20-21 Predictions

Skybox · Post #1 » by **Skybox** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:03 am

We've seen a little bit of preseason. We know who's starting the season healthy and, most likely, their roles to begin the season. What are your realistic predictions based on what you've seen, what you already knew, and what's going on with other franchises.

Magic go 38-34 and finish in the 7th slot (ahead of CLE, DET, NYK, CHA, ATL, CHI, WAS, and IND). The East is stronger than before and all but 3 of those teams begin the season as legit threats to finish ahead of the Magic. There's a good chance that 2 or 3 potential playoff teams will be badly handicapped by Covid-19 issues. A far more aggressive offense proves to be much better suited to our personnel and we get a significant boost from our rookies and Bacon. Gordon and Fournier slip effortlessly into roles more suitable for their skillsets. With the imminent return of Jonathan Isaac and Fournier's impending UFA, both become valuable trade chips at the deadline.

Vucevic is an East All-Star starter and is among the league leaders in 3pt attempts and scoring. Embiid gets off to a slow start and Bam's value doesn't show up enough in the stat sheets to gain him the fan votes. No other Center in the East warrants discussion. Vuc benefits greatly from the much-improved play of Fultz and the penetrating, sped up offense finally favored by Cliff. In the half court, Vuc remains a reliable post threat and, more frequently, he trails the fast break to shoot open 3's.

Fultz is a candidate for Most-Improved. His shooting improves a few ticks but, more significantly, his level of aggressiveness skyrockets with more minutes and Clifford's encouragement to take over games. His ability to penetrate and kick out to open shooters is on level with anyone in the league.

Cole Anthony is a first-team All-Rookie and is widely considered the steal of the draft. He more than makes up for the loss of DJ and actually better suits the faster paced ORL offense. Okeke quietly makes 2nd or 3rd team with solid defense, heady passing, and taking what the offense presents him. Coaching staff and front office can see him making AG expendable and will consider selling high on AG, who has a terrific, stat-stuffing year in Cliff's new offense. Okeke can do everything AG does except highlight-reel dunks with better shooting.

Bamba is another beneficiary of the improved offense and the penetrate and kick abilities of both Fultz and Anthony. His reliable shooting from the top of the key and rim protection project him as approaching starter level and the FO will face a difficult decision as he gains no ground on the East's best Center, even as he improves.

Birch plays a significant role as well, by being moved to the coaching staff with only one mission...to teach Vuc how to set and hold a pick.

RookieStar · Post #2 » by **RookieStar** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:04 am

HOT TAKE - Cole will be the ROY due to us having a drought on offensive production as well as being the only backup PG we have.. Cole will chuck his way into that award.

Post #3 » by **Knightro** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:49 am

Watch on YouTube

cedric76 · Post #4 » by **cedric76** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:45 am

Playoff guaranteed

drsd · Post #5 » by **drsd** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:47 pm

Skybox wrote:Magic go 38-34 and finish in the 7th slot (ahead of CLE, DET, NYK, CHA, ATL, CHI, WAS, and IND)..

If Orlando has no injuries at all, I see this as the best possible outcome for the season.

Given that player-X will miss 10 games to injury-Y, I predict a 36-36 record and the 8-seed.

..

drsd · Post #6 » by **drsd** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 12:48 pm

cedric76 wrote:Playoff guaranteed

And-1

Really;y, does anyone see Orlando sliding below the 10-seed ???

JBSouthpaw · Post #7 » by **JBSouthpaw** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 1:56 pm

drsd wrote:
cedric76 wrote:Playoff guaranteed

And-1

Really;y, does anyone see Orlando sliding below the 10-seed ???

I could, I only see Cleveland, CHI, DET and NYK as the bottom 4 teams. The others COULD have an argument to be better than us.
Washington has Beal and Westbrook and a couple underrated shooters.
ATL & CHA will be able to score, can they guard?
INDY could go either way, they have talent but seem to be in a funk.

paperboymafia · Post #8 » by **paperboymafia** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:55 pm

I've always been so off with my predictions.

So my first thought was 36-36 , which means it's gonna be at least 4-6 games lower than that, sorry everyone.

Skybox · Post #9 » by **Skybox** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:14 pm

JBSouthpaw wrote:
drsd wrote:
cedric76 wrote:Playoff guaranteed

Washington has Beal and Westbrook and a couple underrated shooters.
ATL & CHA will be able to score, can they guard?
INDY could go either way, they have talent but seem to be in a funk.

WAS defense could be much worse than any of those mentioned (but I do have tremendous respect for a "spurned" WESTBEAST-if Beal chooses to fit with him rather than battle for supremacy). Lots of teams in EAST have real reasons to be confident but also lots of opportunities for things not to fit as hoped along with the cloud of COVID over all rosters. In a shortened season, a star or two missing time and/or coming back slow could be the difference in favorable playoff seeding, etc. Only teams, IMO, with NO shot at being any good are NYK & CLE. Even DET has Blake and Rose-if healthy they're not completely without hope on any night.

CHI has a new proven coach in Billy Donovan with (on paper) an interesting roster. Lauri, Coby, Porter, and Lavine all have shown flashes. I like Cliff but a new offensive system feels like a new coach might...better fits for round players previously forced into square holes.

JBSouthpaw · Post #10 » by **JBSouthpaw** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:20 pm

Skybox wrote:
JBSouthpaw wrote:
drsd wrote:
Washington has Beal and Westbrook and a couple underrated shooters.
ATL & CHA will be able to score, can they guard?
INDY could go either way, they have talent but seem to be in a funk.

WAS defense could be much worse than any of those mentioned (but I do have tremendous respect for a "spurned" WESTBEAST-if Beal chooses to fit with him rather than battle for supremacy). Lots of teams in EAST have real reasons to be confident but also lots of opportunities for things not to fit as hoped along with the cloud of COVID over all rosters. In a shortened season, a star or two missing time and/or coming back slow could be the difference in favorable playoff seeding, etc. Only teams, IMO, with NO shot at being any good are NYK & CLE. Even DET has Blake and Rose-if healthy they're not completely without hope on any night.

CHI has a new proven coach in Billy Donovan with (on paper) an interesting roster. Lauri, Coby, Porter, and Lavine all have shown flashes. I like Cliff but a new offensive system feels like a new coach might...better fits for round players previously forced into square holes.

Agree, I added Chicago last. I think Coby had a pretty underrated rookie season. Also agree with you on Washington, could be a total dumpster fire if Westbrook and Beal can't co-exist

drsd · Post #11 » by **drsd** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:45 pm

For Orlando to miss the play-in games on the positive side, the team needs to be thinking of a 43-29 record to get to the 6-seed.

Can anyone of us in ultra-Homer mode fathom that?

For me this is not even an unrealistic goal.

..

drsd · Post #12 » by **drsd** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:46 pm

Skybox wrote:WAS defense could be much worse than any of those mentioned...s.

When The WIzards play the Hawks, I can see a 300+ point game. First to 140 wins ?!?!??!?

...

zaymon · Post #13 » by **zaymon** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:15 pm

1. We will make playoffs

2. Okeke will be a starter before season ends.

3. Anthony will make all rookie team.

4. We will trade AG before deadline

JBSouthpaw · Post #14 » by **JBSouthpaw** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 6:23 pm

Not getting a lot of love today.
ESPN put out their tier rankings, have us chasing the 10th seed with Chicago from the east.
Only ahead of DET, NYK and CLE.
https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30523584/eight-nba-tiers-rating-all-30-teams-top-bottom

SI.com put out their ranking of best teams to watch. has us at 28 out of 30.
28. Orlando Magic

The Markelle Fultz resurrection aside, there is not much interesting here. Nikola Vucevic is inconsequential. Aaron Gordon needs a new team. And Evan Fournier as lead perimeter guy hasn’t exactly worked. It would be surprising if this team didn’t undergo some major changes sooner rather than later.
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/12/21/nba-entertainment-rankings-2021

Max Power · Post #15 » by **Max Power** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 7:18 pm

As sad as it is. I predict the Magic take a serious step back this year. I think it goes as follows.

1. Vuc will have his usual All Star numbers and perhaps have a career year.

2. Chuma and Anthony will be up and down but one will be experimented as a starter for a while.

3. T-Ross and AG will do what they do, as will Fournier, and two of three will be gone after the trade deadline.

4. Fultz will be better, and cement himself as our starting pg for a couple years at minimum.

5. I see this team losing a lot of close games. 28 wins due to lack of depth.

cedric76 · Post #16 » by **cedric76** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:32 pm

[instagram][/instagram]

drsd wrote:
cedric76 wrote:Playoff guaranteed

And-1

Really;y, does anyone see Orlando sliding below the 10-seed ???

AND-1 LOL

ARandomStranger · Post #17 » by **ARandomStranger** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:37 pm

Orlando surprises everyone and takes the sixth seed. This is off the back of hard work by Fultz/AG/Vuc who have stellar years and prove they can do the impossible when healthy.

Cole Anthony becomes a starting guard by mid-season as they sell off Fournier to improve the bench a bit. AG is on the market and no people bite, Magic keep him another year.

Cole wins RoY. He has a strong showing off the bench and proves he can play off ball with Fultz. Lamelo barely plays due to Graham and Rozier as the Hornets pursue the 7th or 8th seed cementing Cole in this role.

Magic advance to the second round by playing the third seed Raptors. With no Gasol or Ibaka they can't stop Vuc and their fire power can't compare to the new double guard lineup plus Vuc.

I know my predictions are crazy, but a man can dream.

Post #18 » by **Bensational** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:21 pm

My prediction is that the team loses more overall but remains in contention for the play-in spot. 34-38 to 32-40 for the season record.

I think Anthony makes a bigger impact than Fultz this season, to the point he's challenging to be a starter by season's end. He will be a 6th man spark plug for us to begin the season, and after the deadline he could move into the starting lineup. Cole wins ROTY. Okeke becomes a bench rotation contributor by season's end.

I think this is something of a big step year for Gordon. Not quite an all star season but it's the set up for one next season. His shooting numbers will jump, he will share playmaking duties with Fultz and Vuc and do better finding others, and will set himself up for an all-star campaign year next season (in his contract year no doubt).

Vuc will be as solid as he's been the past 2 seasons. On some nights he'll take over and carry us completely and others he'll be setting up Cole and Fultz for buckets.

Fournier will be traded at deadline. I think he plays a decidedly more off-ball role this season and his shooting efficiency becomes even higher. But he kills us on the defensive end all season. Traded at the deadline for a backup PG so Cole can join the starting backcourt with Fultz.

I don't see big things for Fultz this year, but I see him being quietly better across the board. Better playmaking, better efficiency, starts hitting some 3s again with regularity. Cole will help Fultz reignite some of his fire to attack the basket.

Bamba I think gets traded this season. Will depend how the first half of the season goes, but if he's not getting minutes then he'll demand a trade.

We make the play-ins but lose and end up with the 10th pick on the draft.

RookieStar · Post #19 » by **RookieStar** » Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:45 pm

LOL. Aside from my ROY prediction, it's hard for me to be able to predict our record. Paper-wise we should be in the 10th spot but I never underestimate a veteran team with "continuity" versus young upcoming but recently "jelled" team

Last Guardian · Post #20 » by **Last Guardian** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:23 pm

From the starting perspective, I would like to see Fultz take on way more of the ball-handling playmaking role and Fournier to step aside and just shoot the ball whenever he can. Vuc will have to do his normal thing he's done for the last few years. I do like Bacon potential to add a shotmaker to the lineup as well.

From the bench, you still got Ross who's one of the best bench players in the league and Cole will help with the offensive spark. Bamba will be important as he could stifle the opposing bench offense if he makes some strides while Ross and Cole could provide a lot of offense, giving us a potentially big bench advantage.

I say we do pretty well against the bad teams because of the bench production and struggle against the good teams, so more of the same. Probably a low playoff team and done quickly (again). The X factor is if Fultz really takes off, that would change a lot and probably put us in the mid-tier playoff range.