TheGlyde wrote:MasterGMer wrote:TheGlyde wrote:
Trade Evan for what/who? Playing him for 2020-21 and letting him walk at the end of the season in FA may give us cap space (assuming the CBA isnt torn up and/or the cap number isnt brought down drastically due to no fans).
Trading him for another (non expiring) player and/or a 2021 draft pick would have money on the cap or a cap hold from the pick, and mean less money in FA.
Oh, and if Evan walks at the end of 2020-21 for nothing and you don't take on a contract back for him, and we extend Markelle and Isaac for say, $25million per year combined (bargain, right?)... Add Okeke and #15 this year and we are at ~$106million committed salary, and that is if we don't resign DJ, MCW, Birch, Ennis, Iwundu or Clark (and only sign G-Leaguers/Min guys to replace those 6 guys on the bench).
So we are at $106million in committed salary, with no bench and a salary cap that this year was $109million and could easily shrink.
And lets be real, even if we had unlimited cap space, Paul, Lebron, Kawhi are not signing here.
For Lowry, Hayward, DeRozen or Gobert, they all make at least 26million currently, so you are going to have to gut the team to somehow find the max to offer them, and even if you somehow do, you then have to hope Lowry isn't further on the decline, Hayward isn't playing cards with Isaac on the Injured list, DeRozen can shoot more than 20 feet?
Gobert would be a nice pickup but the guy is talking about a super max from Utah, he isn't coming to Orlando for less than the max and I don't see how we find that space.
That is depressing to hear. So what should we do, in your opinion? So that we can have a future of contention
We are in a tough spot, and over the next year or two I think the best we can realistically hope for is incremental improvements.
1. As I said earlier in this thread, I think Evan opts in and you look to trade him if you can get one of these;
- A younger player with potential (think how we got Evan for Afflalo etc)
- A player who is as good a shooter who doesn't need to dominate the ball
- A better playmaker
But, it has to be on a contract that doesn't handcuff the team down the line, which is not easy.
If you can't get one of the above and the Magic are in playoff contention, rather than make a bad trade they may just ride Fournier out all the way to the end of his contract and try to replace him through the draft/MLE and/or hope by then other scorers have developed.
2. Keep Vuc. As I have said recently in posts the end goal is for the team to make enough money that it doesn't become a money sink for the DeVos family and sold to another city. Vuc keeps us in playoff contention and the right moves and player development around him could improve the team overall.
3. Keep Gordon for now. If Okeke is as good as we need him to be, and Aminu is better than this season, then look to move AG at the trade deadline. Again though, if we are in the playoff hunt, and/or Okeke isn't ready, the Magic may stand pat until Isaac proves he can play.
4. Get some real player development staff in here to get Okeke and #15 off on the right foot, Markelle's 3 point game cooking and a big man coach suited for the modern NBA to help Bamba become servicable.
5. Unless you use #15 on a PG, whoever you bring in to backup Markelle needs to be on a 1-2 year deal (not opposed to it being DJ or MCW). If it is a FA, do not give them this full MLE 4 year garbage they gave Aminu, because if Markelle develops as hoped they backup PG might only be playing < 15mins.
6. Take a punt on Isaac's health and try and extend him cheap now while he is injured, hope for the best, and if he goes down again, well, at least his contract isn't a team killer.
7. The rest of the players, take them or leave them, look for cheap buys like Ennis/Clark and don't take on any bad contracts.
So basically, I am saying in a perfect world we move Evan for someone who is younger but becomes better, we move AG for value/youth at the deadline because Okeke/Aminu are playing well, Markelle and Bamba develop well and Vuc carries over his bubble play to next season...
To me that's the best we can hope for.
Is this really the best you could hope for OR is this the best you feel like you can expect to get out of your depressed view of how the Magic operate?
I really don't blame you if it's the latter.
The problem I see with it, is that neither winning or development are priorities. Staying afloat as a business is the main objective.
Well, I hope for more.... and I don't think it's honestly that hard to do. The draw back will be short term losing in hopes of long term winning. Our cap should be reserved for resigning our own guys, not chasing FAs. Chasing a star FA miiiiiiiiight be an option if we ever get to the point were we need to get over the hump into true contention and that's waaaaay down the line.
1) Trade Fournier. Additions by subtraction, imo. I even don't mind taking on a bad contract if a young player or nice draft asset is attached to it. A lot of teams will want cap space in 2021 so his expiring contract could be extremely useful to teams chasing any big named FAs. That's obviously not us, so taking on cap at the benefit of acquiring young talent is a fine exchange. I disagree with any plan that brings us Lowry, Hayward, DeRozen or Gobert, etc. Our cap needs to be preserved for our renewing rookie contracts.
Example: Nets were able to get D'Angelo Russell for taking on Mozgov from the Lakers. Lakers proceeded to sign Lebron.
If a scenario like this is not available, then acquiring a TPE (like Golden St's $17M TPE) or using him to move around in the draft is preferred. If we really are stuck with him, then bench his ass, make him unhappy and create a situation where he would force a trade or buy out his contract.
2) Keep Gordon. Due to Isaac's injury, I'm more interested in keeping Gordon around at least through next season. After that we can have discussions. But if Oubre is on the table, pull the trigger.
3) I get it. Vuc is not going anywhere. But hopefully that's until Bamba gets his feet under him. As soon as he can handle 25-30 mpg, Vuc goes on the trade block. Bamba I don't care if Vuc averages 30 ppg and Bamba averages 13 ppg. The rim protection is the key. Offense can finally dig itself out of the 1990's.
4) Explore trade options for Ross and Aminu. Expirings, young player gambles or draft assets.
5) Draft a Guard at 15.
6) Keep developing youth. Make them the priorities. Game plan for them. Give them important roles. Let them work through their mistakes. Maintain a balanced roster. Move on from young guys who don't progress (ala Nicholson, Payton, Hezonja). Keep churnin' and burnin' until the cream rises to the top. Maintain cap to keep the ones we need to. No wasting money on FAs who will interfere with playing time because coach thinks a 1st round playoff exits are like gold (no more the likes of Jeff Green, Afflalo, Jason Smith, Ben Gordon, Willie Green, CJ Watson, blah blah blah).
7) When we have a solid core of talented youth, figure out a way to go over the top with a big name add. Chase the chip.
