Official Speculation Thread (Pt. XLVI "Re-Building" Edition)

[BadMofoPimp]

UCFJayBird: As for your sig, your on. Should make some kind of bet over it. I will eat crow if Henny proves me wrong. But, if BadMofoPimp proves ya'll wrong, ya'll need to have BadMofoPimp sigs!

[I Rasharted]

I second everyone who's worried this Magic team might not be quite bad enough. There's zero star talent, but there's also a good amount of veterans in or close to their prime. There's a chance the offense could be kind of close to competent and the defense just sub-par. Ruh roh.

Although maybe I'm way off and they'll be horrendous. S'why they play the games.

[BadMofoPimp]

Anyways, despite what everyone thinks, I watched Afflalo develop for years as I watch the Pistons alot and seen him since he was a rookie, so I am a fan of Afflalo. He is a solid starting caliber player, but will never be an all-star. He may not be as good as Wilson Chandler which is why he was expendable. Denver is stocked now with Chandler/Iggy lineup as they are both solid defensive players. Afflalo is no slouch, but he is not gifted offensively as people like to think. He is more of a coming off screens type mid ranged shooter. But, his 3 pt percentage has grown to a respectable 40%.

[KingRobb02]

I second everyone who's worried this Magic team might not be quite bad enough. There's zero star talent, but there's also a good amount of veterans in or close to their prime. There's a chance the offense could be kind of close to competent and the defense just sub-par. Ruh roh.

Although maybe I'm way off and they'll be horrendous. S'why they play the games.

Every team has veterans close to their prime. On the surface, we have the second worst roster in the league. Only the Bobcats are legit worse. This is looking like a 19 win team.

[OrlandoMajinBuu]

Anyone post this yet? Afflalo's presser http://www.nba.com/magic/video/press-co ... alo_081612

I did. The FIRST post of this thread!!!

[kookie_819]

I second everyone who's worried this Magic team might not be quite bad enough. There's zero star talent, but there's also a good amount of veterans in or close to their prime. There's a chance the offense could be kind of close to competent and the defense just sub-par. Ruh roh.

Although maybe I'm way off and they'll be horrendous. S'why they play the games.

I think the hope for many of us is that most of those veterans (except for Jameer and Hedo, no one probably wants them anymore) will be traded for prospects and picks. I can definitely see some contenders take a look at Afflalo, Al and BBD during the trade deadline; they would be solid role players for most teams in the league.

[RickB-Orlando]

there is an oklahoma city model. let's compare oklahoma city to orlando for it to become apparent.

the magic offered rashard lewis $124 million dollars. the sonics knew he wasn't worth that, so they let him walk. whereas, nobody offered jameer nelson any money, so the magic gave him a $25 million dollar contract. the cap space flexibility the sonics gained by not matching lewis' contract allowed them to acquire two first round picks from the suns in the kurt thomas trade. so, part one - fiscal responsibility.

the sonics then traded their best player, ray allen, to the boston celtics in return for the #5 pick in the draft. sure, jeff green didn't pan out like durant, westbrook, harden, or ibaka did, but he was later moved to acquire perkins, who has proven valuable. but more importantly, acquiring the #5 pick gave the sonics a chance to acquire another all-star early in the draft. meanwhile, the magic traded dwight howard, a better player than ray allen, for aaron aflallo and moe harkless. no top draft talent - moe harkless. while moe harkless has the potential to be a solid role player, he has nowhere near the potential of a top five pick, as proven by the fact that both the cavaliers and kings, notorious "what are they thinking?" drafters, passed on him with their top five picks in this draft. so, part two - make intelligent trades.

finally, bennett wanted to move the sonics to oklahoma city. so the tank began while the thunder were the sonics in seattle. thus, seattle was forced to watch terrible basketball, lowering attendance, which in turn helped partially justify the move. meanwhile, oklahoma city got to avoid watching the sonics have the worst record in the league. meanwhile, orlando has no intentions of moving. Magic fans are just stuck watching years of bad basketball with the hope of lucking out in the draft, as management has shown no signs of fiscal responsibility or intelligence when trading. so, part three - screw over one city in order to appease another.

True, it is a sad state of affairs here in Orlando. Poor management will do that.

I am not looking forward to hoping to luck out in the draft for years upon years to possibly decades.

I guess you two can form a mutual admiration society.

Jason is misstating the overall outcome of the trade. It is not "Dwight for Afflalo and Harkless" is "Dwight plus bad contracts (JRich and Duhon) for Afflalo (Solid player), Harkless, Vucevic, Eyenga, MCRoberts (all young guys less than 25 years old) plus Harrington (a nice trade chip) plus three first rounders and two second rounders." Oh, plus a huge TPE that may or may not be leveraged to become more picks.

Yes there is protection around the picks, but not all are 100% lottery protected. Draft picks can be combined with other assets to become better assets or better picks. The key around this trade was collecting assets, and it certainly did that.

Sure, this trade hurts right now, but in two or three years we may be looking at it very differently. It's just too early to determine. There's great flexibility that comes out of this deal, something we have not had in Orlando for years. How that flexibility is used in the next few years will determine success or failure.

[Def Swami]

We're going to make the playoffs as an 8 seed.

[RickB-Orlando]

I was listening to the radio Wednesday morning, I think David Baumann's new show, and they were discussing predicting the Orlando magic season record next year.

I was really surprised by the calls and the texts he was getting. People thinking the magic could win 30,40, even 50 games with our roster lol...

I personally think we're at the bottom of the league with the squad as currently constructed. I can also easily name 9 squads better than us in the east...

How the hell do we win 40 or more games???

I think if we're lucky we'll be in the high 20s...


PS.. THERES NO WAY THOSE CALLERS WERE SERIOUS.. HAD TO BE TROLLING BAUMANN OR SOMETHING LOLOL

I think this team could be much better than people think on this board. 30 wins is certainly possible, maybe even more if some of the second and third year players bloom. I think some folks on this board will be surprised thtat the team doesn't completely suck as much as they are hoping for.

who are these mysterious 2nd and 3rd year players you are thinking of? Harper and Liggins are not currently on the team.

Sorry, better I should have said "young players." = specifically I was thinking of Vucevic, Eyenga, and Harper (who is under contract). personally I think Vucevic may wind up being the surprise of this deal.

[Potterman]

I currently think the team as constructed isn't going to be good enough to develop the younger talent. I really want to see us trade Harrington before the start of the season, possibly Turk as well.

Good to hear on that TPE. Maybe will pick up a really nice second tier style player and a pick.

[Def Swami]

I currently think the team as constructed isn't going to be good enough to develop the younger talent. I really want to see us trade Harrington before the start of the season, possibly Turk as well.

Good to hear on that TPE. Maybe will pick up a really nice second tier style player and a pick.

Same here. I'd like to move a good chunk of our vets out for picks and prospects. But I do think that we have to be wise with how we use those vets. I think the main premise of the D12 trade was to maximize the return from the next trade. Not sure how many teams are out there wanting to tinker their roster from where they're at, only 2 weeks from training camp. As counter-productive as it may be to have these vets on our roster at the start of the season, I think the deals for them will improve as the season wears on and as the trade deadline approaches.

[ChildishGambino]

man this is definitely going to be the slowest speculation thread....already falling asleep just typing this......

[OrlandoMajinBuu]

I'm hungry but I thank God I'm in Luquillo.

[Noonskadoodle]

We're going to make the playoffs as an 8 seed.

This team constructed as is, I wouldn't be surprised if we were between the 8-10 seed.

I feel this team has too many vets with pride on it. They will not just lay down night in & night out. Plus I think other teams are in a better situation as of now to tank.

[Blue_and_Whte]

maybe if we ignore him he will leave

Put him on your foe list. That's what I do when he goes on these senseless rants.

[Nemesis21]

That's what I want us to do. I want us to be able to get 2 lottery picks this year. If we can get 2 players that we like, that's awesome and expedites the rebuilding. We'll have one from sucking and hopefully we can acquire another with our assets.

If we only like one guy, then we still have a major trade asset.

Ditto, draft C Nerlens Noel and PG Ian Miller. Our future and core starting 5,

PG Ian Miller = Russell Westbrook
SG Aaron Afflalo = Raja Bell
SF Moe Harkless = Paul George
PF Andrew Nicholson = More physical version of Ryan Anderson
C Nerlens Noel = Marcus Camby

[Noonskadoodle]

Hell think about it, we gave the Pacers a pretty good battle in the playoffs last year & our team right now you could argue is better. (Minus Dwight)

Meer
Afflalo
Hedo
BBD
Vucevic

With JJ, Ish, Harkless, AL, OQuinn, & Nicholson coming off the bench

IMO is MUCH better than

Meer
JRich
Hedo
Ryno
BBD

With JJ, Duhon, Q, Earl, Orton, & Wafer coming off the bench.

[Def Swami]

That's what I want us to do. I want us to be able to get 2 lottery picks this year. If we can get 2 players that we like, that's awesome and expedites the rebuilding. We'll have one from sucking and hopefully we can acquire another with our assets.

If we only like one guy, then we still have a major trade asset.

Ditto, draft C Nerlens Noel and PG Ian Miller. Our future and core starting 5,

PG Ian Miller = Russell Westbrook
SG Aaron Afflalo = Raja Bell
SF Moe Harkless = Paul George
PF Andrew Nicholson = More physical version of Ryan Anderson
C Nerlens Noel = Marcus Camby

And the team should still suck enough the year after for another lottery pick.

[Potterman]

Hell think about it, we gave the Pacers a pretty good battle in the playoffs last year & our team right now you could argue is better. (Minus Dwight)

Meer
Afflalo
Hedo
BBD
Vucevic

With JJ, Ish, Harkless, AL, OQuinn, & Nicholson coming off the bench

IMO is MUCH better than

Meer
JRich
Hedo
Ryno
BBD

With JJ, Duhon, Q, Earl, Orton, & Wafer coming off the bench.

Forgetting the Dwight comment. On paper, the team that was in the playoffs and the team that is constructed now is better. Maybe .500 better. I'm hoping we do worse. But I see Afflalo and Al having something to prove. If everyone else remained consistent. We are a darkhorse for .500.

[Driguez]

:offtopic: I'm hungry but I thank God I'm in Luquillo.

Tu eres mala. I spent 10 days last year in Luquillo.