Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XXVI: Offseason Edition)

[D12VCMagic]

People need to get off the ledge. It's not like hiring the fry guy at the McD's down the street. There's a decision process and then a negotiation process. I'd much rather they do some due diligence and make a thoughtful decision than snap and make the wrong decision.

I'm not convinced they can make a wrong decision with the three candidates they reportedly interviewed. So many people here talk about Bower like he pissed in your cornflakes after humping your leg all night. The guy wil be fine if he's the pick.

I'm on the ledge because we're about to miss out on the only coach worth firing stan for because ownership is dragging their feet. Bower destroyed the New Orleans Hornets. He signed Peja and James Posey to huge deals. Traded Chandler for Okafor and his drafting was just a peg better then what Otis did.

Ownership destroyed New Orleans, not Bower. The Okafor move was motivated by cash considerations as dictated by NO Ownership at the time. The guy built them from a sub-500 franchise into a perceived contender. Injuries wrecked them, followed by an ownership group that forced him to cut costs.

With DeVos willing to spend, I suspect he surprises people, if he's the choice. I'll be fine with all three of the finalists, though I worry that Hennigan might need some more seasoning.

And as for SVG, I love Stan as a coach, but he basically had to go after he threw Dwight and ownership both under the bus in the 'Dwight wants me fired' press conference. He should have just started wearing a mock turtleneck with "Please Fire Me" painted on it in bright yellow letters.

Bower didn't build **** in NOLA, just like Otis didn't build **** here.

[Nemesis21]

Clearly you have never hired a fry guy at McDonald's. Do you think that kind of deliciousness just happens by accident?

[Nemesis21]

i wonder if the pistons would do a sign and trade of ryan anderson for the 9th pick? it looks like they need a power foward and he would be a good fit next to monroe. we could take austin rivers with the 9th pick and kendall marshall with the 19th if he is there. would be huge upgrades and would give us two things we really need. someone who can score in bunches and consistently get his own shot and a pass first pg that can feed dwight.

marshall
rivers
turk
baby
dwight

i'd try to trade jj for a veteran 3 so we wouldn't have to keep starting turk. i'd try to bring jameer back too if the price is right and have marshall play behind him for a year.

Not a fan of Rivers, just take Marshall at 9 and Jeff Taylor at 19.

Marshall
Redick
Taylor
Baby
D12

[RickB-Orlando]

Bower didn't build **** in NOLA, just like Otis didn't build **** here.

If that's your argument, there's really no use in trying to convince you. Logic is too often trumped by emotion.

[MagicTownBaller]

id trade ryan anderson for a top 12 pick. package him with duhon lol

Yes, yes, yes! I like Ryno on our team a lot but if we can trade him AND Duhon for a top 12 pick, you do it in a heartbeat.

Too bad we can't S&T Ryno without his permission and on draft night.

[D12VCMagic]

Bower didn't build **** in NOLA, just like Otis didn't build **** here.

If that's your argument, there's really no use in trying to convince you. Logic is too often trumped by emotion.

There is no logic in saying Bower built anything wih the Hornets. He had pieces to build with and ended up with nothing. There is nothing special about Jeff Bower at all, the only people coming to is defense are homer fans trying to back what the Magic are doing.

[Skin]

Otis did a better job in Orlando than Bower did in New Orleans. FACT.

[mattyBoi]

Bower didn't build **** in NOLA, just like Otis didn't build **** here.

If that's your argument, there's really no use in trying to convince you. Logic is too often trumped by emotion.

There is no logic in saying Bower built anything wih the Hornets. He had pieces to build with and ended up with nothing. There is nothing special about Jeff Bower at all, the only people coming to is defense are homer fans trying to back what the Magic are doing.

Yep, the same guys who backed Otis till the end and have nothing to say now.

[Def Swami]

My thing with Bower is why choose him over ALL of the other GM candidates available? You have Dennis Lindsey who is a coveted exec around the league who comes from a championship culture and the same with Hennigan, but you still consider Bower...just doesn't make any sense. Hell, Otis Smith has GM experience too, but no one in Philly, LA, or Portland are blowing up his phone to interview with their ownership.

Anytime someone defends Bower, it's always qualified with "he overpaid some players, made some bad trades, and didn't draft well." Last time I checked, that's kind of important in being a GM. It sounds a lot like Otis. Go thru the transaction history. He did very little to build a good team around CP3 and David West. Sure, he may have been forced to trade Chandler for money reasons, but he would have had more flexibility had he not signed Peja to that big deal, and he should have gotten a nicer return for Chandler, using the returning assets to continue to build around CP3 and D.West. http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

I'm not saying he'd be a terrible GM. We could do a lot worse. But why settle for mediocrity? We've got to be able to pick the cream out of the crop here.

[ADRajX]

My thing with Bower is why choose him over ALL of the other GM candidates available? You have Dennis Lindsey who is a coveted exec around the league who comes from a championship culture and the same with Hennigan, but you still consider Bower...just doesn't make any sense. Hell, Otis Smith has GM experience too, but no one in Philly, LA, or Portland are blowing up his phone to interview with their ownership.

Anytime someone defends Bower, it's always qualified with "he overpaid some players, made some bad trades, and didn't draft well." Last time I checked, that's kind of important in being a GM. It sounds a lot like Otis. Go thru the transaction history. He did very little to build a good team around CP3 and David West. Sure, he may have been forced to trade Chandler for money reasons, but he would have had more flexibility had he not signed Peja to that big deal, and he should have gotten a nicer return for Chandler, using the returning assets to continue to build around CP3 and D.West. http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

I'm not saying he'd be a terrible GM. We could do a lot worse. But why settle for mediocrity? We've got to be able to pick the cream out of the crop here.

+1 All of it.

There might be another reason why this organization might hire Bower over Lindsey... "Cheapness"... Lindsey's resume is obviously higher than Bower's... So Lindsey may require/negotiate a higher salary commitment with the organization than someone like Bower, who's acumen isn't as skillful.

I'm not saying the Orlando Magic franchise is cheap... we have one of the highest payrolls... but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this organization "cut corners" in the quality and paychecks of their front office personnel.

[RickB-Orlando]

There might be another reason why this organization might hire Bower over Lindsey... "Cheapness"... Lindsey's resume is obviously higher than Bower's... So Lindsey may require/negotiate a higher salary commitment with the organization than someone like Bower, who's acumen isn't as skillful.

I'm not saying the Orlando Magic franchise is cheap... we have one of the highest payrolls... but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this organization "cut corners" in the quality and paychecks of their front office personnel.

I don't buy it. One thing neither DeVos nor Martins are is cheap. They're going to hire whoever they think is best that they can get.

Everyone talks about hiring Lindsey, but they guy has interviewed for and declined positions in the past. Maybe he won't take the job? Maybe he told DeVos he wasn't interested in running deals by him, and pissed DeVos off. Maybe he doesn't interview worth a crap, maybe he said flat out 'I'm not interested in trying to build around Dwight,' or maybe he just flat out interviewed and at the end decided he didn't want the job, regardless of salary.

It could be any of those things, or none of them. We just don't know, and we certainly don't know if Bower is ahead. Hopefully we'll know tomorrow.

My point is, everyone talks about Bower as if he's the worst possible choice. I don't think he is. Sure, there are guys that would be better choices, but just because there are better candidates doesn't mean they are realistic candidates.

In any case, I've been a Magic fan since the expansion draft, and I don't plan to change now, unless they brought back Weisbrod as GM and BHill as head coach. In that case, I would cancel my season tix and become a fan of the AFL I guess.

[The Real Dalic]

Clearly you have never hired a fry guy at McDonald's. Do you think that kind of deliciousness just happens by accident?

[MagicTownBaller]

My thing with Bower is why choose him over ALL of the other GM candidates available? You have Dennis Lindsey who is a coveted exec around the league who comes from a championship culture and the same with Hennigan, but you still consider Bower...just doesn't make any sense. Hell, Otis Smith has GM experience too, but no one in Philly, LA, or Portland are blowing up his phone to interview with their ownership.

Anytime someone defends Bower, it's always qualified with "he overpaid some players, made some bad trades, and didn't draft well." Last time I checked, that's kind of important in being a GM. It sounds a lot like Otis. Go thru the transaction history. He did very little to build a good team around CP3 and David West. Sure, he may have been forced to trade Chandler for money reasons, but he would have had more flexibility had he not signed Peja to that big deal, and he should have gotten a nicer return for Chandler, using the returning assets to continue to build around CP3 and D.West. http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

I'm not saying he'd be a terrible GM. We could do a lot worse. But why settle for mediocrity? We've got to be able to pick the cream out of the crop here.

I agree with all of this.

[PeePee la Fritz]

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

That resume is god awful, who would hire this guy!?!? Oh wait, the Orlando Magic would

[magicman123]

There might be another reason why this organization might hire Bower over Lindsey... "Cheapness"... Lindsey's resume is obviously higher than Bower's... So Lindsey may require/negotiate a higher salary commitment with the organization than someone like Bower, who's acumen isn't as skillful.

I'm not saying the Orlando Magic franchise is cheap... we have one of the highest payrolls... but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see this organization "cut corners" in the quality and paychecks of their front office personnel.

not sure you can say lindsey's resume is that much better, hes never been a gm (just an assistant) bower has been a gm twice, lindsey's never been an nba coach (bower has), they've both worked their way up the ladder, been in the scouting department, player development, etc, however lindsey has been a vice president

lindsey is the hotter commodity right now because hes held a very respectable position within a very successful organization, the unknown and excitement with him is higher because hes never been an actual gm but he helped run a great franchise

bower you pretty much know what to expect with him, overall i dont care for him, hope we go in a different direction

[thelead]

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

That resume is god awful, who would hire this guy!?!? Oh wait, the Orlando Magic would

Don't get distracted by facts. You should blindly support everything the Magic do

[RickB-Orlando]

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

That resume is god awful, who would hire this guy!?!? Oh wait, the Orlando Magic would

Don't get distracted by facts. You should blindly support everything the Magic do

When I look at the facts, I see the following:
18-64, 38-44, 56-26, 49-33, 37-45

Those are win-loss records. Amazing? No. Pathetic? No. I also look at the last year (37-45) and see that they were in playoff position in January until Chris Paul went down for the rest of the season.

So in two years he took a franchise from the bottom to contention. I think taking over as coach was a mistake personally, but I guess I'm not seeing this full on level of hopelessness everyone else does.

To me, it's a bottom line game, and the bottom line is he turned the team from a loser to a winner. He must have been doing something right.

Would I rather have Lindsey? Probably, although who knows how he'll do as a GM - could be great, could be Otis Jr for all we know.

But I don't see full-on despair if they hire Bower the way others here seem to.

[thelead]

I'm glad you're okay with average...

[D12VCMagic]

I don't know wh you keep saying Bower took the tea here or there, Bower didn't take the team anywhere. CP3 did. Bower failed to get quality talent around him, so now he is in LA.

[G-Heel]

http://hoopshype.com/general_managers/jeff_bower.htm

That resume is god awful, who would hire this guy!?!? Oh wait, the Orlando Magic would

Don't get distracted by facts. You should blindly support everything the Magic do

When I look at the facts, I see the following:
18-64, 38-44, 56-26, 49-33, 37-45

Those are win-loss records. Amazing? No. Pathetic? No. I also look at the last year (37-45) and see that they were in playoff position in January until Chris Paul went down for the rest of the season.

So in two years he took a franchise from the bottom to contention. I think taking over as coach was a mistake personally, but I guess I'm not seeing this full on level of hopelessness everyone else does.

To me, it's a bottom line game, and the bottom line is he turned the team from a loser to a winner. He must have been doing something right.

Would I rather have Lindsey? Probably, although who knows how he'll do as a GM - could be great, could be Otis Jr for all we know.

But I don't see full-on despair if they hire Bower the way others here seem to.

It's call having CP3, this is like people using our record to defend otis. He seems like otis 2.0, drafted a great player, and then did his best to chase that player off the team.