How can this team turn from a Playoff team to Championship Contention?

[MasterGMer]

September is here and training camp is exactly a month away.

Everybody has high expectations for this team and we are most likely a Top 5 or 6 seed in the Eastern Conference after this regular season. And also for sure, everybody knows we are not a Championship contender yet in the Eastern Conference.

Everybody hoped our Front Office could sign some big Free Agents this past offseason, whether it was Paul George or even Klay Thompson. However, I still give an A- for our offseason acquisitions and I have high expectation for our Rookie Tristan Da Silva plus he will for sure be a rotational player

We resigned Franz to a Max and I am very happy for that.

However, the question I want to ask is what the pathway for this franchise is to become a contender and what is the upside of this team? How this season shapes out, in my opinion, will determine how far this Championship rebuild will go.

Will Franz become an All Star level player this year? What about Jalen Suggs improvement on the offensive side to lead the PG position?

Who is the Alpha Dog that leads this team?

Logically, as a fan for so many years, the question I want to finish is what the next step and the next is? Our salary cap won't be able to allow us to acquire high caliber players anymore. And Jalen Suggs Rookie Extension is coming up. That will for sure eat a lot of our salary cap space

I am not a Front Office material, but I am a fan. Maybe, I just wanna know

[drsd]

I asked chatGPT to predict the season as an image, and this came back.


GO MAGIC!

[zaymon]

The path is to develop young talent, gain respect around the league, avoid bad contracts and use assets when we are really ready to win.
Next season is important but sometimes even good teams have seasons below expectation and then the bounce back. We are still extremely young, and young talent is rarely consistent.
Paolo is our most marketable player, but Franz is still our best two way player. Alpha is propably Suggs, becouse he is the most vocal and charismatic.
Next step is using assets, but we can still be year or two away from that.
Also Jalen situation shows we are building around Franz and Paolo and even Suggs needs to get in line.

[Rainwater]

The success of the team will be dependent on the development of Paolo, Franz, and Suggs. These are the guys the Magic have and will invest in the most. In the case of Suggs, I think his development is probably the most important. Not saying Franz and Paolo are not the best players but it absolutely necessary Suggs develops as a guard in terms of shot creation and a passer, things the Magic desperately need, for the Magic to go far. I may put Black in the same boat as well.

[p0peye]

If anything, this season shall prove if Suggs or Black can run a point, there's absolutely no safety net now. For the rest of the squad, we hope to see improvements, i.e. Paolo to become more efficient and Franz to learn how to shoot, but I don't think this is make-it-or-break-it season that determines if it is happening or not.

[eyriq]

I think last season already told us a lot about the upside of this team. This season could reinforce what we've learned, but we've learned that the team has a super high ceiling.

[T-Cat]

With all the talent our team posseses especially defensively, we don't have a elite two way player yet!

We're not must see TV for some odd ball reasons!

[VFX]

The success of the team will be dependent on the development of Paolo, Franz, and Suggs. These are the guys the Magic have and will invest in the most. In the case of Suggs, I think his development is probably the most important. Not saying Franz and Paolo are not the best players but it absolutely necessary Suggs develops as a guard in terms of shot creation and a passer, things the Magic desperately need, for the Magic to go far. I may put Black in the same boat as well.

If anything, this season shall prove if Suggs or Black can run a point, there's absolutely no safety net now. For the rest of the squad, we hope to see improvements, i.e. Paolo to become more efficient and Franz to learn how to shoot, but I don't think this is make-it-or-break-it season that determines if it is happening or not.

I somewhat disagree with these statements because Mosely will run the offense the same exact way he ran it with Gary and Suggs last season. In other words, Franz and Paolo attempting to orchestrate offense without a traditional point guard.

Could either Suggs or Black develop into those guys? Sure. But I think people are placing a lot of emphasis on something that we saw Mosely go away from entirely in the last 20-30 games of the season. I'd sooner believe it if the FO went out and acquired someone with a history of running an offense.

I just dont see Mosely saying "Hey yeah Suggs I want you to control the ball for the majority of possessions instead of Franz or Paolo because we have KCP instead of Gary Harris in the lineup now." Nothing really changed for any of us to believe otherwise.

The upside of this team hinges on making Paolo and Franz more efficient from the floor. By that I mean taking better shots, getting better looks at the basket, keeping the ball moving on offense, stretching the floor reliably, etc. IF these are Orlando's two MAX players, THEN they should be tasked with scoring the basketball. How Mosely sets them up for that to happen is the question. The offense didnt look good at times last season. If the FO wants to lean on Paolo/Franz like that, then Mosely has to figure it out instead of resting the team's overachievement last season solely on defense.

Suggs is one of the top elite defensive players in the league. He needs to keep his energy on that side of the ball at all times for this team to keep its identity as an elite defense. We will all be happy if he develops into an above average distributor. It's just unlikely to happen though.

[MasterGMer]

I just want to know who is more important to this team: Franz or Suggs? Anyone wanna share what you think?

[eyriq]

I just want to know who is more important to this team: Franz or Suggs? Anyone wanna share what you think?

Easy answer: Franz
Weltman's answer: Franz
Hard answer after deep analysis: Franz

[MasterGMer]

I just want to know who is more important to this team: Franz or Suggs? Anyone wanna share what you think?

Easy answer: Franz
Weltman's answer: Franz
Hard answer after deep analysis: Franz

I agree.

But I just have this sense that Jalen Suggs' defense and his lead role on that side really impacted winning last season

I agree, Franz is still young and have All Star potential. But I think we can not overlook that on Jalen also.

I think Jalen is going to have an amazing season for us. His growth will be one of the difference maker this season than last

[MasterGMer]

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[VFX]

I just want to know who is more important to this team: Franz or Suggs? Anyone wanna share what you think?

Easy answer: Franz
Weltman's answer: Franz
Hard answer after deep analysis: Franz

I agree.

But I just have this sense that Jalen Suggs' defense and his lead role on that side really impacted winning last season

I agree, Franz is still young and have All Star potential. But I think we can not overlook that on Jalen also.

I think Jalen is going to have an amazing season for us. His growth will be one of the difference maker this season than last

The answer is Franz but not for the reasons listed.

You simply cannot be a max 1B option (Paolo 1A) on offense without developing further than where Franz is currently. Franz defense is underrated and he’s basically the 2A next to KCP with where Orlando ranks with defense.

Jalen Suggs is #1 on defense and the entire reason this team was top 3-5 last season and winning those games. He needs to have more impact on offense and retain those great shooting numbers.

So yes, Franz is more important because he’s a max level two way player. Jalen Suggs keeps Orlando in the top rankings in defense but is still only a 3-4 option on offense.

[The-Stallion70]

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Christ on a cracker SGA lol

Franz right in the middle of this elite group. Another reason why this contract was deserved.

[The-Stallion70]

No I don't think this season alone determines the ceiling of the team, or at least the core. History has shown many times over that players continue to add to their games over time and teams also adjust.

[eyriq]

If we break 52 wins I'll be very very pleased

[thelead]

If we break 52 wins I'll be very very pleased

50 wins or more would be a great year... so many questions though:

Can Paolo up his efficiency?
Can Franz remember how to shoot 3's?
Can Suggs improve his offense a bit more?
How much does KCP bring over Harris/AB? (should be a good amount)
Can JI ramp up his minutes AND games played?
Can AB/Jett contribute?
Can Mo replicate his offensive efficiency without Ingles?
Can the team stay relatively healthy?

[MasterGMer]

In my opinion, a Championship team building process not only requires great draft and player development, but it also requires some sort of Gamble.

Is it time yet to put chips all in before the trade deadline? I know accelerating the process of team building may ruin the whole thing. Rob Hennigan era is a key example. But will there be a time this season or next for us to acquire that key player to turn us from Playoff contention to Championship Contention?

Boston is a true example. They got Porzigingis and Jure Holiday before the start of their last season and see the result. They might be the fav to repeat again this year.

And the question is who is that player? Are we still on track for internal or organic growth from our young players, like Franz, Paolo and AB?

So back to my question, what is the next step and next to change us from playoff team to championship team?

[rcklsscognition]

Why can we not win this year? I’m getting old. Went to the first Magic game ever in franchise history. I don’t want to die without a championship

[jezzerinho]

In my opinion, a Championship team building process not only requires great draft and player development, but it also requires some sort of Gamble.

Is it time yet to put chips all in before the trade deadline? I know accelerating the process of team building may ruin the whole thing. Rob Hennigan era is a key example. But will there be a time this season or next for us to acquire that key player to turn us from Playoff contention to Championship Contention?

Boston is a true example. They got Porzigingis and Jure Holiday before the start of their last season and see the result. They might be the fav to repeat again this year.

And the question is who is that player? Are we still on track for internal or organic growth from our young players, like Franz, Paolo and AB?

So back to my question, what is the next step and next to change us from playoff team to championship team?

Boston found their core guys in Brown and Tatum and virtually everyone else was traded in ir picked up in FA. They've cycled through a good few players that they felt didn't quite fit
(Smart, R Williams, Schroeder, Richardson, Dunn, Brogdon, Theis, G Williams and others...)

till they hit on this rotation. They traded for Jrue, White, Porzingis, Horford and others.

TLDR, their strategy is much more active than our "NO SKIPPING STEPS" (TM) 25-year plan.

So, to my view anyway, if we want to contend sooner, we should be in the market looking to find the pieces that fit and, if it turns out they don't, find other pieces. I know we don't have Boston's pulling power, but Franz/Paolo has pulling power.

I'll stick to my belief that, if we'd signed FVV we'd have been 2nd seed last year and prob playing in the ECF. We wouldn't even have had to consolidate to get him. If he hadn't worked out we could have moved him just like Boston do.