Whats right with the team?

[seeingstars]

Im just gonna go through some Of our players real quick...

Elfrid Payton:

Elite defensive potential with a terrific nack of coming up with the basketball.

Can drive and get into the paint at will and very proficient at finding the open man and slashers for easy plays.

Great size for the 1 spot and an above average rebounder when locked in.

Victor Oladipo:

Relentless defender with an elite first step to play the passing lanes.

Good handles and a nose for getting to the rim. His finishing has seemingly improved as the year has gone by.

Will truly flourish in a system with better spacing and movement allowing for his high energy to get him open in the slashing lanes and coming up with loose balls and offensive rebounds.

Mario Hezonja:

His handles have surely improved as has his turn overs.

With much better court vision then most of us would of invisioned, Mario plays very good team basketball.

A fearless offensive threat with range from inside the rim to well beyond the 3 point line.

Aaron Gordon:

This year we are beginning to see the tip of the iceberg.

His the all star break Gordons confidence is soaring and has brought alot of fans a reason to watch Magic basketball who otherwise may not of. His end of season highlights will truly be an ingame dunk contest reel: windmill vs lakers, just in front of free throw line dunk vs warriors and his double pump dunk.

His ball handling has steadied and is much less turnover prone.

Has shown himself to be a truely talented basketball player and not just a freak athlete role player.

He has arguably the best all around game on the team and the highest potential as well.

Could one day be on an all nba defense squad.

Vuc:

Man can he hit a 20 foot jump shot.

[drsd]

Jason Smith has the best looking, most consistent jumper I have ever seen in a Center.

[Tayswagzzz]

Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon are currently what is right with the team now and in the future for years and years to come.

Mario Hezonja needs more time.

Elfrid Payton needs more time.

I'm not sold on Vucevic being the center of our future, but, he's a good center for what he is.

Evan Fournier in my opinion won't be coming back.

[ezzzp]

Oladipo is a competitor, his defense and motor are the soul of the team when its performing at its best.

Hezonja feels like he's going to erupt at any minute...his defense gets better and better by the day, right now he is thinking it, soon it will be instinctual.

Gordon is an all-star talent in the making. A full healthy summer of development will take him to the next level. I fully expect him to be a nightly 16-18ppg / 10 rpg / 5 apg as a 3d option next season, and then upwards from there.

I have high hopes for EP, the sophomore slump caught him but it will make him a stronger player in the long run. Time is on his side.

Vucevic is a fundamental need. Every team needs low post scoring or an inside/out presence - he is the best on this team at that. Vuc should study Bogut and Gasol brother's passing from the high post - which he fully has the capacity to be as effective in that aspect - it just needs to happen more often as a weapon mixed in with his high post scoring.

Fournier is also a fundamental need, good smart and versatile player.

[purpleswordfish]

Aaron Gordon surprised a lot of people this year, including myself, by becoming a better shooter and more complete contributor to the team. I think he still has a ways to go, specifically with shooting. However, he's still very young and far from a complete product in terms of growth. If there's one guy on the roster that has All-NBA 1st team potential, it's AG.

Vucevic continues to put up quietly efficient seasons for the Magic and is in the top half of starting centers in the league.

I don't think any of us know what the Magic truly have in Hezonja, but he reminds me a lot of AG in his rookie year. He seems like a good candidate for a moderate breakout in his second season to show us what he might end up being.

Oh yeah, Rob Hennigan is ensuring Magic fans will be able to look to each year's draft lottery in May with eagerness and excitement. Great job building lottery team after lottery team, Rob. Don't forget to blame coaching when things don't go well!

[NBAchamps2017]

Hennigan must go. Replace him with someone who can bring back sanity to this organization. I don't know who's out there but there should be at least one who is capable in building a winning team.

[ralphie9898]

Hennigan must go. Replace him with someone who can bring back sanity to this organization. I don't know who's out there but there should be at least one who is capable in building a winning team.

I think Henny has done a good job. He wasn't given much to work with after otis left and we aren't a high destination for free agents. We have gotten better each year. we will see what he can get this free agent period as we are better suited to attract free agents though this isn't a great year to have money(with the huge cap hike coming in) but we do have space for two very big deals and plenty of young and even some very talented young guys. I think Gordon very well could have made some friends at the dunk contest and we have some other guys that can grow to be very good or we can even trade some for another big piece. We shall see but I am fine with Hennigan for now.

[Not Sure]

You forgot Scott Skiles. I consider him to be positive for the team going forward.

[Def Swami]

1. Aaron Gordon: The biggest positive takeaway from this season for me is Gordon continuing to show signs of growth. At only 20, he's finally putting up quality stats in meaningful minutes. His jumpshot, while still needing a lot of work, is A LOT better mechanically this year. I feel like David Love set him up well with the fundamentals of his J and he just needs the reps and muscle memory to hopefully get to where Kawhi Leonard or Jimmy Butler got. I'm extremely hopeful for this after this season. And he continues to excel in other facets of the game (rebounding, defending and contesting, passing, etc.). He's probably one of the most intriguing players in the league. With his freak athleticism, all-around game, unselfishness, and high character, his sky is the limit.

Zach Lowe put Gordon season's best in context with this quote:

He's like a superhero learning to harness his powers in the first 30 minutes of the movie.

I can't wait to watch the rest, especially since Gordon is jacking 3s without hesitation lately.

2. Rob Hennigan's drafting and eye for talent: He's been really unlucky. I haven't had too many qualms with Hennigan (except for the Jennings+Ily for Harris trade, which still irks me but I digress...) and have been overall pretty happy with his draft picks. Oladipo at #2 in 2013 has proven to be a solid pick in the fray of busts. Oladipo was never projected to be a superstar, so my expectations for him have been met so far. AG has been awesome and in my (hot take!) opinion, he'll end up being the best player of the 2014 draft when it's all said and done. Hezonja doesn't have the stats to back it up yet but my eye test for him gives me confidence that he's the 2 guard of the future for us. Great size, excellent shooter who is good off the bounce or in catch and shoot. He has the skills to complement AG and EP very well. Payton by far has struggled the most adjusting to Skiles. Not playing constantly with pick n' roll and subjecting him to spotting up has put a damper on his sophomore season, but guys....43/38/60. That's an improvement! Plus, the 2014 draft wasn't really that strong after pick #7. Payton at #10 was a good value.

I've been more impressed with the team's ability to target young players in the league and sell off vets for them and banking on their upside. They did it with Vucevic, Fournier, and Harris. Took young players being shorted of minutes and turned them into legit NBA players. It's a nice skill to have going forward.

We still lack a true go-to option or the semblance of a franchise player. But I can't blame that on Hennigan. I believe we've maximized our opportunities thus far, but the ping pong balls have not given us the star and the last 3 drafts have just not had that kind of talent (except for Towns, he's a beast). I don't fault the organization for their strategy to build through the draft. That's still how teams tend to build their teams and maximizing your odds to get a franchise player can set you up for the next 10 years. We never had that luck, so we'll have to be a bit more patient. However, AG and Hezonja should offer hope to be fulfilled down the road.

3. Defense Improved: Haven't been a huge fan of Skiles all season, but I'll give him some credit for improving the defense. It didn't jump as much as I initially expected it to, but that is due to a combination of still having elite defenders at multiple positions (especially the front court), and an inability to make in-game adjustments. But we're 15th in the NBA this year in defensive efficiency, up 11 spots from last season. I think we still lack good individual defenders (especially off the bench) necessary to be a playoff team and that will be something to take note of when we enter free agency.

4. Stuff the Dragon: GOAT mascot.