Should Magic turn to 2023 NBA Draft to fix our guard play?

[MasterGMer]

Today's Jazz game was a very winnable game for the Magic. We almost came back at the last minutes. Even with a hot shooting night for the Magic, we still couldn't pull it off.

But one thing that sticks out to me, it is our guard play especially at PG spot.

Fultz was having a bad night. The stretch that he missed shots and inefficient play really sparked the run Jazz had.

Cole was having a tough night also. He only made 1 three point shot and not being aggressive.

Look at this roster we have with Paolo, Franz, Wendell and Suggs. We really need outside shooting (3 point shooting), is Fultz really a good fit with this lineup lacking a three point shot?

With this reasoning, should Fultz become more of a sixth man of the team, leading the bench?

With Fultz playmaking, I really could see him doing well handling our 2nd unit. But the point is we need a lead guard or a dominate scorer.

So I ask this question: Who could be a better sixth man of the team, Fultz or Cole?

Should Magic still consider the Scoot Henderson possibility for the rest of the season? Or we should ship out some of our young core to get a lead guard?

Magic could very well be at a cross roads now. On one hand, we could loss more games and land us a top pick for 2023. On the other hand, we are only 3 games back at last play in spot.

We should "Level Up". But possibility of landing us Scoot Henderson or a PG/SG combo could really spark our roster for the next couple seasons since we are only year 3 in our rebuild.

Our schedule is only going to get tougher down the road. Would you consider this season a success as of now seeing us having two future stars in Paolo and Franz?

[eyriq]

We've got one of the worst backcourts in the league. No where to go but up from here!

[fateis007]

I would put everything on the table, except Franz, Paolo, WCJ, including our 2 draft picks to get a young-ish and proven guard that can run an offense and score at all 3 levels.

[p0peye]

In my mind, offence is more important ability for 6th man and between Fultz and Cole that would mean latter is more suited for the role. However, inconsistency in Cole's play (similarly to Ross) makes him average in this role and not someone who can excel at it.

We need a starting backcourt before we can climb up standings, but with potential of two lottery picks in guard-heavy draft I am willing to wait and see what we end up with before making trades.

[drsd]

We've got one of the worst backcourts in the league. No where to go but up from here!

Orlando has one of the worst SG depth charts. The three PGs are all functional.

..

[Skybox]

I would put everything on the table, except Franz, Paolo, WCJ, including our 2 draft picks to get a young-ish and proven guard that can run an offense and score at all 3 levels.

Who is that?

I was liking Poole before he signed that fat extension. I don’t really have a clear #1 right now

[jezzerinho]

"Cheap" options, raw as PnR initiators, but who can score and don't turn it over.
Immanuel Quickley
Isaiah Joe
Bones Hyland (defence may be unacceptably bad)

Mid price, experienced 3&D type PGs who execute basic offence:
Jevon Carter
Derrick White

Higher ticket guys who solve the problem fully for at least 2 seasons:

FVV
Conley
CJ McCollum

[zaymon]

Our point guard rotation is atrocious. Ideally i would trade both Fultz and Anthony, while Suggs becomes backup until he gets comfortable. Carrier backup like Clarkson was toying with them all night.
Our wing rotation is a lot better. Gary Harris is very good when healthy and easly starter quality. Kevon Harris and Admiral Schofield are suprisingly becoming quality backups. Houstan is very promising.
Our problem is point guard, not shooting guard/ wing.
I would not go all in at the deadline, but we could use some help. I am not a big fan of this draft at the top.

[drsd]

Our point guard rotation is atrocious. Ideally i would trade both Fultz and Anthony, while Suggs becomes backup until he gets comfortable. Carrier backup like Clarkson was toying with them all night.
Our wing rotation is a lot better. Gary Harris is very good when healthy and easly starter quality. Kevon Harris and Admiral Schofield are suprisingly becoming quality backups. Houstan is very promising.
Our problem is point guard, not shooting guard/ wing.
I would not go all in at the deadline, but we could use some help. I am not a big fan of this draft at the top.

For me, Orlando's greatest problem is a lack of high-percentage distance shooting from both guard slots.

..

[Magic_Kingdom]

We've got one of the worst backcourts in the league. No where to go but up from here!

Orlando has one of the worst SG depth charts. The three PGs are all functional.

..

Agreed, I think SG is the greater need and would mask some of Fultz’s weaknesses. At least Fultz contributes things on the court. G. Harris and Ross are non-entities right now. And 2-guard would be easier to fill.

[Husky1]

Id offer up the Denver pick for Conley. Even if he is only here for a couple years he could do this teams development wonders. Id only off Cole, Bamba , Ross package, Denver pick for FVV. If they say no then they run the risk of losing him for nothing. Quickley is interesting but we need a steady head at PG for now. If Bulls/wizards blow it up we could get Dragic or monte morris for a second rounder? Id actually also go after the Jones brothers, they play like vets. If we are done with Cole how bout taking a swing on Kira Lewis?
The trade I think is most likely to happen, and the one I do not want at all is a Dlo trade for a pick, Cole/Bamba/ross/Harris package of sorts?
Also for shooting Patty Mills, Cam Thomas are out of Nets rotation. They have no need for them?
The Bamba trade I really want is to Philly for Jaden Springer and salary. I reckon he will be good.

[zaymon]

We've got one of the worst backcourts in the league. No where to go but up from here!

Orlando has one of the worst SG depth charts. The three PGs are all functional.

..

Agreed, I think SG is the greater need and would mask some of Fultz’s weaknesses. At least Fultz contributes things on the court. G. Harris and Ross are non-entities right now. And 2-guard would be easier to fill.

So wrong. Harris shoots 39% from 3 while guarding opposing biggest threat while Fultz is a non shooter and below average pick and roll ball handler ( worse than Wagner, Banchero, Anthony, even Suggs). Outside his hustle, Fultz is glaring negative on the floor and he is a huge liability in half court offense.
Regarding other sgs, Ross shoots 37,5% from 3 and provides some offensive spark on some nights, but his defense is dreadful. He should be replaced with Houstan who shoots 36,5% from 3 and is at least competent on D.
Franz plays some m8nutes at the 2.
Our SG rotation is not great, but its not that bad. Our PG rotation tough...

[eyriq]

The Orl and Chi picks are huge lottery tickets. Reasonable to expect that one of them gets cashed in for an allstar guard or wing, which is still insane to think about given we have Franz and Paolo already.

Suggs is a sophomore and hanging around the top ten in his class. Worst case he's an impact rotation player, still has high quality starter potential as a reasonable expectation.

Cole is another rookie scale contract hanging around the top ten of his class. Very likely a rotation player and losing value by the game.

Fultz is more seasoned but still only 24. Looks like a quality starter that can manage the floor, play elite defense, and can be relied on as a tempo scorer.

Gary Harris was a stud in Denver in 2018. At 23 he looked like a potential star. He's consistently gotten worse every season since. At 28 he's a role player. Really odd.

Ross is similar to Gary, just older and worse overall.

Which is all to say we've got one starter and one possible starter out of the bunch, but with two lottery tickets to punch we can win the jackpot and get a star for the backcourt. We've also got trades and free agency to address it.

Interesting times but there is, at least, a lot of clarity.

[Bergmaniac]

Our point guard rotation is atrocious. Ideally i would trade both Fultz and Anthony, while Suggs becomes backup until he gets comfortable. Carrier backup like Clarkson was toying with them all night.
Our wing rotation is a lot better. Gary Harris is very good when healthy and easly starter quality. Kevon Harris and Admiral Schofield are suprisingly becoming quality backups. Houstan is very promising.
Our problem is point guard, not shooting guard/ wing.
I would not go all in at the deadline, but we could use some help. I am not a big fan of this draft at the top.

For me, Orlando's greatest problem is a lack of high-percentage distance shooting from both guard slots.

..

Why do you keep saying this?

Garry Harris is shooting 39.2% from 3.
Ross is shooting 37.6% from 3.
Kevon Harris is shooting 39.3% from 3.

These are all very good numbers

The lack of high-percentage shooting from the guards is exclusively due to our PGs, who have been utterly dreadful at it this season. Even Cole had forgotten how to shoot. We have 3 PGs in our rotation and the best shooter out of them is shooting 31% from 3.

[tiderulz]

Our point guard rotation is atrocious. Ideally i would trade both Fultz and Anthony, while Suggs becomes backup until he gets comfortable. Carrier backup like Clarkson was toying with them all night.
Our wing rotation is a lot better. Gary Harris is very good when healthy and easly starter quality. Kevon Harris and Admiral Schofield are suprisingly becoming quality backups. Houstan is very promising.
Our problem is point guard, not shooting guard/ wing.
I would not go all in at the deadline, but we could use some help. I am not a big fan of this draft at the top.

when is that? lets face it, HArris is gone after this season, so we should be looking for a SG as well as a PG

[tiderulz]

Fultz is more seasoned but still only 24. Looks like a quality starter that can manage the floor, play elite defense, and can be relied on as a tempo scorer.

we'll disagree on this. Fultz to me is barely an avg starting PG. more likely a backup PG that can spot start as needed.

[tooler]

Our point guard rotation is atrocious. Ideally i would trade both Fultz and Anthony, while Suggs becomes backup until he gets comfortable. Carrier backup like Clarkson was toying with them all night.
Our wing rotation is a lot better. Gary Harris is very good when healthy and easly starter quality. Kevon Harris and Admiral Schofield are suprisingly becoming quality backups. Houstan is very promising.
Our problem is point guard, not shooting guard/ wing.
I would not go all in at the deadline, but we could use some help. I am not a big fan of this draft at the top.

For me, Orlando's greatest problem is a lack of high-percentage distance shooting from both guard slots.

..

Why do you keep saying this?

Garry Harris is shooting 39.2% from 3.
Ross is shooting 37.6% from 3.
Kevon Harris is shooting 39.3% from 3.

These are all very good numbers

Hmm, maybe we need to rephrase. We lack a volume shooting guard and consistent threat. It doesn't help to shoot 39% if you take three 3s per game. Terrence Ross takes the most 3s per game at the shooting guard position on our team. He's 48th in the league.

https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/player/_/position/shooting-guard/table/offensive/sort/avgThreePointFieldGoalsAttempted/dir/desc

Is that the fault of the players or the scheme? Franz and Paolo hogging the ball? Inability to create for themselves? Or maybe we have too many mediocre options and need to stick with one consistently to get the most out of them? In other words, would trading TRoss make Gary Harris more effective? Not just in terms of minutes and counting stats but in terms of consistent production and expectations.

[eyriq]

I'm a huge fan of a potential Fultz | Suggs backcourt and would love to see us evaluate this for the rest of the season.

[Bergmaniac]

I'm a huge fan of a potential Fultz | Suggs backcourt and would love to see us evaluate this for the rest of the season.

When you say "evaluate" do you mean "hardcore tanking"? Two guards who can't shoot playing together is just not viable in the modern NBA.

[eyriq]

I'm a huge fan of a potential Fultz | Suggs backcourt and would love to see us evaluate this for the rest of the season.

When you say "evaluate" do you mean "hardcore tanking"? Two guards who can't shoot playing together is just not viable in the modern NBA.

Would they be that bad? Both can push the pace, attack the paint, defend either position, get their own shots, and create for others. Both make clutch plays and have the clutch gene. I'm definitely not saying it's the backcourt of the future but I'm not seeing how it's worse than running Harris at the 2 or running Franz at the 2 with Bol in.