Official 2024-2025 Magic General Season Thread I

[Bensational]

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AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

[Bergmaniac]

I would love to know what happened with Goga and TDS. Are they really basically unplayable?

Our defensive strategy against Boston is to switch everything and not help to avoid giving up threes and Wendell and Isaac are better at this than Goga.

[eyriq]

Read on Twitter

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

I've thought about Smart, too. There is a lot of appeal. His defense, leadership, and energy are great, his offense and decision making are inconsistent. I could see the appeal.

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

I think he'd be perfect if we could dump some contracts and our 2nd round picks for him.

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[KillMonger]

I'd rather davion Mitchell

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[Skybox]

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

I think he'd be perfect if we could dump some contracts and our 2nd round picks for him.

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KCP is better than Smart, but I’ll take one year of Smart’s contract for two more of KCP…we don’t need either one.

[Knightro]

I'd rather davion Mitchell

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Another absolute non needle mover IMO.

That is just adding another Suggs/Black style of defense first guard without addressing the extreme dearth of offensive playmaking.

[fendilim]

Read on Twitter

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

For me, the difference is really KP. We already have two defensive backcourt players that can shoot - KCP and Suggs (yes, I know they aren’t hitting their shots now), but the big difference is KP. He possesses a real matchup nightmare in switch everything era.

[RichCollab]

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

For me, the difference is really KP. We already have two defensive backcourt players that can shoot - KCP and Suggs (yes, I know they aren’t hitting their shots now), but the big difference is KP. He possesses a real matchup nightmare in switch everything era.

Celtics didn’t need KP last year.

I would argue Celtics have experience and roster optimization as a whole.

[fendilim]

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

For me, the difference is really KP. We already have two defensive backcourt players that can shoot - KCP and Suggs (yes, I know they aren’t hitting their shots now), but the big difference is KP. He possesses a real matchup nightmare in switch everything era.

Celtics didn’t need KP last year.

I would argue Celtics have experience and roster optimization as a whole.

We already have Suggs and KCP to replicate the defensive backcourt of White and Holiday. No need to add Smart, imo. We need a reliable big.

[RichCollab]

For me, the difference is really KP. We already have two defensive backcourt players that can shoot - KCP and Suggs (yes, I know they aren’t hitting their shots now), but the big difference is KP. He possesses a real matchup nightmare in switch everything era.

Celtics didn’t need KP last year.

I would argue Celtics have experience and roster optimization as a whole.

We already have Suggs and KCP to replicate the defensive backcourt of White and Holiday. No need to add Smart, imo. We need a reliable big.

Guard rotation needs offensive uplift. I believe we can add that to Suggs and AB or KCP.

[pepe1991]

Smart is just sh***y Suggs

[thelead]

Well… it’s been a rough year and I don’t expect it to continue past tonight. Hopefully we see the roster construction go the right direction this summer and our core continues to work on their outside shooting. We’re going nowhere unless Paolo, Franz, and Suggs show that they can be dangerous from deep.

Offseason goals:
1. Hire Chip Engelland
2. Get Ty Jerome somehow (seems unlikely tbh though)
3. Get an actual stretch 5 like Myles Turner (also unlikely but he’s a FA that shot 40% on nearly 6 3pt attempts per game and is 29yo)
4. Draft guards that can shoot and dribble (Walter Clayton Jr?)
5. Hire an offensive assistant coach (Terry Stotts?)
6. Remind Paolo to play more like LeBron than Melo/KD (use your passing ability/vision more!!!. Has to trust teammates over taking bad shots)
7. Lock Franz in the gym with Chip for the entire summer
8. Get Suggs and Mo healthy
9. Move Cole. It is time.
10. Figure out how to play JI more or move him.

[Bensational]

AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

For me, the difference is really KP. We already have two defensive backcourt players that can shoot - KCP and Suggs (yes, I know they aren’t hitting their shots now), but the big difference is KP. He possesses a real matchup nightmare in switch everything era.

Yeah, KP is a major headache. But also a major unicorn. Not many rim protecting floor stretching 5’s out there like him. Who can we target like that? Gafford seems the most plausible.

I think our backcourt needs to upgrade Cole to an impact scorer closer to Pritchard, and upgrade the 2nd starting guard next to Suggs to have some more playmaking or volume shooting capacity.

Man it suck’s not being able to see what the Magic look like with their #3 and #4 scorers healthy and in this series.

[eyriq]

On a scale of 1-10 how would you grade this season? Why?

I'm going with a 5.

Negatives are injuries, deadline lethargy, heart and hustle lulls, historically bad shooting, KCP signing, Paolo struggling with his ramp up, and a terrible offense.

Positives are AB leveling up into a full-time contributor, Franz leveling up as a franchise player, Mosley maintaining a #2 defense without Suggs, division title, taking a game from the Celtics.

[pepe1991]

Hmm that's impressive. You have a YouTube channel?

Nah, just made a comment on podcast about playoff predictions , guys are excellent, but it's not in english.

I think the Clips end up winning so I assume the Nugs will be the real winners.

Update:

Celtics Magic 4-1 - series winner and total result prediction were correct.
Pacers- Bucks 4-3 ( probably fail ) Series winner - success, amount of games fail
Knicks- Pistons 4-0 ( fail ) - Series winner -success, amount of games fail
Cavs- Heat 4-0 full success

OKC vs Dallas/Grizzlies - 4-0 ( correct) - total success
Nuggets - Clippres 4-3 - total success
Warriors - Rockets 4-2 - series winner success, game total fail
Wolves- Lakers 4-2 series winner success, games total fail

8/8 series prediction were success.
4/8 total results on spot.

Too bad i had to stop gambling years ago because i couldn't predict that Sun will rise next day

Anyway, no matter how many games teams win in regular season, you can pick apart rosters with too many flaws & issues and write them off in playoffs, when those problems become unsolvable. For Magic, Grizzlies & Houston having questionable offense was always too big of a problem to overcome.

Yesterday with few basketball folks we talked how impossible it is to play basketball without C, so Lakers were clear cut team to remove from serious basketball.

Heat without talent.
Pistons low key were good. Cade arrival masks whole bunch of roster issue they have. They were in position to win a series, but due lack of second scoring option and some players not being mentally ready or mature enough, they lost.
If i'm them i'm HUGE off season buyer.

[Last Guardian]

This is a key spot for the team. How do we keep our defensive identity, and even get better on that end (#1 defense anyone?) while also being more dynamic offensively.

I believe the key difference this season vs last was obviously health...but fully healthy last season the Magic had ability to go off offensively...in spurts. They'd stick around even when offense was terrible, much like this season, but would catch fire at some point (usually from the bench w/Mo). This season, our ability to catch fire was pretty much non existent. Without Suggs being a threat from 3 and Mo being automatic, we just had no extra push.

I'm sorry to all but I'm going with AB and Suggs provided they are healthy next season as the starting guards. I understand we haven't used AB like that, but I think it is worth a shot and he adds size and athleticism to the backcourt. We definitely need to overhaul the bench guards though and get some real bucket getters. Cole just isn't it. He's the right arch type I guess...he just sucks and only shows up once every few games. Gary Harris and KCP...don't let the door hit you. As much as I like defense, I think we have enough with AB/Suggs. We need flame throwers. We need Simons, Sexton, etc. coming off the bench. More than just one too. We need two of them.

I don't hate TDS as Franz backup at all. He's got great height but he's underdeveloped physically. Lets see how he does this offseason building size. I thought he was a pretty smart player on both ends, but obviously was still a rookie and did rookie things.

Center...I don't hate WCJ but I do hate him playing center. Honestly, I think the perfect role for him is to slim down a bit and backup Paolo. For starting C I'm thinking maybe JI although I am on the fence if we should keep him or not. Ideally we find a big 7 footer, however JI does provide the ability to switch AND defend the rim which is fairly unique. If we really want to be offensive though we could go with Moe...but a starting front line of Paolo and Moe doesn't bode well defensively.

[Black and Blue]

On a scale of 1-10 how would you grade this season? Why?

I'm going with a 5.

Negatives are injuries, deadline lethargy, heart and hustle lulls, historically bad shooting, KCP signing, Paolo struggling with his ramp up, and a terrible offense.

Positives are AB leveling up into a full-time contributor, Franz leveling up as a franchise player, Mosley maintaining a #2 defense without Suggs, division title, taking a game from the Celtics.

I'll go with a 7. That may seem high, but here is my thinking: I think Jeff Weltman was on to something in his presser when he said that you learn a lot more in seasons that go wrong than the ones like last season where everything goes right.

-This past season had so many injuries that it threw the players into the deep end of the pool and asked them to swim.
-We saw that Franz, Paolo and Suggs are capable of majorly stepping up in the alpha role when they have to do so.
-We saw Mo Wagner and Anthony Black are the bench gang capable of playing on a contender.
-And most importantly we got major insight into just how many of these developmental draft pick bets have NOT paid off.

Again borrowing from Weltman's presser, there is something big to look at when nearly an entire team posts career lows in shooting (including players like KCP who have substantial enough careers to know that something is rotten in Orlando).

And as painful as this season was, that pain was so constant and obvious that it appears to be bringing about real change. Good teams use these sorts of stress tests as catalysts to do their best work, while bad franchises sit on their hands and are content with the glory of first round exits. We will see which this organization is soon enough.

[J the Drafter]

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AB and Suggs boom

With this thinking in mind, I wonder if Marcus Smart becomes a trade target for us? He’ll be an expiring $21M contract for Washington next season. But he’s a guy who knows how to run in a system somewhat comparable to us who has extensive playoff experience. Not saying he’s a target I desire, but the fit makes some sense if the team is replicating what Boston have done. Defense, can do some secondary ballhandling and playmaking, can hit a 3 (sometimes).

We already have Black and Suggs as big defensive point guards. Smart was, last I checked, prone to taking bad shots too. Suggs and—I think—Black are both more disciplined offensively than Smart.

I’m optimistic that Suggs and Black can both be capable point guards who alternate between playing together and one at a time with a shooting guard, but I wouldn’t oppose a move for an offensive-minded point guard off the bench—if nothing we don’t need another playoff series where our best pg is a 35-year old third-stringer.