NBA Future Power Rankings: Magic #21

[VFX]

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/ORL/2000.html
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999–2000_Orlando_Magic_season]wiki LINK[/url]


One of the worst talented teams Orlando ever offered missed the playoffs by only one game. A team is a team. I believe in both Heart and Hustle.

The current talent of this roster far exceeds the 99.00 roster. But do they have either Heart of Hustle???
We will see.


..

It's great to have the "if the players try really hard we can get further" mentality. I disagree. In the NBA the most talented teams win a majority of the time.

What is the goal here? The answer should always be - to win a championship for Orlando. The question should be heading into the first and second half of the season - what's the best possible way of acquiring enough talent to win a championship?

If the system in place benefits tanking to draft the next KD, Westbrook, and Lebron then you do it considering players of that ilk are never willingly setting foot in Orlando. You have to have talent to draw talent. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? Players want to win and they know if they have pieces capable of winning a championship or not.

There's always reason to hope pieces click and things come together. I mean, who would've thought Ben Wallace/Billups/Hamilton/Prince/Sheed were going to be a championship team capable of knocking off the Lakers? Who would've picked any of those players to be a part of a team like that, prior to it?

Same with guys like Pierce and Kyrie. Not many people would've considered them championship caliber guys until you partnered them with two of the league's best players.

Obviously, our team has no one anywhere near the star caliber of Pierce/Irving, but we could certainly have guys who could make up pieces of a great 'team', like the Pistons.

That pistons team, and previous Spurs teams, are the best case scenario for Orlando. Watching those teams (and to an extent our 09 team) give me hope that it is possible. However, in recent history that hasn't been the case. Superstar talent usually comes out on top.

These recent developments with players outright choosing their destinations will make it harder and will put more pressure on the draft IMO.

[BadMofoPimp]

Here we go with the tanking again. . .

But we got your way bro. We didn't commit to the tank so you should feel satisfied with our efforts and our current standing. Is that true?

We didn't really commit to anything, so imo both sides of the tanking argument should be disappointed about the last five seasons of half-assed tanking and half-assed trying to win.

Can't blame the players who play in the game for trying to win games and coaches trying to keep their jobs. Sometimes, people just have no clue that there are people whose livelihoods are involved here. They expect players, coaches and management to sacrifice their own futures so that the team could get lucky and just maybe (less than 10% shot even if they get a top 3 pick) to WIN a superstar in the draft.

[OrlandO]

But we got your way bro. We didn't commit to the tank so you should feel satisfied with our efforts and our current standing. Is that true?

We didn't really commit to anything, so imo both sides of the tanking argument should be disappointed about the last five seasons of half-assed tanking and half-assed trying to win.

Can't blame the players who play in the game for trying to win games and coaches trying to keep their jobs. Sometimes, people just have no clue that there are people whose livelihoods are involved here. They expect players, coaches and management to sacrifice their own futures so that the team could get lucky and just maybe (less than 10% shot even if they get a top 3 pick) to WIN a superstar in the draft.

I don't think many expect players or coaches to tank. But management is different. They can actually pull the strings to control draft position. Hennigan did tank those first few years... I mean, you're not trying to win when you have the worst coaching staff in the league, an awful bench and a starting unit led by either vet role players or raw youth. He just valued "building a winning culture" more than taking the extra steps in securing a top 3 pick, so he picked 4th and 5th instead. Henny's job was safe while he was tanking... what got him fired was trying to win.

[Skybox]

If you REALLY want to tank, it's got to be more than FO. They can only make so many trades through the season...stars have to sit, coaches have to give those bench guys a good look , etc. Otherwise, you end up with the 4-7th pick and everybody complains that you're not "REALLY" Tanking. It's too competitive at the bottom...I get when front office makes long-term decisions but when it gets to the coaching staff/medical and guys sit out the last month of the season, it's gross and can't be good for developing players to absorb.

Heart and Hustle Magic were absolutely unprecedented in their willingness to make ANY trade that cleared space. That was a PLAN carried out to perfection...they just got unlucky/lucky(?!?)

[amkyka1956]

The most obvious, visibly measurable example of tanking in NBA history was the offseason when our own Magic cleared the decks for Duncan/Hill...they traded anybody with a contract for anybody with an expiring, they never gave Billups a jersey, they hired a young rookie coach, they made NO bones about the fact that they were gutting the team alive. I forget the number of transactions, but it seemed to be daily...so then, their rookie coach wins coach of the year, this ragtag team of cast offs, led by Darrell Armstrong win half of their games, and disappointingly, for a lot of you here, the competitive fire of this team can't be stopped. So the draft plan is ruined by the damn winning. However, they do manage to sign a legitimate all-time great "Next Jordan-type" who hardly plays a game for the team due to injuries. Also, they whiff on Duncan...they accidentally sign a now HOF'er in TMac, who would've happily been a deferential third-guy to Duncan and Hill...point is, all your plans suck...play to win, there's too many factors outside your control. Sometimes you get lucky competing, sometimes you get lucky tanking, but guys like Riley and Pop and Presti don't tank- they fight and win every year...that's where phrases like "reload, not rebuild" come from-the Varsity organizations in the NBA.

+1,745,698!

[amkyka1956]

I realize that after the debacle of the "trust Henny" yrs. there is a tremendous amt. of frustration hearing our new fo spout basically the exact litany facing our NEW rebuild! We have now, however, a NEW, EXPERIENCED bank of leadership, who have been there done that and have a plan to bring us back to respectability! This, of course, cannot be done in a short time, so yes, that dreaded word PATIENCE is needed to once again become a respectable, competitive team! Unfortunately this is the only path to accomplish our ultimate goal of producing an on coast product we can be proud of. With our basic core, new draft pick and a bit more depth we are off to a great start, and I, for one refuse to lose faith in our Orlando Magic!!!!!!