Official Summer 2024 Magic Free Agency and Trade Ideas Thread 7.0: KCP Signed, What's Next?

[Black and Blue]

Sorry if already posted, but thought this was a great point:

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/7/2/24190616/nba-free-agency-2024-deals-trade-rumors-lauri-markkanen

7. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is better for the Orlando Magic than Paul George would be.

On a three-year, $66 million deal, Caldwell-Pope provides value in the short term as a knockdown shooter and a lockdown defender. But in the longer term, he’s also now signed to a very tradable salary if he declines at all before his deal is up. This would not have been the case for George. The Magic will probably need to make one or two big trades to take the leap from a nice young team to a serious contender, so having these lower salary numbers on the books is vital. The Pacers created the blueprint this past year by signing Bruce Brown to a salary number comparable to KCP’s, then flipping him for Pascal Siakam. Orlando would obviously be happy to keep KCP for all three years of his deal, but the added flexibility makes this an even smarter

[VFX]

I'll be bummed if they dont retain Moritz.

For as much as he gives up defensively he really anchored that second unit offensively. He gives a **** and single handedly won us a ton of games last season. Moritz aura +1000

Him and Suggs are guys that would be real chemistry killers if they left.

[Orl_Magic]

Gary will miss 20-25 games with his calf strains

[pepe1991]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

[ORL_on_FIRE]

This says our off-season added 6 wins. I don't even think this factors in player development. 53 wins LFG

Read on Twitter

?t=CXEuFwIiUPrGCgfd4x7scg&s=19

Me and you need to lead the optimism charge around this board

I used to be the overly positive poster on this board.

“We signed Ben Gordon?!?! Strap in boys!!!”

Now that’s slowly turned into me trash talking every once in awhile. Perhaps maybe I’ll rejoin you guys in that long long optimism journey around these parts.

[Knightro]

They basically chose veteran depth over developing assets to move later for positive value or play.

And on top of that, they won’t trade the assets that they’re not developing either while they still have some value.

[VFX]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

Who is stopping them in the West? The Lakers? Minnesota? lol

They basically addressed all their concerns this offseason and trimmed the fat on their rotations.

They are nasty defensively like us but also have elite scoring options that we dont. If Chet gets into foul trouble they have Isaiah fracking Hartenstein off the bench, who would be starting for this Magic team. The West is screwed.

[Knightro]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

OKC should win 60+ next year tbh. They’re absolutely loaded.

[tooler]

This says our off-season added 6 wins. I don't even think this factors in player development. 53 wins LFG

Read on Twitter

?t=CXEuFwIiUPrGCgfd4x7scg&s=19

Also, according to EW Fultz is -0.2 and Okeke is -0.7, so add a bit more on top of that!

I think a top 3 offseason is pretty good. We need to stop comparing ourselves to OKC. They're a fantastic organization with an MVP candidate. We're not there yet and may never be.

[pepe1991]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

Who is stopping them in the West? The Lakers? Minnesota? lol

They basically addressed all their concerns this offseason and trimmed the fat on their rotations.

They are nasty defensively like us but also have elite scoring options that we dont.

i expect them to win +60 games if they are healthy , but +13 wins on 57 wins team is bit over a top, i mean, it would "just " be second best regular season record in history

Imo, it's hard to break that 65+ wins ceiling on West because you get those back to backs vs Clippers/Lakers, you have teams like Warriors, Mavs, Wolves on the road, who play great at home etc.

I expect OKC to be contender, and maybe favorite to win regular season on West tho.

[eyriq]

I'm optimistic about next season, don't get me wrong. This off-season is a vote of confidence in Paolo, Franz, and Suggs.

They will get the critical reps that will make or break our season and help their development.

I'm on record using the analogy that they are the main dish and we just need the right garnish. Well, subtracting Fultz and adding KCP is perfect.

Where I'm struggling is with this "parallel paths" strategy. It reminds me of the Golden State Warriors and their two timeline strategy. They thought they could draft in the lottery, still compete with their veteran core, and develop a new core behind the scenes. It failed miserably and they should have picked a lane.

This approach makes even less sense for Orlando. We don't have a veteran core. We're not trying to maintain a dynasty. They're all on the same f****** timeline. So if AB and Jett are not getting playing time its malpractice. It's irrational.

Remember, every front office fails. There's nobody that has a flawless track record. And if you want to understand why we fail in the future, look at how we are handling AB and Jett right now as a canary in the coal mine.

Now I'm not saying we're going to fail. I'm not even saying we're going to bench AB and Jett. I would honestly prefer AB and Jett over Cole and Gary Harris. Maybe Mosley does too.

[ORL_on_FIRE]

It is rather amusing reading this board and then checking out Reddit afterwards. Every move we make everyone’s like “Wow I love what Orlando’s doing”

It’s a good balance.

[VFX]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

Who is stopping them in the West? The Lakers? Minnesota? lol

They basically addressed all their concerns this offseason and trimmed the fat on their rotations.

They are nasty defensively like us but also have elite scoring options that we dont.

i expect them to win +60 games if they are healthy , but +13 wins on 57 wins team is bit over a top, i mean, it would "just " be second best regular season record in history

Imo, it's hard to break that 65+ wins ceiling on West because you get those back to backs vs Clippers/Lakers, you have teams like Warriors, Mavs, Wolves on the road, who play great at home etc.

I expect OKC to be contender, and maybe favorite to win regular season on West tho.

Yeah agreed.

I think Dallas is the only one challenging for anything now. Maybe Wolves in Minnesota, but they match up very well against them. Warriors and Clippers are cooked. Especially against OKC. Their back court depth defensively is better than Orlando's almost.

[eyriq]

For a team this young I think it's absolutely malpractice to design a rotation that tries to squeeze every marginal win out of rotation minutes at the expense of future wins due to lack of development reps.

[GelbeWand09]

Who is stopping them in the West? The Lakers? Minnesota? lol

They basically addressed all their concerns this offseason and trimmed the fat on their rotations.

They are nasty defensively like us but also have elite scoring options that we dont.

i expect them to win +60 games if they are healthy , but +13 wins on 57 wins team is bit over a top, i mean, it would "just " be second best regular season record in history

Imo, it's hard to break that 65+ wins ceiling on West because you get those back to backs vs Clippers/Lakers, you have teams like Warriors, Mavs, Wolves on the road, who play great at home etc.

I expect OKC to be contender, and maybe favorite to win regular season on West tho.

Yeah agreed.

I think Dallas is the only one challenging for anything now. Maybe Wolves in Minnesota, but they match up very well against them. Warriors and Clippers are cooked. Especially against OKC. Their back court depth defensively is better than Orlando's almost.

+ They got rid of Giddey (who i like in a vaccum) but hurt them a lot & was redundant. Now they are even harder to defend but i still would take Dallas over 7 games because of Doncic is just better than SGA.

[tiderulz]

So by estimated wins added, OKC are now 71 wins team?

Who is stopping them in the West? The Lakers? Minnesota? lol

They basically addressed all their concerns this offseason and trimmed the fat on their rotations.

They are nasty defensively like us but also have elite scoring options that we dont. If Chet gets into foul trouble they have Isaiah fracking Hartenstein off the bench, who would be starting for this Magic team. The West is screwed.

yeah, they were the #1 seed last year and kept their team and addressed their center need.

[OnlyFranz22]

Wiseman to Indiana

[VFX]

i expect them to win +60 games if they are healthy , but +13 wins on 57 wins team is bit over a top, i mean, it would "just " be second best regular season record in history

Imo, it's hard to break that 65+ wins ceiling on West because you get those back to backs vs Clippers/Lakers, you have teams like Warriors, Mavs, Wolves on the road, who play great at home etc.

I expect OKC to be contender, and maybe favorite to win regular season on West tho.

Yeah agreed.

I think Dallas is the only one challenging for anything now. Maybe Wolves in Minnesota, but they match up very well against them. Warriors and Clippers are cooked. Especially against OKC. Their back court depth defensively is better than Orlando's almost.

+ They got rid of Giddey (who i like in a vaccum) but hurt them a lot & was redundant. Now they are even harder to defend but i still would take Dallas over 7 games because of Doncic is just better than SGA.

Hard to say now. They have a lot of bodies they can throw at Doncic/Kyrie/Klay. Caruso, SGA, Dort, Wallace, Williams.

I think Giddey is a good player, but his addition by subtraction is going to put them over the top.

[Knightro]

It is rather amusing reading this board and then checking out Reddit afterwards. Every move we make everyone’s like “Wow I love what Orlando’s doing”

It’s a good balance.

The signings themselves in a vacuum are good.

KCP, Goga and Gary all got fair contracts.

And in general I don’t have much issue blocking young guys and pushing for wins… but if you’re going to do that, then actually do it. Get some real good veterans in here if that’s the route you want to go.

[Knightro]

For a team this young I think it's absolutely malpractice to design a rotation that tries to squeeze every marginal win out of rotation minutes at the expense of future wins due to lack of development reps.

Just pick one or the other.

Either develop the youth or if you want to actually win, get really good veterans in here instead of blocking young guys with so-so older players.