My Long time Magic Friends think we should and will TANK again this season

[thelead]

Eyes are set on this next draft class. If we can snag a top flight prospect in the 2023 draft we’ll be well positioned for the next 5+ years and provide crazy roster flexibility. For example, if we land Wembanyama and he is the star everyone hopes he is, we can then look into possibly packaging some of our prospects and future picks for a future disgruntled star (let’s say Booker just for the sake of an example). We could package something like WCJ, Cole, Fultz, Orl’s future 1st, Chi’s 1st, Den’s 1st for Booker and roll forward with:

Wembanyama
Paolo
Franz
Booker
Suggs

[Last Guardian]

Paolo was probably the most win now pick they could have made though. FO is probably banking on him being a rookie and the inexperience of the rest of the team (and lack of shooting) to get another top pick next season.

As for the definition of tanking earlier in this thread, Mosley absolutely tanked a few games and he didn’t even hide it well. The players however never tank, agreed

[Catledge]

For people who want to/believe we will tank, do you all want/believe coach Mo will deliberately coach to lose games like he did last year?

Do you all want/believe that the front office will stack the team with G-leaguers again and direct the coaching staff to play them like they did last year?

I ask because I think there is a significant distinction between, on the one hand, playing our five best young players in crunch time and, on the other hand, playing g-leaguers who have no place in our future.

[Skybox]

Paolo was probably the most win now pick they could have made though. FO is probably banking on him being a rookie and the inexperience of the rest of the team (and lack of shooting) to get another top pick next season.

As for the definition of tanking earlier in this thread, Mosley absolutely tanked a few games and he didn’t even hide it well. The players however never tank, agreed

I would agree about PB, but argue that PB is only a "win-now" prospect IF they bring in a couple of compementary role playing vets (floor spreaders).

Jabari was, IMO, the simple win-now choice for this team, but with the more limited team ceiling.

I really like that we (I think) have the guy that makes us consider team ceiling instead of individual. For a decade, we've had all of the supporting cast without the star. Now...well, we'll see. But, we may have to adjust the supporting cast to best support the star.

[ogmagicfan]

Paolo was probably the most win now pick they could have made though. FO is probably banking on him being a rookie and the inexperience of the rest of the team (and lack of shooting) to get another top pick next season.

As for the definition of tanking earlier in this thread, Mosley absolutely tanked a few games and he didn’t even hide it well. The players however never tank, agreed

I agree that Paolo was the least "win-now" candidate due to personel and fit. We probably have the worse 3 pt shooting team in the league, and the worse 3 pt shooting backcourt. There will be definite shakeups to our starting lineup specifically backcourt wise if there's not improvement made there 3 pt shooting wise.

I do believe the Magic liked Banchero the most, however picking him also signaled the committment to continue rebuilding for another season and being open minded to moves to young players that are currently part of our core.

[ogmagicfan]

Eyes are set on this next draft class. If we can snag a top flight prospect in the 2023 draft we’ll be well positioned for the next 5+ years and provide crazy roster flexibility. For example, if we land Wembanyama and he is the star everyone hopes he is, we can then look into possibly packaging some of our prospects and future picks for a future disgruntled star (let’s say Booker just for the sake of an example). We could package something like WCJ, Cole, Fultz, Orl’s future 1st, Chi’s 1st, Den’s 1st for Booker and roll forward with:

Wembanyama
Paolo
Franz
Booker
Suggs

We could even end up missing on Wendenyama and still get an elite prospect, and another 1st rounder from Chicago next year.

We really are set up as a team to be best positioned to trade for the next disgruntled star by far. No team in the league will have the combination of young player with potential, picks, and 1st rounders from other team to package for a star while being in the position to be legitimate contenders in 2023-2024 that could actually get a star to resign like us.

[ogmagicfan]

Exactly. And don't get me wrong, I don't blame anybody for feelings of impatience or wanting to see this team on a path to the playoffs/contention. But we can't skip steps. That's exactly what we did last time and why our team was stuck at a 4-5/10.

I'd much rather be a 1 or 2 out of 10 for a few years and then see if we can get it to 8-9 with the right moves, development, and talent acquisition.

Pretty much, we've had rebuilds jump started by getting elite players with the #1 pick multiple times (1992, 1993 & 2004) and I feel like that distorts fans visions of a rebuild.

We have the chance to add another Top 5 pick & Chicago pick in a deep draft, and be able to make a trade for a star/sign one by next offseason and add them to a team with Paolo, Franz, Carter, Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, etc. We could make a legitimate jump into 50+ win territory by 2023-2024 season

I'm willing to be patient for one more season to give us multiple years of contending rather than capping out as a 4th-6th seed at our peak

Isn't that the definition of a jump start? Winning 50 games in the 23 season while tanking the 22 season?

Frankly, if we do go to a 50 ( or near enough ) win season, then that means the 22 season we have to be at least in the 30+ win range.

I meant "jumpstarted" as in beginning a rebuild by getting a transcendent HOF big man twice (Shaq & Dwight) and a hybrid btwn MJ & MJ (Penny)

[OrlDave]

The Magic are going to try hard all year. If we don't have injuries, our young guys improve and Paolo starts out as the player we all hope, then we will be in contention for a play-in. If the injury bug strikes or if Paolo struggles to start his career then we will tank naturally. The big thing here is we aren't going to bring in any "star" free agents, we will let these guys stand or fall and see where the chips land. We will also try to clear space for NEXT off-season to bring someone in regardless of how we end up. That's my guess anyway.