Orlando or Detroit?

[RoyceDa59]

There’s no doubt the Magic and Pistons are the two best up and coming playoff teams in the East. But that said, which team will finish higher in the standings next season?

Suggs
Bane
Banchero
Wagner
Carter Jr

Cunningham
Ivey
Thompson
Harris
Duran

As it stands right now, which team is better going into next season?

[Wallace_Wallace]

Detroit can’t afford to pay all of the young guys once their rookie contracts are finished. They are bound to let go of at least one (along with Harris for salary matching), to see if they could nab a veteran who can be a second option to Cade.

Of course I’m biased to say Detroit, so this is a bad question for me

[Raps in 4]

I think Orlando is more talented and further along in their development.

[Wingy]

Detroit was a great story, and Cade is fulfilling his potential, but I could have seen them backsliding next year if it weren’t for how dreadful the East is outside its few top teams.

They don’t really have a #2. Ausar’s 3pt shooting is dreadful, as is Holland’s. Beasley just had back to back 41% 3p shooting seasons on high volume, and those are the 2nd and 3rd highest %s of his career. Even a bad season from Beas is still a decent 3 point shooter, but his shooting lights out really helped them. I assume they’ll resign him as he’s reportedly happy there.

Ivey coming back could be a big boost, though they were two below .500 with him, and 8 above .500 without him, so who knows.

So I guess they are one of the top up and coming East playoff teams, but a lot of that is the field being poop on a stick.

[SkyBill40]

Why is there no poll attached, OP?

[vege]

Orlando had a lot more injuries than Detroit last season and they finished only 3 wins behind Detroit. They were alread the superior team without Bane and he is an excellent player, so it's not even close right now.

Once we know what Detroit have in Ausar and Ivey, we can have this conversation again, but right now, we have no one comparable to Franz in Detroit. Orlando have their #1 and #2 options in place, Detroit have the superior #1 in place but they're still trying to figure out the rest. Orlando is 1 year ahead of Detroit.

FWIW that starting lineup listed for Detroit played a total of 3 minutes together.

[tsherkin]

Hmmm.

Detroit was a 44-win team, 16th on O, 11th on D. Badly lacking a high-end scorer and probably in need of a little more shooting if they want to take that next step. They project in a fairly similar way next year, I'd think.

Orlando was a .500 team, 2nd best D in the league but 27th on O. They've added Bane, who knows how to work in austere offensive environments: the 2024 Grizzlies were the worst offense in the league, and he managed about 24 ppg on 58.9% TS (over 38% on almost 9 3PA/g) for the half season he played, and without Morant.

Obviously Orlando is banking on Wagner playing more than 60 games and Banchero playing more than 46, and Bane will help with Orlando having been dead-last in 3P% in 2025 and the 2nd-worst team in the league for eFG% (they were also 22nd in 2P%).

So they project to improve with just heath, and Bane inbound. If, on top of that, we see any improvement in shotmaking from Banchero and if Wagner rediscovers competent 3pt shooting, their ceiling is higher, especially with Suggs returning.

So I'd have to take Orlando.

[Chuck Everett]

Right now Orlando, but a lot can change over the course of an 82 game season. I like the Pistons group and they have room for improvement. The biggest things are Ausar's shooting, Duren's consistency as an offensive big and Cade's turnovers. In the case of Cade, that's keeping him from being able to be a first team All-NBA player. These playoffs, even these Finals show me that Cade can compete on the highest level.

[tmorgan]

Smart money for next year, as of today’s rosters, is Orlando.

[GiggitySmalls]

Orlando the core 4 if healthy is more talented then what Detroit has to offer outside of Cade.

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[bstein14]

Detroit does have potentially $17 million in cap space as well. I'd wait to see how they operate over the next 3 to 4 weeks before giving a final answer, but right now its clearly Orlando.

That said, Detroit was missing Stewart and Ivey in these playoffs and they played super close to the Knicks lots of games decided by 3 points or less. They are close, but Orlando's addition of Bane gives them the edge for sure.

I do think Cade is likely the better #1 guy compared to anyone Orlando has but Orlando clearly has the better #2 and #3.

[The Servant]

Healthy Orlando is a bit further ahead in their time line and have a bit more offensive talent and balance in terms of roster. I think it's close. I think Detroit finishes 3 games back.

[basketballRob]

Detroit does have potentially $17 million in cap space as well. I'd wait to see how they operate over the next 3 to 4 weeks before giving a final answer, but right now its clearly Orlando.

That said, Detroit was missing Stewart and Ivey in these playoffs and they played super close to the Knicks lots of games decided by 3 points or less. They are close, but Orlando's addition of Bane gives them the edge for sure.

I do think Cade is likely the better #1 guy compared to anyone Orlando has but Orlando clearly has the better #2 and #3.

I think a big reason the Pistons got better was because of the vets, THJ, Schroeder, and Beasley. If the Pistons don't sign them and use the $17m on a different player, I think the Magic should call Beasley and Schroeder.





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[Rainwater]

Orlando

[Onlytimewilltel]

There’s no doubt the Magic and Pistons are the two best up and coming playoff teams in the East. But that said, which team will finish higher in the standings next season?

Suggs
Bane
Banchero
Wagner
Carter Jr

Cunningham
Ivey
Thompson
Harris
Duran

As it stands right now, which team is better going into next season?

Poll poll

These type of threads need a poll man

[RookieStar]

You know.. as has been shown the lqst couple seasons, availability is one heck of a skill as well.

Thus, i think its better to include the core guys in the bench that will play/replace when the inevitable happens.

[Mr Peanut]

I give Orlando the edge right now post-Bane trade. But this is probably a better question to ask in October when rosters are pretty much set for the new season. There's a reasonable chance that Detroit could run it back (re-signing Beasley and Schroder to go along with their young core of Cade/Duren/Ivey/Ausar/Stewart/Holland) but it's not out of the question that they make a significant trade for a positional upgrade which might change the equation here.

Looking forward to next season already.

[Frankie]

If the Magic can stay healthy, then it's them I think.

They're just further ahead in their development and they've just added one of the most reliable shooters in the league.

[MrBigShot]

The magic will likely win 50+ games next year. They paid a huge price for Bane but he is a very, very good player. They will almost certainly be healthier next year than they were this year. Also, they magic now have the best jereys in the nba by far.

We won some games by virtue of the fact that our team plays their ass off every night but nothing comes easy in the NBA, and we are going to have to work for another winning season. Long term I like where we are, still own all our own 1sts after this year and having Ivey back will be good to see.

[basketballRob]

I would love to get Beasley on the Magic. The Magic would need to pull the team option from Moe to be able to get the full MLE.

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