Magic GM Rob Hennigan answers questions about slumping team

[cedric76]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-magic-gm-rob-hennigan-answers-20160121-story.html

OS: How will you approach the upcoming trade deadline?

Hennigan: We’ll be very active in our discussions. It’s our job to constantly search for ways to improve the team. It doesn’t mean that those discussions will necessarily lead to action. We’re in a position where a lot of teams like our players, and so we’ll certainly have options. If something makes sense for us, we’ll be aggressive. But it needs to make sense for both the long and short terms. So we’ll stay equally as disciplined in our decision-making as we are active in our discussions.

[SOUL]

I like his drafts but I hate his interviews. Dude keeps everything so close to the vest so you can never really trust whether he feels a certain way or not. I'm sure what he really feels he's not going to publicize it good or bad.

[OrlandoNed]

I like his drafts but I hate his interviews. Dude keeps everything so close to the vest so you can never really trust whether he feels a certain way or not. I'm sure what he really feels he's not going to publicize it good or bad.

He's never going to say much. Rarely any leaks come out involving the front office. You never hear any noise about a move until its official.

[Skin]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orlando-magic/os-magic-gm-rob-hennigan-answers-20160121-story.html

OS: How will you approach the upcoming trade deadline?

Hennigan: We’ll be very active in our discussions. It’s our job to constantly search for ways to improve the team. It doesn’t mean that those discussions will necessarily lead to action. We’re in a position where a lot of teams like our players, and so we’ll certainly have options. If something makes sense for us, we’ll be aggressive. But it needs to make sense for both the long and short terms. So we’ll stay equally as disciplined in our decision-making as we are active in our discussions.

Good! 3 good things that stood out.

1) A lot of teams like our players - Glad Henny put it out there. That puts pressure on him. If teams didn't like our guys, then Henny would be caught in a bind, but the fact that we have assets that other teams like, puts the onus on Henny to get something done.

2) We'll be aggressive - Awesome. We need to be. What we have is a collection of soft bodies. It's time to rock the boat. Create more playing time for our young lottery picks to play significant minutes.

3) We'll stay disciplined - Agreed! Exactly as he said, "it needs to make sense for both the long term and the short term". The young guys under contract beyond this year should feel safe...Payton, Dipo, Hezonja, Gordon aren't going anywhere. The guys with deals coming up or guys not playing up to their contracts better be watching their backs...Harris, Fournier, Frye.

[Blue_and_Whte]

He’s(Skiles) only had 41 games and one training camp with this team..

So there’s still an adjustment period taking place, and this is normal and to be expected. And we all need to be mindful of that.

[npiper17]

Good timing for this interview after last night. I have to say, this is probably the most open Rob has been (which is not to say he gives much away).

The point about the next 5 games being crucial is interesting as is the part where he suggests he may have built a team that is too young.

[fklt]

The point about the next 5 games being crucial is interesting as is the part where he suggests he may have built a team that is too young.

Yeah for all the talk of not wanting to become too young or too old all these years, I'm surprised that in the end he ended up building the second youngest roster in the nba. I guess he kinda got carried away

But it seems like it paid off and we are competing despite that. It's kinda funny that even at this point it's not enough for the most of the fans as evident by some threads and rants on the board :d

[zelenooq]

I like his drafts but I hate his interviews. Dude keeps everything so close to the vest so you can never really trust whether he feels a certain way or not. I'm sure what he really feels he's not going to publicize it good or bad.

He is manager, that's what managers do
Everything is pink and beautiful, we all love each other and there is no a problem,just challenge

[orlando1214]

I'm so over this patience and process crap. Rob has had 3 and a half year, and the best he can do is create a team that is currently out of the playoffs and looks like a complete mess right now? I'm really starting to get tired of this crap. I have always liked Rob, but it's time for him to start being held accountable. Under his watch he allowed this team to create a losing culture thanks to all the tanking and terrible coaching. All that losing was supposed to be justified by the high draft picks, which the Magic got, but then they go and hire a coach who hates playing young players. What logic is that?

I mean I think everybody here knows how poorly AG and Mario are being developed, it's really not a secret. Then you have Oladipo, who basically is becoming a six man because Skiles can't figure out how to use him other then letting him have the ball all the time and do whatever the hell he wants. Payton has been good enough, but his draft pick isn't the outcome of the losing, he is an outcome of a trade that could have happened no matter what record the team had. So looking at all of that, how are the past 3 years of tanking, Vaughn, and creating a losing culture justified? I understand not everything is Rob's fault, but he is the GM and the performance of the team and the coaches ultimately are his responsibility.

The development of the players and the fact that the team is full of losers needs to be addressed. You can't just sit back and hope that they figure it out and will eventually win. It's his job to manage this team after all. He is suppose to identify problems and fix them so that they have the best chance to succeed. Clearly there are some things wrong right now with this team, so Rob needs to do a better job at fixing these issues. I get that this team isn't going to become a contender over night, but being a non-playoff team losing to the damn Sixers like they did last night at home after 3 and half years should no where near be acceptable. I am so sick of losing and they should as well to the point that baby steps are no longer okay.

[rcklsscognition]

If he mentioned the next 5 games that means we are on the verge of collapse. No way in hell we post a winning record over the next 5 and we are already IMO out of playoff contention which totally changes a) player development b) trade deadline c) Fournier talks d) Oladipo extension. Free agency this summer also took a huge hit and we now have to pay more and go one tier down on the good player tree. Sucks, but that's the nature, we all knew this season would be decided by just a few games and we blew it.

[TreasureCoast]

Sounds like his seat is really warm

[Def Swami]

We’re extremely young. We believe in our young players and we’re embracing our youth. If anything, we might be too young at times, which obviously produces inconsistent play. So the blame for that lands squarely on my shoulders, and maybe I haven’t stabilized the roster well enough to help support both our players and our coaches as we’re continuing to build. So these are questions I ask myself on a daily and nightly basis.

But, again, if you look at it, our playing rotation is extremely young. The six players playing the most minutes for us have an average age of 22.5. So that’s basically a college team, and we’re asking and expecting our guys to learn how to consistently win NBA games collectively while, at the same time, they’re all learning the ropes of the NBA individually. And that’s a lot to ask.

At least Rob accepts more blame than Skiles does.

After reading the whole interview, I get the sense that Hennigan understands the roster needs more proven veteran players to move forward. You can have young players grow and develop in a setting surrounded by other quality vets who know how to win NBA games consistently. But, if the vast majority of your players have never played a playoff game in their life, then they're not really going to know what it takes. I expect this roster will be carved before the trade deadline and in the off-season to make it more whole.

[Skin]

We’re extremely young. We believe in our young players and we’re embracing our youth. If anything, we might be too young at times, which obviously produces inconsistent play. So the blame for that lands squarely on my shoulders, and maybe I haven’t stabilized the roster well enough to help support both our players and our coaches as we’re continuing to build. So these are questions I ask myself on a daily and nightly basis.

But, again, if you look at it, our playing rotation is extremely young. The six players playing the most minutes for us have an average age of 22.5. So that’s basically a college team, and we’re asking and expecting our guys to learn how to consistently win NBA games collectively while, at the same time, they’re all learning the ropes of the NBA individually. And that’s a lot to ask.

At least Rob accepts more blame than Skiles does.

After reading the whole interview, I get the sense that Hennigan understands the roster needs more proven veteran players to move forward. You can have young players grow and develop in a setting surrounded by other quality vets who know how to win NBA games consistently. But, if the vast majority of your players have never played a playoff game in their life, then they're not really going to know what it takes. I expect this roster will be carved before the trade deadline and in the off-season to make it more whole.

I like how Hennigan owned up to that too. It's refreshing and only makes me respect him more.

[the_hobo]

Our boy Robbie better not mess this team up. If we're going to be aggressive in trade deadline, we better not be giving up one of our players we drafted. Everyone else I'm fine with leaving (Vooch included, given we'd get a huge name).

When we lost JJ, I was disappointed. When we traded Gortat, I was a bit sad. But if we lose Gordon, Nicholson, Mario, Dipo, or Payton, I will legitimately be pissed off.

[MagicStarwipe]

In Hennigan's case, actions speak much louder than words. I hope he can see what a lot of us have seen with regard to the mental and physical makeup of some of the players on this team. You can not blame everything on youth.

[Bensational]

If we want more veteran experience I wouldn't be surprised to see a Fournier for Gibson deal.

[ezzzp]

The point about the next 5 games being crucial is interesting as is the part where he suggests he may have built a team that is too young.

Yeah for all the talk of not wanting to become too young or too old all these years, I'm surprised that in the end he ended up building the second youngest roster in the nba. I guess he kinda got carried away

But it seems like it paid off and we are competing despite that. It's kinda funny that even at this point it's not enough for the most of the fans as evident by some threads and rants on the board :d

Well he did chase Paul Milsap and acquired Smith and Watson...and contextualized transactions with the "right kind" of acquisition:

We believe this will come with the continued growth and maturity of our young players, but we also need to help address our inconsistencies by continuing to search for the right veterans to add to our team. We’ll continue to be extremely selective with the types of veterans we pursue. But rest assured we’ll aggressively pursue any and all players that we feel fit the character of our team and can help push the team forward.

...If something makes sense for us, we’ll be aggressive. But it needs to make sense for both the long and short terms. So we’ll stay equally as disciplined in our decision-making as we are active in our discussions.

Also people are way underestimating the impact of losing the veteran PG, Watson - who despite starting out with a shooting slump, clearly brought stability to the team on the floor on both ends. Just look at yesterday's game when Napier entered and the game went off a cliff...having no back up PG hurts, losing a player that was supposed to add vet stability to backcourt makes his injury even worse.

[T-Cat]

Our boy Robbie better not mess this team up. If we're going to be aggressive in trade deadline, we better not be giving up one of our players we drafted. Everyone else I'm fine with leaving (Vooch included, given we'd get a huge name).

When we lost JJ, I was disappointed. When we traded Gortat, I was a bit sad. But if we lose Gordon, Nicholson, Mario, Dipo, or Payton, I will legitimately be pissed off.

Would you stop supporting the Magic if that happens?

[the_hobo]

Our boy Robbie better not mess this team up. If we're going to be aggressive in trade deadline, we better not be giving up one of our players we drafted. Everyone else I'm fine with leaving (Vooch included, given we'd get a huge name).

When we lost JJ, I was disappointed. When we traded Gortat, I was a bit sad. But if we lose Gordon, Nicholson, Mario, Dipo, or Payton, I will legitimately be pissed off.

Would you stop supporting the Magic if that happens?

I'll still support the magic til the day I die; but I'll still be mad!

[T-Cat]

We’re extremely young. We believe in our young players and we’re embracing our youth. If anything, we might be too young at times, which obviously produces inconsistent play. So the blame for that lands squarely on my shoulders, and maybe I haven’t stabilized the roster well enough to help support both our players and our coaches as we’re continuing to build. So these are questions I ask myself on a daily and nightly basis.

But, again, if you look at it, our playing rotation is extremely young. The six players playing the most minutes for us have an average age of 22.5. So that’s basically a college team, and we’re asking and expecting our guys to learn how to consistently win NBA games collectively while, at the same time, they’re all learning the ropes of the NBA individually. And that’s a lot to ask.

At least Rob accepts more blame than Skiles does.

After reading the whole interview, I get the sense that Hennigan understands the roster needs more proven veteran players to move forward. You can have young players grow and develop in a setting surrounded by other quality vets who know how to win NBA games consistently. But, if the vast majority of your players have never played a playoff game in their life, then they're not really going to know what it takes. I expect this roster will be carved before the trade deadline and in the off-season to make it more whole.

Let's just say we get a top 2 pick in this years draft! Does Hennigan trade the pick over the likes of Simmons and Dunn for an established player?