Shams: Magic Sign C Wendell Carter Jr. to a 3-Year, $59M Extension

[JoshuaPotter]

Some good points, I am just puzzled how we continue to award injury prone average players?

Isaac has a certain "it" factor if he was healthy. I can understand. Heck he might even be considered a "bonus" in any trade offer.

What is WCJ? Oh, he just does everything OK, and is paid OK accordingly. But he is injury prone, so that can make him seem bellow OK when you have 2-3 people on the depth chart who are able to come in uninjured and look just as average in the grand scheme.

The real issues I have is what does Mosely do with this roster? Does he bench his "starter in the players" in favor of literally anyone else? Does he play center by committee? I am getting really tired of this "by committee" approach. At some point "by committee" means "we aren't good enough to give players a clearly defined role, and we say by committee to motivate them."

[drsd]

Saying “he’s on a good deal to be moved in a year or two” is such a bad cope argument. Is Orlando actually trying to build a team in the valuable development time of their core? If Carter isn’t part of that plan, then why re-sign him instead of fleshing out the rest of the roster? Metrics with Goga weren’t so vastly different that you could even make that argument otherwise.

To agree, let's say you are a GM of another team and are looking for a Center. Would you rather trade for Bitadze or Carter?
That answer is quite insightful to the current roster.

[jonbob17]

Late to the party here, so this has probably already been covered...this means Carter is not eligible to be traded this year, right? This seems like a good number for both the player and the team assuming WCJ stays healthy. Could see some teams wanting WCJ alone, but also just a good number for a consolidating trade down the road.

I had assumed one of Goga or WCJ would have been moved by the deadline. It's just hard to imagine how the Magic sold Goga on taking that deal with the playing time thats going to be available, I am not saying there was more money out there for him, but surely an opportunity for playing time.

We've got too many guys that need time on the court.

[VFX]

Saying “he’s on a good deal to be moved in a year or two” is such a bad cope argument. Is Orlando actually trying to build a team in the valuable development time of their core? If Carter isn’t part of that plan, then why re-sign him instead of fleshing out the rest of the roster? Metrics with Goga weren’t so vastly different that you could even make that argument otherwise.

To agree, let's say you are a GM of another team and are looking for a Center. Would you rather trade for Bitadze or Carter?
That answer is quite insightful to the current roster.

Carter has more perceived value based on the fact that he’s a starting Center. Goga is seen as a serviceable big that fell out of rotation in Indiana. The reality is somewhere in between for both of them in 2024. Orlando could use that asset value elsewhere on the roster while not paying 3 guys + Isaac. You don’t need a starting big doing too much on offense if your two max guys are Paolo and Franz.

[eyriq]

WCJ (26), Moritz (29), and Goga (33)

The Magic have three of the top 33 centers by AAV. This doesn't even include JI who has bulked up and whose shift to center has momentum.

By 2026 WCJ will make as much as Zubac and Poeltl.

[orlando_joe]

WCJ (26), Moritz (29), and Goga (33)

The Magic have three of the top 33 centers by AAV. This doesn't even include JI who has bulked up and whose shift to center has momentum.

By 2026 WCJ will make as much as Zubac and Poeltl.

wcj much younger ...combined 4 yr deal is better,cheaper with 5th yr team option and wcj made more 3s in 1 game then both combined for in career and better pts ,rb and ast per game for career then both

[VFX]

WCJ (26), Moritz (29), and Goga (33)

The Magic have three of the top 33 centers by AAV. This doesn't even include JI who has bulked up and whose shift to center has momentum.

By 2026 WCJ will make as much as Zubac and Poeltl.

wcj much younger ...combined 4 yr deal is better,cheaper with 5th yr team option and wcj made more 3s in 1 game then both combined for in career and better pts ,rb and ast per game for career then both

None of that really matters if Orlando has to pay 3 guys plus Isaac because of Carter's availability. Who really cares what he does on offense? Orlando has 4 better options when he's on the court in the starting lineup. It's a luxury compared to being a rim protector.

[JoshuaPotter]

I totally get the chemistry argument and the stats that indicate the defense gels with Wendel are right there in front of our collective faces. Yet at the same time, much like someone argues that "some of those lineups don't have enough minutes" to be viable, what is there to say that the opposite isn't true and we see improvement of offense and defense over time?

We did the thing we usually do, we quadrupled down with our house money.

WCJ
Isaac
Moe Wagner
Goga

All extended. This is, a little odd.

[anothermagicfan]

For the last few years I've kinda been down on Cole and his play style. If he hits his 3s he's a plus and it's all good, but he's pretty inconsistent. I feel like I'm starting to view WCJ in the same way. If he hits his 3s he's a center that spreads the floor and makes an impact on the game because nothing else he does really amounts to any kind of advantage from the center position. I also don't feel like we really miss him that much when he's not playing. And he spends an awful lot of time not playing.

I can only hope that the magic see his contract as a better trade chip once this season is over because if there's any more of this crap then I might have to change my realgm username to something less magic affiliated as well

[RookieStar]

Look... has anyone looked or asked at the elephant in the room?

Namely, what does Paolo think of WCJ? Cuz last season Ive been reading that Paolo is like bff or considers wcj as his big bro.

[orlando_joe]

WCJ (26), Moritz (29), and Goga (33)

The Magic have three of the top 33 centers by AAV. This doesn't even include JI who has bulked up and whose shift to center has momentum.

By 2026 WCJ will make as much as Zubac and Poeltl.

wcj much younger ...combined 4 yr deal is better,cheaper with 5th yr team option and wcj made more 3s in 1 game then both combined for in career and better pts ,rb and ast per game for career then both

None of that really matters if Orlando has to pay 3 guys plus Isaac because of Carter's availability. Who really cares what he does on offense? Orlando has 4 better options when he's on the court in the starting lineup. It's a luxury compared to being a rim protector.

dont most teams carry 3 centers as most do get hurt? and sorry ji is a pf..all together after this yr with da silva over next 3 yrs thats all 3 centers and backup pf and sf will cost team right around 50 mill what is wrong with that?

[Skybox]

Look... has anyone looked or asked at the elephant in the room?

Namely, what does Paolo think of WCJ? Cuz last season Ive been reading that Paolo is like bff or considers wcj as his big bro.

Duke brotherhood is real

...I'd trade WCJ for Mark Williams and hope for HIM to get healthy

[thelead]

Look... has anyone looked or asked at the elephant in the room?

Namely, what does Paolo think of WCJ? Cuz last season Ive been reading that Paolo is like bff or considers wcj as his big bro.

Duke brotherhood is real

...I'd trade WCJ for Mark Williams and hope for HIM to get healthy

[VFX]

wcj much younger ...combined 4 yr deal is better,cheaper with 5th yr team option and wcj made more 3s in 1 game then both combined for in career and better pts ,rb and ast per game for career then both

None of that really matters if Orlando has to pay 3 guys plus Isaac because of Carter's availability. Who really cares what he does on offense? Orlando has 4 better options when he's on the court in the starting lineup. It's a luxury compared to being a rim protector.

dont most teams carry 3 centers as most do get hurt? and sorry ji is a pf..all together after this yr with da silva over next 3 yrs thats all 3 centers and backup pf and sf will cost team right around 50 mill what is wrong with that?

Isaac is 240+ lbs now. Thats bigger than Goga. He's more capable of playing at C than ever. It's actually a waste to have him specifically backing up a guy that plays 35mpg considering his talent and contract.

You can do a lot of mental gymnastics to believe spending that amount of money and depth at Center makes sense when there are glaring questions at other starting positions.

[RookieStar]

Look... has anyone looked or asked at the elephant in the room?

Namely, what does Paolo think of WCJ? Cuz last season Ive been reading that Paolo is like bff or considers wcj as his big bro.

Duke brotherhood is real

...I'd trade WCJ for Mark Williams and hope for HIM to get healthy

Problem with that is M.Williams problem is his back. As Magic fans, dont we have a history of players who shined then dropped because of back injuries? ( Tmac , D12, Penny(???)

[pepe1991]

None of that really matters if Orlando has to pay 3 guys plus Isaac because of Carter's availability. Who really cares what he does on offense? Orlando has 4 better options when he's on the court in the starting lineup. It's a luxury compared to being a rim protector.

dont most teams carry 3 centers as most do get hurt? and sorry ji is a pf..all together after this yr with da silva over next 3 yrs thats all 3 centers and backup pf and sf will cost team right around 50 mill what is wrong with that?

Isaac is 240+ lbs now. Thats bigger than Goga. He's more capable of playing at C than ever. It's actually a waste to have him specifically backing up a guy that plays 35mpg considering his talent and contract.

You can do a lot of mental gymnastics to believe spending that amount of money and depth at Center makes sense when there are glaring questions at other starting positions.

But Isaac had 2 healthy seasons out of 7 in his life. And in second healthy one, he didn't play back to backs, was on heavy min restrictions and still wasn't all that great at C in playoffs, matter of fact he was pretty damn useless vs Allen.

Isaac, on offense has no clue how to play center. He just stands in corner and pops from mid range once per game. His screens are meh, you can't put him in pick&roll etc. When you combine fact your PGs have no role and your C has no role on offense, you become very predictable offense ( we know this for a fact, 22# offense ).

[VFX]

dont most teams carry 3 centers as most do get hurt? and sorry ji is a pf..all together after this yr with da silva over next 3 yrs thats all 3 centers and backup pf and sf will cost team right around 50 mill what is wrong with that?

Isaac is 240+ lbs now. Thats bigger than Goga. He's more capable of playing at C than ever. It's actually a waste to have him specifically backing up a guy that plays 35mpg considering his talent and contract.

You can do a lot of mental gymnastics to believe spending that amount of money and depth at Center makes sense when there are glaring questions at other starting positions.

But Isaac had 2 healthy seasons out of 7 in his life. And in second healthy one, he didn't play back to backs, was on heavy min restrictions and still wasn't all that great at C in playoffs, matter of fact he was pretty damn useless vs Allen.

Isaac, on offense has no clue how to play center. He just stands in corner and pops from mid range once per game. His screens are meh, you can't put him in pick&roll etc. When you combine fact your PGs have no role and your C has no role on offense, you become very predictable offense ( we know this for a fact, 22# offense ).

You’re missing the point entirely. Re-signing Carter (and why this is in the Carter thread) was stupid. Orlando has 4 bigs, other than Paolo, capable of playing the same minutes at one position.

Lol and Carter does? Same **** different player. Standing on the perimeter during possessions not getting offensive rebounds. I really don’t care about what people think about Isaac’s abilities. He’s more impactful than Moe, Carter, and Goga when he’s on the floor defensively. Especially next to Paolo considering he doesn’t need the ball on offense ever to impact the game.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but who cares what the Center is doing on offense if you have no point guard to run anything with? That’s not the system they’ve set up on offense, therefore it doesn’t matter. Do I wish it was different? Yes. But if this is the system, then play Isaac and hope he doesn’t get injured. Might as well have one of the best defensive bigs in the league on the floor instead of Wendell Mediocre Jr. because they are terrified of injuries or never letting anyone go.

He’s 6’11 240lbs+. They need to find a way to make him relevant more than 10-12 minutes a game playing behind Paolo. He’s not impacting games enough if he’s only seeing the floor in limited minutes against bench units and not on back to backs. Spending that kind of money on a backup PF for that limited time is wasted.

The point as it stands is that Orlando should have moved Carter prior to spending money re-signing everyone in free agency obviously… the “injury insurance” argument for complacency is tiring.

[Skybox]

Look... has anyone looked or asked at the elephant in the room?

Namely, what does Paolo think of WCJ? Cuz last season Ive been reading that Paolo is like bff or considers wcj as his big bro.

Duke brotherhood is real

...I'd trade WCJ for Mark Williams and hope for HIM to get healthy

Problem with that is M.Williams problem is his back. As Magic fans, dont we have a history of players who shined then dropped because of back injuries? ( Tmac , D12, Penny(???)

True- but he's still very young. WCJ now has a track record of missing games for everything but his back. I like WCJ but I really like Williams and he's obviously down with Paolo.

[Furinkazan]

Season not even started and dude already got injured ?

[RookieStar]

Season not even started and dude already got injured ?

Thats why GOGA signed with us. Even Stevie Wonder could see it.