2022-2023 Regular Season Game 73: Washington Wizards (32-39) at Orlando Magic (29-43) - 7pm

[Message Boar]

Still nice to hit the 30-win threshold. That 3 still feels like a marker of "this team wasn't complete garbage this year".

Sadly it's looking more and more likely that we may pass teams like Portland, Indiana and Washington down the stretch here, so I wouldn't mind if we got "extra careful" with injuries, but only if something actually happens (no shithousery, that's just... sad). On the plus side we only have 1 Detroit game left, other than that the other 8 games are against teams that should still be competing for something, hopefully. Either way I'm gonna try to not get too upset about whatever happens.

[I Rasharted]

[TheChaser]

Dude, I should have said this years ago when Lew was still here, but I love your username.

[drsd]

Sadly it's looking more and more likely that we may pass teams like Portland, Indiana and Washington down the stretch here, ....

Orlando still has an about 1 in 1000 chance to make the play-ins. I BELIEVE!

..

[Ralof]

Are we all on the same page now? We are going to run it back with the same group!

yes,cause the only alternative is to add some mediocre overpaid player through free agency.

best thing would be to take a swing with a big trade,but it's WeHam,so better keep the things like this avoiding damages.

[Ralof]

This was Paolo's 18th game of his rookie season with at least 5 assists.

He's a 20 year old rookie power forward.

He's gonna be just fine

It looks like Orlando (finally) has its "Chris Webber".

Hopefully our Chris Webber gonna play like C-Webb and not like he is Kevin Durant soon.

Avdija and Kispert should be taken and destroyed in post every time,all the game long,with that châssis
he has.

[pepe1991]

Are we all on the same page now? We are going to run it back with the same group!

yes,cause the only alternative is to add some mediocre overpaid player through free agency.

best thing would be to take a swing with a big trade,but it's WeHam,so better keep the things like this avoiding damages.

That's just reality of situation.

There are only 3 ways to get players in general:
1) draft
2) trade
3) Free agency


Draft is notorious for being most gamble- type. it can go great, or you can get Payton and Hezonja and Bamba and Isaac in back to backs. Further you drift from top 5-8 harder it is to find contributor, let alone actual starter.


Trade involves sending something back. Many trades are very equal, it's very rare to have homerun. Teams that buy seems to be always paying more, but that's just how market in n nba goes.

Free agency is kind a dead for several years. Most great FA don't hit FA in first place.



For Magic in particular, current cheap roster won't be that cheap to maintain let alone upgrade very soon.
Next year Magic will have: Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, Bol, G. Harris (maybe), Franz , Cole Anthony, Okeke all in contract years.

Even if they don't add anybody, in next few years, their salary and therfore wiggle room for improvment will fill up.
Over next 4 years Magic's majority of salary will be tied to Franz and Paolo and if you are looking to add talent and make contending roster, only objective time to add great players are this summer and next summer, until Franz's contract doesn't go up to 25% of salary.

There is very objective scenario where copy past identical 2022-23 roster this season, will have 2024-25 shape but in figures of:
Franz $25M a year
Fultz $25M a year
Suggs $14-18M a year/ Cole same or near same

Keep in mind Cole, Suggs and Franz today *combine* for $15,7M a year and that's one of a reasons why Magic have so much cap space free.

[Ralof]

Are we all on the same page now? We are going to run it back with the same group!

yes,cause the only alternative is to add some mediocre overpaid player through free agency.

best thing would be to take a swing with a big trade,but it's WeHam,so better keep the things like this avoiding damages.

That's just reality of situation.

There are only 3 ways to get players in general:
1) draft
2) trade
3) Free agency


Draft is notorious for being most gamble- type. it can go great, or you can get Payton and Hezonja and Bamba and Isaac in back to backs. Further you drift from top 5-8 harder it is to find contributor, let alone actual starter.


Trade involves sending something back. Many trades are very equal, it's very rare to have homerun. Teams that buy seems to be always paying more, but that's just how market in n nba goes.

Free agency is kind a dead for several years. Most great FA don't hit FA in first place.



For Magic in particular, current cheap roster won't be that cheap to maintain let alone upgrade very soon.
Next year Magic will have: Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, G. Harris (maybe), Franz , Cole Anthony, Okeke all in contract years.

Even if they don't add anybody, in next few years, their salary and therfore wiggle room for improvment will fill up.
Over next 4 years Magic's majority of salary will be tied to Franz and Paolo and if you are looking to add talent and make contending roster, only objective time to add great players are this summer and next summer, until Franz's contract doesn't go up to 25% of salary.

we'll never have a best chance in the future,in term of assets.

this is the moment when you make the jump from mediocre to competitive and,as you said,you have to do now cause in the future gonna be too complicate.

cavs showed the way last summer

[pepe1991]

yes,cause the only alternative is to add some mediocre overpaid player through free agency.

best thing would be to take a swing with a big trade,but it's WeHam,so better keep the things like this avoiding damages.

That's just reality of situation.

There are only 3 ways to get players in general:
1) draft
2) trade
3) Free agency


Draft is notorious for being most gamble- type. it can go great, or you can get Payton and Hezonja and Bamba and Isaac in back to backs. Further you drift from top 5-8 harder it is to find contributor, let alone actual starter.


Trade involves sending something back. Many trades are very equal, it's very rare to have homerun. Teams that buy seems to be always paying more, but that's just how market in n nba goes.

Free agency is kind a dead for several years. Most great FA don't hit FA in first place.



For Magic in particular, current cheap roster won't be that cheap to maintain let alone upgrade very soon.
Next year Magic will have: Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, G. Harris (maybe), Franz , Cole Anthony, Okeke all in contract years.

Even if they don't add anybody, in next few years, their salary and therfore wiggle room for improvment will fill up.
Over next 4 years Magic's majority of salary will be tied to Franz and Paolo and if you are looking to add talent and make contending roster, only objective time to add great players are this summer and next summer, until Franz's contract doesn't go up to 25% of salary.

we'll never have a best chance in the future,in term of assets.

this is the moment when you make the jump from mediocre to competitive and,as you said,you have to do now cause in the future gonna be too complicate.

cavs showed the way last summer

Yea, league now requires you to be proactive and not reactive.

You can't keep up if you can't predict future probabilities and react in time.

[RichCollab]

yes,cause the only alternative is to add some mediocre overpaid player through free agency.

best thing would be to take a swing with a big trade,but it's WeHam,so better keep the things like this avoiding damages.

That's just reality of situation.

There are only 3 ways to get players in general:
1) draft
2) trade
3) Free agency


Draft is notorious for being most gamble- type. it can go great, or you can get Payton and Hezonja and Bamba and Isaac in back to backs. Further you drift from top 5-8 harder it is to find contributor, let alone actual starter.


Trade involves sending something back. Many trades are very equal, it's very rare to have homerun. Teams that buy seems to be always paying more, but that's just how market in n nba goes.

Free agency is kind a dead for several years. Most great FA don't hit FA in first place.



For Magic in particular, current cheap roster won't be that cheap to maintain let alone upgrade very soon.
Next year Magic will have: Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, G. Harris (maybe), Franz , Cole Anthony, Okeke all in contract years.

Even if they don't add anybody, in next few years, their salary and therfore wiggle room for improvment will fill up.
Over next 4 years Magic's majority of salary will be tied to Franz and Paolo and if you are looking to add talent and make contending roster, only objective time to add great players are this summer and next summer, until Franz's contract doesn't go up to 25% of salary.

we'll never have a best chance in the future,in term of assets.

this is the moment when you make the jump from mediocre to competitive and,as you said,you have to do now cause in the future gonna be too complicate.

cavs showed the way last summer

Cavs landed in a Magical spot. Young superstar that fit well and gave them one of their biggest weaknesses. They didn’t have to give up any core pieces.

[pepe1991]

That's just reality of situation.

There are only 3 ways to get players in general:
1) draft
2) trade
3) Free agency


Draft is notorious for being most gamble- type. it can go great, or you can get Payton and Hezonja and Bamba and Isaac in back to backs. Further you drift from top 5-8 harder it is to find contributor, let alone actual starter.


Trade involves sending something back. Many trades are very equal, it's very rare to have homerun. Teams that buy seems to be always paying more, but that's just how market in n nba goes.

Free agency is kind a dead for several years. Most great FA don't hit FA in first place.



For Magic in particular, current cheap roster won't be that cheap to maintain let alone upgrade very soon.
Next year Magic will have: Suggs, Fultz, Isaac, G. Harris (maybe), Franz , Cole Anthony, Okeke all in contract years.

Even if they don't add anybody, in next few years, their salary and therfore wiggle room for improvment will fill up.
Over next 4 years Magic's majority of salary will be tied to Franz and Paolo and if you are looking to add talent and make contending roster, only objective time to add great players are this summer and next summer, until Franz's contract doesn't go up to 25% of salary.

we'll never have a best chance in the future,in term of assets.

this is the moment when you make the jump from mediocre to competitive and,as you said,you have to do now cause in the future gonna be too complicate.

cavs showed the way last summer

Cavs landed in a Magical spot. Young superstar that fit well and gave them one of their biggest weaknesses. They didn’t have to give up any core pieces.

Read here topic about possiblity of adding Mitchell, people's perception of him was very different. And that's my whole point of being proactive instad of reactive.

Or opposite, paying player at peak of his value max money just to regret it. Case and point. Jordan Poole.

But i would still buy Herro and Poole and i belive they would have much greater sucess away from their current teams, but perception of them changed a lot since they signed massive money (and didn't lived up to previous , contract seasons).

That contract- year- phenomenon scares me for next season, given half of Magic roster will be playing for next big payday.

[RichCollab]

we'll never have a best chance in the future,in term of assets.

this is the moment when you make the jump from mediocre to competitive and,as you said,you have to do now cause in the future gonna be too complicate.

cavs showed the way last summer

Cavs landed in a Magical spot. Young superstar that fit well and gave them one of their biggest weaknesses. They didn’t have to give up any core pieces.

Read here topic about possiblity of adding Mitchell, people's perception of him was very different. And that's my whole point of being proactive instad of reactive.

Or opposite, paying player at peak of his value max money just to regret it. Case and point. Jordan Poole.

But i would still buy Herro and Poole and i belive they would have much greater sucess away from their current teams, but perception of them changed a lot since they signed massive money (and didn't lived up to previous , contract seasons).

That contract- year- phenomenon scares me for next season, given half of Magic roster will be playing for next big payday.

.

Simmons may be the player we need to take our shot at. I would actually prefer Sharpe but seems like the right potential price upside for Magic.

[Message Boar]

...
Simmons may be the player we need to take our shot at. I would actually prefer Sharpe but seems like the right potential price upside for Magic.

I'm assuming you mean Anfernee Simons and not Ben Simmons or any other Simmons

[RichCollab]

...
Simmons may be the player we need to take our shot at. I would actually prefer Sharpe but seems like the right potential price upside for Magic.

I'm assuming you mean Anfernee Simons and not Ben Simmons or any other Simmons

Yes, Anfernee Simons.

[GameOver25]

I echo the sentiments about Cole’s improvement, but when he’s about to do something stupid you can see it coming from a mile away.

Sums him up perfectly.

[mattdelray1220]

...
Simmons may be the player we need to take our shot at. I would actually prefer Sharpe but seems like the right potential price upside for Magic.

I'm assuming you mean Anfernee Simons and not Ben Simmons or any other Simmons

Yes, Anfernee Simons.

He is the move! What a perfect fit for us!

[Bergmaniac]

The Wizards trying to screw over our tank again by sucking badly...Beal was a top notch tank commander for them.

On the other hand, nice to see Gary Harris getting hot and Paolo showing off his playmaking skills. Franz was great. And this is one of the games where Mo's shameless gunning every time he touched the ball worked.

[pepe1991]

The Wizards trying to screw over our tank again by sucking badly...Beal was a top notch tank commander for them.

On the other hand, nice to see Gary Harris getting hot and Paolo showing off his playmaking skills. Franz was great. And this is one of the games where Mo's shameless gunning every time he touched the ball worked.

Beal and Lillard are strangest people to me. They know they are wasting their lifes on Wizards /Blazers, they make massive money regardless of team they play on, so what's the deal? Why won't you leave to a team where you can actually make something out of your career instad of waiting for retirment on teams that, due your bloated salary will never build anything around you?

Wizards didn't have winning record in 5 years, Wizards didn't pass first round of playoffs since 2017 and season they had healthy Wall, Bojan Bogdanovic off bench.
And how they menaged to wrack it all up in one year.
FIrst they allowed Bojan to walk as they threw epic max contract on Porter.
Than they figured they don't need Oubre so they traded him for basically nothing.
Than they signed Howard who was washed up.

Than they traded Porter away to start...Ariza... who was 59 years old at that point.

Directionless, aimless, one of most pointless nba teams. Even today they have 3-4 good players, but Beal's salary, combined with Zingis salary prevents them to ever actually improving.


NBA in general is in strange bubble, it's almost impossible to carry on two max contracts and build contending team without paying sick luxury tax.

[basketballRob]

The Wizards trying to screw over our tank again by sucking badly...Beal was a top notch tank commander for them.

On the other hand, nice to see Gary Harris getting hot and Paolo showing off his playmaking skills. Franz was great. And this is one of the games where Mo's shameless gunning every time he touched the ball worked.

Beal and Lillard are strangest people to me. They know they are wasting their lifes on Wizards /Blazers, they make massive money regardless of team they play on, so what's the deal? Why won't you leave to a team where you can actually make something out of your career instad of waiting for retirment on teams that, due your bloated salary will never build anything around you?

Wizards didn't have winning record in 5 years, Wizards didn't pass first round of playoffs since 2017 and season they had healthy Wall, Bojan Bogdanovic off bench.
And how they menaged to wrack it all up in one year.
FIrst they allowed Bojan to walk as they threw epic max contract on Porter.
Than they figured they don't need Oubre so they traded him for basically nothing.
Than they signed Howard who was washed up.

Than they traded Porter away to start...Ariza... who was 59 years old at that point.

Directionless, aimless, one of most pointless nba teams. Even today they have 3-4 good players, but Beal's salary, combined with Zingis salary prevents them to ever actually improving.


NBA in general is in strange bubble, it's almost impossible to carry on two max contracts and build contending team without paying sick luxury tax.

They aren't wasting their lives. They are making as much money as possible by staying with the same team, and both take a lot of time off. They're probably afraid of getting exposed on a really good team.

I remember Vuc saying he wanted to be our Lillard. I bet he did $$$

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[pepe1991]

The Wizards trying to screw over our tank again by sucking badly...Beal was a top notch tank commander for them.

On the other hand, nice to see Gary Harris getting hot and Paolo showing off his playmaking skills. Franz was great. And this is one of the games where Mo's shameless gunning every time he touched the ball worked.

Beal and Lillard are strangest people to me. They know they are wasting their lifes on Wizards /Blazers, they make massive money regardless of team they play on, so what's the deal? Why won't you leave to a team where you can actually make something out of your career instad of waiting for retirment on teams that, due your bloated salary will never build anything around you?

Wizards didn't have winning record in 5 years, Wizards didn't pass first round of playoffs since 2017 and season they had healthy Wall, Bojan Bogdanovic off bench.
And how they menaged to wrack it all up in one year.
FIrst they allowed Bojan to walk as they threw epic max contract on Porter.
Than they figured they don't need Oubre so they traded him for basically nothing.
Than they signed Howard who was washed up.

Than they traded Porter away to start...Ariza... who was 59 years old at that point.

Directionless, aimless, one of most pointless nba teams. Even today they have 3-4 good players, but Beal's salary, combined with Zingis salary prevents them to ever actually improving.


NBA in general is in strange bubble, it's almost impossible to carry on two max contracts and build contending team without paying sick luxury tax.

They aren't wasting their lives. They are making as much money as possible by staying with the same team, and both take a lot of time off. They're probably afraid of getting exposed on a really good team.

I remember Vuc saying he wanted to be our Lillard. I bet he did $$$

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

I strongly disagree. For start Lillard is superstar, Beal had years where he was superstar, Vuc is tear below as magnitude of star& impact.

Vuc is guy who lived on two continents and 4 different countries, with 4 different languages before he turned 18.
You look at his life, married highschool sweet heart, has two kids, family man, he is guy who wants to stay in place where he feels home, since he didn't have that in his youth.

LIllard and Beal are elite players. Especially Lillard. But they don't prioritize winning. It's not like he didn't have playoffs sucess in past. He did. But they like money & security of same place more.
I don't blame them, i just find it hard to understand why would you care about $15-20M more, given that you have enough money for 10 lifes, if you can make money and play for something.

Lillard is good enough on his own, to join team like , i don't know, Celtics or even Knicks or Nuggets and put them over a top. So..why not?

Same with Beal, but his situation is even worst. Wizards never played for anything, he didn't pass first round of playoffs since Wall left. His legacy is prolonged mediocrity.

But at the end of a day, Lillard and Beal are loyal to their bank accounts , their stats will probably put them in HOF and they will join T Mac,Vince Carter, Iverson in waste of talent category in terms of actual contribution to winning & playing meaningful basketball games vs making money and existing in vacuum of nba space.