Playoffs G3: Toronto Raptors (2) @ Orlando Magic (7) - A Reptile Dysfunction

[VFX]

[*]

I think we ll go after kemba

Renounce vuc (unfortunately)

And trade unhappy Evan

How much cap space do we have, if we renounce Vuc. Is it enough for Kemba?

We can easily make room for a contract if kemba wants to be here

Kemba + all our long 3 & d guys could be great

Kemba wants to go to a contender or make the most money possible. Orlando provides neither of those options compared to other teams. He will be 30 next year.

[ChosenSavior]

Spoiler:

This possession still hurts for me. AG played excellent defense on Kawhi which forces the jumper to come up short. The PG has to maintain that area between the top of the 3pt line to the FT line to secure the long rebound but instead DJ tried to leak out until it was too late.

For a veteran guy, DJ sure does have a low IQ on the defensive side of the ball. He's been awful since game 1.

[ezzzp]

I think we should resign Ross, let Vuc walk. Go and try to get Kemba with the cap space. Fill out the bench. Try to trade Fournier.

The only possibility for the Magic to acquire Kemba Walker is a sign and trade. Aside from getting Kemba to agree to that, it would require the Magic to send out matching salary (+$30 million) plus assets that would give Charlotte an incentive to trade their star to a division rival.

Basically, acquiring Kemba is near impossible.

Even if the Magic renounce all their other free agents (including Birch), Ross' cap hold eats up all the cap space. Stretching Mozgov doesn't even help as the Magic would still not even be remotely close to clearing enough for a max contract. It is also near impossible to clear salary in a trade as its the offseason, thus there are few expiring contracts (only team option contracts). Whatever salary you trade for, you have to take similar salary back.

[MasterGMer]

I get it. We won’t get Kemba. We also have Fultz.


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[Rainwater]

[*]

I think we ll go after kemba

Renounce vuc (unfortunately)

And trade unhappy Evan

How much cap space do we have, if we renounce Vuc. Is it enough for Kemba?

We can easily make room for a contract if kemba wants to be here

Kemba + all our long 3 & d guys could be great

If Vuc leaves what is the point of Kemba??? Who exactly is Kemba going to play with? He might as well just stay in Char, what is the point for Kemba?

[OrlandO]

Spoiler:

This possession still hurts for me. AG played excellent defense on Kawhi which forces the jumper to come up short. The PG has to maintain that area between the top of the 3pt line to the FT line to secure the long rebound but instead DJ tried to leak out until it was too late.

For a veteran guy, DJ sure does have a low IQ on the defensive side of the ball. He's been awful since game 1.

AG too. Great, great defense, but he stopped playing the possession after the contest and started walking back. With such little time left and down 3 the perimeter players should have been thinking rebound in case there was a bad bounce. Inexperience on full display... and that includes DJ because he does not have experience closing playoff games. I'm sure Clifford will make sure the lesson is learned today.

[6ixSideSniper]

JI getting any blame in this thread for Siakam’a performance is nuts. JI is probably one of the better defenders you can get to match up with him.

It was evident from a Raptors fan perspective that Siakam was working harder and craftier than usual to get his buckets due to the length and athleticism of JI.

I must say I thought the Magic made a huge mistake drafting the kid but he’s looking real good, with only room for improvement.

[orthoman]

I agree with others...we have a long-term problem with Vuc at center. Most of his points scored in the playoffs have been when
there was a size mismatch..he took advantage of that; otherwise he struggles with lack of quickness...etc.

I dont think its wise for the Magic to keep him for 3-4 years; all Bamba really needs is a one-year mentorship.

I would invest in money to resign Ross and sign another scorer in the offseason; perhaps shipping Vucevic in a trade?

Why does Ross not start and play most of the game?

[Jiwol]

Mfcking Fournier, this was very winnable game. I'm pissed while I exactly shouldn't be and enjoy the postseason...

[OrlandO]

Fournier knows he's blowing it. I hope this means he stops running into the teeth of the defense just to take a contested jumper. I can live with him missing open spot ups if he cuts out the hero ball stuff.

Read on Twitter

[Bonafide89]

Danny Green is an outstanding defender. Back-court defense against Augustin and Fournier was decisive.

..

As was the lack of it on Saikam. Again this is a really good way for the young guys to get experience so Maybe one day Isaac will be as good.

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I'm not sure how you can see Isaac as the problem at the defensive end. He was the only person that slowed down Siakam all night long and we would've been down 20-0 to start the game were it not for Isaac. Aside from him scoring the first five points, he forced two misses from Siakam, forced a miss from Leonard, stole the ball from Leonard, and forced a jump ball from Leonard. This all happened in the first four minutes of the game.

I thought Vucevic was pretty good at the defensive end in the first half, but he was terrible offensively. Evan was miserable at both ends all night long. The Ross-Fournier combination is a defensive liability in this series as neither one can cover Siakam or Leonard.

This is a tough one to lose. Our offense struggled for most of the night, but free throws kept us in the game despite our inability to hit shots. This is definitely an opportunity lost.

I agree. Isaac is far from a Siakam stopper but Fournier and TRoss were getting manhandled by him.

Isaac makes Siakam work at least

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[Bonafide89]

I would just like to add that almost whole forum predicted 5 to 6 games series, so all this anger, meltdowns and fingerpointing is kind a silly because we all knew we don't have much chance

Raptors are simply better. Top to bottom.
They have Jeremy Lin on DNPs who would be Magic starter.
Leonard is top 5 player in NBA and former finals MVP ( youngest ever).
Siakam is MIP front runner.
Green has ring
Marc Gasol is former DPOY.
Lowry is allstar for years
During Ibaka's time here he was our top 2-3 player, guy isn't even starter there.

Raptors are legit contender.

I love that we are back as an organization. All of the apathy we showed during the past 7 years is gone.

We are actually angry that we are down 2-1 in a competitive series against a finals contender. If this is the new normal, I'll take it.

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[fklt]

Fournier knows he's blowing it. I hope this means he stops running into the teeth of the defense just to take a contested jumper. I can live with him missing open spot ups if he cuts out the hero ball stuff.

Read on Twitter

it's good that he knows he **** up, but I don't agree on his take about what his approach should be next game. vuc did the same mistake in the second game. after struggling in the first game, he reacted by playing more reserved and letting the game come to him. this works over the course of a season but with the intensity of these games, defense is not going to give you much room to take it nice and easy. he was way less effective, and we got blown out. contrast that with the first game, where he was pushing through the struggle but at least other things were happening throughout the court that carried us to that win.

third quarter of the last game we started attacking gasol. he started picking up fouls. raptors defense started to fall apart, resulting in mismatches and open shots, which mostly vuc capitalized on. confident and constant attacking worked as long as the guys didn't forget to move the ball. there were moments where we played reactively to raptors overwhelming defense though, and I lost count how many times second guessing lead us to fumbling the ball, turning it over, and throwing up weird looking hesitant shots even when open (which ross also was guilty of last night). considering raptor's play style, that's worst thing we can do. I'd much prefer fournier constantly attacking, with gasol's tendency to defend faster guys with slaps to the ball at this point in his career.

anyway on an unrelated note, I'm very surprised at fournier's poor play on the playoffs. he usually performs better when stakes are higher. hope other guys can win some time for him to figure out things before the series is over.

[pepe1991]

Evan is first Magic player in history that shot ball at least 12 times and made only 1 FG.
And people say he didn't have historic night, smh

[Bonafide89]

Evan is first Magic player in history that shot ball at least 12 times and made only 1 FG.
And people say he didn't have historic night, smh

I know everyone hates Fournier but we seriously need to get rid of him before he becomes Nicolas Batum. Learn your lesson Cliff. Please.

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[TGW]

Do we win this series if we swap Evan (plus fillers obviously) for Beal?

DJ
Beal
JI
AG
Vuc

And more importantly, would we then be a contender next year with:

Fultz
Beal
JI
AG
Vuc
?

LOL what "filler" do you think makes up the difference between Fournier and Beal? Cause let me tell...the Wizards don't care even a little bit about taking on Fournier.

[Detective]

Do you guys think Marc Gasol may inadvertedly help the Magic retain Vuc for less money, due to him basically driving down his value with the way he is containing him thus far this postseason?

[Magic#1]

Do we win this series if we swap Evan (plus fillers obviously) for Beal?

DJ
Beal
JI
AG
Vuc

And more importantly, would we then be a contender next year with:

Fultz
Beal
JI
AG
Vuc
?

LOL what "filler" do you think makes up the difference between Fournier and Beal? Cause let me tell...the Wizards don't care even a little bit about taking on Fournier.

If the Wizards were going full rebuild and thought they could trade Wall, I could MAYBE seem them willing to do a Beal for Fournier, Bamba and picks. But Fournier still has two years left on his deal and I can't see any new GM getting them out of the cap situation their in. I would guess the Wiz keep their core, hope to get lucky in the lottery or add a quality player and see if they can get healthy and better chemistry and make another playoff run.

[Ducklett]

Do you guys think Marc Gasol may inadvertedly help the Magic retain Vuc for less money, due to him basically driving down his value with the way he is containing him thus far this postseason?

I was fine bringing Vuc back before the playoffs started. Seeing his inability to play basketball in the playoffs makes me want to get rid of him and go back to tanking.

[Dmagic]

Yes, I'm not sure if its been addressed,
But we definitely got game four! I'm so excited for this upcoming victoryy