2024-2025 Preseason Game 2: Orlando Magic (0-1) at San Antonio Spurs (0-1) - 8pm

[VFX]

Best case scenario for the 1st half of the season is as follows:

Suggs / Black
KCP / Cole
Franz / Jett or TDS
Paolo / JI
WCJ / Moe

Cole looks BAD next to AB in that second unit. I’d prefer not to.

[zaymon]

Yeah I think Orlando should be looking to trade Cole, Gary, and possibly Carter for a legitimate starting point guard. Attach picks if necessary.

xxx/AB
Suggs/Jett
Franz/KCP
Paolo/Isaac
Goga/Moe

Just roll with that moving forward. Jett Howard is 6’8 is he can switch with KCP and TDS for backup minutes at the wing. Houstan isn’t an nba player, but he can fill in for injury minutes. That makes the most sense to me.

Which PG are they trading for?

I don't think they're going to trade for anybody. They have a young team that needs room and time to grow. That's the plan.

Eventually the starting back court will be Suggs and Black. That's been their plan since they drafted Black.

De'Aaron Fox is the player they should be targeting. I believe this is the last year of evaluation before the team goes "all in". The flexibility this team has is great. Tons of young talent, draft picks and guys on good contracts. I do not see a trade happening at all this year. Do not be surprised if next year we see a 3 + multiple draft picks for someone like Fox. AB JI Cole + 2 1sts. Something like that.

Fox, Garland, Young. We can cover for one bad defender. Only problem is salary cap, but we wont win anything unless Paolo finds his inner Lebron, and even him needed a point guard...
I am curious how much playmaking upside Jett has but there is almost zero chance its enough. He is similar to Cole in that regard but bigger and actually good shooter.

[ibraheim718]

The point is there is no PG to trade for right now. They brought in a really good locker room guy who can fit in and show them what it takes to win in the playoffs. The team was right there in a game 7 last season to win a series.. maybe a year or two ahead of schedule. The team is on a nice trajectory so there's no need to do anything drastic or stupid just allow the room for growth.

[ibraheim718]

Which PG are they trading for?

I don't think they're going to trade for anybody. They have a young team that needs room and time to grow. That's the plan.

Eventually the starting back court will be Suggs and Black. That's been their plan since they drafted Black.

De'Aaron Fox is the player they should be targeting. I believe this is the last year of evaluation before the team goes "all in". The flexibility this team has is great. Tons of young talent, draft picks and guys on good contracts. I do not see a trade happening at all this year. Do not be surprised if next year we see a 3 + multiple draft picks for someone like Fox. AB JI Cole + 2 1sts. Something like that.

Fox, Garland, Young. We can cover for one bad defender. Only problem is salary cap, but we wont win anything unless Paolo finds his inner Lebron, and even him needed a point guard...
I am curious how much playmaking upside Jett has but there is almost zero chance its enough. He is similar to Cole in that regard but bigger and actually good shooter.

Fox isn't going to get traded and neither is Young (right now). Garland doesn't move the needle and wouldn't propel the team into an ECF.

[zaymon]

De'Aaron Fox is the player they should be targeting. I believe this is the last year of evaluation before the team goes "all in". The flexibility this team has is great. Tons of young talent, draft picks and guys on good contracts. I do not see a trade happening at all this year. Do not be surprised if next year we see a 3 + multiple draft picks for someone like Fox. AB JI Cole + 2 1sts. Something like that.

Fox, Garland, Young. We can cover for one bad defender. Only problem is salary cap, but we wont win anything unless Paolo finds his inner Lebron, and even him needed a point guard...
I am curious how much playmaking upside Jett has but there is almost zero chance its enough. He is similar to Cole in that regard but bigger and actually good shooter.

Fox isn't going to get traded and neither is Young (right now). Garland doesn't move the needle and wouldn't propel the team into an ECF.

We have time, we can wait a year or two. I doubt Hawks and Kings are going anywhere. Garland is a little bit underrated. He is not an alpha but playing next to Mitchell is not ideal for him. We saw it first hand.

[eyriq]

People struggle to idenfity what we need to target?

a ***** POINT *** GUARD

For f*** sake there are plays where Magic can't even cross ball through half court let alone set something close to offensive set.
That 19 years old boy from San Antonio from draft would probably instally become best Magic PG since Jameer.


We degraged this team with worthless point guards ( and incapable shooters) so much that people now think NBA player is instant star if he can make 2 shots in a row from deep. And anybody who can make 1 good pass once a week is "great playmaker".

Anthony Black

[eyriq]

Anthony Black fits the timeline. We can afford to develop him into a starting caliber PG. Paolo has several years to develop into a championship quality first option, Franz has several years to develop into a championship quality second option, Suggs has several years to develop into a championship quality 3rd option, etc. No rush, no need to trade for a star.

[Message Boar]

People struggle to idenfity what we need to target?

a ***** POINT *** GUARD

For f*** sake there are plays where Magic can't even cross ball through half court let alone set something close to offensive set.
That 19 years old boy from San Antonio from draft would probably instally become best Magic PG since Jameer.


We degraged this team with worthless point guards ( and incapable shooters) so much that people now think NBA player is instant star if he can make 2 shots in a row from deep. And anybody who can make 1 good pass once a week is "great playmaker".

Anthony Black

Honestly from everything I've seen from Black so far he's closer to a wing than a point guard.

[pepe1991]

People struggle to idenfity what we need to target?

a ***** POINT *** GUARD

For f*** sake there are plays where Magic can't even cross ball through half court let alone set something close to offensive set.
That 19 years old boy from San Antonio from draft would probably instally become best Magic PG since Jameer.


We degraged this team with worthless point guards ( and incapable shooters) so much that people now think NBA player is instant star if he can make 2 shots in a row from deep. And anybody who can make 1 good pass once a week is "great playmaker".

Anthony Black

Honestly from everything I've seen from Black so far he's closer to a wing than a point guard.

In nba he never played anything else but wing.

[eyriq]

Anthony Black

Honestly from everything I've seen from Black so far he's closer to a wing than a point guard.

In nba he never played anything else but wing.

in NBA he's a sophomore. Also, he played a ton of point guard last season he just wasn't in a playmaker role.

[Knightro]

Honestly from everything I've seen from Black so far he's closer to a wing than a point guard.

In nba he never played anything else but wing.

I'm NBA he's a sophomore. Also, he played a ton of point guard last season he just wasn't in a playmaker role.

This is an oxymoron.

If you aren't "in a playmaker role", then you're not playing point guard.

[Knightro]

I actually like Anthony Black, but eyriq's literal nonsense about what he already is and has already shown is quite frustrating

It's ok to like a player's potential without having to essentially make things up about what they already are.

In non-garbage time situations, Anthony Black was almost exclusively used on the wing as a catch-and-shoot guy.

The times he "played" point guard he would pass the ball immediately upon crossing halfcourt, trot to a corner and wait for a pass.

He had 91 assists in 1164 minutes played.

[eyriq]

In nba he never played anything else but wing.

I'm NBA he's a sophomore. Also, he played a ton of point guard last season he just wasn't in a playmaker role.

This is an oxymoron.

If you aren't "in a playmaker role", then you're not playing point guard.

False. Paolo and Franz are playmaking wings, for example, not point guards.

[eyriq]

I actually like Anthony Black, but eyriq's literal nonsense about what he already is and has already shown is quite frustrating

It's ok to like a player's potential without having to essentially make things up about what they already are.

In non-garbage time situations, Anthony Black was almost exclusively used on the wing as a catch-and-shoot guy.

The times he "played" point guard he would pass the ball immediately upon crossing halfcourt, trot to a corner and wait for a pass.

He had 91 assists in 1164 minutes played.

He literally was listed at PG all season, is tracked as dominantly getting minutes at PG by basketball reference, is listed as a point guard on the Magic's site, was drafted as a point guard, and played point guard in college.

Position <> Role.

[VFX]

I agree that AB is the future PG of this roster. Keyword future.

I just also happen to believe Cole Anthony is redundant in this scenario given that AB needs serious minutes if this is going to be possible sooner than later. This means Cole WILL need to be traded at some point considering his contract. They can’t share the floor.

The other side to this is Jett Howard. If he’s going to be a 6’8 shooting guard getting a lot of reps at the “2-3”, then that means minutes need to be available. There is no point paying Gary Harris, KCP, and an expensive Suggs if this is the case. Even less so with lineups concerning AB and Cole.

I don’t really care if people think there is an argument for it or not… you cannot have 3-4 shooting guards incapable of handling the ball in the back court and NOT have a real point guard NOW if you are a serious deep playoff team. They chose their path in paying KCP. Time to be adults. The path of least resistance is paying all these dudes to chill on the bench while you piss away development time in NBA games. People not wearing Homer glasses know this squad isn’t winning a championship this season, so you develop your players.

Yea, AB is the future. That future is 1-2 seasons from now.

[pepe1991]

Problem is, Black simply never, for Magic played PG or any other semantic of point guard / Playmaker / basketball maestro / insert any new title here. Period.

He holds ball at average for 1,5 sec per possession. Vast majority of wings, forwards, even Cs keep it longer, and all playmakers for sure keep it longer because it takes more than 1,5 sec to set play.


We all want to Magic at least TRY to play him as playmaker, HOWEVER, every time when he gets ball ( like last night) he just elects to not play as playmaker, rather gives ball away and goes off ball. Maybe it's just him not being comfortable playing on ball against nba opponents? Or him not being able to actually beat people off the dribble? Or his dribbling , like it's often case with tall college point guards, doesn't work in nba and they get exposed ?

I don't know.

Thing is, Anthony Black is wing. He played nothing but wing in rookie year. In preseason he still is - wing.

I'm way more worried about Magic and fact that we are entering season where almost no guard can handle the ball without looking like it's accident waiting to happen.

[VFX]

Problem is, Black simply never, for Magic played PG or any other semantic of point guard / Playmaker / basketball maestro / insert any new title here. Period.

He holds ball at average for 1,5 sec per possession. Vast majority of wings, forwards, even Cs keep it longer, and all playmakers for sure keep it longer because it takes more than 1,5 sec to set play.


We all want to Magic at least TRY to play him as playmaker, HOWEVER, every time when he gets ball ( like last night) he just elects to not play as playmaker, rather gives ball away and goes off ball. Maybe it's just him not being comfortable playing on ball against nba opponents? Or him not being able to actually beat people off the dribble? Or his dribbling , like it's often case with tall college point guards, doesn't work in nba and they get exposed ?

I don't know.

Thing is, Anthony Black is wing. He played nothing but wing in rookie year. In preseason he still is - wing.

I'm way more worried about Magic and fact that we are entering season where almost no guard can handle the ball without looking like it's accident waiting to happen.

Then he is a bust of a pick if that’s your conclusion. A 6’7 “wing”, that doesn’t create his own shot off the dribble, is a role player. Kelly Oubre is a fringe starter. A 6’7 point guard running an offense is an elite difference maker. That’s the difference.

This is why people throwing out lineups to substantiate the idea that he’s capable of being anything other than a lead ball handler are actually diminishing his ceiling whether they know it or not.

[eyriq]

Problem is, Black simply never, for Magic played PG or any other semantic of point guard / Playmaker / basketball maestro / insert any new title here. Period.

He holds ball at average for 1,5 sec per possession. Vast majority of wings, forwards, even Cs keep it longer, and all playmakers for sure keep it longer because it takes more than 1,5 sec to set play.


We all want to Magic at least TRY to play him as playmaker, HOWEVER, every time when he gets ball ( like last night) he just elects to not play as playmaker, rather gives ball away and goes off ball. Maybe it's just him not being comfortable playing on ball against nba opponents? Or him not being able to actually beat people off the dribble? Or his dribbling , like it's often case with tall college point guards, doesn't work in nba and they get exposed ?

I don't know.

Thing is, Anthony Black is wing. He played nothing but wing in rookie year. In preseason he still is - wing.

I'm way more worried about Magic and fact that we are entering season where almost no guard can handle the ball without looking like it's accident waiting to happen.

The thing is, Mosley defined his role to be a spot-up shooter on offense, point of attack defender on defense. Playmaking duties ran through Paolo and Franz. You know this, I know this, everyone knows this, but you make it out to be an indication that AB can't make plays. It literally wasn't his job to do so.

[KillMonger]

Hate to say it but I think we need to move Cole and Gary.

Jett and AB’s development is just too crucial to be messing around with deep bench minutes. I know this is just preseason game, but those guys are arguably negligible replacements already anyway.

too important, they put in the work staying in the gym all summer and while it's early it's looking like it's paying off....they need to both be getting consistent minutes

[KillMonger]

Problem is, Black simply never, for Magic played PG or any other semantic of point guard / Playmaker / basketball maestro / insert any new title here. Period.

He holds ball at average for 1,5 sec per possession. Vast majority of wings, forwards, even Cs keep it longer, and all playmakers for sure keep it longer because it takes more than 1,5 sec to set play.


We all want to Magic at least TRY to play him as playmaker, HOWEVER, every time when he gets ball ( like last night) he just elects to not play as playmaker, rather gives ball away and goes off ball. Maybe it's just him not being comfortable playing on ball against nba opponents? Or him not being able to actually beat people off the dribble? Or his dribbling , like it's often case with tall college point guards, doesn't work in nba and they get exposed ?

I don't know.

Thing is, Anthony Black is wing. He played nothing but wing in rookie year. In preseason he still is - wing.

I'm way more worried about Magic and fact that we are entering season where almost no guard can handle the ball without looking like it's accident waiting to happen.

The thing is, Mosley defined his role to be a spot-up shooter on offense, point of attack defender on defense. Playmaking duties ran through Paolo and Franz. You know this, I know this, everyone knows this, but you make it out to be an indication that AB can't make plays. It literally wasn't his job to do so.

i tend to agree with this train of thought....Let's say we got a point guard, the thing is though the way mosely has us playing doesn't work well with a ball dominant point guard....we can already see the effect it's having on franz