Official Speculation Thread (Pt.LII "Lottery/Draft" Edition)

[BadMofoPimp]

I forgot Turkoglu was still on the team lmao! I don't want Davis gone though.

Damn straight! BBD still has much to prove!!!

With BBD's defense next year next to Vucci, Hark, Meer, Afflalo and McLemore, Shabbazz or Smart this team should rock.

[MagicTownBaller]

I forgot Turkoglu was still on the team lmao! I don't want Davis gone though.

Damn straight! BBD still has much to prove!!!

With BBD's defense next year next to Vucci, Hark, Meer, Afflalo and McLemore, Shabbazz or Smart this team should rock.

Yeah buddy! We thinking the same thing!

[OrlandO]

It's easy to say that Dwight forced his was to LA as if he didn't spend the past 18 months campaigning to get to Brooklyn.

Believe what you will, Dwight was thrilled to go to either destination.

Olajuwon said Howard, while still with the Orlando Magic in 2011, told him that he wanted to join the Lakers. "I think so," said Olajuwon. "I think so, because that is where he wanted to go. He wanted to go there."

[tiderulz]

What Kupchak did isn't impressive at all lmao. Dwight forced his way there and literally anyone would trade Bynum for Dwight in a heartbeat. Not to mention how bad the Lakers have been this season.

It's easy to say that Dwight forced his was to LA as if he didn't spend the past 18 months campaigning to get to Brooklyn. The difference is that Kupchak actually pulled the deal off. The hard part isn't being willing to accept Dwight for Bynum, it's the fact that he tricked Philly and Orlando into trading their best players while only giving up Bynum and some second rounders. I'm not arguing for Kupchak, just against the notion that our GM should be in the Executive of the year race when our team is so bad.

umm, he didnt trick Orlando into trading their best players. Our best player forced his way out, and we added some of our worst players to that deal (Duhon, J-Rich)

[RickB-Orlando]

What Kupchak did isn't impressive at all lmao. Dwight forced his way there and literally anyone would trade Bynum for Dwight in a heartbeat. Not to mention how bad the Lakers have been this season.

It's easy to say that Dwight forced his was to LA as if he didn't spend the past 18 months campaigning to get to Brooklyn. The difference is that Kupchak actually pulled the deal off. The hard part isn't being willing to accept Dwight for Bynum, it's the fact that he tricked Philly and Orlando into trading their best players while only giving up Bynum and some second rounders. I'm not arguing for Kupchak, just against the notion that our GM should be in the Executive of the year race when our team is so bad.

I don't think Henny can (or should) be Exec of the Year.

Having said that, there's a huge difference between an intended rebuild resulting in a bottom of the league finish (Magic) and assembling a bunch of all-NBA players resulting in a crash and burn (Lakers). If your goal is the first, Henny has managed to do a pretty good job; if your goal is the second, then Kupchak is your man.

[InFlames]

What Kupchak did isn't impressive at all lmao. Dwight forced his way there and literally anyone would trade Bynum for Dwight in a heartbeat. Not to mention how bad the Lakers have been this season.

It's easy to say that Dwight forced his was to LA as if he didn't spend the past 18 months campaigning to get to Brooklyn. The difference is that Kupchak actually pulled the deal off. The hard part isn't being willing to accept Dwight for Bynum, it's the fact that he tricked Philly and Orlando into trading their best players while only giving up Bynum and some second rounders. I'm not arguing for Kupchak, just against the notion that our GM should be in the Executive of the year race when our team is so bad.

I guess I just don't see how Mitch tricked Rob into doing anything. Dwight was gone, and LA was one of the only teams willing to trade for him without assurances. If anything Rob and Mitch swindled the Sixers. I do agree that Rob shouldn't be executive of the year though, you have to win some games to get that imo.

[BadMofoPimp]

I don't think getting rid of all your talent including a Superstar for late 1st round picks and a few players that were mid round picks then reduce the team from being a title contender to being the worst team in the NBA would justify a GM to ever being considered for Exec of the year by anyone working in the entire NBA. The premise is pure homerism.

[OrlChamps2030]

Why would Rob get exec of the year? That's just laughable we will probably get a top 2 pick. But Once our young guys step it up in a few years he will have his shot.

[woosah]

Rob won't get exec of the year, but he already earned some respect if you go by that tweet after the trade about how other FO's are impressed with the young talent we have managed to acquire. He's on people's radar and will get some recognition if he continues in this direction.

[pogiro]

It's easy to say that Dwight forced his was to LA as if he didn't spend the past 18 months campaigning to get to Brooklyn. The difference is that Kupchak actually pulled the deal off. The hard part isn't being willing to accept Dwight for Bynum, it's the fact that he tricked Philly and Orlando into trading their best players while only giving up Bynum and some second rounders. I'm not arguing for Kupchak, just against the notion that our GM should be in the Executive of the year race when our team is so bad.

The three legit suitors were Houston, L.A., and Brooklyn. Houston was out because Dwight undermined the process like an idiot (I thought Houston would have been a nice place for him to end up), keeping Houston's offers low. The Nets took them themselves out of the running by filling up their cap space that they could have used this summer to get Dwight, with the likes of Gerald Wallace and sending out their assets to do so, #6 pick which turned into Damian Lilliard. The Lakers were the destination because of process of elimination. How you turn this scenario into Kupchak "tricking" Hennigan does not make sense. I believe Hennigan knew what he was doing. Vucevic wasn't exactly unknown for people who pay attention. And so for a man like Hennigan, I'm almost positive Hennigan wasn't tricked into anything. The Sixers on the other hand...

[OrlandO]

Why would Rob get exec of the year? That's just laughable we will probably get a top 2 pick. But Once our young guys step it up in a few years he will have his shot.

He won't, but this whole discussion started with me saying he should be ONE of the RUNNER-UPs for exec of the year for managing the dwightmare, otis' crap and the aftermath so well to put us on the path for a proper rebuild. I was just suggesting he should get some recognition despite the losing record. He's already starting to anyway, as there's a report many GMs around the league are impressed with the assets he's collected. That's a huge turnaround from the criticism he was getting from everyone (fans, media, analysts, execs, etc) at the start of the season. He still has to make the right choices in the upcoming drafts and pull in a big free agent after that, but he's already set us up in a prime position to make a quick comeback. Not every GM could do that.

[pogiro]

Exec of year, runner-up, whatever. Point is, the man has proven to be able to evaluate talent pretty well. This is going to be very handy with the new CBA. It's going to be more difficult stacking lineups with 2 or 3 max players/superstars. GMs are going to have to be able to find cheap talent and are going to have to keep their roster flexible. Compare our team to that of the Nets. The Nets are going to be screwed for a good 5 years, or maybe even a decade with their roster. Hennigan's setting us up nicely.

[OrlChamps2030]

Why would Rob get exec of the year? That's just laughable we will probably get a top 2 pick. But Once our young guys step it up in a few years he will have his shot.

He won't, but this whole discussion started with me saying he should be ONE of the RUNNER-UPs for exec of the year for managing the dwightmare, otis' crap and the aftermath so well to put us on the path for a proper rebuild. I was just suggesting he should get some recognition despite the losing record. He's already starting to anyway, as there's a report many GMs around the league are impressed with the assets he's collected. That's a huge turnaround from the criticism he was getting from everyone (fans, media, analysts, execs, etc) at the start of the season. He still has to make the right choices in the upcoming drafts and pull in a big free agent after that, but he's already set us up in a prime position to make a quick comeback. Not every GM could do that.

Dude. I'm a big Rob fan. You aren't telling me anything I don't know. He has a keen eye for young talent (and he did receive recognition; that text from Woj was pretty big). Also I didn't see your original post about being a runner-up, I just saw other posters talking about possibly EOTY candidacy.

We're basically on Step 1 of 3 in a successful rebuild right now. Step 1: get a young core, Step 2: get a young star Step 3: young players begin to pan out. Once we reach Step 3, then the recognition/accolades come. Until then I think it's silly to think of him as an Exec of the year runner-up. As much as tanking is starting to become acceptable in the modern NBA landscape I'm not sure we will ever see a GM win exec of the year while tanking, it just seems irrational.

[BadMofoPimp]

If Henny is considered for Exec of the year, so should Jordan of the Bobcats for teaching us all how to tank effectively and amass top 10 talent.

[RickB-Orlando]

Dude. I'm a big Rob fan. You aren't telling me anything I don't know. He has a keen eye for young talent (and he did receive recognition; that text from Woj was pretty big).

I don't think Henny or just about any GM cares what Woj or any other reporter has to say about the deals they make. They prefer to see the success on the court, not in a blog/article/report.

[OrlandO]

If Henny is considered for Exec of the year, so should Jordan of the Bobcats for teaching us all how to tank effectively and amass top 10 talent.

GM Henny >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> GM MJ.

[orlando1214]

Dude. I'm a big Rob fan. You aren't telling me anything I don't know. He has a keen eye for young talent (and he did receive recognition; that text from Woj was pretty big).

I don't think Henny or just about any GM cares what Woj or any other reporter has to say about the deals they make. They prefer to see the success on the court, not in a blog/article/report.

I think he was talking about the tweet that Woj put out that said many league executives are really impressed with Rob and the job he has done so far. So it's really more so him getting recognition from other executives than from Woj. Still though, I agree that it's probably more rewarding to him to see these young guys get better than to hear some praise from other teams. Although I think it's awesome that other people are noticing what Hennigan is doing though outside Orlando.

[OrlChamps2030]

Dude. I'm a big Rob fan. You aren't telling me anything I don't know. He has a keen eye for young talent (and he did receive recognition; that text from Woj was pretty big).

I don't think Henny or just about any GM cares what Woj or any other reporter has to say about the deals they make. They prefer to see the success on the court, not in a blog/article/report.

Umm.. I don't get it lol how is this relevant? Where did I even say Rob appreciates the recognition? Did you not read beyond those two sentences to where I went on about how recognition is irrelevant until we start to win and young guys pan out? And the tweet referred to the opinions of NBA execs anyway..I'm not sure what you are trying to get at with this post at all

[shadrock]

Was looking at the draft picks we are owed as part of the Dwight trade, and there was one pick that stood out at me, the one from the Sixers. For those who are not aware, we only receive that first rounder from the Sixers two years after the Sixers fulfill their obligations to send a first rounder to the Miami Heat (because of the league rule that you cannot trade your first rounder in consecutiv years). So for example, if the Heat were to obtain the Sixers pick this year, then we would at be able to receive the Sixers pick in 2015 (2 years after).

However, for the Heat to obtain the Sixers pick this year, the Sixers have to make the playoffs, and if they dont, it rolls on to next year, and then the year after that. This is a bit of a shame for us because as of right now, the Sixers are looking to miss the playoffs, meaning the earliest we can get that pick is now 2016. Would have been absolutely ideal for them to JUST make the playoffs this year, and then be a fringe playoff team for a few years so we get a solid pick. Worst case scenario is they do not make the playoffs for 3 or so years in which case we end up with two second rounders.

[Tayswagzzz]

What do y'all think the possibility of JJ signing with us in FA is?