2020-2021 Regular Season Game 47: Orlando Magic (15-31) at Los Angeles Clippers (32-16)

[KillMonger]

yeah no team will give up Cade even for 2 top 10 picks.

Like of you had Luka, would you give him up for 2 top 10 picks in the same draft?

depends on how much you believe in Luka.....of course NOW we know he's a stud but at the time there were some questions about Luka.....Either way we have an opportunity to kind of control our destiny a bit in terms of the draft and it sucks that our organization will not take advantage....Other teams in the past had NO shame in what they were doing to tank but us we're above that....this is the perfect situation to tank for us....the season is shot, we have nothing to play for this season and if we would commit to the tank then we could finally have a chance to maybe get the thing we've been missing this whole time...a legit bonafide all-star talent/potential to build around

this entire time we had a team full of complimentary pieces, we were just missing the main piece to make it all work....I'm kinda nervous we're going to do something pointless....

[Last Guardian]

What is Weltman doing. If you're going to blow it up and hype the draft you need to fully commit to the tank and you need to do it now or it's going to be 2018 all over again. Shutdown Ross and MCW (and Harris). Get rid any of Ennis, Birch, Bacon, Porter if they're not in our plans for next season. Fill empty spots with bad g-leaguers to sabotage the team. We want the young players to try their best, but we can't let vets play critical roles in wins.

Come on, he traded the 3 best players on the team got picks and unproven players in return and we are complaining he is not fully committing to the tank? Nobody is looking at this roster and thinking its anything but one of the worst in the league.

Tanking requires having the coach on board, he's clearly not

He's still playing useless vets like ennis and mcw 27-30 minutes over younger players

Look at the roster, doesn't matter who the coach is.

Ennis and MCW help the tank most of the time so not sure what the complaint is there. And the young guys get decent minutes. Do we want Chuma and Mo getting injured from playing tons of minutes? Plus they arguably help the team win.

People are simply overreacting. Magic played amazing defense but Clippers choked it away as they had control the entire game.

[EasternMagic]

Also, chill with the cliff hate. We played 11 players tonight and the minutes were WIDESPREAD. The only person who played 30+ minutes was MCW. And let's be honest, MCW can teeter-totter on how he affects the tank from game to game.

We played 3 centers: Birch 19 minutes, Bamba 18 minutes, and WCJ 18 minutes. What winning teams split up the minutes equally between three (two very young) centers?

[rusoopE]

I rather build a winning culture with this young core than tank just for one player. Its not like we have vets that will take us nowhere in the forseen future. This is the opposite. I dont believe we going start winning from now on every game. But its really hopeful to see this core grow Up and progress since the tradeline, i didnt feel like this before it. I wanna see rj, wcj, okeke, mo, cole anthony, fultz, isaac development i just cant care less on the draft pick atm fo real. Keep the w's comming young fellas!

Every season we win games at the end of the year, miss out on generational talents and repeat, winning culture needs talent to match. You’re not going to win a championship by culture alone, Phili had the worst stretch in NBA history for multiple years and are #1 in the East now. Shouldn’t they struggle cause of “winning culture”? Yall are saying words that have empty meanings.

Hard fought game by the players and I’ll never blame them, but I have little trust in tanking efforts or management stepping in. Concerned that the Cavs,Wiz, Raps, Bulls, Thunder might overtake us at this rate and then posters will be complaining about how we were a pick away once again because of meaningless wins during a COVID season.

Are the wolves even a playoffs Team? Can giannis bring a chip to the bucks? Look what Toronto did. They were good enough without any top draft pick and still won cause they were good already and just needed a superstar.to atleast being a real contender. I was always a.tank pro cause i saw no hope for what we were building believe me. Now im eager to try to win and make these young core competitive as much as they can..i totally get you and i understand cause ive been thwre literally for.9 years. Salute you bud!

[Knightro]

You also don't necessarily have to trade up to 1. If you think Suggs or Green or going to be franchise building block type of players at PG/SG, you could move up to 2 or 3 or even 4 if Mobley ends up going 2 or 3.

My point is that the Magic have way more chips to play this year to move up in the draft if the lotto luck doesn't go their way than they normally do and they should take advantage of it if it comes to that.

[KillMonger]

I rather build a winning culture with this young core than tank just for one player. Its not like we have vets that will take us nowhere in the forseen future. This is the opposite. I dont believe we going start winning from now on every game. But its really hopeful to see this core grow Up and progress since the tradeline, i didnt feel like this before it. I wanna see rj, wcj, okeke, mo, cole anthony, fultz, isaac development i just cant care less on the draft pick atm fo real. Keep the w's comming young fellas!

Every season we win games at the end of the year, miss out on generational talents and repeat, winning culture needs talent to match. You’re not going to win a championship by culture alone, Phili had the worst stretch in NBA history for multiple years and are #1 in the East now. Shouldn’t they struggle cause of “winning culture”? Yall are saying words that have empty meanings.

Hard fought game by the players and I’ll never blame them, but I have little trust in tanking efforts or management stepping in. Concerned that the Cavs,Wiz, Raps, Bulls, Thunder might overtake us at this rate and then posters will be complaining about how we were a pick away once again because of meaningless wins during a COVID season.

Are the wolves even a playoffs Team? Can giannis bring a chip to the bucks? Look what Toronto did. They were good enough without any top draft pick and still won cause they were good already and just needed a superstar.to atleast being a real contender. I was always a.tank pro cause i saw no hope for what we were building believe me. Now im eager to try to win and make these young core competitive as much as they can..i totally get you and i understand cause ive been thwre literally for.9 years. Salute you bud!

Toronto isn't the best example....they drafted well and they were able to attract a BIG TIME free agent...two things we haven't shown any ability to do in the past decade or so

[ogmagicfan]

Come on, he traded the 3 best players on the team got picks and unproven players in return and we are complaining he is not fully committing to the tank? Nobody is looking at this roster and thinking its anything but one of the worst in the league.

Tanking requires having the coach on board, he's clearly not

He's still playing useless vets like ennis and mcw 27-30 minutes over younger players

Look at the roster, doesn't matter who the coach is.

Ennis and MCW help the tank most of the time so not sure what the complaint is there. And the young guys get decent minutes. Do we want Chuma and Mo getting injured from playing tons of minutes? Plus they arguably help the team win.

People are simply overreacting. Magic played amazing defense but Clippers choked it away as they had control the entire game.

I disagree, as much s*** as MCW gets, he’s a good/great defender. Ennis is average but both are active and do alot of the little things.

If Bamba & or Okeke can’t play 30 minutes a game as young players with experience under their belt they shouldnt be in the league. We might as well never play them then because there’s a risk in injury/s

If these games are meaningless, its more of a reason for the young players to get work in and comfortable on the court while there arent vets who are playing for their next contract breathing down their neck. We already see how this extended playing time has Bamba looking alot more comfortable and energetic out there

[basketballRob]

Just plan on taking Keon Johnson and Bouknight and hope one of them pan out.

Sent from my SM-G950U using RealGM mobile app

[yoyojw17]

And there are no guarantees of the top draft picks coming in and dominating the way they hope. The only near certainty is the growth of the young players and the coach's effect on them... we have young players at every position now.... multiple in some cases... some that have yet to have an opportunity. If they are diamonds in the rough... we should know. Otherwise, we are trading players and firing coaches that things could have been better.... for a player the MIGHT be great.

but yes... i would still love a shot at the more obvious... but for all we know... Picking Jalen Johnson at 6th might be the best thing that could happen for us. hypothetically. Shoot... or the 6th worst record gets us the first pick. Lol. I remember when everyone was mad that we didn't win an extra game cuz if we did... we would have had the same odds as sacramento.... would have leap frogged up and picked Fox. hahaha

damned if you do... damned if you don't

[EasternMagic]

Last 4 games:
Chuma Okeke: 17.5 ppg, 4.75 rpg, 1.25 spg, .67 fg%, .63 3P%

[Knightro]

Just plan on taking Keon Johnson and Bouknight and hope one of them pan out.

Nah.

Identify your guy and go get him. By any means necessary.

[KillMonger]

Read on Twitter

[rusoopE]

Every season we win games at the end of the year, miss out on generational talents and repeat, winning culture needs talent to match. You’re not going to win a championship by culture alone, Phili had the worst stretch in NBA history for multiple years and are #1 in the East now. Shouldn’t they struggle cause of “winning culture”? Yall are saying words that have empty meanings.

Hard fought game by the players and I’ll never blame them, but I have little trust in tanking efforts or management stepping in. Concerned that the Cavs,Wiz, Raps, Bulls, Thunder might overtake us at this rate and then posters will be complaining about how we were a pick away once again because of meaningless wins during a COVID season.

Are the wolves even a playoffs Team? Can giannis bring a chip to the bucks? Look what Toronto did. They were good enough without any top draft pick and still won cause they were good already and just needed a superstar.to atleast being a real contender. I was always a.tank pro cause i saw no hope for what we were building believe me. Now im eager to try to win and make these young core competitive as much as they can..i totally get you and i understand cause ive been thwre literally for.9 years. Salute you bud!

Toronto isn't the best example....they drafted well and they were able to attract a BIG TIME free agent...two things we haven't shown any ability to do in the past decade or so

Lowry? Bit time free agent? They did great at draft ofcourse have they got a high pick? No they didnt. They build up their young core and stuck with it. Is Miami a good example? They reached the finals, no high picks, just adding butler cause he liked heats culture. Im not saying this core is going to be great and contender level. But winning games will increase their and the teams value, and i have high hopes for the next season

[Ducklett]

This is all the same crap we heard when we got screwed out of Embiid and KP and Fox and Luka for AG and Mario and Isaac and Bamba. You would think after a decade of Ls in the lotto, people would figure out being one of the 2 worst team ends up with better picks than being the 5-6 worst.

Imagine saying lets trade all of our future picks to move up when we could just lose these meaningless games and keep our "war chest".

[rusoopE]

This is all the same crap we heard when we got screwed out of Embiid and KP and Fox and Luka for AG and Mario and Isaac and Bamba. You would think after a decade of Ls in the lotto, people would figure out being one of the 2 worst team ends up with better picks than being the 5-6 worst.

Imagine saying lets trade all of our future picks to move up when we could just lose these meaningless games and keep our "war chest".

Meanwhile, none of.those players you mentioned proved anything on the playoffs, getting a 1st pick isnt the only way to win it all. Its easy to think we getting the first pick and we draft the next.lebron who will turn around the franchise in a second. Guess.what he didnt win s*** cuz they sucked not even LeBron can guarante you a chip. I would like yo give this group of.young fellas a try. And as i said this is the first time in 9 years that im not a tanking pro guy. I just wish nothing but the best for the club and i know you do aswell hopefully whatever happens goes for the best of the team

[ogmagicfan]

My feelings about this game

[OrlandO]

What is Weltman doing. If you're going to blow it up and hype the draft you need to fully commit to the tank and you need to do it now or it's going to be 2018 all over again. Shutdown Ross and MCW (and Harris). Get rid any of Ennis, Birch, Bacon, Porter if they're not in our plans for next season. Fill empty spots with bad g-leaguers to sabotage the team. We want the young players to try their best, but we can't let vets play critical roles in wins.

Come on, he traded the 3 best players on the team got picks and unproven players in return and we are complaining he is not fully committing to the tank? Nobody is looking at this roster and thinking its anything but one of the worst in the league.

If you want a top pick you have to do more. You can't just trade a few players and call it a day. Look at the roster. It's nothing but guys fighting for minutes, roles and contracts. They're going to play hard to the very end. Teams don't know how to play us either... there's no scouting for these random lineups. We can still beat bad teams, injured teams, teams who play down to us on any given night. Now that we've reset, we have every excuse to shutdown vets over minor injuries and buyout vets who aren't in our plans next season. We should do it. Some teams are already doing it. We still play all six bottom feeders and those results will be the difference. We can either control our fate or shoot ourselves in the foot.

[The Effect]

i swear some people on this board will never learn

Every single time we are a bottom feeder team, we end the season by winning meaningless games at the end while other teams are tanking and people come on here and talk about how teaching young guys to win is more important than tanking, talk about how winning a culture is going to fix everything etc.....Then come the draft, we always miss out on the elite players by 1 pick....tell me again how beating the wizards on the final game of the season a few years ago was better for this team long term (you know, winning culture and all) than possibly drafting Trae young or Luka
Imagine how much better this team would of been over the years if we had embiid over gordon, or Porzingis over Mario. Or if we dont win 2 meaning games at the end of the 16-17 season, we would of gotten the 3rd pick and gotten tatum over Mr glass Isaac

Sorry but there is nothing good to come out of this win for this team long term, and beating 3 playoff teams in last 6 games is going to hurt, especially when we continue to play for wins while other teams are tanking. Infact, ill be shocked if we dont win atleast 10 of last 25 games, but its ok, cause now scrubs like MCW and ennis will know how to win

[Knightro]

I'm still kind of blown away that any NBA team won a game in 2021 with only 5 made threes.

[nicnac215]

This is all the same crap we heard when we got screwed out of Embiid and KP and Fox and Luka for AG and Mario and Isaac and Bamba. You would think after a decade of Ls in the lotto, people would figure out being one of the 2 worst team ends up with better picks than being the 5-6 worst.

Imagine saying lets trade all of our future picks to move up when we could just lose these meaningless games and keep our "war chest".

The Magic are bad at being bad.