Official Speculation Thread ‘19-'20 II: BIG as F

[basketballRob]

Seems to me Isaac had a bunch of open threes during playoffs I dont see a reason why Aminu wont have open looks. Portland didnt have shooting on two starting positions last year. Nurkic is a non shooter and Harkless shot 27% from 3. And i love how media guys glut our forwards and centers together to create a false narrative. WE HAD A BIG NEED FOR A FORWARD. After Isaac got in foul trouble against Raptors we had to defend Siakam with Fournier. It was that bad.

If we had a BIG need for a backup forward, then our need for a starting PG not named DJ Augustin must be HUGE.

It’s not creating a “false narrative” to point out that we are addressing a minor issue when we have a major issue that is still unresolved. It’s like fixing a leaky sink when your house is flooding.

They must be banking on Fultz.

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[Magic4champ]

Seems to me Isaac had a bunch of open threes during playoffs I dont see a reason why Aminu wont have open looks. Portland didnt have shooting on two starting positions last year. Nurkic is a non shooter and Harkless shot 27% from 3. And i love how media guys glut our forwards and centers together to create a false narrative. WE HAD A BIG NEED FOR A FORWARD. After Isaac got in foul trouble against Raptors we had to defend Siakam with Fournier. It was that bad.

If we had a BIG need for a backup forward, then our need for a starting PG not named DJ Augustin must be HUGE.

It’s not creating a “false narrative” to point out that we are addressing a minor issue when we have a major issue that is still unresolved. It’s like fixing a leaky sink when your house is flooding.

They must be banking on Fultz.

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I think they are banking on Fultz to be the back up as Briscoe did backing up Grant going to the season last year. Fultz is the back up to MCW which is a bit of an upgrade.
This FO is surely experienced in managing expectations, no pressures at all. If Fultz makes a strong season like Briscoe did last season then its labeled a success.
If Fultz finds his way to the rotation by the end of the season and is a key contributor to another playoff run its considered a steal from Philadelphia.

[ezzzp]

If we had a BIG need for a backup forward, then our need for a starting PG not named DJ Augustin must be HUGE.

It’s not creating a “false narrative” to point out that we are addressing a minor issue when we have a major issue that is still unresolved. It’s like fixing a leaky sink when your house is flooding.

Having a huge need at starting PG doesn't mean that it could have been fixed with the Mid Level Exception. The Magic already have an MLE type PG in Augustin + they have Fultz who I believe the FO want to give a legit shot to, as they should.

While I liked Tomas Satoransky and Tyus Jones as back up PG's, both signed with the MLE...neither solve the long term starting PG issue. That MLE range isn't were you find that type of player. Meanwhile, Fultz might fill that role if he can play, so the best strategy is to wait and see what he does before throwing money at the back up PG role when the Magic already have 4 options to fill that role: DJ, Fultz, MCW, and Briscoe.

If Fultz doesn't work, I expect the FO will make a consolidation trade to solve the back court issue when the opportunity arises.

[OrlandO]

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[basketballRob]

If we had a BIG need for a backup forward, then our need for a starting PG not named DJ Augustin must be HUGE.

It’s not creating a “false narrative” to point out that we are addressing a minor issue when we have a major issue that is still unresolved. It’s like fixing a leaky sink when your house is flooding.

They must be banking on Fultz.

Sent from my SM-G965U using RealGM mobile app

I think they are banking on Fultz to be the back up as Briscoe did backing up Grant going to the season last year. Fultz is the back up to MCW which is a bit of an upgrade.
This FO is surely experienced in managing expectations, no pressures at all. If Fultz makes a strong season like Briscoe did last season then its labeled a success.
If Fultz finds his way to the rotation by the end of the season and is a key contributor to another playoff run its considered a steal from Philadelphia.

I think Fultz starts more than likely from day 1. No way he's MCW's backup in my opinion.

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[BadMofoPimp]

They must be banking on Fultz.

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I think they are banking on Fultz to be the back up as Briscoe did backing up Grant going to the season last year. Fultz is the back up to MCW which is a bit of an upgrade.
This FO is surely experienced in managing expectations, no pressures at all. If Fultz makes a strong season like Briscoe did last season then its labeled a success.
If Fultz finds his way to the rotation by the end of the season and is a key contributor to another playoff run its considered a steal from Philadelphia.

I think Fultz starts more than likely from day 1. No way he's MCW's backup in my opinion.

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He will backup DJ.

[yoyojw17]

Read on Twitter

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You know something real is being built if this is the view of our free agents.

that "We wanna see this journey thru and see where it takes us." Happy to hear this kind of outlook!

[basketballRob]

I think they are banking on Fultz to be the back up as Briscoe did backing up Grant going to the season last year. Fultz is the back up to MCW which is a bit of an upgrade.
This FO is surely experienced in managing expectations, no pressures at all. If Fultz makes a strong season like Briscoe did last season then its labeled a success.
If Fultz finds his way to the rotation by the end of the season and is a key contributor to another playoff run its considered a steal from Philadelphia.

I think Fultz starts more than likely from day 1. No way he's MCW's backup in my opinion.

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He will backup DJ.

I doubt it

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[j-ragg]

I think Fultz starts more than likely from day 1. No way he's MCW's backup in my opinion.

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He will backup DJ.

I doubt it

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He can’t play 5 on 5 yet. Seems pretty premature to think he’ll be good enough to start day 1.

[BadMofoPimp]

I think Fultz starts more than likely from day 1. No way he's MCW's backup in my opinion.

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He will backup DJ.

I doubt it

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Fultz will have to earn the starting spot. Nothing will be gifted to him while he hasn't proven nothing in the NBA yet. So, after almost over a year of being out of basketball and failing to play at a high NBA level when he has played, I seriously doubt Fultz will be starting regardless how much fans dream he will. It isn't even realistic that he will start once healthy.

I think he has a long road ahead of him before anyone considers him NBA starting material.

I will take cash money bets on this.

[basketballRob]

He will backup DJ.

I doubt it

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He can’t play 5 on 5 yet. Seems pretty premature to think he’ll be good enough to start day 1.

We're all assuming he'll be back. If he is back and healthy I think he starts, not the backup to DJ or MCW.

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[OrlandO]

He will backup DJ.

I doubt it

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Fultz will have to earn the starting spot. Nothing will be gifted to him while he hasn't proven nothing in the NBA yet. So, after almost 2 years of being out of basketball, I seriously doubt Fultz will be starting regardless how much fans dream he will.

Yeah can't see it. This front office is all about putting players in positions to succeed. Throwing Fultz in the fire after missing so much time with an injury that screwed up his jumper and confidence just doesn't make sense for a team trying to win games. They're not going to do that to DJ either. If he's worthy of starting he'll take it from DJ, but it's unlikely to happen overnight.

Also, it's not like he had surgery for a quick fix to his shoulder troubles. Even if his shoulder feels better from months of therapy, they will probably still want to limit and monitor him to make sure the issue doesn't flare up.

[Magic4champ]

I doubt it

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Fultz will have to earn the starting spot. Nothing will be gifted to him while he hasn't proven nothing in the NBA yet. So, after almost 2 years of being out of basketball, I seriously doubt Fultz will be starting regardless how much fans dream he will.

Yeah can't see it. This front office is all about putting players in positions to succeed. Throwing Fultz in the fire after missing so much time with an injury that screwed up his jumper and confidence just doesn't make sense for a team trying to win games. They're not going to do that to DJ either. If he's worthy of starting he'll take it from DJ, but it's unlikely to happen overnight.

Also, it's not like he had surgery for a quick fix to his shoulder troubles. Even if his shoulder feels better from months of therapy, they will probably still want to limit and monitor him to make sure the issue doesn't flare up.

Fultz needs to develop team chemistry with the 2nd unit which I think was earned by Briscoe beating Grant by the end of the season. I think with Clifford's offensive schemes he needs to attack and increase the pace. He needs first to beat MCW before he is handed the backup for DJ.
Health and maintaining his shoulder injury free is another issue. I think he will be in a minutes restriction and will be made ready by playoffs to be a key contributor.
This FO is too conservative in how it operates. For sure they will approach this the same way. Briscoe was a bad free throw shooter but Cliff found a way to make him a key contributor coming as a 3rdPG.

[pepe1991]

Even when he returns, he'll be on heavy min restriction and probably won't play more than 20 mpg whole year.

[GelbeWand09]

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This is what many fans here don't understand. They think running a team is like playing NBA2k where pieces can be thrown about without abandon. Free Agents join teams that have a culture with owners/management that take care of and reward players. Why would any free agent sign with a team that will get rid of them as soon as they have a good season? That is akin to management not caring about any of their co-workers and getting rid of them once they show value.

Free agents go where the money is primarily. We have plenty of owners and management that have been horrible, and they still have signed players. Look for years with Sterling and the Clippers.

Hmmm the Clippers i think are a bad example. There biggest signing of the whole Sterling era was end of prime Elton Brand ? CP3 went there because the Leaque canceled the Lakers trade. Griffin, Odom, Manning & Jordan where drafted. There only other good player i can remember, Ron Harper, was traded there.

[zaymon]

If we had a BIG need for a backup forward, then our need for a starting PG not named DJ Augustin must be HUGE.

It’s not creating a “false narrative” to point out that we are addressing a minor issue when we have a major issue that is still unresolved. It’s like fixing a leaky sink when your house is flooding.

Having a huge need at starting PG doesn't mean that it could have been fixed with the Mid Level Exception. The Magic already have an MLE type PG in Augustin + they have Fultz who I believe the FO want to give a legit shot to, as they should.

While I liked Tomas Satoransky and Tyus Jones as back up PG's, both signed with the MLE...neither solve the long term starting PG issue. That MLE range isn't were you find that type of player. Meanwhile, Fultz might fill that role if he can play, so the best strategy is to wait and see what he does before throwing money at the back up PG role when the Magic already have 4 options to fill that role: DJ, Fultz, MCW, and Briscoe.

If Fultz doesn't work, I expect the FO will make a consolidation trade to solve the back court issue when the opportunity arises.

The best answer i could give. I would add one more very important thing. You need to have a player who wants to come here. Why would anybody come here for mle and risk getting no minutes? Dj showed he is a capable starter, and whole team had his back last season. I dont think Satoransky or Jones( or any other mle guard) would start instead of him. Only player who has a chance to replace Dj is Fultz and Weltman/Hammond are very high on him. So you sign here to propably compete for minutes with MCW who btw is liked very much by the coach. And then you have Bulls for example where you compete with White who is a rookie and not natural floor general and Dunn.

Our guard rotation is not ground breaking, but it was better than our forward rotation.
One more speculation. You know Fultz agent Raymond Brothers? He represents Dj AND Aminu. Something is fishy here and i mean fishy positive for us. You dont make deals with agent who deceived you about players health.

[GelbeWand09]

DJ is one of the main reasons, AG + JI combo worked for us. Put a non shooting PG instead and i highly doubt it works. Fultz is perfect in the Bench leading role in the beginning. In case he never gets his shot back, he will always be a bench PG in this leaque anyway.

[Skybox]

You want open perimeter jumpers and follow-up highlight dunks for our long bois? Nobody penetrates, disrupts, and breaks down defenses like the WestBeast.

[JBSouthpaw]

DJ is one of the main reasons, AG + JI combo worked for us. Put a non shooting PG instead and i highly doubt it works. Fultz is perfect in the Bench leading role in the beginning. In case he never gets his shot back, he will always be a bench PG in this leaque anyway.

well said.
Fultz is a better version of MCW when healthy.

Interesting, the Magic were in attendance for Monta Ellis's comeback workout.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254824/Multiple-NBA-Teams-In-Attendance-For-Amare-Stoudemire-Monta-Ellis-Workout

[magicman112]

DJ is one of the main reasons, AG + JI combo worked for us. Put a non shooting PG instead and i highly doubt it works. Fultz is perfect in the Bench leading role in the beginning. In case he never gets his shot back, he will always be a bench PG in this leaque anyway.

well said.
Fultz is a better version of MCW when healthy.

Interesting, the Magic were in attendance for Monta Ellis's comeback workout.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/254824/Multiple-NBA-Teams-In-Attendance-For-Amare-Stoudemire-Monta-Ellis-Workout

I was wondering if we were. I remember when he was being shopped by Golden State years ago the Magic were mentioned as a possible destination. He was kind of Westbrook-like more of a scoring PG.