Orlando Magic Free Agency Guide (Cap Info UPDATED page 37)

[OrlandoDream]

I say we go Dwightmare II. wtf...we got nothing to lose, except more games.
Bring back Meer..."beerkeg", mightymidget, mightymouse Nelson, he'll teach Elf how to shoot 3's
Dwight says he's gonna work on his foul shot this offseason.

[cedric76]

Horford delivered again tonight

Brings a lot of what we need

[OrlandoDream]

17pt 5reb 5blk in 6-11FG 3-4 3PT in 31 minutes of action.

Max him? Naw he old. We dont need those old guys here. We gotta keep acquiring that young talent.

[SOUL]

He's basically only a year older than Conley who people are fine maxing out with a torn achilles.

Also I don't think Horford's game is predicated on athleticism anyway. He isn't going to wither away from 30-34. And usually any player signed to those contracts are trade bait the last year anyway if they have declined that much.

[cedric76]

17pt 5reb 5blk in 6-11FG 3-4 3PT in 31 minutes of action.

Max him? Naw he old. We dont need those old guys here. We gotta keep acquiring that young talent.

He is a pf/c that doesn't want to play CEnter full time anymore
He can stretch the floor
He can play with and back up vuc
He studied in Florida
He want to move to a city with strong Latin community
He is free agent
He is a veteran
His game does rely on his athletic abilities so people shouldn't worry about his age (still very young)
He could teach soooooooo much to our young guys
He is a true pro, all business

Seems like mr horford tick all the boxes

[OrlandoDream]

17pt 5reb 5blk in 6-11FG 3-4 3PT in 31 minutes of action.

Max him? Naw he old. We dont need those old guys here. We gotta keep acquiring that young talent.

He is a pf/c that doesn't want to play CEnter full time anymore
He can stretch the floor
He can play with and back up vuc
He studied in Florida
He want to move to a city with strong Latin community
He is free agent
He is a veteran
His game does rely on his athletic abilities so people shouldn't worry about his age (still very young)
He could teach soooooooo much to our young guys
He is a true pro, all business

Seems like mr Horford tick all the boxes

You don't have to convince me. I've been on the Horford train for quite some time. He is our most realistic target this offseason. However, my worry is that we will get "Millsape'd" again. Horford is in the exact same situation. Literally the exact situation as Millsap. He is even on the same team.

We will most likely throw the max at him, but will Atlanta? If they do not, then we have the advantage, but if they advantage to the conference finals again and Hawks match our offer like they did with Millsap, then we are going 0-2.

I agree that he would be perfect on this team and he seems like a Rob guy. Would be a huge signing for us and a step forward. Lets see if we can finally catch a break and bring back a real all star to this team since Dwight.

[ezzzp]

Go look on your summer free agency plans thread and see what I proposed.

I'm not against adding a high caliber defensive center, but finding one that is an actual starting calibre impact defender at center is not as easy as you continuously spout off that it is...its not a video game. There's a big difference in saying to just go out and get that player and actually having the capacity to acquire one. This summer there are only three that I see are that level: Whiteside (never going to happen); then Ezeli and Biyombo (both whom I have proposed before)...the rest are too old, too foul prone or have serious injury concerns or don't really impact the defensive end enough to sacrifice Vucevic.

I treat your statements and reply to them based on how you present them.

All those players were two way impact players, good to high quality defenders, excellent facilitators with floor vision and all made their team mates better; and all performed in clutch moments...It was not just putting up 20 ppg that made those players difficult to defend and beat.....and that is what you don't get.

Again, you're presenting my statement as if I had made a comment that said those players weren't good/elite defenders.

What you don't seem to understand is that even though those guys are good/great defenders, defensive schemes will do what they can to help those players conserve energy on the defensive end where they can, with easier match ups. Phil Jackson would use Ron Harper to take strong perimeter assignments for most of the game until Jordan was ready in the 4th quarter, so that Jordan could conserve his energy for the offensive end and not burn the candle at both ends for an entire game.

And don't bother trying to twist that into a statement that sounds like I'm calling Jordan a slouch on defense, because you know that's not what I'm saying.

what??? oh Bensational...smh

[Bensational]

Go look on your summer free agency plans thread and see what I proposed.

I'm not against adding a high caliber defensive center, but finding one that is an actual starting calibre impact defender at center is not as easy as you continuously spout off that it is...its not a video game. There's a big difference in saying to just go out and get that player and actually having the capacity to acquire one. This summer there are only three that I see are that level: Whiteside (never going to happen); then Ezeli and Biyombo (both whom I have proposed before)...the rest are too old, too foul prone or have serious injury concerns or don't really impact the defensive end enough to sacrifice Vucevic.

I treat your statements and reply to them based on how you present them.

All those players were two way impact players, good to high quality defenders, excellent facilitators with floor vision and all made their team mates better; and all performed in clutch moments...It was not just putting up 20 ppg that made those players difficult to defend and beat.....and that is what you don't get.

Again, you're presenting my statement as if I had made a comment that said those players weren't good/elite defenders.

What you don't seem to understand is that even though those guys are good/great defenders, defensive schemes will do what they can to help those players conserve energy on the defensive end where they can, with easier match ups. Phil Jackson would use Ron Harper to take strong perimeter assignments for most of the game until Jordan was ready in the 4th quarter, so that Jordan could conserve his energy for the offensive end and not burn the candle at both ends for an entire game.

And don't bother trying to twist that into a statement that sounds like I'm calling Jordan a slouch on defense, because you know that's not what I'm saying.

what??? oh Bensational...smh

You're rolling your eyes at the words of George Karl there. Listen to Zach Lowe's podcast with him and learn a thing or two.

[ezzzp]

Again, you're presenting my statement as if I had made a comment that said those players weren't good/elite defenders.

What you don't seem to understand is that even though those guys are good/great defenders, defensive schemes will do what they can to help those players conserve energy on the defensive end where they can, with easier match ups. Phil Jackson would use Ron Harper to take strong perimeter assignments for most of the game until Jordan was ready in the 4th quarter, so that Jordan could conserve his energy for the offensive end and not burn the candle at both ends for an entire game.

And don't bother trying to twist that into a statement that sounds like I'm calling Jordan a slouch on defense, because you know that's not what I'm saying.

what??? oh Bensational...smh

You're rolling your eyes at the words of George Karl there. Listen to Zach Lowe's podcast with him and learn a thing or two.

Karl and his famous "Random Basketball" philosophy, a system that runs on everything at the expense of defense?...a system often criticized as the reason that his teams are only good in regular season but rarely go deep in the playoffs.

btw...who was he talking about Carmelo? Cousins? Rudy Gay?

[Bensational]

what??? oh Bensational...smh

You're rolling your eyes at the words of George Karl there. Listen to Zach Lowe's podcast with him and learn a thing or two.

Karl and his famous "Random Basketball" philosophy, a system that runs on everything at the expense of defense?...a system often criticized as the reason that his teams are only good in regular season but rarely go deep in the playoffs.

btw...who was he talking about Carmelo? Cousins? Rudy Gay?

Ok, so in one post you've contradicted a whole lot that you've adamantly pushed in the past.

- When another poster questioned Skiles, your response was to the affect of "Skiles is an NBA coach with experience. I'll trust his opinion over yours". But now you think you know better than one of the longest tenured coaches in the league who's had a finals appearance and multiple conference finals appearances.

- You stated that Toronto were a contender because of their regular season record, but now you're trying to discredit Karl's career because he had good regular season records?

- Just in this thread, when I stated that I didn't think Oladipo would become a star, you used Carmelo as an example for why Oladipo will become a star, and even used the sarky line of "guess he's not a star". Now you're rolling your eyes at him?

- Lastly, Karl was talking about Michael Jordan.

So since you're obviously just making points to be contrary to me, at the expense of backing your own opinion, you've lost all credibility in my eyes, and this conversation is over.

[j-ragg]

Achilles scare me, especially maxing somebody after it.

We saw Kobe, we saw Jennings.. they don't really move the same.

Also I think Payton is still easily our PG of the future.

I can't figure out why I thought he had some kind of knee injury. Achilles scare the hell out of me too, but Wes Matthews gives a little hope. Nonetheless you're right, wouldn't want to bank on it with a max deal.

[yoyojw17]

17pt 5reb 5blk in 6-11FG 3-4 3PT in 31 minutes of action.

Max him? Naw he old. We dont need those old guys here. We gotta keep acquiring that young talent.

He is a pf/c that doesn't want to play CEnter full time anymore
He can stretch the floor
He can play with and back up vuc
He studied in Florida
He want to move to a city with strong Latin community
He is free agent
He is a veteran
His game does rely on his athletic abilities so people shouldn't worry about his age (still very young)
He could teach soooooooo much to our young guys
He is a true pro, all business

Seems like mr Horford tick all the boxes

You don't have to convince me. I've been on the Horford train for quite some time. He is our most realistic target this offseason. However, my worry is that we will get "Millsape'd" again. Horford is in the exact same situation. Literally the exact situation as Millsap. He is even on the same team.

We will most likely throw the max at him, but will Atlanta? If they do not, then we have the advantage, but if they advantage to the conference finals again and Hawks match our offer like they did with Millsap, then we are going 0-2.

I agree that he would be perfect on this team and he seems like a Rob guy. Would be a huge signing for us and a step forward. Lets see if we can finally catch a break and bring back a real all star to this team since Dwight.

Yup.... definitely been on this train with you too. He is an ideal power forward for this team. 29 is not shabby at all! and to be honest.... seeing him move from starting center to pf would in my opinion effect both his game and the longevity of his career. He compliments the team very well. Defensive player.... that makes plays.... strong character and consummate professional. If he is the only big acquisition this offseason... along with what i see as the talent trajectory of our team.... we will be in a great position.

With players like dipo, hezonja, gordon and horford who can legitimately play 2 positions at decent to high levels... our rotations would be very solid

[j-ragg]

I used to be on the Al Horford @ power forward bandwagon but I don't know now. I'd rather have him than Vuc, so I think I'd prefer if Vuc was traded or came off the bench. I know this line is getting played out but the league really is going smaller and smaller.

They just seem a little bit too... redundant together in the same lineup.

[Mc-o]

I used to be on the Al Horford @ power forward bandwagon but I don't know now. I'd rather have him than Vuc, so I think I'd prefer if Vuc was traded or came off the bench. I know this line is getting played out but the league really is going smaller and smaller.

They just seem a little bit too... redundant together in the same lineup.

I used to be against adding horford but now I am on board with bringing him on. Watching him this year more closely I think he would bring the veteran presence our young guys need. I think if we bring in horford we would atleast try to play Vuc and him together and if that doesnt work than we made end up trading vuc. So much can happen from now till free agency its really hard to predict.

[OrlandoNed]

I used to be on the Al Horford @ power forward bandwagon but I don't know now. I'd rather have him than Vuc, so I think I'd prefer if Vuc was traded or came off the bench. I know this line is getting played out but the league really is going smaller and smaller.

They just seem a little bit too... redundant together in the same lineup.

Yeah, they are a bit samey but a lineup with them will be useful in certain situations. A rotation of Gordon/Horford, Gordon/Vuc and Horford/Vuc looks very intriguing. Regardless, Vuc should come off the bench no matter what big we sign in free agency. In those games after his groin injury when he came off the bench, the starters with Dedmon set a very nice defensive tone to open the game. Vuc for 2017 6MOY.

[BadMofoPimp]

Festus Ezeli

Nevertheless, the latest news about Festus Ezeli requiring exploratory surgery on his troublesome left knee is the first time this season when there is legitimate reason for long-term concern — if not necessarily panic — about an injury...

...the fact that the fourth-year center needed an extended period to recover from a past knee surgery — he missed the entire 2013-14 season after surgery to reinforce ligaments in his right knee — is cause for a degree of concern about both when he'll be ready to return this season and what his long-term outlook is as he looks ahead to free agency.

http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2016/2/8/10941708/nba-2016-golden-state-warriors-news-festus-ezeli-injury-surgery-stephen-curry-draymond-green

Festus would make for a nice backup, but I wouldn't expect any more than 20mpg out of this guy. Not even sure if he is better than Deadman yet.

[BadMofoPimp]

If the Magic max out Chandler and Horford, I will be fine. But, something about two older players with one that misses many games each season with an injury to the same knee just smells of disaster to me. Especially, when you ink them to long term deals. Perhaps, it is that Villanueva/Bum Garbage experience which set the Pistons back for 4 years. Nothing like players not living up to their potential strapping the team in mediocrity for years on end.

[Nemesis21]

Do we have to max out 2 players? Could we save some money towards next summer? I don't think any of these 3 are max worthy, but I'd be very happy with signing Ramon Sessions, Nic Batum and Festus Ezeli. Retain Fournier, 6th man
Sessions give us a quality starter at PG, lets EP come of the bench and continue to develop a jump shot and floater. Batum provides and an upgrade at SF and Ezeli provides rim protection off the bench. Skiles gets two legit vets who can make an impact.

Sessions/EP/Watson
Dipo/Fournier/Harvey
Batum/Hezonja/Marble
AG/Nicholson/Smith
Vooch/Ezeli/Dedmon

[ezzzp]

If the Magic max out Chandler and Horford, I will be fine. But, something about two older players with one that misses many games each season with an injury to the same knee just smells of disaster to me. Especially, when you ink them to long term deals. Perhaps, it is that Villanueva/Bum Garbage experience which set the Pistons back for 4 years. Nothing like players not living up to their potential strapping the team in mediocrity for years on end.

Your not wrong, Chandler's injury should raise a lot of flags. I also think his interest in Magic has been greatly exaggerated by media; and has more to do with his agent artificially creating "interest" as he heads into his second summer on crutches.

Horford, I'm ok with because he's a solid vet presence upgrade from anything this team has had in at least 4 years. And honestly he's really only needed to sustain his high level play for a couple years until the youth transitions into their prime. But its not an ideal scenario by any means.

I am not too worried about his offense, but I do think his defense will age terribly. Aging bigs rely a lot on their girth and length to make up for their loss in elevation, speed and reaction time; Horford has no length, barely a 7' wingspan and is
6-10 with shoes, and he's not really a wide body. He does have a good BB IQ so that might mitigate some of the loss in athleticism.

[Skin]

We've collected a lot of very good assets, but since we weren't blessed by the lottery gods to land a bonafide star, we need to go to Plan B... Consolidate.

We need to go all in and get a single star who is locked in for more than 1 more season.

Then with our cap space get another star to join him.

The rest is filler.

Otherwise, we'll be tinkering around in mediocrity for a very long time.

----------------

Idea: Jimmy Butler & Hassan Whiteside

Trade - Payton, Hezonja, Vucevic, #11 for Butler, Portis.
FA - Attract Whiteside with addition of Butler.

PG Oladipo
SG Butler
SF Gordon
PF Portis
C Whiteside