2023-2024 Regular Season Game 42: Philadelphia 76ers (26-13) at Orlando Magic (22-19) - 7:00pm

[T-Cat]

This is pretty much how i felt all game.....

I wonder if JJ Redick is available as coach this off season!

Paolo needs to train with Olajuwon this off season!

[KillMonger]

can't keep going on like this....how can paolo cook like this?

[Black and Blue]

I hate to say I told you MFers so, but I told you guys so.

If you want to win games, and I mean really win games not just play around .500 ball, then use your assets and go get some veterans in here who are better than Fultz and Gary and Chuma and more available than JI.

If you want to develop your youth and winning isn't that important, then play Black and Jett.

But what they're doing - playing bad veterans over their youth while playing about .500 basketball - is truly the worst of both worlds.

Weltman stinks

I could see the advantage of bringing in vets like Ingles to stabilize the offense and ultimately better ascertain who is a keeper and who isn’t. But at this point, mission accomplished and time to act. Paolo, Franz, Suggs, Cole and Mo (price and Franz happiness) are keepers. Goga is a maybe to be retained at the right price. Keep Jett and AB unless a trade package overwhelms them. Punt the rest in trades. Even casual fans of this team see how little we are working with, and the best teams continue with influxes of talent to surround their stars with talent.

It’s also good short term to hand the keys to Paolo and Franz individually to see if they can be THE guy. Again, mission accomplished. Forcing them to carry the team long term by themselves is just asking for them to leave when their contracts are up.

Confused as to how you can name Cole a keeper

He is a good 6th man who does what a 6th man should - provide scoring for a second unit and help facilitate the offense. He has a very reasonable deal and it’s not an uncommon occurrence for his play to win multiple games for this team.

The problem is right now he is our 3rd scoring option (and you could argue 2nd option some nights with Franz out), so when he has an off game it hurts a disproportionately large amount. This team is chock full of non-scoring players so I think sometimes we take for granted how much Cole brings to the table.

That all said I think he is primarily a keeper because it looks super bad, like more bad than you think, if he chose to re-up with Orlando instead of testing the market (Orlando is trying to make themselves a place people want to do this for) and we throw him out in a trade the same season. I don’t think that’s a possibility.

[pepe1991]

Cole is only guard we have that can score off dribble from everywhere. That means that we look like standard nba team when he is hot, and we look and are predictable when he is cold.

He, himself is good enough to be that bench scorer, but lacks consistancy, but that's execlly why we resigned him for that contract and not x3.

Okeke, Houstan, Goga have no business starting in nba if they aren't on Pistons. How long are going to keep this charade?
Goga got crushed by Embiid, it was very ugly to watch. Houstan today is just homless Terrence Ross.

You could just look at names of a roster to know spacing will be issue back in summer of 2023. But as usual, we never make any moves that aren't cosmetic ones if players don't ask out.

By the January 30,we might be below .500 team (again).

[Black and Blue]

I don't know if something is going to happen at the deadline but at the very least in the offseason something should happen....you can't look at this team as is and say.....let's run it back...again....If up to me i'd make some smaller moves at the deadline and try to get a jumpstart on building chemistry with the new guys instead of waiting until the offseason but.....we'll see

we have $35mil in expirings that disappear in 3 weeks. It'll be tougher to improve the roster without those. We would then be trading players we, ideally, want to keep to make moves. The FA market is weak too.

This times a million (great post)!

In a league where many teams have major cap issues and some want to rebuild, those expirings have major value. On top of that with a roster like ours with busted ass talent like Okeke and Houstan that nobody wants, it’s even more clear those are some of our biggest trade-able assets (with our stars off the table).

I’ll say this until I’m blue in the face: this is the year where it actually is a major failure to NOT make a move at the deadline to improve this team. This is the year we start losing valuable assets for nothing.

It’s time for Weltman and Parker to start earning their paychecks outside of the draft.

[zaymon]

I can repeat that Carter is more talented than Goga. I dont like his attitude and his focus but he is talented. I would trade him only if we could get a good guard and we knew someone like Claxton is coming here.

I dont know why Houstan have guaranteed contract. Gives us very little when shot is not going in. Okeke at least defends and has good pass once in a while.

We overpayed for Anthony. He should be at the edge of rotation. One of many players on our roster who thinks the game at low level.

Its so hard to evaluate Paolo. When he doesnt force it its bad, when he forces it it looks even worse. He always sat between coaches not his teammates ?

[Knightro]

What concerns me with Weltman is that I think if you asked him about this season, he would suggest that the only issue for the Magic has been injuries.

When the reality is that injuries (specifically Fultz, but also to a lesser extent Carter) is what allowed the Magic to optimize their lineups in the first place.

When everyone is healthy, they have too many guys and Mosley, feeling obligated to play the more veteran guys, isn’t able to play optimal groups because he’s trying to appease too many people with minutes.

The front office owes it to the coaching staff to better balance this roster with trades.

[Knightro]

Moritz has played well offensively all year and was part of some really effective bench lineup when Ingles and Isaac were healthy.

Well now Ingles and Isaac are both healthy and Moritz is out of the rotation?

Why? Because Carter is back and coming off the bench.

But why isn’t Carter back starting? Because Goga also played well as a starter and hasn’t really done anything to *lose* his spot either.

It’s just a big mess.

This idea of having too many healthy players seems like it’s good, and is it protection against the inevitable (injuries), but it actually causes more issues in the short term than some people realize. Especially at point guard and center which are the two positions that you often have players who can’t share the floor effectively.

[Bergmaniac]

The Sixers are a top team, so the loss isn't a surprise, but as usual we shot ourselves in the foot in multiple ways, which is annoying. Mosley is using too many players and the rotations are questionable.

When Ingles is on the court, he should be the ballhandler on most plays. It's absurd that we go through long stretches where he never touches the ball and just watches Cole force shot after shot or Cole trying to playmake and failing on most plays. Or Fultz wasting shot clock by failing to get to the rim and then getting the ball back at the 3 point line.

If Fultz is unable to take a jumpshot, he shouldn't be playing, period. As simple as this. It's not helping the team win and it's not helping his trade value either. Right now his trade value is purely that he is an expiring and every game where he doesn't take a single shot from outside the paint only strengtens this view.

At one point we played Cole, Black and Fultz together, which is just absurd.

At least we got another excellent game from WCJr..

[basketballRob]

It was Goga's worst game and Wendell's best game of the season. We'll probably make the move to put Wendell back into the starting lineup even though he doesn't mesh well with Paolo.

They'll probably just roll out Fultz, Suggs, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell in the next game and play that lineup until a trade is made or we have another injury.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

[Knightro]

They'll probably just roll out Fultz, Suggs, Franz, Paolo, and Wendell in the next game and play that lineup until a trade is made or we have another injury.

This would be my guess as well.

Those five start with Cole, Chuma, Ingles, Isaac, Goga off the bench.

Black and Mortiz remain out of the rotation.

[eyriq]

Goga, Caleb, and Cole in the dog house. Not worried about Goga, starting to get worried about Cole, out on Caleb.

[Bergmaniac]

When playing in the current starting lineup Paolo has a TS% of 42.4%. Not really a surprise, he is asked to do too much in a lineup which is badly lacking in playmaking and shot creation and features two of the worst starters in the league.

[Fortune Teller]

can't keep going on like this....how can paolo cook like this?

Yikes, what is Fultz even doing there? Hiding from the ball?

[Skybox]

What concerns me with Weltman is that I think if you asked him about this season, he would suggest that the only issue for the Magic has been injuries.

When the reality is that injuries (specifically Fultz, but also to a lesser extent Carter) is what allowed the Magic to optimize their lineups in the first place.

When everyone is healthy, they have too many guys and Mosley, feeling obligated to play the more veteran guys, isn’t able to play optimal groups because he’s trying to appease too many people with minutes.

The front office owes it to the coaching staff to better balance this roster with trades.

Yes...it's become a total mess of a rotation (injuries certainly a factor but not enough of one)...having the best or most promising 3rd string and G-League team is of little concern, we need to get a realistic starting backcourt...all of the other guys from Cole down are basically inconsequential in relative priority until we do something about that.

Paolo does not need to train with Olajuwon - if he does, great, but his offensive game is, by far, the least of our worries. The pictures show the obvious reality that what he's doing this season is miraculous, given the situation. If he had an ounce of reliable support that complemented his talents...he's a legit MVP candidate at some point. The way he's performed in clutch moments, while swarmed with defenders is absolutely remarkable. Very rarely does he get an easy bucket...very rarely! That's unforgivable.

[Fortune Teller]

These problems were obvious on draft night, which was the golden opportunity to correct them, but Welt chose to draft two long-term projects in the lottery. He should have traded one or both picks to consolidate the roster and add veteran help to complement Paolo and Franz.

[zaymon]

These problems were obvious on draft night, which was the golden opportunity to correct them, but Welt chose to draft two long-term projects in the lottery. He should have traded one or both picks to consolidate the roster and add veteran help to complement Paolo and Franz.

We are not in a bad position right now. Our record is fine and we have movable contracts and assets. Yes its a bit frustrating to watch for a month but its not the end of the world. I would have done it a little differently aswell but making some trades at the deadline or even in the offseason is not bad either. Ainge was mocked for not making trades early in the Tatum carrier but they are just fine.

[eyriq]

Miami, Cleveland, at Memphis to close out this five game stint. I'm feeling a three game winning streak.

[DiplomaticMagic]

Mosley is not serious about winning with some of these lineups.

Jett cant be worse than Caleb. **** makes no sense to me.

Fultz and Cole just continue to be horrible.

Wendell has been a lot better. Not entirely sure what to do with our centers. Would like to see Wendell play more with Paolo to see the fit. I might still trade Wendell because it feels like hes never healthy. He even said in postgame that he is still playing hurt. I think Goga is not good enough to be longterm starter but he will be fine this year. And the idea of his play at center is kind of what we want.

[VFX]

What concerns me with Weltman is that I think if you asked him about this season, he would suggest that the only issue for the Magic has been injuries.

When the reality is that injuries (specifically Fultz, but also to a lesser extent Carter) is what allowed the Magic to optimize their lineups in the first place.

When everyone is healthy, they have too many guys and Mosley, feeling obligated to play the more veteran guys, isn’t able to play optimal groups because he’s trying to appease too many people with minutes.

The front office owes it to the coaching staff to better balance this roster with trades.

This has been their response every season.