We've done some form of this exercise in past years. Let's keep it simple this summer.
Instead of pretending to know what each is worth, let's rank their asset value as simply good, neutral, or bad, and as in comparison to each other. Add a short reason/description if you like!
My opinion of our top asset this year? Jonathan Isaac!
-------------------------
Good Assets
1.
2.
3.
and so forth..
Neutral Assets
..
Bad Assets
..
-------------------------
My list:
Spoiler:
Good Assets
1. Jonathan Isaac - I think he's the kind of player that for some reason is going to end up winning a lot in his career. Everything about him screams it. Especially in the playoffs.
2. ORL's Future 1st Rounders; All Owned - Not owing any of your own future 1st round picks is becoming awfully big these days. The less restrictions you have in sending out future picks, the more you can make a deal really happen. Since ORL is not a perennial playoffs team yet, they're even more attractive.
3. Aaron Gordon - I see J.I. and A.G. as a two-man core of the team. I think their length and 2-way abilities are very unique in this league, and force-multiply together. A decreasing contract seals the deal as an insanely good asset for me.
4. Nikola Vučević - Why is Vooch this high? An ESPN analyst said it best this summer, "No one is thinking twice about contracts for bigs into their 30's anymore. (They play longer careers than other positions now)." Vooch has already been very consistent in his career. But if he keeps playing All Star consistent on a decreasing contract?.. He'd be moving up in this list (again).
5. Mo Bamba - Literally the most perfect skill-sets for today's modern NBA big; one that's not trapped to just one side of the floor. Actually, scratch that.. he has more height and reach than you could even hope for in a modern NBA big today.
6. Terrence Ross - Played amazing defense his first year in ORL. Played amazing offense his second year in ORL. Now he's a sharp-shooting, savvy veteran on a really great contract value. I love the BS irony that if I put him in the LA or NY market, he finishes top 3 as 6th Man of the Year, but in ORL he finishes top 10 in the voting. Good grief.
7. ORL's Future 2st Rounders; All Owned + One LAL - "I need more ammo!"
8. Evan Fournier - Yes, the down year last season happened. But I agreed with his and Coach Cliff's sentiments that he actually grew in other areas like passing and defense. He is always a labelled sharp shooter out on the floor, with some added passing ability, craftiness, and high bball IQ. Those are becoming really valuable pieces to put around star players these days.. He's got only 1-2 years left on his deal, so this is his contract year if he's thinking of a new, long deal.
9. Chuma Okeke - He's got the kind of length and skill-sets everyone wants today when wings are becoming the most popular position. Really makes an identity for the team as a trio with A.G. and J.I. Insert irrational die-hard Magic fan reasoning here for why he's going to kill it in the NBA and waiting up to one year on his recovery. Going to be the steal of the 1st round in the 2019 draft.
10. Khem Birch - This big doesn't space it out to 3 land or have much "youth" on his side anymore at 26-27 years old, but I think that was literally about it for his negatives.. Huge-time hustler and an effective big off the bench. And at 3 mil per for 2 years? Love it. This feels like Marcin Gortat all over again.
11. Al-Farouq Aminu - A really great value signing for ORL. He's the veteran wing everyone is raging about as the meta today; a tall, lengthy and defensive wing with the ability to space it out. Only 28, and basically posted his best 3P%, DWS (defensive win shares) and REB's to date in his last two seasons.
12. D.J. Augustin - Rounds out the last of my good assets, but he's higher on the list if this is a year where 'expiring deals' or 'a veteran PG/shooter for the playoffs' is in demand. Unlike other guards, his shooting is consistently improving as he ages, adding to his veteran presence. Posted his best TS%, 3P%, AST, AST/TO yet last season, basically. Also basically stole a playoffs game from eventual champion, TOR. Can he be your team's FVV off the bench this year?
(Trivia: Basketball-Reference's top 3 similarity scores for D.J. are Lou Williams, Jameer Nelson, and Jalen Rose!)
Neutral Assets
13. Markelle Fultz - 'Quick Wash' Fultz is currently training for the role as president of a business that makes the best tasting bowls of crow for customers to eat. Is the recently turned 21 year old going to be #1 on this list in 1.5 or 2 years?.. that would make him an untouchable core piece and All Star guard.
14. Wesley Iwundu - I believe this young 2nd round wing made some noise last season in advanced stats and adept eye-ball tests with many flashes of elite perimeter defense and a consistent level of all-out hustle. His Per36 was .367 3P% for about 1.00 3PM, .816 FT% for 3.0 FTA, at 10 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1 SPG, and 0.6 BPG. I like it!
15. Michael Carter-Williams - He showed last season that he can still have a big impact off the bench in games, even with a broken shot. Felt like he really made things finally click for himself as an NBA player by posting basically his best PER, lowest USG% (usage), and highest AST% (assisting teammates) to date last season in ORL. (Minimum contract)
16. Melvin Frazier - 22 year old, 2nd round 6'6 SG. Posted .417 3P%, .465 FG%, 1.6 SPG and 12.1 PPG in the G League last year. (Minimum rookie-scale contract)
Bad Assets
17. None but if I'm nitpicking, a 5.5mil cap hit from Mozgov for each of the seasons of 2020-21 and 2021-22 could become sucky later on. Also, this is not tradeable in any sense of the word, either.. hey, wait a minute.. if we're talking about untradeable assets here, then let's include.. 1) the ownership family's open pockets for ORL tax teams historically, 2) ORL as a popular NBA offseason city, 3) ORL, FL as a great taxes and weather haven for NBA players, 4) ORL's rich and winning history.
Is this the first time we've ever had not one single bad asset in the history of our franchise?! This was one of the main reasons I found it really interesting to (re)make this thread for discussion.
1. Jonathan Isaac - I think he's the kind of player that for some reason is going to end up winning a lot in his career. Everything about him screams it. Especially in the playoffs.
2. ORL's Future 1st Rounders; All Owned - Not owing any of your own future 1st round picks is becoming awfully big these days. The less restrictions you have in sending out future picks, the more you can make a deal really happen. Since ORL is not a perennial playoffs team yet, they're even more attractive.
3. Aaron Gordon - I see J.I. and A.G. as a two-man core of the team. I think their length and 2-way abilities are very unique in this league, and force-multiply together. A decreasing contract seals the deal as an insanely good asset for me.
4. Nikola Vučević - Why is Vooch this high? An ESPN analyst said it best this summer, "No one is thinking twice about contracts for bigs into their 30's anymore. (They play longer careers than other positions now)." Vooch has already been very consistent in his career. But if he keeps playing All Star consistent on a decreasing contract?.. He'd be moving up in this list (again).
5. Mo Bamba - Literally the most perfect skill-sets for today's modern NBA big; one that's not trapped to just one side of the floor. Actually, scratch that.. he has more height and reach than you could even hope for in a modern NBA big today.
6. Terrence Ross - Played amazing defense his first year in ORL. Played amazing offense his second year in ORL. Now he's a sharp-shooting, savvy veteran on a really great contract value. I love the BS irony that if I put him in the LA or NY market, he finishes top 3 as 6th Man of the Year, but in ORL he finishes top 10 in the voting. Good grief.
7. ORL's Future 2st Rounders; All Owned + One LAL - "I need more ammo!"
8. Evan Fournier - Yes, the down year last season happened. But I agreed with his and Coach Cliff's sentiments that he actually grew in other areas like passing and defense. He is always a labelled sharp shooter out on the floor, with some added passing ability, craftiness, and high bball IQ. Those are becoming really valuable pieces to put around star players these days.. He's got only 1-2 years left on his deal, so this is his contract year if he's thinking of a new, long deal.
9. Chuma Okeke - He's got the kind of length and skill-sets everyone wants today when wings are becoming the most popular position. Really makes an identity for the team as a trio with A.G. and J.I. Insert irrational die-hard Magic fan reasoning here for why he's going to kill it in the NBA and waiting up to one year on his recovery. Going to be the steal of the 1st round in the 2019 draft.
10. Khem Birch - This big doesn't space it out to 3 land or have much "youth" on his side anymore at 26-27 years old, but I think that was literally about it for his negatives.. Huge-time hustler and an effective big off the bench. And at 3 mil per for 2 years? Love it. This feels like Marcin Gortat all over again.
11. Al-Farouq Aminu - A really great value signing for ORL. He's the veteran wing everyone is raging about as the meta today; a tall, lengthy and defensive wing with the ability to space it out. Only 28, and basically posted his best 3P%, DWS (defensive win shares) and REB's to date in his last two seasons.
12. D.J. Augustin - Rounds out the last of my good assets, but he's higher on the list if this is a year where 'expiring deals' or 'a veteran PG/shooter for the playoffs' is in demand. Unlike other guards, his shooting is consistently improving as he ages, adding to his veteran presence. Posted his best TS%, 3P%, AST, AST/TO yet last season, basically. Also basically stole a playoffs game from eventual champion, TOR. Can he be your team's FVV off the bench this year?
(Trivia: Basketball-Reference's top 3 similarity scores for D.J. are Lou Williams, Jameer Nelson, and Jalen Rose!)
Neutral Assets
13. Markelle Fultz - 'Quick Wash' Fultz is currently training for the role as president of a business that makes the best tasting bowls of crow for customers to eat. Is the recently turned 21 year old going to be #1 on this list in 1.5 or 2 years?.. that would make him an untouchable core piece and All Star guard.
14. Wesley Iwundu - I believe this young 2nd round wing made some noise last season in advanced stats and adept eye-ball tests with many flashes of elite perimeter defense and a consistent level of all-out hustle. His Per36 was .367 3P% for about 1.00 3PM, .816 FT% for 3.0 FTA, at 10 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1 SPG, and 0.6 BPG. I like it!
15. Michael Carter-Williams - He showed last season that he can still have a big impact off the bench in games, even with a broken shot. Felt like he really made things finally click for himself as an NBA player by posting basically his best PER, lowest USG% (usage), and highest AST% (assisting teammates) to date last season in ORL. (Minimum contract)
16. Melvin Frazier - 22 year old, 2nd round 6'6 SG. Posted .417 3P%, .465 FG%, 1.6 SPG and 12.1 PPG in the G League last year. (Minimum rookie-scale contract)
Bad Assets
17. None but if I'm nitpicking, a 5.5mil cap hit from Mozgov for each of the seasons of 2020-21 and 2021-22 could become sucky later on. Also, this is not tradeable in any sense of the word, either.. hey, wait a minute.. if we're talking about untradeable assets here, then let's include.. 1) the ownership family's open pockets for ORL tax teams historically, 2) ORL as a popular NBA offseason city, 3) ORL, FL as a great taxes and weather haven for NBA players, 4) ORL's rich and winning history.
Is this the first time we've ever had not one single bad asset in the history of our franchise?! This was one of the main reasons I found it really interesting to (re)make this thread for discussion.
