Top 10 Worst Moves Post Dwight

[anothermagicfan]

Oladipo and Sabonis for ibaka has to be there at the top. Ibaka did nothing and oladipo still had value and Sabonis has been pretty good in his career. If it wasn't for this trade some of the others on the list might not have ever happened. Huge mistake

[fendilim]

Aaron Gordon is so overrated. He is nothing but a glorified 3and d player since day 1. Just put into spotlight and popularity is because of allstar dunk contest, thats it.

We got what we deserved that time.

That’s a wild rewrite of history. Gordon was miscast as a go-to scorer in Orlando but still flashed elite defensive versatility, rebounding, and playmaking flashes. Since moving to Denver and being used properly, he’s been a key starter on a title team. If that’s just a “glorified 3&D,” then every contender could use one.

Indeed, he is the type of player that every contender can use. But he is simply that. It was clear from day 1 that he is simply a 3 and D player.

The problem is the team expected him to be more than that since the day we traded Tobias Harris to free up minutes for him.

And that’s why that’s all we got for him. We held on too long for Aaron Gordon. If we had traded him earlier, we could have gotten more.

Up to this day, he still can’t create his own shot. His percentage of pullups, catch and shoot and inside the paint have been almost the same percentage since he left. Except Gordon isn’t asked to create jumpers anymore. They have even effectively trimmed his pull up frequency and turned him to merely a catch and shoot and play finisher. Touch time and dribbles have been a lot less as well. He is perfect for his role in Denver. The problem was the Magic expected him to be more and we waited for darn long until it was clear that he is only that.

[Bensational]

Aaron Gordon is so overrated. He is nothing but a glorified 3and d player since day 1. Just put into spotlight and popularity is because of allstar dunk contest, thats it.

We got what we deserved that time.

That’s a wild rewrite of history. Gordon was miscast as a go-to scorer in Orlando but still flashed elite defensive versatility, rebounding, and playmaking flashes. Since moving to Denver and being used properly, he’s been a key starter on a title team. If that’s just a “glorified 3&D,” then every contender could use one.

Indeed, he is the type of player that every contender can use. But he is simply that. It was clear from day 1 that he is simply a 3 and D player.

The problem is the team expected him to be more than that since the day we traded Tobias Harris to free up minutes for him.

And that’s why that’s all we got for him. We held on too long for Aaron Gordon. If we had traded him earlier, we could have gotten more.

Up to this day, he still can’t create his own shot. His percentage of pullups, catch and shoot and inside the paint have been almost the same percentage since he left. Except Gordon isn’t asked to create jumpers anymore. They have even effectively trimmed his pull up frequency and turned him to merely a catch and shoot and play finisher. Touch time and dribbles have been a lot less as well. He is perfect for his role in Denver. The problem was the Magic expected him to be more and we waited for darn long until it was clear that he is only that.

I think the Magic were hoping for AG to become more, but I think that’s also because they failed to ever acquire anyone significantly better than him to force him into the role he’s now successful in. Put him next to Jokic and AG is freed to be the team’s best defender and off-ball forward. He was Denver’s 3rd best player on a championship team, so it’s proven he can be a key contributor to a championship team. Vuc wasn’t Jokic. Fournier wasn’t Murray. And Payton, Hezonja, Bamba, Fultz, etc didn’t even reach MPJ or even Braun levels.

[pepe1991]

Ibaka for Oladipo and pick gets overrated in terms of "worst deals".

Ibaka was viewed as MUCH better player and established all- nba-defender type guy.

Oladipo got benched pretty much every season for one reason of another and asked for max contract that he simply had no business asking for.
Nobody in right mind would give 14 ppg, 52% TS guard , who shot like 32% for 3 - max deal or anything close (or alleged + $20M a year at times).


So both guys were expiring deals. Ibaka was just better player in that moment. Magic had to pay with pick.

Presti simply was good enough at his job to see value in Sabonis, odds are, Magic would pass on Sabonis anyway.

It was very bad trade in roster construction sense, but keeping Oladipo was also going to be one. Paying Biyombo $17M a year was dagger in terms of killing that Hennigan.

In reality, Oladipo only had 1 and half good seasons in his entire career.

[CarraT]

Not making panic trades is why the team finally has a core. Trading just to trade is how we got the Ibaka mess in the first place.

So there is either „panic trades“ or not doing any trades in 8 years that you’re not forced to by your own players. Nothing inbetween?

That’s just not true. We’ve made trades the last eight years. Vuc for Wendell and Franz, AG for a first and Gary Harris, Fultz for a late first, Bol came in a deal too. The front office hasn’t been inactive, they’ve just made smarter moves instead of repeating the kind of mistakes that set us back in the first place.

Vuc and Gordon should’ve been traded way earlier. Let’s be real – they didn’t get moved because the front office had some bold rebuild vision. They were moved because they forced their way out. Blowing up that team wasn’t the FO’s decision – it was the players’.

The Fultz trade? At the time, totally worth the risk. But keeping him for five years turned into a disaster. He never developed into a reliable shooter, and having a non-shooting PG completely clogged the paint – making life for Banchero and Wagner, two guys who rely heavily on driving, a nightmare. We invested half a decade into one of the league’s most important positions in a player no team even wants now – not even on a minimum deal.
Again: the trade wasn’t the bad move. But sticking with him for so long? Easily one of the worst roster decisions in the entire league in recent years.

And Bol Bol? Seriously? Your argument that the FO “wasn’t inactive” is that we traded a second-round pick for Bol Bol? That’s not roster building – that’s penny stock trading.

[pepe1991]

Thing about Gordon trade- they got literally nothing for him.

Got corpses of Gary Harris and 25th pick that was bum as they gave up on him midway through second year.

Playing him in wrong fashion for half of a decade is story for another day.

[Skybox]

That’s a wild rewrite of history. Gordon was miscast as a go-to scorer in Orlando but still flashed elite defensive versatility, rebounding, and playmaking flashes. Since moving to Denver and being used properly, he’s been a key starter on a title team. If that’s just a “glorified 3&D,” then every contender could use one.

Indeed, he is the type of player that every contender can use. But he is simply that. It was clear from day 1 that he is simply a 3 and D player.

The problem is the team expected him to be more than that since the day we traded Tobias Harris to free up minutes for him.

And that’s why that’s all we got for him. We held on too long for Aaron Gordon. If we had traded him earlier, we could have gotten more.

Up to this day, he still can’t create his own shot. His percentage of pullups, catch and shoot and inside the paint have been almost the same percentage since he left. Except Gordon isn’t asked to create jumpers anymore. They have even effectively trimmed his pull up frequency and turned him to merely a catch and shoot and play finisher. Touch time and dribbles have been a lot less as well. He is perfect for his role in Denver. The problem was the Magic expected him to be more and we waited for darn long until it was clear that he is only that.

I think the Magic were hoping for AG to become more, but I think that’s also because they failed to ever acquire anyone significantly better than him to force him into the role he’s now successful in. Put him next to Jokic and AG is freed to be the team’s best defender and off-ball forward. He was Denver’s 3rd best player on a championship team, so it’s proven he can be a key contributor to a championship team. Vuc wasn’t Jokic. Fournier wasn’t Murray. And Payton, Hezonja, Bamba, Fultz, etc didn’t even reach MPJ or even Braun levels.

So, I think it's fair to say AG was a fine pick, but the Magic's misuse or mischaracterization of his talents was a blunder. Pairing him with Isaac was pretty nonsensical.

[Skybox]

Thing about Gordon trade- they got literally nothing for him.

Got corpses of Gary Harris and 25th pick that was bum as they gave up on him midway through second year.

Playing him in wrong fashion for half of a decade is story for another day.

Let's remember that analysis when people shout "4 FIRSTS" for a proven guy like Bane...I'd love to see a breakdown of the actual players harvested in some of the big trades in recent years ("big" in terms of multiple firsts). The Vuc trade might be one of the great exceptions with Franz being far better than anything else in the deal (even if the Jett pick was a bomb).

[drsd]

Fultz trade.

Surprised this took so long!

Fultz moved from Philadelphia to Orlando in exchange for Jonathon Simmons plus a protected first-rounder and a second-rounder.. Sounds innocent. Until one realises that the FRP became Tyrese Maxey.

Sad

[drsd]

Thing about Gordon trade- they got literally nothing for him.

Got corpses of Gary Harris and 25th pick that was bum as they gave up on him midway through second year.

Playing him in wrong fashion for half of a decade is story for another day.

I actually don't feel bad about dumping Gordon. The Magic was unwilling to pay his 20M per annum price tag. And with Fournier gone, Gordon needed to go for the Magic to truly suck.

In the whole, Vučević, Gordon, and Fournier became Carter, F-Wagner and Howard. That's were the Magic is now from killing buddie-ball. Howard was the wrong pick, but that's not on trading away these three.

Thought experiment: would you trade Vučević, Gordon, and Fournier for Carter, F-Wagner and Howard? I would guess the answer is yes.

[drsd]

Ibaka for Oladipo and pick gets overrated in terms of "worst deals".

And-1

Look: the Magic had to pick between retaining only Oladipo or Fournier. It is hard to argue that Orlando made the wrong choice, as Fournier was arguably the same player in the end as Oladipo. With hind-site. But even if it had been a Fournier for Ibaka deal, how's that different in the scope of Magic-hood?

[drsd]

Let's remember that analysis when people shout "4 FIRSTS" for a proven guy like Bane...I'd love to see a breakdown of the actual players harvested in some of the big trades in recent years ("big" in terms of multiple firsts). The Vuc trade might be one of the great exceptions with Franz being far better than anything else in the deal (even if the Jett pick was a bomb).

And-1

On average, these FRPs will be low-end rotational players. In practice one gets to that average by accepting that one will be very good (not Tyrese Maxey good, as the Magic could not have expected that value for the Fultz trade), but one of the four will probably become an NBA starter. AND one of these 4 will be a whole bust. A total wast of a pick. As in Reece Gaines — 15th, Andrew Nicholson — 19th, or Johnny Taylor — 17th level of bad. As non-lottery guys.

[Knightro]

What moves post-Dwight do you think belong on a top ten most detrimental list? I'll start:

1. The Serge Ibaka Gambit (2016–17)
This marked a shift from patience to panic. It was a multi-stage blunder that resulted in Orlando trading away Oladipo, Ilyasova, and Sabonis for Terrence Ross and a pick that was eventually flipped for Markelle Fultz.

2. 2016 Free Agency Lunacy
The win-now mindset led to squandering massive cap flexibility on Bismack Biyombo and Jeff Green. The resulting logjam stifled Aaron Gordon’s development. A nonsensical strategy.

3. Coaching Instability (2012–2018)
Rotating through Jacque Vaughn, Scott Skiles, and Frank Vogel, each with different systems and philosophies, created chaos and undermined player development.

4. Tobias Harris Salary Dump (Feb 2016)
Just months after extending a then-23-year-old Harris, Orlando traded him for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova to appease Skiles. A short-sighted move with little long-term value.

5. J.J. Redick Trade (Feb 2013)
They traded Redick, Gustavo Ayón, and Ish Smith for Beno Udrih, Doron Lamb, and 20-year-old Tobias Harris. While Harris had upside, Redick was in the middle of a career year. He was one of the league’s elite shooters, a rare archetype, homegrown, and a fan favorite. Context matters.

6. Elfrid Payton Trade-Up (2014)
Orlando gave up the #12 pick (Dario Šarić), a future first, and a second-rounder to move up two spots for Payton, who turned out to be a bust. Brutal opportunity cost.

7. Drafting Mario Hezonja (2015)
Busts happen, but missing on Devin Booker is a gut punch. High opportunity cost.

8. Channing Frye Signing and Giveaway (2014–16)
They overpaid Frye in free agency for leadership and floor-spacing. Then they reversed course and dumped him for Jared Cunningham and a future second. Poor asset management.

9. Aaron Gordon Trade (Mar 2021)
While a rebuild was underway, the return for Gordon — Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton, and a future first (Jayson “Jase” Richardson) — felt underwhelming given his market value.

10. Drafting Andrew Nicholson (2012)
Using the 19th pick on Nicholson, who ultimately busted, isn’t egregious by itself. But passing on Fournier, Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, and Will Barton? Yikes.

Some of these aren't that bad IMO.

The worst thing by a wide margin was Hennigan losing his mind and destroying his own rebuild to try and placate Skiles and later ownership.

On Opening Night 2015, this was the Magic's depth chart...

Starters: Payton, Oladipo, Fournier, Harris, Vucevic
Reserves: Watson, Hezonja, Gordon, Frye, Dedmon

There's really nothing wrong with this team at all. It's young and growing.

But Skiles hated the team and eventually complained to the point where Hennigan traded Harris for two expiring contracts.

Then ownership was so aghast that Skiles quit and wanted accountability for Hennigan, Rob decided to trade Oladipo and the 11th pick (Sabonis) for Ibaka and then use the free agency windfall to sign Biyombo, Augustin and Green.

So in one year they went from the depth chart listed above with another lottery pick incoming to...

Payton, Fournier, Gordon, Ibaka, Vucevic
Augustin, Hezonja, Green, Biyombo

A much worse and much lower upside team.

[Knightro]

Ibaka for Oladipo and pick gets overrated in terms of "worst deals".

Ibaka was viewed as MUCH better player and established all- nba-defender type guy.

Oladipo got benched pretty much every season for one reason of another and asked for max contract that he simply had no business asking for.
Nobody in right mind would give 14 ppg, 52% TS guard , who shot like 32% for 3 - max deal or anything close (or alleged + $20M a year at times).


So both guys were expiring deals. Ibaka was just better player in that moment. Magic had to pay with pick.

Presti simply was good enough at his job to see value in Sabonis, odds are, Magic would pass on Sabonis anyway.

It was very bad trade in roster construction sense, but keeping Oladipo was also going to be one. Paying Biyombo $17M a year was dagger in terms of killing that Hennigan.

In reality, Oladipo only had 1 and half good seasons in his entire career.

Ibaka had declined dramatically on defense by the time the Magic actually acquired him though. He wasn't anywhere close to the same player defensively in 2016 that he was 3-4 years prior.

His lateral mobility had gone down quite a bit as he put on weight. He really should have been playing as a stretch 5 in 2016, but the Magic still had Vucevic and decided to give Biyombo 72M on the back of essentially one great playoff series.

So Vucevic and Biyombo were sucking up all the minutes at the 5, but you had this veteran going into the final year of his deal who wanted to get paid huge and he had to play, so he was playing as a miscast PF.

Which meant Gordon then had to play full time SF since there were no minutes available as the starting PF slot anymore either.

It was a disaster all the way around.

[VFX]

This thread is hilarious for a number of reasons.

First, I’m surprised you of all people made it considering how even mods here will $hit their pants and roll their eyes for discussing anything related to poor past decisions for the millionth time. Like decisions in the last 5 seasons have zero influence on current on court product relating to bench depth.

That being said…

It’s also funny how “post-Dwight” nothing is mentioned in this current iteration of the FO as being a top 10 worst move aside from AG at 9.

Now, that’s either because you are an agenda baiting poster or you copy and pasted some chat GPT garbage to keep the offseason interesting. Probably both.

You could argue about 3-4 decisions in the first 3-4 years of Weltmans tenure should be making this list but you would never add those bc it goes against 4D chess move calculations you attributed to the current FO.

AG/ Fournier trade timeline and return
Bamba pick as BPA
Fultz trade + extension
No established point guard during Paolo/Franz initial development
3-4 cumulative botched picks during current rebuild + srp deck shuffling for limited return.

Take your pick.

[Knightro]

First, I’m surprised you of all people made it considering how even mods here will $hit their pants and roll their eyes for discussing anything related to poor past decisions for the millionth time.

Kindly... cut it out.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Ibaka for Oladipo and pick gets overrated in terms of "worst deals".

Ibaka was viewed as MUCH better player and established all- nba-defender type guy.

Oladipo got benched pretty much every season for one reason of another and asked for max contract that he simply had no business asking for.
Nobody in right mind would give 14 ppg, 52% TS guard , who shot like 32% for 3 - max deal or anything close (or alleged + $20M a year at times).


So both guys were expiring deals. Ibaka was just better player in that moment. Magic had to pay with pick.

Presti simply was good enough at his job to see value in Sabonis, odds are, Magic would pass on Sabonis anyway.

It was very bad trade in roster construction sense, but keeping Oladipo was also going to be one. Paying Biyombo $17M a year was dagger in terms of killing that Hennigan.

In reality, Oladipo only had 1 and half good seasons in his entire career.

Oladipo was on a rookie contract and would have been a RFA, even if he wanted $20m (which he eventually got with OKC), we could have just retained him against anyone who made him an offer. OKC traded Ibaka so they could make room to give KD an extension which surprise, he left for the Warriors anyway.

We all hated this move because it seemed like Ibaka didn’t want to be here from day 1. So noticeable that we traded him at the trade deadline because 1. It wasn’t working and 2. He was going to leave in free agency anyway.

Why we traded for him made no sense.

[Knightro]

I also do think it took Oladipo getting traded twice in 12 months to start taking his career as seriously as he needed to take it. I don't think that breakout he had in Indiana would have happened in Orlando or Oklahoma City frankly.

He overhauled his body in the summer of 2017 and got himself into elite shape. That first season in Indiana he basically was a guy who was in such good shape that he was able to play max effort for the entire game. And subsequently he was a well deserved all-NBA player that season.

The decision to essentially choose Fournier over Oladipo wasn't a terrible one at that time it was made.

[Skybox]

Ibaka for Oladipo and pick gets overrated in terms of "worst deals".

And-1

Look: the Magic had to pick between retaining only Oladipo or Fournier. It is hard to argue that Orlando made the wrong choice, as Fournier was arguably the same player in the end as Oladipo. With hind-site. But even if it had been a Fournier for Ibaka deal, how's that different in the scope of Magic-hood?

On paper, an engaged Ibaka was the ideal PF next to Vuc...he just wasn't engaged and the whole "Biz is starting at C" plan was DOA. It's just fortunate that we didn't trade away pissed off/passed over Vuc before he became an All-Star (post Ibaka). Ibaka was a monster in the preseason and it looked like we'd have a fearsome Nigerian Nightmare frontcourt to terrorize the league...then, he just seemed to quit.

[Skybox]

I also do think it took Oladipo getting traded in 12 months to start taking his career as seriously as he needed to take it. I don't think that breakout he had in Indiana would have happened in Orlando or Oklahoma City frankly.

He overhauled his body in the summer of 2017 and got himself into elite shape. That first season in Indiana he basically was a guy who was in such good shape that he was able to play max effort for the entire game. And subsequently he was a well deserved all-NBA player that season.

The decision to essentially choose Fournier over Oladipo wasn't a terrible one at that time it was made.

I agree...he would've continued to be a smaller Kuminga in ORL...turning it over in crowds, basically playing wildly with delusions of grandeur...he gives very clear credit to his time with the WestBeast in OKC as the turning point...where he learned how stars work and prepare.