2020-2021 Regular Season Game 57: Houston Rockets (14-42) at Orlando Magic (18-38)

[basketballRob]

We all know your implications and what you tried to hint with your post.

For what is worth, Orlando went from 4th best rebounding team in basketball to a team that is getting raped on glass pretty much every night, sitting at 4th worst rebounding rate after trade deadline.
Last night starters were outrebounded 22-32 despite Houston being shortest nba team.

But almost every critic about current team will be met with blaze of glory of ping pong balls so i find pointless to even talk about Orlando nowdays

We're tanking or we could easily be better than the Bulls. We have too many ways to get better.

We'll be tied to the Bulls for the next few seasons, so I'd expect to hear a lot about them. The new GM they have just made a horrible deal.

If we traded Bamba to another team and he didn't have success, do you really think his haters wouldn't say something?

People will be talking about the Nuggets and AG also when it's time to get that pick.

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We have nothing to do with Bulls, other than them playing in our conference.
They suck. They sucked before trade ( 19-24) and they kept sucking ( 4-9) .

If they land top 4 pick - they keep it, nothing to do with us.
If they land 5-30 pick- we get pick- good for us.

We traded Gordon- nobody mentions him.
We traded Evan- nobody mentions him.

Nobody talks about Nuggets nor Celtics. It's just obsessession with Vuc that keeps ongoing.

Bulls have their set of issues, damn sure Magic have their as well. But this is execlly what i expected from bottoming out. Three weeks into tanking, nobody really has anything to say, game threads have 6 pages during a game and fans fight over most random bull**** because there is nothing worth watching.

Most here are hoping the Bulls give us a high draft choice, so we're tied in that way. They could finish as low as 6th, because I think Cleveland has an outside shot at passing them.

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[pepe1991]

We're tanking or we could easily be better than the Bulls. We have too many ways to get better.

We'll be tied to the Bulls for the next few seasons, so I'd expect to hear a lot about them. The new GM they have just made a horrible deal.

If we traded Bamba to another team and he didn't have success, do you really think his haters wouldn't say something?

People will be talking about the Nuggets and AG also when it's time to get that pick.

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We have nothing to do with Bulls, other than them playing in our conference.
They suck. They sucked before trade ( 19-24) and they kept sucking ( 4-9) .

If they land top 4 pick - they keep it, nothing to do with us.
If they land 5-30 pick- we get pick- good for us.

We traded Gordon- nobody mentions him.
We traded Evan- nobody mentions him.

Nobody talks about Nuggets nor Celtics. It's just obsessession with Vuc that keeps ongoing.

Bulls have their set of issues, damn sure Magic have their as well. But this is execlly what i expected from bottoming out. Three weeks into tanking, nobody really has anything to say, game threads have 6 pages during a game and fans fight over most random bull**** because there is nothing worth watching.

Most here are hoping the Bulls give us a high draft choice, so we're tied in that way. They could finish as low as 6th, because I think Cleveland has an outside shot at passing them.

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If Bulls are 8th worst team ( tied with 9th now) Magic will either land 8th or 9th pick or lose pick.

What nobody wants to admit is fact that this draft is split in :
1) handsdown Cade
2) Green & Suggs as tear 2 of talent

and bunch of questionable ,overhyped bodies.

[basketballRob]

We have nothing to do with Bulls, other than them playing in our conference.
They suck. They sucked before trade ( 19-24) and they kept sucking ( 4-9) .

If they land top 4 pick - they keep it, nothing to do with us.
If they land 5-30 pick- we get pick- good for us.

We traded Gordon- nobody mentions him.
We traded Evan- nobody mentions him.

Nobody talks about Nuggets nor Celtics. It's just obsessession with Vuc that keeps ongoing.

Bulls have their set of issues, damn sure Magic have their as well. But this is execlly what i expected from bottoming out. Three weeks into tanking, nobody really has anything to say, game threads have 6 pages during a game and fans fight over most random bull**** because there is nothing worth watching.

Most here are hoping the Bulls give us a high draft choice, so we're tied in that way. They could finish as low as 6th, because I think Cleveland has an outside shot at passing them.

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If Bulls are 8th worst team ( tied with 9th now) Magic will either land 8th or 9th pick or lose pick.

What nobody wants to admit is fact that this draft is split in :
1) handsdown Cade
2) Green & Suggs as tear 2 of talent

and bunch of questionable ,overhyped bodies.

Not sure that anyone picks a player 8th or 9th and think they have a great player, but it happens.

The 2013 draft was going to be one of the worst drafts ever, but it was a really good draft outside the top 5. KCP, CJ McCollum, Steven Adams, Olynyk, Giannis, Gobert.

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[Knightro]

We have nothing to do with Bulls, other than them playing in our conference.
They suck. They sucked before trade ( 19-24) and they kept sucking ( 4-9) .

If they land top 4 pick - they keep it, nothing to do with us.
If they land 5-30 pick- we get pick- good for us.

We traded Gordon- nobody mentions him.
We traded Evan- nobody mentions him.

Nobody talks about Nuggets nor Celtics. It's just obsessession with Vuc that keeps ongoing.

Bulls have their set of issues, damn sure Magic have their as well. But this is execlly what i expected from bottoming out. Three weeks into tanking, nobody really has anything to say, game threads have 6 pages during a game and fans fight over most random bull**** because there is nothing worth watching.

I mean this isn't totally fair.

Of course this board is talking about Gordon and Fournier less than Vucevic because the Magic didn't get a 2021 1st round pick back for either guy.

Vucevic not only was traded to a playoff *hopeful*, but the Magic have their first round pick. So there is absolutely more of a vested interest in Magic fans rooting for the Bulls to not have success than there is Denver or Boston.

Had they traded Vucevic to a more certain playoff team than Chicago, there would be far less chatter about Vucevic and his performance.

[fendilim]

You guys realise that your endless back and forth about Vuc and the Bulls is boring almost everyone, right? Please take it to the "Around the NBA" thread or the ping pong balls thread so the match threads can be actual matches and not about the Bulls and how Vuc played for us before.

Anyway, a clutch loss last night. Cole's bricks really helped. Okeke shot uncharacteristically poorly, but played solid D as usual. Hampton is still a bad playmaker as expected. Harris is a really good defender and shot well from distance, but his drives to the basket have been really poor since he came here and this game was no exception. Bacon had some good moments, but at the end had some clutch boneheaded plays as usual. Defense continues to be mostly a mess, especially when Harris is on the bench.

Yup. At this point is very much irrelevant to us. And have proved his doubters he was worth more than what they projected him to be.

Move on. He isnt on the team anymore.

[Knightro]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

[basketballRob]

Chicago was probably the worst fit in the league for Vucevic. Then the GM gave up an enormous amount of assets.

We also save around 27m next season by removing Vuc and Aminu's contracts.

Edit: We save around 22.5 million next season, because the 7th or 8th pick will get 4.5m.

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[Bergmaniac]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

I disagree, IMO there will be a lot of "I told you so" posts about Vucevic next season.

[basketballRob]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

I disagree, IMO there will be a lot of "I told you so" posts about Vucevic next season.

We already seen a 9 year sample size of what Vuc is. I expect the rest of his career will be pretty much the same. Not sure we'll have to talk about it that much.


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[thelead]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

I disagree, IMO there will be a lot of "I told you so" posts about Vucevic next season.

Knightro is 100% correct. No one talks about the AG and Evan mostly because there is no vested interest. There’s also the fact that Evan hasn’t even played much due to COVID and AG just fit into the role that everyone knew he would excel in.

[basketballRob]

The Bulls GM did a much worse job on the picks protections, than the Denver GM did on the 2025 pick. It's a much bigger chance to get a top 5 pick than a top 4, if you're one of the worst teams.

http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

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[pepe1991]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

99% of posts about Vučević have nothing to do with Chicago, just obsession of few posters with one player and desparate attemps to be "right",despite continuation of 4+ years of being wrong.

[basketballRob]

I disagree about not talking about Chicago next season. If the Magic have a better record next season, this trade will look even worse for Chicago.

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[thelead]

I disagree about not talking about Chicago next season. If the Magic have a better record next season, this trade will look even worse for Chicago.

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Yeah... upon thinking it through more... we'll still be talking about them if they fall apart. That 2023 pick will be even more valuable if Zach bolts next summer after a tough year of missing the playoffs next year. We'll stop talking about them sometime in 2024

[I Rasharted]

Watch on YouTube

[The Real Dalic]

Clutch tank loss that was last night. If the Magic could finish out the season losing 12-13 of the last 15, we'd be in a great spot. Especially if we lose to Detroit in that game coming up soon.

I hope this is finally the year we get lucky and get the number 1 pick. Already tired of cheering for losses. Want the next season to be here as soon as possible.

[Xatticus]

If the Bulls pick does end up going to the Magic in this year's draft, I suspect you'll see almost no Vucevic chatter in 2022.

It's pretty much entirely tied to the Magic owning that draft pick and nothing more IMO.

99% of posts about Vučević have nothing to do with Chicago, just obsession of few posters with one player and desparate attemps to be "right",despite continuation of 4+ years of being wrong.

Except that the post you responded to that started this whole bitchfest was about Chicago and not Vucevic. I know it doesn't seem this way to you, but you are the one with the Vucevic fetish. One can't say anything around here that might be tangentially construed as relating to Vucevic without setting you off. If I really wanted to set you off I'd point out how I watched Elfrid Payton yesterday and it wasn't a Chinese Basketball Association game, but rather I was watching him start for a team that is fighting for home court in the first round of the playoffs.

I don't know what to tell you, dude. If you can't handle hearing about Chicago, then maybe this isn't the place for you? This forum is going to be closely eyeing what happens to the Bulls over the remainder of the season. You'd better be hoping and praying that the pick conveys this year, because if it doesn't, then we will be closely watching what happens with the Bulls for the full 82-game slate next year.

[drsd]

Interesting stat for the Bulls. However, Carter Jr. and Bamba only combined to shoot one FT so they did not impact that in a positive way at the foul line for the Magic last night. The team only shot 19 FT last night as well.

I see pepe went off on a tangent to protect Vuc by bringing up that the two allowed Wood and Olynyk to have big games. It is a good point. Their output offensively was wiped out by their opponents so that is a fair point. Like everything else on this team, there is a lot of work to do with that combination. That is obvious.

My concern is all the negative habits that are clearly being developed. Still: Orlando needs to not win games.


..

[Skybox]

The Bulls GM did a much worse job on the picks protections, than the Denver GM did on the 2025 pick. It's a much bigger chance to get a top 5 pick than a top 4, if you're one of the worst teams.

http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

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How about "WeHam did a great job on the Vuc trade"... I'd say the Bulls GM gave up what he had to to get the new best player on his team. Gordon and Fournier brought less back because they bring a lot less to their new team (especially factoring in contract status).

This is what Pepe is alluding to. People harping on Vuc is a lot more than ping pong related. Everyone cheering for Cole when he misses but crapping on Vuc for losing.

I was for keeping Vuc because of the expected uninspiring return (maybe WeHam too felt that way), but we got a great return to kickstart another rebuild, not too bad for AG, garbage for Evan. I have serious doubts about RJ and Harris has been considered a negative deal for a couple of years now (I'm very much rooting for both). WCJ may hit a ceiling soon (or not) but getting off of Aminu's deal while getting two lightly protected picks from a very volatile team is fantastic. Good job WeHam!

[RookieStar]

I think a Fultz Harris backcourt would be very interesting

A Fultz Cade one would even be better.

*ba-dum-tss*

Fultz, Harris, Cade, JI, WCJ
Cole, RJ,ross, Chuma,Mo
MCW,Bacon

We ll kick ass next season

Yeah.. I think im in the minority here but unless Chuma grows 2 inches, converts 15lbs into muscle and gains his athleticism back and then some .. we are gonna suck if he plays PF. I prefer him in the SF role.