Official Speculation Thread (Pt.LIX Offseason Edition)

[magicsanta]

Tankers will hate me, but do you realize we're playoff contenders as it is? Not likely to make them, but not likely to be too far from making them either.

Are we really worse than 8 Eastern Conference teams?

On paper we're definitely worse than: Miami, Brooklin, Indiana, New York, Chicago.

Then again, on paper we're better than: Milwakee, Philadelphia, Charlotte and probably Atlanta minus Smith & Pachulia, even with Millsap.

Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Washington and Detroit have either gone through some significant changes or need "if healthy" before any positive projection.

If healthy, I believe we're likely 8th to 11th on paper as things stand now. Although more changes are coming in the East, the biggest names are going first.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Tankers will hate me, but do you realize we're playoff contenders as it is? Not likely to make them, but not likely to be too far from making them either.

Are we really worse than 8 Eastern Conference teams?

On paper we're definitely worse than: Miami, Brooklin, Indiana, New York, Chicago.

Then again, on paper we're better than: Milwakee, Philadelphia, Charlotte and probably Atlanta minus Smith.

Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Washington and Detroit have either gone through some significant changes or need "if healthy" before any positive projection.

If healthy, I believe we're likely 8th to 11th on paper as things stand now. Although more changes are coming in the East, the biggest names are going first.

We are going to be one of the worst teams in the league dude.

[magicsanta]

Tankers will hate me, but do you realize we're playoff contenders as it is? Not likely to make them, but not likely to be too far from making them either.

Are we really worse than 8 Eastern Conference teams?

On paper we're definitely worse than: Miami, Brooklin, Indiana, New York, Chicago.

Then again, on paper we're better than: Milwakee, Philadelphia, Charlotte and probably Atlanta minus Smith.

Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Washington and Detroit have either gone through some significant changes or need "if healthy" before any positive projection.

If healthy, I believe we're likely 8th to 11th on paper as things stand now. Although more changes are coming in the East, the biggest names are going first.

We are going to be one of the worst teams in the league dude.

Probably, not likely... Well being 11th in the East is being one of the worst teams in the league, but 9th/10th is the most probable scenario as things stand RIGHT NOW, IMO. Of course, we'll be exploring deals all the way and any trade is likely making us worse short term, whereas other teams may get better, it's too early in the off-season.

[Blue_and_Whte]

I think Detroit now have a solid/young/athletic frontcourt

I like when team try to improve and not tank (like 80% of Orlando realgm)




Sent from my HTC One using RealGM Forums mobile app

Not tanking when u dont have the pieces only leads to mediocrity.

Tanking is against principal of competition

If it s ur personality to tank, go for it

But losing on purpose is against my principal

Sent from my HTC One using RealGM Forums mobile app

so you would rather be a mediocre treadmill team. Is that part of your principle? Without a significant free agent pool available you put yourself in the best possible position to land a good player in the draft. Especially when you have a chance to land a franchising changing player.

[Blue_and_Whte]

I think Detroit now have a solid/young/athletic frontcourt

I like when team try to improve and not tank (like 80% of Orlando realgm)




Sent from my HTC One using RealGM Forums mobile app

How do you think they landed Monroe and Drummond?

[MagicFan32]

we're going to be awful defensively. that is why we'll be bad. lots of young players=lots of defensive mistakes.
injury prone pg=less stable offense from game to game

i think there will be nights we see flashes of potential where this team really competes with good teams and that is what will keep us optimistic and from jumping off the bandwagon

[blue and white]

so do we have a summer league thread?

[pogiro]

I think Detroit now have a solid/young/athletic frontcourt

I like when team try to improve and not tank (like 80% of Orlando realgm)




Sent from my HTC One using RealGM Forums mobile app

Not tanking when u dont have the pieces only leads to mediocrity.

Tanking is against principal of competition

If it s ur personality to tank, go for it

But losing on purpose is against my principal

Sent from my HTC One using RealGM Forums mobile app

Well it depends on what you're competing for. 5th-8th seed in the playoffs? Then your principals probably would work. But championships rarely are built by franchises that just acquire as much talent as they can when they can. Championships come from design. The Lakers, Celtics, Spurs, Heat... those teams all had to go through losing seasons to get to their championships. I'm not one for losing on purpose. As in telling players to play half-assed or throw games. Absolutely not. But I'm ok with putting a lineup together that's focused on developing talent, rather than winning games.

The Pistons are close enough to think about taking a stab at winning now. I wouldn't have pulled the trigger on signing a max free agent yet if I was their GM but Monroe, Drummond, and Smith provide a damn nice front court. We're not there yet and it'll take some patience and planning to get to a championship level. That's probably why you find yourself at odds with most of this board.

[MagicFan32]

if anything signing smoove frees up detroit to eventually move monroe to address their perimeter positions. Drummond is going to be a center

[chrpri84]

So who thinks we are done with transactions this summer?

[ChosenSavior]

so do we have a summer league thread?

Yeah... viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1260942

[RickB-Orlando]

So who thinks we are done with transactions this summer?

Maybe a minor deal or two prior to camp. Turk's release has to be imminent at this point, right? Harrington probably gets moved one way or another as well.

I won't be surprised if one of AA or BBd are moved by the end of camp, but certainly at least one of them is moved by the deadline.

[UCFJayBird]

So who thinks we are done with transactions this summer?

Wouldn't be surprised to see us move Afflalo or Davis, but also could see us holding them until the trade deadline to leverage them to playoff bound teams that need a little help in the SG or PF rotation.

[T-Cat]

Hypothetical question:

It maybe early but we should have our eyes on Marcus Smart this season, we can still be better than last year squad though a still be a lottery team!

Hennigan lucks up with the #1 pick (Wiggins) and a team like Utah has #2 then we should trade Harkless/2014 pick via Nuggets to select M.Smart

C*Vucevic
PF*Harris
SF*Wiggins
SG-Oladipo
PG*Smart

[meatwad4343]

Hypothetical question:

It maybe early but we should have our eyes on Marcus Smart this season, we can still be better than last year squad though a still be a lottery team!

Hennigan lucks up with the #1 pick (Wiggins) and a team like Utah has #2 then we should trade Harkless/2014 pick via Nuggets to select M.Smart

C*Vucevic
PF*Harris
SF*Wiggins
SG-Oladipo
PG*Smart

harkless and a early 20s pick wouldn't be anywhere near enough to move up to #2 in that draft.

[woosah]

Zaza went to the Bucks.

[jgosche]

Since everybody is on the Lamb bandwagon now, I guess I'll officially declare myself on the hater train. He just seemed really terrible last year outside of a couple games. I definitely don't have any confidence in him starting for us.

Hope I'm wrong though!

[IGotDaMagicInMe]

Since everybody is on the Lamb bandwagon now, I guess I'll officially declare myself on the hater train. He just seemed really terrible last year outside of a couple games. I definitely don't have any confidence in him starting for us.

Hope I'm wrong though!

Does it make us haters just because we don't think theres anything special about him?

[recko321]

The Boston Globe reports that Glen Davis (left foot surgery) recently had a "setback" while working out at his alma mater LSU.
The Globe speculates that "this latest tweak may cause him to take most of the summer off." We'll keep an eye on Big Baby's health in the coming weeks, but it still sounds like he'll be ready to participate in Orlando's training camp.
Source: Boston Globe Jul 7 - 9:41 AM

[jgosche]

Since everybody is on the Lamb bandwagon now, I guess I'll officially declare myself on the hater train. He just seemed really terrible last year outside of a couple games. I definitely don't have any confidence in him starting for us.

Hope I'm wrong though!

Does it make us haters just because we don't think theres anything special about him?

Yeah, I was sort of joking about the "hater train" thing.

I'll admit I didn't watch him in college, but he looked pretty dreadful last year outside of a couple games. Just lost and confused with the ball in his hands. Maybe it's true that he's been working so hard that we'll see significant improvement, but I feel like we hear that about a bunch of players every year, and most of the time it's just offseason fluff.