96.9 Morning Interview Jeff Weltman "Have a Finger on the Pulse of the team"

[MartinsIzAfraud]

96.9 The Game had Jeff Weltman on at 8:15 and wow he really opened up a bit.

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The WHY?
Mentioned that the injuries really pushed them into this corner. Also mentioned that this is the first time they will have solid cap space over multiple years, multiple 1st's (5 in the next 3 years) and a very valuable 17m TPE that can help them add a player while being over the cap and not having to send out. Was an exceptionally busy deadline for them because they were working on deals to push them in 2 different directions. Said it was time to strike down a new path and it really made sense looking long term.

The HOW
They have talks with all players and know that they have windows for certain things and players look after their career. Didn't say it but it does sound like once Vuc heard AG + Fournier were actually going he was interested in also going but it wasn't a demand.

The Trade Details
Said they really really coveted RJ and sounds like he was 1b to Cole come draft night. Mentioned that they had been talking to Denver for weeks and it wasn't until yesterday that they agreed to add in RJ. Denver didn't want to include him and Jeff said they begrudgingly did, without RJ the trade doesn't happen. Also said that there were 3 1st round draft picks that were traded yesterday and all 3 went to Orlando. Said 1st round picks are not handed out anymore and they're very valuable regardless where they end up. They're very excited about WCJ and really think he can be a great player for years to come.

A little Clifford talk

Weltman said he's the same Cliff every day and nothing's changed. Said he's a little busier now having to learn new guys and find a way to get to know and see these new guys play together. Mentioned excited to see the young guys on the court together and One player asked to get into the gym last night but it didn't work out. That 1000% was RJ.

[drsd]

He used the word "REBUILD". wow.

The discussion on i) cap-flexibility and ii) 5 FRPs over the next three years reveals that this rebuild is nowhere near stage-2.

Weltman inferred it is a 3-year rebuild to return to the playoffs. 2024/25 here we come.


..

[cedric76]

great interview

[jgiannip]

Remember the magic motto, “Everything we do is wrong”

[MagicFan4Lyfe]

Ok. I've been hard on the Weltman/Hammond front office. I'll give them a little longer leash- 2 years. Need to see them hit most of their draft picks and some shrewd FA signings for me to regain faith again.

[drsd]

great interview

That was the most direct I have ever heard Weltman answer questions.

Even the non-answers were "I do not discuss that" rather than deflections.


..

[MartinsIzAfraud]

He used the word "REBUILD". wow.

The discussion on i) cap-flexibility and ii) 5 FRPs over the next three years reveals that this rebuild is nowhere near stage-2.

Weltman inferred it is a 3-year rebuild to return to the playoffs. 2024/25 here we come.


..

I was also shocked he used the term Rebuild

[The Real Dalic]

Really good interview! Thanks for sharing yet again!

[Def Swami]

I've given these guys a ton of grief over four years for their inactivity, their missteps in the draft, inability to pick a direction, inability to evaluate the team, and BS us fans about their goals and their perception of the team.

This Jeff Weltman is a complete 180 degree turn compared to what we're used to. There's a lot of candor about the goals of the franchise, the ceiling of the team, and how they want to get there. Their strategy has completely shifted. Their goals have shifted. And as someone who was out on the front office, I might be back in. Knowing they also realize that team had a limit and that they had to tear it down to build it back up is reinvigorating. I am genuinely intrigued to see what they do with all these assets over the next year.

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[JF5]

This interview just re-confirms everything that I thought about the front office. They're professional and were able to understand the situation and make the best decisions possible.

[fklt]

I call bull****.

team as it was always going to be limited in their success. even if we ended up a homecourt playoff team this season as he claims, that's completely independant of how we'd be positioned for the following seasons. they always needed to make changes, trades if this team was going to be any better. you can't use the temporary injuries in a season as an excuse for the failures of your long term strategy. either you have a vision for how to get better or you don't. and he's cluelessly still using the same buzzwords. what "continuity" are you talking about man? keeping birch? this is just complete 180 of everything you've been preaching. just own it.

I have zero confidence on him being able succesfully carry out this rebuild. hennigan had warts and bad choices but most of his greatest failures were pushed on him by the ownership forcing him to deviate from his vision. these guys have no vision. they just throw **** at the wall and see what sticks. for this reset to have any chance of succeeding, we need to get rid of them asap.

[Knightro]

I appreciate Weltman's candor, but it still doesn't change the fact that the Magic's original plan was so unbelievably flawed.

The plan was to win as much as possible this season and make the playoffs. That's clear.

But Weltman openly admits that part of the reason they chose to unload was because they wouldn't be able to keep the same group together next season because of financial reasons.

So like... without injuries, Weltman was planning to barrel ahead towards a .500 record and a playoff appearance and then simply let Fournier walk and replace him with a mid first rounder?

It's tough for me to think that wasn't the exact plan because that's quite literally the exact thing they did last offseason with Augustin and Anthony.

[JF5]

I call bull****.

team as it was always going to be limited in their success. even if we ended up a homecourt playoff team this season as he claims, that's completely independant of how we'd be positioned for the following seasons. they always needed to make changes, trades if this team was going to be any better. you can't use the temporary injuries in a season as an excuse for the failures of your long term strategy. either you have a vision for how to get better or you don't. and he's cluelessly still using the same buzzwords. what "continuity" are you talking about man? keeping birch? this is just complete 180 of everything you've been preaching. just own it.

I have zero confidence on him being able succesfully carry out this rebuild. hennigan had warts and bad choices but most of his greatest failures were pushed on him by the ownership forcing him to deviate from his vision. these guys have no vision. they just throw **** at the wall and see what sticks. for this reset to have any chance of succeeding, we need to get rid of them asap.

I think fans have a narrow view as to how they saw this team. There were clearly multiple paths and like he mentioned seeing how everything was going it just shows they were very aware as to what was going on.

From what I was seeing... I think they saw that they could potentially rebuild via (winning culture and continuity). The plan to me from the beginning was that this team was going to transition from Gordon/Fournier/Vucevic to Issac/Fultz/Okeke and the balancing of the the roster would occur as they'd go. (I believe they were going to move AG last year for a wing but Issac going down changed plans). Then with remainder of team going down with injuries mounting, losing (dropping the Free-agency/trading interest for potential star players to come), and vets signaling they wanted out asap the transition phase became dead in the water.

Now being in contention for a top pick in a deep draft with no other paths with the continuity plan (with players wanting out and with players trade values depressing as time moved forward as they mentioned). This blow-up stage was the only path available.

Also, they achieved a very crucial objective with the core young guys too. Being an a environment of playoff experience and being in a semi winning situation and experiencing that going forward. That in itself is very valuable as it teaches the young guys what it takes to win. Now the base of your franchise isn't in an odd situation which happened in the previous regime where young players felt like they were playing against each other rather than for each other (as Oladipo mentioned a few years ago).

Also, the fact that these guys eventually did right by the vets and put them on teams that are trending up or are contending is very good look for the Organization going forward. Somebody put up a thread that this team was "dysfunctional" but seeing how everything has played out for EVERYONE in the last few days shows that they know what they're doing.

Again, this narrative that this front office is garbage is way off base. The fact they don't share what happens internally too often combined with the fans frustrations has gotten us to this place.

[fklt]

I call bull****.

team as it was always going to be limited in their success. even if we ended up a homecourt playoff team this season as he claims, that's completely independant of how we'd be positioned for the following seasons. they always needed to make changes, trades if this team was going to be any better. you can't use the temporary injuries in a season as an excuse for the failures of your long term strategy. either you have a vision for how to get better or you don't. and he's cluelessly still using the same buzzwords. what "continuity" are you talking about man? keeping birch? this is just complete 180 of everything you've been preaching. just own it.

I have zero confidence on him being able succesfully carry out this rebuild. hennigan had warts and bad choices but most of his greatest failures were pushed on him by the ownership forcing him to deviate from his vision. these guys have no vision. they just throw **** at the wall and see what sticks. for this reset to have any chance of succeeding, we need to get rid of them asap.

I think fans have a narrow view as to how they saw this team. There were clearly multiple paths and like he mentioned seeing how everything was going it just shows they were very aware as to what was going on.

From what I was seeing... I think they saw that they could potentially rebuild via (winning culture and continuity). The plan to me from the beginning was that this team was going to transition from Gordon/Fournier/Vucevic to Issac/Fultz/Okeke and the balancing of the the roster would occur as they'd go. (I believe they were going to move AG last year for a wing but Issac going down changed plans). Then with remainder of team going down with injuries mounting, losing (dropping the Free-agency/trading interest for potential star players to come), and vets signaling they wanted out asap the transition phase became dead in the water.

Now being in contention for a top pick in a deep draft with no other paths with the continuity plan (with players wanting out and with players trade values depressing as time moved forward as they mentioned). This blow-up stage was the only path available.

Also, they achieved a very crucial objective with the core young guys too. Being an a environment of playoff experience and being in a semi winning situation and experiencing that going forward. That in itself is very valuable as it teaches the young guys what it takes to win. Now the base of your franchise isn't in an odd situation which happened in the previous regime where young players felt like they were playing against each other rather than for each other (as Oladipo mentioned a few years ago).

Also, the fact that these guys eventually did right by the vets and put them on teams that are trending up or are contending is very good look for the Organization going forward. Somebody put up a thread that this team was "dysfunctional" but seeing how everything has played out for EVERYONE in the last few days shows that they know what they're doing.

Again, this narrative that this front office is garbage is way off base. The fact they don't share what happens internally too often combined with the fans frustrations has gotten us to this place.

yeah dude, the last 4 years was worth it because we got isaac to play in one play off series for the first time. that was the goal all along. you solved this thing. that was just the right amount of culture this team needed to get us going.

[MartinsIzAfraud]

I appreciate Weltman's candor, but it still doesn't change the fact that the Magic's original plan was so unbelievably flawed.

The plan was to win as much as possible this season and make the playoffs. That's clear.

But Weltman openly admits that part of the reason they chose to unload was because they wouldn't be able to keep the same group together next season because of financial reasons.

So like... without injuries, Weltman was planning to barrel ahead towards a .500 record and a playoff appearance and then simply let Fournier walk and replace him with a mid first rounder?

It's tough for me to think that wasn't the exact plan because that's quite literally the exact thing they did last offseason with Augustin and Anthony.

Weltman did also say they had some trades lined up that would've provided a different path "playoff push" but they went another way. Who knows what those could've been but it could've somewhat stabilized losing Fournier + AG running back with Vuc.

[CZ Eddie]

I haven't been able to listen yet.
Was there any talk about plans for individual players?
Such as Bamba or Cole?

Thank you for the summary.

[JF5]

I appreciate Weltman's candor, but it still doesn't change the fact that the Magic's original plan was so unbelievably flawed.

The plan was to win as much as possible this season and make the playoffs. That's clear.

But Weltman openly admits that part of the reason they chose to unload was because they wouldn't be able to keep the same group together next season because of financial reasons.

So like... without injuries, Weltman was planning to barrel ahead towards a .500 record and a playoff appearance and then simply let Fournier walk and replace him with a mid first rounder?

It's tough for me to think that wasn't the exact plan because that's quite literally the exact thing they did last offseason with Augustin and Anthony.

Weltman did also say they had some trades lined up that would've provided a different path "playoff push" but they went another way. Who knows what those could've been but it could've somewhat stabilized losing Fournier + AG running back with Vuc.

I'm assuming there was a trade for a Star/Stars was lined up. I think they were relying heavily on Issac and Fultz developing into "Starish" players along with Vucevic that would get that other Star on board. But with both guys going down and pushing back the development stage for them a few years and Vucevic only having a 1-2 more All-Star caliber years left and that not lining up to when Issac and Fultz getting to that projected star status. Either the Stars who would've been interested in coming didn't want to come here anymore, and or management realized that plan of getting another Star through the continuity plan was not going to happen and rebuild was the contingency.

[drsd]

Another enlightening part of this interview is something Weltman did not say: "Porter". That name was not mentioned once.

Weltman was clear that Fourier, Gordon, and Vučević were traded for two FRPs, Hampton and Carter. No mention of the SRPs and no mention of Porter. None. Very little mention of Harris as well.

[MagicFan101]

He finally pulls back the curtain because he played his hand. That doesn’t mean they just now started feeling this way or just now got hit with the reality stick. They simply just now have to start sharing it with the public

So nothing here shocks me.

What always does surprise me or make me laugh is how many people take what they have said to the media over the years seriously. GM media speak is 100% BS. Have you people just suddenly started paying attention to sports beyond the court?

[penny_nz]

Very open interview, still safe and filtered, as all execs are, but feel like that interview was geared more towards the hardcore fans.

Admitting the team healthy wasn't a championship contender, but maybe a home seed playoff, but capped out and couldn't keep everyone was very open. Implies that strategy was run it till the wheels fall off, hope for some bad luck with other teams or make a move that keeps at that level.

Injuries forced their hand, they committed to the rebuild. I honestly didn't think they had it in them to make that call 4 years in, so fair play to them.

For me, seeing their decisions through the next two offseasons, plus what they do with Cliff (which was very carefully answered btw, as it should be) will be their legacy. The Henny core is gone, this is ALL on them now, nowhere to hide.