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What’s coming next for the Magic in 2024?

4th in the Eastern Conference with a 19-13 record which has largely featured a starting lineup of Goga/Paolo/Franz/Suggs/Black. That’s a young starting 5 - who are winning. We’ve got one of the top performing benches when healthy.

Most of all, we seem to have a group of guys who have been happy to see their minutes slide from 12-28 on any given night, and for the most part they come ready to play.

From a front office perspective, the team is surely exceeding expectations right now. Does that have any impact on the timeline? I don’t think so.

We’re in a fortunate situation where the team can theoretically continue as they are - competitive but young and prone to young mistakes - because this is a bonus season now. Play-in might have been the benchmark, so anything beyond that is cream.

If we let this carry through to the playoffs, even though we’ll likely be outmatched in veteran experience and shooting, it will give us and Paolo/Franz a chance to see how far they can go alone. It will give us a clearer idea of what weaknesses we need to strengthen and how (time and development or acquisition?).

So that said, with the way this front office operates, I think we’re going to live or die by what we’re seeing on the court right now this season. These players will be given the chance to show what they’ve got, and then the big changes come after that (pending the right player becoming available).

What do you think? Is the chance to be really competitive this season too much for the FO to resist in the end, or do we stick with what we’ve got?

We are exactly where we were at start of 2016 with identical score of 19 - 13 featuring lineup of Payton/Oladipo/Harris/AG/Vučević, a young starting 5 who were winning.

I believe this time around we have two clear cornerstones, unlike foggy situation we had back then. Here's hoping our front office builds correctly around them, keeping all fitting pieces.

I wonder what questions they are looking to answer during this season of evaluation?

The ones I have:

1. Is Paolo a franchise player?
2. Is Franz a franchise player?
3. Is Franchero worth building around?
4. Are any of Suggs, Black, or Jett rising stars?
5. Is there a quality starter among Fultz, Goga, Harris, or WCJ?
6. Is there a quality role player among JI, Caleb, and Okeke?
7. Given Franchero, what are the best role players to surround them with?
8. Given Franchero, do we de-prioritize answers to other questions and aggressively pursue players that fit?

I'd imagine the answer to the first three questions is a clear yes. I also suspect they'll answer "no" to question 8 out of some sort of respect for the players and intent to maintain chemistry. The rest is up in the air

ORL, particularly Franz & Paolo, are ahead of schedule...that's a thing to celebrate, not pump the brakes.
It's crystal clear that the most challenging hurdle to their production would be a well-prepared defense packing the paint and daring them (and everyone else on the team) to shoot. This will happen night after night unless teammates have an exceptional shooting night. I don't want to bust up the team or trade "core" players for Donovan Mitchell or Lavine. I'm just talking about complementary players replacing decent players whose skillsets are not complementary. P & F will, refine their games - improve their outside shooting and defense especially. Hopefully, both will also really excel in creating offense for teammates by virtue of their offensive firepower drawing additional defenders.

It'd be a gutless move to pass on the Trade season and pray for in-house non-shooters to become shooters... Even if it's just an experimental rental or two in exchange for players that won't be here. Personally, I think it'd be a better investment to find a young guy that fits the bill and pay to get him now...Chemistry is key. There's something to be said for getting complementary players sooner and letting them grow together. If Black and Suggs become excellent shooters in time...that's a bonus. The more, the better...right now they are defensive specialists who, on rare occasions show flashes of offense. I don't think they're done yet, but that doesn't mean we should hold back our two young stars...every year under their rookie deals presents opportunities to fine tune the roster. It will get harder and riskier than to tweak things on the way up. I like the OP's characterization that this level of early success represents a "bonus season"...they're playing at a high high level one or two seasons before they should. The bonus is the bigger window of opportunity...don't waste it.

There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

Bensational wrote:What’s coming next for the Magic in 2024?

4th in the Eastern Conference with a 19-13 record which has largely featured a starting lineup of Goga/Paolo/Franz/Suggs/Black. That’s a young starting 5 - who are winning. We’ve got one of the top performing benches when healthy.

Most of all, we seem to have a group of guys who have been happy to see their minutes slide from 12-28 on any given night, and for the most part they come ready to play.

From a front office perspective, the team is surely exceeding expectations right now. Does that have any impact on the timeline? I don’t think so.

We’re in a fortunate situation where the team can theoretically continue as they are - competitive but young and prone to young mistakes - because this is a bonus season now. Play-in might have been the benchmark, so anything beyond that is cream.

If we let this carry through to the playoffs, even though we’ll likely be outmatched in veteran experience and shooting, it will give us and Paolo/Franz a chance to see how far they can go alone. It will give us a clearer idea of what weaknesses we need to strengthen and how (time and development or acquisition?).

So that said, with the way this front office operates, I think we’re going to live or die by what we’re seeing on the court right now this season. These players will be given the chance to show what they’ve got, and then the big changes come after that (pending the right player becoming available).

What do you think? Is the chance to be really competitive this season too much for the FO to resist in the end, or do we stick with what we’ve got?

The team exceeded expectations this season. That is great!

However… I believe that the clock is absolutely ticking after Paolo won rookie of the year and the league now knows he’s a serious max-level player.

Glass half full thoughts:

I think the FO absolutely nailed the Paolo, Franz, Suggs, and Black picks. That was a huge factor in determining whether this FO was serious or not after the “evaluation” years between when they took the job and trading Vucevic, Fournier, and Gordon.

The players they selected are all solidly core pieces to anyone that doesn’t have some kind of side agenda. Furthermore, they have a lot of expiring contracts and money coming off the books that they can afford these guys.

Glass half empty thoughts:

The highest paid players have little to no trade value. Therefore, the FO will have a harder uphill battle to climb trying to entice free agents to Orlando, with Paolo and Franz keep games interesting, while simultaneously attempting to prove to players around the league that the Magic are worth investing in over other franchises.

That’s kind of a tall order with every major asset being on a rookie deal and there being limited veteran leadership. As much as we all love Paolo he isn’t in the same conversation as guys like Doncic and Tatum.

Smash the glass against the wall:

Back to filling out a roster… I’m not sure where they go with limited assets, expiring deals, late draft picks, and lukewarm free agency. This team is kind of what it is for the foreseeable future and it hinges almost exclusively on the development of the core.

A team like OKC has a plethora of assets to spare and we really don’t. We can post trade ideas all day but even the likeliest scenarios don’t really add up. One of Goga, Moe, and Carter are likely on the chopping block, but what is their return? I’ll be surprised if this FO finds upside value out of the scraps. Internal development can only be your main focus for so many seasons before you have to start making roster decisions.

Orlando will make the playoffs this season. It will get people excited again, which is a good thing. These young guys need to see that their hard work pays off. However, the pessimist in me isn’t looking a few months down the road… I’m looking seasons down the road, assuming the development works out, and wondering where the marked improvement comes from on other fronts.

MasterGMer wrote:There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

Detroit is not trading Cade.

SOUL wrote:

MasterGMer wrote:There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

Detroit is not trading Cade.

From Clutchpoint Brett Siegel, he actually said Detroit could, not will

MasterGMer wrote:

SOUL wrote:

MasterGMer wrote:There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

Detroit is not trading Cade.

From Clutchpoint Brett Siegel, he actually said Detroit could, not will

They're not real reporters with sources though. It's a job anyone can "theorize" that a struggling team will trade a player and nobody will question it because it "makes sense". Myles Turner has been rumored the past 6 years until Hali came along lol.

Pistons fans would legit want their team to relocate if they traded the only player that showed any hope the past year or two. He's not perfect, but we also don't have any realistic chances of getting him because I could only see Detroit doing that if they panic wanted a disgruntled star.. not more young guys.

SOUL wrote:

MasterGMer wrote:

SOUL wrote:
Detroit is not trading Cade.

From Clutchpoint Brett Siegel, he actually said Detroit could, not will

They're not real reporters with sources though. It's a job anyone can "theorize" that a struggling team will trade a player and nobody will question it because it "makes sense". Myles Turner has been rumored the past 6 years until Hali came along lol.

Pistons fans would legit want their team to relocate if they traded the only player that showed any hope the past year or two. He's not perfect, but we also don't have any realistic chances of getting him because I could only see Detroit doing that if they panic wanted a disgruntled star.. not more young guys.

I heard Detroit wanted draft assets and good young players

MasterGMer wrote:I heard Detroit wanted draft assets and good young players

Yeah, that's why it's BS to me lol.. so they can continue to suck for 3 more years with guys with less upside than Cade?

Whatever Woj/Shams have been reporting is usually that they are targeting vets like Siakam, Tobias, etc to help expedite a rebuild they has taken way too long. I don't believe anything saying they want to trade their best player for more young guys.

MasterGMer wrote:

SOUL wrote:

MasterGMer wrote:There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

Detroit is not trading Cade.

From Clutchpoint Brett Siegel, he actually said Detroit could, not will

Detroit is moving everyone else before their only truly good player.

TBH, I am a Markelle fan. But I think one day Orlando Magic Front Office is going to make a decision whether it is Markelle or AB for our long term future.

With our depth and roster weakness, I can foresee a trade before the deadline for us. Whether it is to make the Playoff this year and go deep. Or it is built for the long term future. Everybody else is tooling up. I can see us doing that also

MasterGMer wrote:TBH, I am a Markelle fan. But I think one day Orlando Magic Front Office is going to make a decision whether it is Markelle or AB for our long term future.

With our depth and roster weakness, I can foresee a trade before the deadline for us. Whether it is to make the Playoff this year and go deep. Or it is built for the long term future. Everybody else is tooling up. I can see us doing that also

They made that decision when they drafted AB

Many players don't develop their games even if they were drafted young, like Kevin Knox.

The Magic can't afford to be too patient, Paolo and Franz don't have forever. We can't **** them up too like we did AG and Oladipo who went on to trash the franchise after leaving.

Be aggressive and address our basketball needs. Get a guy like Brogdon asap.

MasterGMer wrote:TBH, I am a Markelle fan. But I think one day Orlando Magic Front Office is going to make a decision whether it is Markelle or AB for our long term future.

With our depth and roster weakness, I can foresee a trade before the deadline for us. Whether it is to make the Playoff this year and go deep. Or it is built for the long term future. Everybody else is tooling up. I can see us doing that also

Markelle can't really be in the conversation when he can't play. It is January and he has been out since October.

eyriq wrote:The ones I have:

1. Is Paolo a franchise player?
2. Is Franz a franchise player?
3. Is Franchero worth building around?
4. Are any of Suggs, Black, or Jett rising stars?
5. Is there a quality starter among Fultz, Goga, Harris, or WCJ?
6. Is there a quality role player among JI, Caleb, and Okeke?
7. Given Franchero, what are the best role players to surround them with?
8. Given Franchero, do we de-prioritize answers to other questions and aggressively pursue players that fit?

1. yes
2. yes
3. yes
4. no to all 4
5. maybe, maybe, no, maybe
6. maybe (health), no, no
7. shooting and low-TO defensive players
8. 100% yes - time to go all-in

MasterGMer wrote:There are reports Magic might offer a trade for Detroit's Cade Cunningham. But nay, I am not a big fan of Cade. What kind of game does he have? Does it complement what Magic is trying to do, especially 3pt shooting?

If Cunningham is available for not-Franchero, the Magic would be willing to trade all other assets. Detroit would be given free-range to invent any trade.

Example: Black, Howard, three FRPs, Anthony and filler. Yes: sold. There is no trade Orlando would reject that excludes F-Wagner and Banchero. None.

And: I agree that there is a minus percent chance Detroit trades Cade Cunningham.

Folks, nobody significant is being traded for.

The FO is locked into their indulgent thought experiment where they try to see if they can get a team built exclusively through the draft to contend.

There's no sign that position is going to change. Fultz, Harris and Okeke will expire, we'll sign someone off FA to get us to the league minimum, Ingles will get his second year, JI will continue to earn salary while in the gym and onwards we sail in USS WeltPark (with autopilot firmly engaged).

The plan should start with recognizing that if Paolo sprains an ankle, we will be putting up 85 ppg in a league that routinely sees 110 each.