POST All-Star break...what's next?

[Skybox]

ORL has the worst record in the NBA at 13-47 and is 6 games (!) behind OKC for the 4th worst record...so, I feel pretty comfortable that we are solidly in the Bottom 3 and in good lottery shape (to the extent that can be counted on).

ORL has 22 more games and I just read that we have the 3rd most difficult schedule remaining. 11 of those games are against playoff teams and, honestly, we don't deserve to be favored to win any of them.

What do you want to see as our priority?

I'll go...
-IF Fultz is healthy, it's time to see if he can be a part of this team going forward. Same for Isaac. I don't believe we're holding them out for tanking reasons (and don't need to fill another thread debating THAT) but, whether we are or not, time is up-we're terrible and, at their best, they don't lift us anywhere while shaking off the rust. Both of these guys should be significant for this team's near future or DONE in ORL ASAP. We've got some promising young guys, we can't continue with such an unclear vision.

-Get RJ Hampton significant minutes at SG. We need to determine if he's got a role here or if we can at least up his trade value. I know he's been hurt, but he's not even mentioned in articles about our young core anymore...this season could have been a breakout for him, but was completely negligible.

-I'm assuming TRoss is mentally checked out and may even sit but I'd like to see him play well and often and get his name back on people's wish-lists for the summer. The way he's played, he's no longer anything but an expiring deal this summer. Sad waste of what should have been an asset. Harris is another guy who we should be communicating with (I imagine it's already happening) about what he wants. If he's not coming back, minimize his role for guys like RJ.

-Coach and play to win games and compete hard while losing. We've mostly done that with some obvious blowout exceptions. We are far enough into the season to expect to see some progress that we can build on and take into the offseason. Franz, in particular, needs to be restored to his major role as, I think we all agree, he will be a critical part of our core going forward.

-Bamba is what he is. IF he miraculously wakes up and fights for PT and relevance - great. Otherwise, don't baby him any more. He'll be a RFA this summer and we DON'T need to boost his value artificially. If reasonable offers come in - we match and/or sign & trade. If only Isaac could get on the court, we'd have a better idea of how he and WCJ can be together. I still have my doubts about WCJ at Center, but he and Isaac complement each other (like Bamba/WCJ but far more upside on both ends).

-Really really try to get Cole to play more of a team game. The talent is there. The spirit is there. He's still very young but right now, he's not a guy who contributes to a good team playing well. He's a perfect "empty stats in a loss" player. He can definitely get better and he's still very young but some people don't. If we don't have reason to believe there's room for that kind of growth, cut bait and trade him while someone else thinks they can get him too before he becomes defined as a knucklehead league-wide and has no trade value (see Mo Bamba).

Be decisive and sell high. We have lots of upside guys-make sure we do our best to choose the right ones and move on quickly even if we make an occasional misstep. Could be addition by subtraction if the runway is cleared for Suggs and he becomes the clear team leader...We saw how a lack of player hierarchy can doom a rebuild a few years back.

[tiderulz]

your items are a little counterproductive. RJ isnt very good. We cant play him a lot of minutes while trying to play to win games.

i do agree to make some hard choices and sell high rather than just keep guys around that lose value and then you dump or let go for nothing

[MartinsIzAfraud]

https://hoopshype.com/rumor/robin-lopez-an-option-for-warriors/

take it for what it's worth but definitely seems like Harris is interested in staying long term or at least re signing come off season.

[Def Swami]

It sucks, but I just want to see us lose as many games as possible to secure the worst record in the NBA. I've seen enough from our players this season to know what we have. I don't have any interest in seeing Fultz or Isaac return in a meaningless season. I would like to see Suggs shoot the ball better, but that's going to require an off-season of reps and practice.

If I understand the new lottery rules correctly, there is an incentive to having the worst record; the floor in the lottery for the #1 worst team is the 5th pick, 6th pick for #2, and 7th pick for #3. I'd really like to secure the worst record to give us a cushion for the annual, inevitable drop.

At this point, I'm fully invested in the draft and lottery.

[Skybox]

Someone who's generally ready to pounce is conspicuously absent from here...just once I'd like to hear what he thinks we SHOULD do instead of just dissecting every move we shouldn't have done for a change.HINT: We can't just cut everyone because none of them are any good or draft noone because they all have flaws or not try to develop anyone because that would be "babying them" or trading for anyone but Luka because no-one else in the NBA is any good either.

[Ducklett]

More losing.

[OrlChamps2030]

How do you get significant minutes for Fultz and Hampton while seeking improvement from Anthony? All while attempting to develop Suggs. Man this team’s roster construction is a mess

To answer the thread: Lose as much as possible. Getting a peak at what Fultz and Suggs look like playing together would be nice too

[I Rasharted]

More losing.

[rcklsscognition]

I'm just hoping no one gets injured.

[thelead]

Let's just pretend the red car is Detroit and Houston:

[zaymon]

Priority is still the same... development. Its not winning, its not even playing all the young guys big minutes.
Watching Harris play could be more beneficial for Hampton than running in circles on the floor.
Last few games it would be good to see Isaac. Not for winning but for building confidence in his own body.
I would like to see more big lineups going forward. Best defenses have a lot of switching. We should start building in that direction. I hope Weltman will shorten our guards rotation. There is a lot of sunken cost there.

[FFBlitzace]

A whole lot of sitting around and waiting for news on Fultz or Isaac. You know, the usual.

[drsd]

Let's just pretend the red car is Detroit and Houston:

Win. JUST WIN

[drsd]

Mathematically Orlando can still make the play-ins. Until that is impossible, winning must be the goal. Winning is the only point of sport.
"Player development" is fine if developing players is about winning.

Seriously: I would like to see the Magic aim for 21 wins. It is a realistic target and shows that the development is about finding team cohesion.

For "What's Next": for me the answer is setting up the closing run to assist management in their key choices for assembling next year's roster. That starts with getting Suggs and Fultz on the court together, a lot. And if possible, getting F-Wagner and Isaac on the court together, a lot. Looking at those two pairs is more important than counting lotto balls.


..

[Skybox]

How do you get significant minutes for Fultz and Hampton while seeking improvement from Anthony? All while attempting to develop Suggs. Man this team’s roster construction is a mess

Yes. this is a big problem...The only thing we'll have to show for this season is a draft pick. I don't feel any more certain (good or bad) about a handful of guys and their possible roles going forward than I did prior to the season. Hampton, Chuma, Fultz, Isaac, Cole are still big question marks for me as it relates to their future with the Magic, their ability to coexist with Suggs and Wagner (only sure things, IMO) or even possible trade value. I know when you're the worst team, its BPA but it's hard to even nail down what would be our dream acquisition/draftee. So, my wish for the rest of the season is to, at least, sort our Guards out somehow. I don't want to stifle Cole, just take the primary dominant ball handling role out of his hands, encourage him to be a cutter and scorer next to another lead decision-maker. Just calling him the backup PG would be slapping a ceiling on him too soon-not saying that's not inevitable, but we should see if he can mature to a more efficient player.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Honestly, I want Suggs to relax, since these games aren’t worth much. I just want him to work on his game and take open 3s. I want to see Franz become more aggressive. I want to see Fultz and Isaac back working on their conditioning with limited minutes. I want to see WCJ work on his offensive rebounding and boxing out. I want Bamba and Cole to enjoy their last days here. I want one more great scoring game from Ross. And I want them to have a great off season. That’s it.

[Flannerz]

I think we need to get Fultz and Isaac on the court. Give them minutes restrictions but surely they need to get some game time for their development?

[MartinsIzAfraud]

Have to really figure out which 2 of Fultz Suggs Cole can play together and the other goes to the bench. Would be shocked if RJ comes back this year, we know how our FO is with Knee injuries and needing 36 months to begin on court work

[MasterGMer]

I really want to see Fultz on the floor together with Suggs. A pure PG and a combo guard. But we still need to find minutes for Cole and RJ.

[AaronB]

22-0 to close out the season baby!