cracking the top four in the eastern conference any time soon with our current base roster even if we manage to add someone like Gordon Hayward in free agency. The best we can hope for is that we put together a season similar to the Pacers and Bulls and make the play offs as a 7th or 8th seed. Now perhaps that is what our team needs after a number of down years, but look at Charlotte as an example. They went out and signed Al Jefferson and made the play offs in their final season as the Bobcats as the 7th seed and got swept by the Heat. The following season they fell to 11th in the east, followed it up with a 6th seed and got beat 4-3 by the Heat, and this season they fell to 11th in the east again. So essentially what we don't want to become is the next Charlotte Hornets that are not good enough to be a perennial play off team and are unlikely to be able to change that because they are cap strapped.

For me, what the Magic need to do is invest their time in developing their young talent and continuing to try and rebuild through the draft. If we could end up with the following starting five - Payton, Fournier, Hayward (or Gallinari), Gordon, Vucevic - and find two high upside talents at 6 and 25 in the draft, while continuing to develop Hezonja, and round off the bench with decent veterans, then maybe we can make the play offs as a 7th or 8th seed but also retain greater upside if the young talent develop into really good players. So in a sense I want to see us invest in our young players but also try to look for ways to be competitive like the Celtics and Heat have tried to do.

Hayward or Gallinari? neither are even going to look at Orlando. They will want to go to a place where they can win.

Money can talk especially for players like Gallinari. If we were willing to throw a max contract his way, maybe he could be persuaded to come join the Magic. It is quite possible he would laugh off any offer and sign a max deal or for less somewhere else, but if we put the money on the table, it is possible that a player in the tier of Gallinari might take the pay day and go ring chasing later in his career.

[Knightro]

The Magic traded for an above average veteran in Ibaka on draft day, then went out and spent 39.25M in year 1 salary on Biyombo/Augustin/Green in an effort to make the playoffs.

They won 29 games.

The only choice is rebuilding with youth. The Magic don't have the trade assets to acquire a star via trade, nor do they have the cap space right now to outright sign anyone to the max.

77.8M committed to 8 players + Watson's partial guarantee. Cap holds for the No. 6 and No. 25 picks are another 4-5M, that bumps it to 81.8-82.8M, throw in another 1.3M if they keep Zimmerman and now you're looking at 84.1M. Projected cap of 101M means the Magic have a hair under 17M to spend in free agency.

18M a year gets you the Biyombo's of the world in free agency. Not exactly a thrilling proposition.

What the Magic need to do is clean up their cap sheet by unloading Fournier and Augustin (and ideally Biz, but that will be much tougher), trade Vucevic for as much value as they can get and try and build around Gordon, the No. 6 pick and future picks.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

Seems that most people would rather blow it up, play youth, get picks & stay a lotto team than keep the pieces we have now. That is refreshing to read/hear. Hopefully new management feels the same way and we see some moves being made

[ralphie9898]

It only make sense that the new PBO & GM will clean up the house and get rid of a crappy roster. Under new management! Can't have a 'band-aid' solution once again! Can't wait for another year or two to make a move though (as you have suggested). I was hoping the new managers are far more experienced than the one we fired! They have to start somewhere this year. I wont be greedy, I will settle for the second best. Jrue and Gallinari can be a second best where we can build around.

Build around Jrue and and Gallinari? They are not that good plus they probably consume up most of our cap space to where we wouldn't be able to add much to them while they are on the books. It is going to take a lot of money to lure them here. At best we would be a team stuck in the middle for a few years just waiting for another rebuild while also missing out on higher picks that have better chances of actually reeling in a star. Those two don't make us that much better. We did this last year when we gave money to Biyombo and Augustin and it didn't turn out well did it. Jrue is better than DJ and yes we have a hole at SF where Gallinari would fill but I don't see them making us that much better.

Maybe we move into the late lottery but that is where we would remain as adding those two aren't that enticing for players to join them nor would we have that much money to offer them. Sorry but this is our fate. Free agency isn't the answer right now. I know it will it will be tough to watch but that is sports. That is just where we are. I am not talking about a band-aid approach. That kind of approach means you are just targeting a couple guys. Which is what you are talking about which would simply be band-aid to another rebuild. We need to get out of this rebuild and adding a couple decent but not great free agents doesn't do that. We need more than those two to become a good team that free agents might want to actually join. I would rather try and clear some space for the coming years while trying to get the best pick for next year. Hopefully we get better lottery luck and we add that pick to the one we get this year as well as Gordon and whatever else remains from hopefully getting rid of contracts like Biyombo and Augustin. Gallinari and Holiday would simply be bandaids added to a bad team making us at best an average team.

No thanks but free agency isn't the answer. Yeah the draft may not be either but I would rather go with potential to be great rather than good but not great vets that don't help us that much. It is how we got out of the rebuild we faced after Shaq left. We went to the draft and got Dwight and we were able to build around him. We are not going to build much around those two.

What more can you ask for? The 'new starting five' I've proposed is a combination of above average vets and young athletic talents in Dennis Smith Jr, Josh Jackson, and add a bruiser in Jordan Bell for the 25th pick. That's 3 first round talents we can develop with higher probability of having an all star ceiling. Adding freshmen Frank Jackson and Tony Bradley are potential good role players as well. Getting Jrue and Gallinari will take the new management some serious maneuverings to even bring these two to Orlando. This could be the start of our future:

Jrue / DSJr
Ross / JMeeks / Frank Jackson
Jackson / Garino
Gallinari / Thomas Robinson / Jordan Bell
Jerebko / Mason Plumlee / Tony Bradley

Sorry but I don't think that trade works. I highly doubt Philly gives up the 3rd pick for just Gordon and Fournier. Why well first off I don't think Philly would give up a good chance at a future star player for Gordon who I am not sure will be and Fournier who I doubt even more will be an all-star. Secondly Philly doesn't need a PF with Simmons the likely starter at that spot. I think they would be ok with Fournier as they do need guards but he isn't going to get you the 3rd pick in the draft by himself. I think they would be just happy with taking Fox or Smith or even Monk. Why because as I first stated above that pick has potential to be an all-star thus better then maybe both of those two combined. Also because that pick would be much cheaper for the next four years whereas you have to pay Fournier a lot and Gordon will be up for a pay raise in a couple years. So sorry but I think Philly probably hangs up the phone on that one.

[ralphie9898]

Things can obviously change between now and the start of the season to influence what team's rosters will look like in the east, but I honestly do not see us cracking the top four in the eastern conference any time soon with our current base roster even if we manage to add someone like Gordon Hayward in free agency. The best we can hope for is that we put together a season similar to the Pacers and Bulls and make the play offs as a 7th or 8th seed. Now perhaps that is what our team needs after a number of down years, but look at Charlotte as an example. They went out and signed Al Jefferson and made the play offs in their final season as the Bobcats as the 7th seed and got swept by the Heat. The following season they fell to 11th in the east, followed it up with a 6th seed and got beat 4-3 by the Heat, and this season they fell to 11th in the east again. So essentially what we don't want to become is the next Charlotte Hornets that are not good enough to be a perennial play off team and are unlikely to be able to change that because they are cap strapped.

For me, what the Magic need to do is invest their time in developing their young talent and continuing to try and rebuild through the draft. If we could end up with the following starting five - Payton, Fournier, Hayward (or Gallinari), Gordon, Vucevic - and find two high upside talents at 6 and 25 in the draft, while continuing to develop Hezonja, and round off the bench with decent veterans, then maybe we can make the play offs as a 7th or 8th seed but also retain greater upside if the young talent develop into really good players. So in a sense I want to see us invest in our young players but also try to look for ways to be competitive like the Celtics and Heat have tried to do.

Hayward or Gallinari? neither are even going to look at Orlando. They will want to go to a place where they can win.

Money can talk especially for players like Gallinari. If we were willing to throw a max contract his way, maybe he could be persuaded to come join the Magic. It is quite possible he would laugh off any offer and sign a max deal or for less somewhere else, but if we put the money on the table, it is possible that a player in the tier of Gallinari might take the pay day and go ring chasing later in his career.

We don't have the cap space to offer Gallinari a max deal and we aren't even close. We have only about 14 mill in cap space with it wiggling maybe a mill or two in either direction depending on what the cap is actually set at by the league. But still it won't be enough to offer anyone a max. Secondly Gallinari is no where near worth a max deal. And for us it would be unwise to overpay him to get him to come here even at less than max money.

[ralphie9898]

The Magic traded for an above average veteran in Ibaka on draft day, then went out and spent 39.25M in year 1 salary on Biyombo/Augustin/Green in an effort to make the playoffs.

They won 29 games.

The only choice is rebuilding with youth. The Magic don't have the trade assets to acquire a star via trade, nor do they have the cap space right now to outright sign anyone to the max.

77.8M committed to 8 players + Watson's partial guarantee. Cap holds for the No. 6 and No. 25 picks are another 4M, that bumps it to 81.8M, throw in another 1.3M if they keep Zimmerman and now you're looking at 83.1M. Projected cap of 101M means the Magic have a hair under 18M to spend in free agency.

18M a year gets you the Biyombo's of the world in free agency. Not exactly a thrilling proposition.

What the Magic need to do is clean up their cap sheet by unloading Fournier and Augustin (and ideally Biz, but that will be much tougher), trade Vucevic for as much value as they can get and try and build around Gordon, the No. 6 pick and future picks.

Good write up but I think the number for the salaries that we have on the book is $85,589,051 and not 77.8 according to Spotrac.com. Watson's deal is partially guaranteed for 1 mill so we would save 4 mill by waiving him. But if we take a PG in the draft and trade Payton we could keep him for one year more as a vet backup to the rookie. We shall see and is the cap officially set yet. I am under the belief it isn't but we have good projections at 101 mill. I could be wrong here but that could still change right? So at most I think we have a little over 15 mill as the rookie holds are pretty much the same number as the savings as we would get from waving Watson(which isn't a sure thing and thus if we hold onto him it would be more around 11 mill. I have also heard the number 14 mill in space bandied around. But yeah I agree with your post and that free agency isn't a good route to go.

[ralphie9898]

Seems that most people would rather blow it up, play youth, get picks & stay a lotto team than keep the pieces we have now. That is refreshing to read/hear. Hopefully new management feels the same way and we see some moves being made

yeah I hope so too. I lean more toward them going more that route as they are new faces and thus very well could bring a different view on what are guys worth(though that goes both ways as while they may be just fine with paying Fournier that much and could even be fine with paying him more and thus may see that deal as a value). Also because they are in their first year whereas Henny was in year 4 and it should be obvious to them that there has to be change. We shall see but yeah I totally agree that we should blow it up as much as possible and look to make some deals that clears up our cap picture better and focuses more on this draft as well as positioning ourselves for a better pick in 2018.

[Knightro]

Good write up but I think the number for the salaries that we have on the book is $85,589,051 and not 77.8 according to Spotrac.com. Watson's deal is partially guaranteed for 1 mill so we would save 4 mill by waiving him. But if we take a PG in the draft and trade Payton we could keep him for one year more as a vet backup to the rookie. We shall see and is the cap officially set yet. I am under the belief it isn't but we have good projections at 101 mill. I could be wrong here but that could still change right? So at most I think we have a little over 15 mill as the rookie holds are pretty much the same number as the savings as we would get from waving Watson(which isn't a sure thing and thus if we hold onto him it would be more around 11 mill. I have also heard the number 14 mill in space bandied around. But yeah I agree with your post and that free agency isn't a good route to go.

The Magic have 5.6M tied up in three non-guaranteed contracts and a qualifying offer (Rudez, Zimmerman, Garino, Georges-Hunt). If they wanted to maximize their cap space, they'd dump all four players and pay Watson his $1M to go away.

[ralphie9898]

Good write up but I think the number for the salaries that we have on the book is $85,589,051 and not 77.8 according to Spotrac.com. Watson's deal is partially guaranteed for 1 mill so we would save 4 mill by waiving him. But if we take a PG in the draft and trade Payton we could keep him for one year more as a vet backup to the rookie. We shall see and is the cap officially set yet. I am under the belief it isn't but we have good projections at 101 mill. I could be wrong here but that could still change right? So at most I think we have a little over 15 mill as the rookie holds are pretty much the same number as the savings as we would get from waving Watson(which isn't a sure thing and thus if we hold onto him it would be more around 11 mill. I have also heard the number 14 mill in space bandied around. But yeah I agree with your post and that free agency isn't a good route to go.

The Magic have 5.6M tied up in three non-guaranteed contracts and a qualifying offer (Rudez, Zimmerman, Garino, Georges-Hunt). If they wanted to maximize their cap space, they'd dump all four players and pay Watson his $1M to go away.

yeah but according to spotrac we have 10 guys(including Watson, 11 if you count Zimmeran's fully non guaranteed deal) on the books for a little more than 85.5 mill rather than 8 for 77.8 mill. I am not counting Rudez, Zimmerman, Garino or Georges-Hunt in that.

I am counting Biyombo, Fournier, Vuc, Ross, Augustin, Gordon, Watson, Hezonja, Payton, and Napier for just a little over 85.5 mill. If you waive Watson then we save 4 mill but then you gotta add about that much for rookie deals to our cap so what I am seeing we would have a little more than 15 mill in cap space(and 4 mill less if we decide to keep Watson).

[Knightro]

yeah but according to spotrac we have 10 guys(including Watson, 11 if you count Zimmeran's fully non guaranteed deal) on the books for a little more than 85.5 mill rather than 8 for 77.8 mill. I am not counting Rudez, Zimmerman, Garino or Georges-Hunt in that.

I am counting Biyombo, Fournier, Vuc, Ross, Augustin, Gordon, Watson, Hezonja, Payton, and Napier for just a little over 85.5 mill. If you waive Watson then we save 4 mill but then you gotta add about that much for rookie deals to our cap so what I am seeing we would have a little more than 15 mill in cap space(and 4 mill less if we decide to keep Watson).

It took me a minute, but I figured out where the discrepancy is here.

Shabazz Napier isn't on the roster. Spotrac is mistakenly counting his $2.3M towards the Magic's 2017-2018 salary cap.

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/orlando-magic/cap/2017/

[axl_c_cool]

The Magic traded for an above average veteran in Ibaka on draft day, then went out and spent 39.25M in year 1 salary on Biyombo/Augustin/Green in an effort to make the playoffs.

They won 29 games.

The only choice is rebuilding with youth. The Magic don't have the trade assets to acquire a star via trade, nor do they have the cap space right now to outright sign anyone to the max.

77.8M committed to 8 players + Watson's partial guarantee. Cap holds for the No. 6 and No. 25 picks are another 4M, that bumps it to 81.8M, throw in another 1.3M if they keep Zimmerman and now you're looking at 83.1M. Projected cap of 101M means the Magic have a hair under 18M to spend in free agency.

18M a year gets you the Biyombo's of the world in free agency. Not exactly a thrilling proposition.

What the Magic need to do is clean up their cap sheet by unloading Fournier and Augustin (and ideally Biz, but that will be much tougher), trade Vucevic for as much value as they can get and try and build around Gordon, the No. 6 pick and future picks.

[axl_c_cool]

The Magic traded for an above average veteran in Ibaka on draft day, then went out and spent 39.25M in year 1 salary on Biyombo/Augustin/Green in an effort to make the playoffs.

They won 29 games.

The only choice is rebuilding with youth. The Magic don't have the trade assets to acquire a star via trade, nor do they have the cap space right now to outright sign anyone to the max.

77.8M committed to 8 players + Watson's partial guarantee. Cap holds for the No. 6 and No. 25 picks are another 4M, that bumps it to 81.8M, throw in another 1.3M if they keep Zimmerman and now you're looking at 83.1M. Projected cap of 101M means the Magic have a hair under 18M to spend in free agency.

18M a year gets you the Biyombo's of the world in free agency. Not exactly a thrilling proposition.

What the Magic need to do is clean up their cap sheet by unloading Fournier and Augustin (and ideally Biz, but that will be much tougher), trade Vucevic for as much value as they can get and try and build around Gordon, the No. 6 pick and future picks.

Agree 100%, I haven't seen if anyone has said this yet but we need to look and think about the window of the Lebron and the Warriors, right now it looks like we'll see this Warriors team for another 2-4 years and Lebron probably has 2-3 elite seasons left, why are we rushing to be competitive to lose in the 1st or 2nd round with the talent we have. I don't think fans got tired of losing, I think we got tired of not seeing progress or something tangible (a star developing). We have to go for a youth movement and we have do as you said and make use of our assets, I break us down like this

[b]High level prospects: Aaron Gordon, #6 pick: [/b]This is the key for the draft moving forward, Aaron has shown some growth that was stunted due to the position he was forced to play, we need to put him in a focal role and see what we have along with the #6 pick. They are our most likely shots at an allstar level talent, we need to develop them.


Mid level prospects: Elfrid Payton, Mario Hezonja: Both inconsistent players with high upsides but with limitations, both players as with Gordon have had their growth stunted at times. Their ceilings are high level role players/1 time allstars, we should develop them so we at least have depth on the bench


Mid level veterans: Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier, Bizmack Biyombo, DJ Augustine: These guys are the definition of role players, unfortunately they are our starters and "goto" players. The best scenario would be to add them together to form a package/s and collect a young talent (Tobias Harris type trade) or to trade back into or for future picks. The other alternative is to keep these players and bring them off the bench in the roles they'd be


Philosophy/culture This really depends on who we draft and who develops, 2 things are winning now, team basketball and super teams playing team basketball. We need players who compliment each other and we have to have an offensive system that 'flows' (Kerr 2013).




Draft and trades

The rest of the roster should be filled out with either genuine veterans who will know their role and create the right culture (who that is right now I don't know). Ideal trade scenarios would be


Vucevic to Sacramento for WCS + #10
Fournier/Ross to Detroit for Johnson #12
Remaining of Ross/Fournier for future 1st round pick

Draft

#6 Isaac
#10 Monk (Smith if Monk has gone)
#12 Collins
#25 Hartenstein
#33 Evans
#35 Bell


2017/18 Orlando Magic

Payton/Evans
Hezonja/Monk
Isaac/Johnson
Gordon/Hartenstein
Biyombo/WCS/Collins





Conclusion/disclaimer I know and understand we won't draft 6 rookies, this would be my closest to realistic ideal if we were all in on the youth movement. The 11 players can change positions and we could/should work and experiment to find players best roles (Isaac's at center?). They are also guys who will have a chip on their shoulder (Payton, Evans, Monk if he drops) or have a high ceiling (Isaac, Gordon). I like that the mid level prospects are given a chance, and rookies will develop too and the trust to do so.

That lineup also makes sure we land in the top 3 if not the first pick next year, then hopefully we can land our superstar to be surrounded by what's needed in todays NBA, shooting, length, and athletic ability..

[ralphie9898]

yeah but according to spotrac we have 10 guys(including Watson, 11 if you count Zimmeran's fully non guaranteed deal) on the books for a little more than 85.5 mill rather than 8 for 77.8 mill. I am not counting Rudez, Zimmerman, Garino or Georges-Hunt in that.

I am counting Biyombo, Fournier, Vuc, Ross, Augustin, Gordon, Watson, Hezonja, Payton, and Napier for just a little over 85.5 mill. If you waive Watson then we save 4 mill but then you gotta add about that much for rookie deals to our cap so what I am seeing we would have a little more than 15 mill in cap space(and 4 mill less if we decide to keep Watson).

It took me a minute, but I figured out where the discrepancy is here.

Shabazz Napier isn't on the roster. Spotrac is mistakenly counting his $2.3M towards the Magic's 2017-2018 salary cap.

http://www.spotrac.com/nba/orlando-magic/cap/2017/

Ok yeah I was wondering about him. I was surprised to see him there as I thought we did something with him but couldn't remember we traded him Portland for cash considerations. So still then it would be 9 players for 83.2 mill with about 17.3 mill in space. but he important thing is still not enough space to offer anyone a max and we should avoid spending any more future money on free agents unless it is a good bargain deal. The focus should be on the draft and trading some of our bigger deals for cap relief in future years while getting whatever young prospects/draft picks we can get. We don't have the ammunition to swing for guys like Jimmy Butler or Paul George so simply try and take as little money back as we can.

[SOUL]

I personally haven't seen enough from Vucevic yet, we might still have a gem.

[ralphie9898]

Draft and trades

The rest of the roster should be filled out with either genuine veterans who will know their role and create the right culture (who that is right now I don't know). Ideal trade scenarios would be


Vucevic to Sacramento for WCS + #10
Fournier/Ross to Detroit for Johnson #12
Remaining of Ross/Fournier for future 1st round pick

Draft

#6 Isaac
#10 Monk (Smith if Monk has gone)
#12 Collins
#25 Hartenstein
#33 Evans
#35 Bell


2017/18 Orlando Magic

Payton/Evans
Hezonja/Monk
Isaac/Johnson
Gordon/Hartenstein
Biyombo/WCS/Collins





Conclusion/disclaimer I know and understand we won't draft 6 rookies, this would be my closest to realistic ideal if we were all in on the youth movement. The 11 players can change positions and we could/should work and experiment to find players best roles (Isaac's at center?). They are also guys who will have a chip on their shoulder (Payton, Evans, Monk if he drops) or have a high ceiling (Isaac, Gordon). I like that the mid level prospects are given a chance, and rookies will develop too and the trust to do so.

That lineup also makes sure we land in the top 3 if not the first pick next year, then hopefully we can land our superstar to be surrounded by what's needed in todays NBA, shooting, length, and athletic ability..

Yeah I agree with some but you realistic trades aren't happening. I highly doubt Sacramento gives up WCS and the 10th pick for Vuc. Same goes for Detroit as I doubt they give up Johnson and the 12th pick for either Ross or Fournier. I also am not sure we get a future first that would be that good for either Ross or Fournier. If it came from a bottom half team it probably at least has top 14 protections and could even be top 20 protected. I think you are over-valuing these guys. Rather I think we need to include Payton and/or Hezonja or even one of our second rounders if we want to even get close to that return that you have for these guys. I am not even sure Vuc plus the 25th pick would get us up to 10 much less anything added to that like WCS.

[OrlChamps2030]

The Magic traded for an above average veteran in Ibaka on draft day, then went out and spent 39.25M in year 1 salary on Biyombo/Augustin/Green in an effort to make the playoffs.

They won 29 games.

The only choice is rebuilding with youth. The Magic don't have the trade assets to acquire a star via trade, nor do they have the cap space right now to outright sign anyone to the max.

77.8M committed to 8 players + Watson's partial guarantee. Cap holds for the No. 6 and No. 25 picks are another 4M, that bumps it to 81.8M, throw in another 1.3M if they keep Zimmerman and now you're looking at 83.1M. Projected cap of 101M means the Magic have a hair under 18M to spend in free agency.

18M a year gets you the Biyombo's of the world in free agency. Not exactly a thrilling proposition.

What the Magic need to do is clean up their cap sheet by unloading Fournier and Augustin (and ideally Biz, but that will be much tougher), trade Vucevic for as much value as they can get and try and build around Gordon, the No. 6 pick and future picks.

Great write up. Spot-on

[orlando_joe]

YEAR 3 of their careers pts per game:

Aaron Gordon - 12pts
Elfrid Payton - 13pts
Jimmy Butler - 13pts
Bradley Beal - 15pts
Draymond Green - 11pts
Mike Conley - 12pts
Steph Curry - 14 pts

Aaron and Payton are where they need to be on the development curve. Mario is two years and consistent playing time away from arriving. We're sort of dawning out of the youth movement and you don't want to stunt that. There's a time to add a Paul George/Jimmy Butler caliber veteran, but for our team, I think it's AFTER your prospects have matured.

So if "Going Youth" means blowing it up and trading AG and Payton for draft picks, I say no. If "Playoff Push" means adding minute and ball hungry vets, I say no too.

Maybe I'm saying stay the course until the right time to unload the Vooch/Fournier/Ross's of our team for the right asset.

ding...ding....ding

[Darth Magic]

I want a soft reboot. Basically, add talent without blowing up the roster. I'd say we need a third guy. I personally think the best case scenario is to trade the pick for a young stud like CJ McCollum. Elf, CJ and AAron are pieces we can build around. Once we have that foundation we can trade/sign players that fit them. Namely a center who can defend the paint and shoot from the perimeter such as a Olynk or Speights. And a small forward who can defend the teams other best player.