Official 2025 Offseason Thread

[OrlChamps2030]

Again I don’t know if he gained 30lbs. The exact number is immaterial. Whatever weight he put on wasn’t from sitting around gorging in crumbl cookies and ice cream. JI has access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have. He played some center in last years playoffs and it was with good results. They decided to try bulking him up and like many athletes who are committed to a goal, he overshot it a little and now has to find that line.

So pro athletes with access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have never get out of shape? Good to know

I can tell you right now you give me his access to 3-4 months of nothing but the weights eating healthy food cooked by a personalized chef with no worry like us day to day folks such as family bills job etc and I know for damn sure I can gain 20lbs of muscle easily.

That’s 80 pounds of muscle in a year

You’re built different bro what a beast

[89Magicfan]

Camps were opened in October, season ended in April/ May.
You would think somebody within a team, or player himself ( you know, people payed millions) could look up at his heat map ( radius of movement), use speed data that even you and me have from nba.com ( let alone all the gadgets they have, for crying out loud i have smart watch, local amateurs have bracelets ) and at some point during 6 months period come to conclusion " sheeet you know what, this doesn't work, let's put you on 2400 calories instaed of 2600 calories and see will your agility improve".

Is it really that hard?

Like, personal coaches worth €20 / hour in my local gym ask their clients questions like:
1) how is your sleep
2) do you feel any pain
3) track their numbers
4) give them meal prep to hit target weight



You can get pro athlete in good shape within 2-3 weeks if you know what are you doing. Guy plays 12 min a game, it's not that hard.

Legit question is: who's brilliant idea was to bulk up guy with broken knees 30 pounds over several months to play position that he has no skills to play, as his only skill in nba is mobility for a size. That's $100 000 000M question.

Eh increasing muscle size if done right is beneficial. If he was doing a dirty bodybuilding bulk yeah but that’s not what they were doing.

I struggle to see single reason why anybody, let alone injury prone athlete should do dirty bulking.

When i do "dirty" bulking i know it's just my excuse to eat crap around Christmas

But still it's within 10-12 pounds of summer weight, not 30.

It's such a stress for a knees to me, that going over feels terrible.

That’s what I mean. He wasn’t doing a dirty bulk. He just over shot it and figured out he’s better a little lighter.

When I do a clean bulk I feel fine other than just feeling a little less agile.

Dirty bulk during Thanksgiving and Christmas only is a must lol.

[drsd]

Legit question is: who's brilliant idea was to bulk up guy with broken knees 30 pounds over several months to play position that he has no skills to play, as his only skill in nba is mobility for a size. That's $100 000 000M question.

This was a major question for all of us when pre-season opened. So: yes Isaac sucked the first half of the season. But at least he didn't break in two.

Small victory?

[yoyojw17]

Legit question is: who's brilliant idea was to bulk up guy with broken knees 30 pounds over several months to play position that he has no skills to play, as his only skill in nba is mobility for a size. That's $100 000 000M question.

This was a major question for all of us when pre-season opened. So: yes Isaac sucked the first half of the season. But at least he didn't break in two.

Small victory?

From what was discussed... It was a combination of being ble to play the center position and durability.

If he really has become more durable... That would be great... As he slowly loses the weight and doesn't can get to even more of an impact. Focusing on his offense this off-season will be key. Though he didn't look like JI of old this season... He was still a great defender. Look

Loved watching him more on the offensive rebounding this season as well.

[Skybox]

Again I don’t know if he gained 30lbs. The exact number is immaterial. Whatever weight he put on wasn’t from sitting around gorging in crumbl cookies and ice cream. JI has access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have. He played some center in last years playoffs and it was with good results. They decided to try bulking him up and like many athletes who are committed to a goal, he overshot it a little and now has to find that line.

So pro athletes with access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have never get out of shape? Good to know

I can tell you right now you give me his access to 3-4 months of nothing but the weights eating healthy food cooked by a personalized chef with no worry like us day to day folks such as family bills job etc and I know for damn sure I can gain 20lbs of muscle easily.

That’s 80 pounds of muscle in a year

You’re built different bro what a beast

I am not going to be JI's defender...but c'mon. Gaining 20lbs in a quarter is unlikely but possible with every advantage of a professional staff and insane genes...it's not the same as just scaling it to 80lbs in a year. A lot of NBA guys and humans in general couldn't gain 20 quality lbs in a quarter even it with all of the help...but I don't see why anyone is questioning his story as he's explaining that it was a bad idea, in hindsight, and it didn't feel good. What's so hard to buy?

He was very forthright...it was a mistake.

[ogmagicfan]

My thing with the PG position is I think they are going to go with more of a combo type like Simons/Sexton etc. I think they still want Paolo and Franz handling it a ton. And Reaves to me is just a solid step above the other combo options at passing and scoring efficiency. Plus he has improved each year. He is like a 90th percentile PnR ball-handler, he has flaws, but would make a big difference for us.

I think you have valid concerns and criticisms, I think there is a real chance our offense will still be bad with all of these guys, but I would personally be pretty comfortable taking a shot on Reaves-- Especially in comparison to the other realistic options.

To find a guy that can pass it at a high level and score would be to trade for a star like Lamelo, Trae or Maxey etc. I just don't think they are going that route yet. They could get a good passer that can hit an occasional 3 like an upgraded CoJo, but then spacing issues will still probably persist. I just feel of the combo guys who deliver a combination of the two things we need, Reaves is the best.

I'm not even sure Reaves is going to be available and I think the Lakers will shoot for higher than what we have, but I would make the call. The extension definitely would be tricky. I really see Reaves as unlikely, but my personal ideal combo guard.

You could be right about that, I personally dont agree with a combo guard being to solution to our problems, as I'd liken Paolo & Franz to Tatum & Brown passing wise, except our duo is slightly better passing wise?

I dont think theyre good enough to ignore the same problems that plagued the Celtics. Smart didnt cut it. They went and got White and later Holiday. Reaves might put up comparable ast #'s to White but his ability, I wouldnt say is in the same field.

Reaves or whoever we get might be a placeholder, which is fair, but I'm not the most comfortable trading multiple picks & young talent for a placeholder.

I do agree, Reaves is pretty high on the list for potential combo guards to add on our team that are plausible

I also wonder are we looking for a combo guard because that's what we want, or thats the only options that are primarily available?

I don't think its necessarily a positional thing and more of a skillset fit.

All three of Reaves, Simons, and Sexton can run pick and roll situations and can shoot the basketball.

The ideal archetype that Orlando needs just doesn't exist.

The idea of a "traditional point guard, that is an elite defender, can shoot, bends defenses, and distributes at a high level" cant be acquired at a real price. They need a guy that is dangerous enough to go off for 20 if he isn't covered properly, but can also work within a system next to Paolo/Franz as a operator. At base level they just have to be able to bring the ball up the floor, create offense, and shoot the basketball.

Thats valid, but I dont even think whoever we have as our PG needs to be a lockdown defender. They can be below average as long as we have either Suggs, AB, or another 3 & D player next to them. Don't need them to have insane gravity or be an elite passer. But I do believe we need a PG who both shoots the 3 at volume and is an above average passer. They can run P&R's, post entry passes, complex reads, and give us another ball handler under pressure.

Pretty much what you said but I'd say my threshold as the kinda passer we need is going to end up higher than the Reaves, Sexton, Simons of the world.

In the end that archtype of player isnt available as far as we know, but that player could be available, but it would require Weltham to make calls on other players and see what the price.

It's one thing to make a trade for the players everyone knows is available, its another thing to make a move for a player we only bring up once every 10 pages

[89Magicfan]

Again I don’t know if he gained 30lbs. The exact number is immaterial. Whatever weight he put on wasn’t from sitting around gorging in crumbl cookies and ice cream. JI has access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have. He played some center in last years playoffs and it was with good results. They decided to try bulking him up and like many athletes who are committed to a goal, he overshot it a little and now has to find that line.

So pro athletes with access to the highest level of weights, training, dieticians, that you can have never get out of shape? Good to know

I can tell you right now you give me his access to 3-4 months of nothing but the weights eating healthy food cooked by a personalized chef with no worry like us day to day folks such as family bills job etc and I know for damn sure I can gain 20lbs of muscle easily.

That’s 80 pounds of muscle in a year

You’re built different bro what a beast

I don’t know if you’re serious or just trolling at this point.

[VFX]

The idea of Jonathan Isaac “bulking up” doesn’t even make sense within the context of this roster.

What was he hoping? That he would be filling in as the fourth Center on this team? Lmao.

Was he hoping that he would get more burn at Center than Carter next to Paolo? I guess I could buy that. Not a hard task on paper.

Whatever… it doesn’t matter. It’s already happened. And we’ve learned from his experiment that he’s only a PF relegated to playing 12-15mpg as a shell of who he was 6 years ago.

Nearly irrelevant player within the context of how this team is currently built. Hes lucky Moe Wagner is inept defensively despite having an incredible efficiency on offense. Because his entire purpose is mitigating that fact at PF in the second unit.

[Skybox]

the bulking up of Isaac was a failed experiment...failed but indisputable. He's said it, he basically admitted it was a failure of his and the leadership and that they would walk it back. I'm very very encouraged by the honesty and the facts. If he can stay healthy AND play like he used to - he's a force of nature at $15m per - and he's just as good in big games, he's not an "empty defense" (he doesn't have any stats ) guy, he's impactful towards wins, especially if there are roster changes coming that sacrifice some defense for offense...there might not be a better guy in the league to cover for defensive weaknesses anywhere on the court - from full-court press to meeting Embiid at the rim. He's unique if he could JUST GET RELIABLE. Shooting and more rebounds would be nice, but I can live with a Rodman-like impact defensively.

I have been (and will continue to be) as critical of Weltman as anyone, but I am encouraged by his end of the year interviews...he sounded differently than ever before. I stopped clicking on his interviews because he was so absolutely unwilling to share anything of substance (which frustrated me as a fan, but wasn't a bad thing for an exec)...but this sounded different, almost apologetic - not the right word, but basically acknowledging that a course correction was needed, compromises needed to be made, and that the roster, as presently constructed, wasn't ready to win ...but that he would try to get it there NOW.

Talk is cheap. But THIS talk was better than previous talk...I'm guardedly optimistic and encouraged.

[eyriq]

Umm

Read on Twitter

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[basketballRob]

Umm

Read on Twitter

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What's the meaning? I'm sure some are going to think this means he's going to a new team.

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[eyriq]

Umm

Read on Twitter

?t=cSeEE0a52c9ED1bl6rK4MA&s=19

What's the meaning? I'm sure some are going to think this means he's going to a new team.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using RealGM mobile app

Feels loaded with meaning.

[VFX]

Umm

Read on Twitter

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[eyriq]

Umm

Read on Twitter

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Could mean Suggs getting traded

[basketballRob]

Umm

Read on Twitter

?t=cSeEE0a52c9ED1bl6rK4MA&s=19

What's the meaning? I'm sure some are going to think this means he's going to a new team.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using RealGM mobile app

Feels loaded with meaning.

I think we're reading too much into it. It's like drsd saying he interpreted Weltman's comments as several defensive minded players were getting traded

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[basketballRob]

Umm

Read on Twitter

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Could mean Suggs getting traded

He could just mean the offseason is an opportunity to get better for season 3.

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[zaymon]

Could mean Suggs getting traded

He could just mean the offseason is an opportunity to get better for season 3.

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He could mean he found a good spot to observe butterflies.

[basketballRob]

Could mean Suggs getting traded

He could just mean the offseason is an opportunity to get better for season 3.

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He could mean he found a good spot to observe butterflies.

He puts butterflies on a lot of his posts.

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[eyriq]

Could mean Suggs getting traded

He could just mean the offseason is an opportunity to get better for season 3.

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Stop being realistic bro

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

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