2025-2026 Regular Season Game 1: Miami Heat (0-0) at Orlando Magic (0-0) - 7pm ET

[OrlandoDream]

If Jett isn't getting rotation minutes, then they likely won't pick up his option by 10/31.

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I think that was the case the moment we traded for Bane and signed Paolo. With our apron situation, that 7mil salary he holds is a big deal. I did not expect Jett to be on this team after this year.

[JoshuaPotter]

How did Isaac look in his limited minutes tonight? Short in minutes because of him playing like a non factor?

[Knightro]

How did Isaac look in his limited minutes tonight? Short in minutes because of him playing like a non factor?

He wasn't particularly impactful. He's just such a poor offensive player all the way around (limited, weak handle, not a physical screener, not a great shooter) that he really has to be fully dialed up to 11 defensively to counterbalance that.

Kudos to Mosley for not sticking with him too long.

[JoshuaPotter]

If Jett isn't getting rotation minutes, then they likely won't pick up his option by 10/31.

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I think that was the case the moment we traded for Bane and signed Paolo. With our apron situation, that 7mil salary he holds is a big deal. I did not expect Jett to be on this team after this year.

Only way Jett sees rotation minutes is by blowouts I presume. Same with Jase.

[JoshuaPotter]

How did Isaac look in his limited minutes tonight? Short in minutes because of him playing like a non factor?

He wasn't particularly impactful. He's just such a poor offensive player all the way around (limited, weak handle, not a physical screener, not a great shooter) that he really has to be fully dialed up to 11 defensively to counterbalance that.

Kudos to Mosley for not sticking with him too long.

If anything Suggs proved you can be impactful on defense in limited minutes. Ownership of Isaacs lack of motor to make up for it is on him for sure.

[UCFJayBird]

Despite the team playing fairly sloppy at times and looking out of sync with some of the new players (takes time) they still put up 125, which they only did 3 times last season. 39% from 3 was very encouraging. When Bane hit that first 3 I was like "preseason yips over". Suggs looked so much better than I expected in his first game back. Paolo had a pretty bad game for him and still went 24/11 (I think).

Clean up the turnovers, continue to work on defensive assignments and chemistry, and this team is going to be so fun to watch this year.

[JoshuaPotter]

Despite the team playing fairly sloppy at times and looking out of sync with some of the new players (takes time) they still put up 125, which they only did 3 times last season. 39% from 3 was very encouraging. When Bane hit that first 3 I was like "preseason yips over". Suggs looked so much better than I expected in his first game back. Paolo had a pretty bad game for him and still went 24/11 (I think).

Clean up the turnovers, continue to work on defensive assignments and chemistry, and this team is going to be so fun to watch this year.

Very encouraging first game. Looks like at the very end when "grind" starting to happen we tended to do what we did best last season which is...grind.

It is now an 81 game season. I am more then a little frustrated by lack of defensive cohesion but willing to give it some time.

[JoshuaPotter]

Removing
KCP / Harris / Cole / Corey + Suggs to injury

Adding
Bane / Tyus + Suggs coming back from injury

Were not merely skin deep changes. These 2 are different players. Top this off with the Suggs + Bane being available at roughly the same time even on limited minutes and you have a completely different backcourt with the only Anchor from the prior season being Black. Needless to say, the falloff from Suggs to KCP / Harris / Cole was no mere stone. It was a meteor.

Bane, offensively seems to be a meteor above Suggs who I never considered a stone. The addition by subtraction here is substantial. This is easily seen just 1 game in noting Bane + Suggs individual impacts. Even with Tyus laying an egg first game.

[eyriq]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

[fateis007]

It's surprising to see such a fall off from JI. I hope he just needs to get the rust off.

He was looking like a DPY in 2023, and when we unleashed him in spurts, his impact was a game changing. But last year he pretty much lost that edge, and he had to be pulled last night, when usually we would have put him on Adebayo to slow him down. For how limited he is on offense, not sure we can have an average defender at 15-20 mill off the bench.

[JoshuaPotter]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

The challenge is with Paolo is that its one game. There was a period where I asked myself "if this is Paolo would I shop him for another piece and keep Bane + Franz?"

The rest I ultimately agree with. No, if I were GM i'd keep the band together much longer and see where those TS % take us with him.

[fateis007]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

The challenge is with Paolo is that its one game. There was a period where I asked myself "if this is Paolo would I shop him for another piece and keep Bane + Franz?"

The rest I ultimately agree with. No, if I were GM i'd keep the band together much longer and see where those TS % take us with him.

The only eye test i need to see from Paolo is him dropping 28/9/5 and shooting 42% from 3 in his 12 play off games at just 22 years old. Dude is fine, he just needs to handle the double teams a little better, and develop a little baby hook shot or something he can rely on closer to the paint more often, he is creating so much gravity tho. I wouldn't mind if he bulked up to his size at Duke, he was easily 260-270 and could bully his way through the paint and move guys around more.

[eyriq]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

The challenge is with Paolo is that its one game. There was a period where I asked myself "if this is Paolo would I shop him for another piece and keep Bane + Franz?"

The rest I ultimately agree with. No, if I were GM i'd keep the band together much longer and see where those TS % take us with him.

That's crazy talk

[Rainwater]

I just watched the game Paolo didn’t play that poorly, he looked great on defense and wasn’t playing hero ball. He just didn’t shoot the ball well.

Suggs looked amazing. He basically put all my fears regarding his injury to bed.

[JoshuaPotter]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

The challenge is with Paolo is that its one game. There was a period where I asked myself "if this is Paolo would I shop him for another piece and keep Bane + Franz?"

The rest I ultimately agree with. No, if I were GM i'd keep the band together much longer and see where those TS % take us with him.

That's crazy talk

Choose your AI responses :

1. Playful / Lighthearted

Haha fair! I know it sounds wild after one game — I’m just saying the thought crossed my mind. Gotta let the intrusive GM thoughts cook sometimes

2. Reasoned / Calm Debate

Maybe, but I think it’s fair to at least ask the question. We’ve seen plenty of young stars take time to find their efficiency, and I’m curious how long you’d wait before reconsidering what kind of roster fits best around him.

3. Confident / Slightly Provocative

Crazy talk now maybe, but if Paolo keeps hovering around subpar efficiency while Franz and Bane thrive, people might start asking the same question

4. Friendly Agreement with Clarification

Totally fair, I’m not saying I’d actually trade Paolo — just that I was thinking about what kind of core makes the most sense long term. He’s still the guy for now.

[RichCollab]

Paolo stepped up on rebounds while Miami was killing us.

Paolo didn’t keep attacking the same way on O when it wasn’t working.

He also picked up his defense.

Paolo showed a lot of maturity and was still a key part to winning. Paolo also opened the floor for everyone else has the instant double team happened when he received the ball on O.

[tooler]

Fans like to focus on individuals and individual quarters and even possessions. Let’s take a look at structural changes:

According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Magic are third in pace. Obviously it’s just one game, and they played a few track meets last season too. They did it in a tough game here too. Let’s see if they keep it up.

I don’t want to look at ORtg and DRtg yet because they’re even noisier early in the season.

[YosemiteSam]

Sometimes an extended injury can be a blessing in disguise if the player takes the opportunity to observe the game and learn. It is hard to do that when playing and practicing every day. Watching Suggs last night you can see he was playing the game at a much higher Bball IQ level. If he can now stay healthy we may look at the injury last year as a net positive career wise. Now let’s see if Mo comes back a smarter player as well.

[Knightro]

I just watched the game Paolo didn’t play that poorly, he looked great on defense and wasn’t playing hero ball. He just didn’t shoot the ball well.

Suggs looked amazing. He basically put all his fears regarding his injury to bed.

I think it goes a little deeper than "he didn't shoot the ball well" - I think the quality of shots Paolo was taking and how he struggled navigating against help defenders were also issues.

His effort defensively and on the glass were there though and that's a good thing because those have not always been strengths of his.

[rcklsscognition]

Eye test vs paper incongruencies: I thought our defense was worse that it looks on paper, I thought AB was better than he looks on paper, and I thought Paolo was worse and Franz was better than they look on paper.

Tyus was poop by eye test and on paper.

The challenge is with Paolo is that its one game. There was a period where I asked myself "if this is Paolo would I shop him for another piece and keep Bane + Franz?"

The rest I ultimately agree with. No, if I were GM i'd keep the band together much longer and see where those TS % take us with him.

The only eye test i need to see from Paolo is him dropping 28/9/5 and shooting 42% from 3 in his 12 play off games at just 22 years old. Dude is fine, he just needs to handle the double teams a little better, and develop a little baby hook shot or something he can rely on closer to the paint more often, he is creating so much gravity tho. I wouldn't mind if he bulked up to his size at Duke, he was easily 260-270 and could bully his way through the paint and move guys around more.

Paolo spent a significant amount of time this summer working on his touch around the rim including floaters and hook shots with both hands. Unfortunate to see he isn’t converting around the rim still. Hopefully it comes and improves through the early part of the season.