Official Spec Thread: Heart and Hustle Magic 2.0

[Optimus_Steel]

is it just me or Okeke looks slower and less athletic than last year?
There was play few games ago where he was on verge of missing dunk because his legs just weren't there in jump.

Certainly concerning, maybe it's more than just a hip bruise. However this is also the risk you get when you draft injured players.

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[JBSouthpaw]

Think trades...cap space and expiring are a great help for facilitation of trades too (not just pulling UFAs).

Agreed.

I don't think just taking on talent will be the only plan. We have the pieces to upgrade talent.

In the offseason, something like Ross & J.I. + Den and/or Chi and/or our own should tempt some teams.

There are so many ways they could take this team.
Shuffle out guards or PFs or a combo.
I like quite a few guys on the roster, but IMO no one is off limits based on what we get back.

[MagicStarwipe]

is it just me or Okeke looks slower and less athletic than last year?
There was play few games ago where he was on verge of missing dunk because his legs just weren't there in jump.

Not just you. He looks like Kyle Anderson this season. Not sure what's up with that.

[BCS]

We still need to draft that franchise changing type player before even thinking of a consolidation trade. What good is it to pull that move now and become a fringe playoff team with only one guy who will become frustrated because we are mediocre and want to leave. Patience guys, I know it sucks but it is the best approach for a small market team like us. We are not in the position to be thinking of a consolidation trade right now.

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[Skybox]

We may have drafted two of those "franchise" guys this year...what do these other guys look like? Cade, Mobley, Jalen Green? They're not working any miracles yet either. If we were to somehow trade for a legit young guy like Ingram or SGA (BIG if-I know), we might have a young core that develops together...There's Luka, There's Lebron, maybe AD -very few guys take over from day 1. If the plan is to tank until you find one of them, you're in for a long and miserable fandom.

[drsd]

We still need to draft that franchise changing type player before even thinking of a consolidation trade. What good is it to pull that move now and become a fringe playoff team with only one guy who will become frustrated because we are mediocre and want to leave. Patience guys, I know it sucks but it is the best approach for a small market team like us. We are not in the position to be thinking of a consolidation trade right now.

Orlando is so young, its franchise player is (hopefully) already on the roster. Waiting for yet another draft and yet another development period, not thank you.

I am kind of going F-Wagner is the guy for us. Wing scoring is what wins games. And when that comes from an elite defender, that's a game changer.


Suggs/Fultz/F-Wagner/Isaac/Carter. Somehow that needs to be a winner.


..

[Knightro]

Orlando is so young, its franchise player is (hopefully) already on the roster. Waiting for yet another draft and yet another development period, not thank you.

I am kind of going F-Wagner is the guy for us. Wing scoring is what wins games. And when that comes from an elite defender, that's a game changer.


Suggs/Fultz/F-Wagner/Isaac/Carter. Somehow that needs to be a winner.

You're going to be massively MASSIVELY disappointed if this is your mentality.

Anyone looking at this realistically should be able to see this going to be a multi-year process whether we personally think that's the right way to go or not.

I wouldn't expect the Magic to start attempting to cash in assets for win now pieces until the 2023 offseason or possibly even the 2024 offseason.

Certainly not this upcoming offseason.

[Def Swami]

Read on Twitter

[YosemiteSam]

is it just me or Okeke looks slower and less athletic than last year?
There was play few games ago where he was on verge of missing dunk because his legs just weren't there in jump.

Not just you. He looks like Kyle Anderson this season. Not sure what's up with that.

What’s up is he missed all of training camp and the first 3 weeks of the season with a significant hip injury. Hips are a critical core body component and can have impacts on all kinds of movement and ability and are notoriously slow to heal. So he is able to be back in the court, but I’m sure he isn’t 100% and he also likely lost most of his conditioning. It is really hard to get the conditioning back once the season starts. He will likely not have a chance to come back 100% until next season

This year just sucks.

[drsd]

You're going to be massively MASSIVELY disappointed if this is your mentality.

With respect, if you believe Orlando's saviour is to be found in the 2023 draft, I fear you will be disappointed.

Frankly, both are likely to be true. And, so, perhaps we will slog our way back to 41-41 win seasons by 2024 and float there for a couple years. Then hit reset (yet) again. That might be the most probable outcome.

..

[drsd]

This year just sucks.

When the Magic has six players on the IR before the season's opener, it was never going to be pretty.


..

[BCS]

Even if a franchising changing player is in the roster he still needs to show up before thinking of any consolidation trade.

I hope Wagner can become that guy or Suggs, Fultz any of our guys, but as of today they have not shown that. Wagner has been really good but come on, not at that level.

All I am saying is pulling the trigger too quick is repeating the mistakes that put us in mediocrity recently for many years. Ibaka, Jennings anyone? We have to be patient, it is not the time yet. That could easily change in the off-season once we see what we have in Fultz and Isaac and our players progression but for now we stay the course.

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[Knightro]

You're going to be massively MASSIVELY disappointed if this is your mentality.

With respect, if you believe Orlando's saviour is to be found in the 2023 draft, I fear you will be disappointed.

Frankly, both are likely to be true. And, so, perhaps we will slog our way back to 41-41 win seasons by 2024 and float there for a couple years. Then hit reset (yet) again. That might be the most probable outcome.

I'm not suggesting there's a savior coming in the 2023 draft or any draft for that matter. The draft is a crapshoot.

All I know is that the Magic gave Mosley a 4-year deal and extended Weltman/Hammond to 4-year deals to line up with Mosley for a reason.

There is, in my opinion, absolutely no expectation for this franchise to be turned around quickly. I don't think there's any internal pressure from ownership to do any sort of consolidation/cash in multiple assets for a bigger piece type of trade at this time.

The earliest I could see anything like that happening is the summer of 2023 and maybe not even that soon.

[basketballRob]

Read on Twitter

Sounds pretty vague about Isaac.

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[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[Knightro]

“As they have their occasional checkups with doctors, and they have imaging, I can just tell you they’re both moving forward and they’re doing great,” Weltman explained. “I can tell you that Markelle, we just sent him down this week to start practicing with Lakeland because they’ll have more live-action situations than we’ll have in the middle of an NBA season. So, he’s starting to ramp up to that phase where he’s actually starting to get involved in some live action. Jonathan isn’t at that point yet, but he continues to make great, steady progress and they’re both doing really well.”


Here's the full story. It doesn't sound like Isaac is anywhere close to returning. I wouldn't be surprised if Fultz made his at some point in the next couple of weeks though.

https://www.nba.com/magic/orlando-magic-markelle-fultz-jonathan-isaac-injury-update-rehab-process-story-20211126

[Knightro]

Read on Twitter

[basketballRob]

I spammed them before the last game when they were doing the Instagram live about an update.

She told me JI was out for the foreseeable future but would return at some point in the season.

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[Knightro]

Total guess at this point...

Fultz mid December.

Isaac mid January.

[basketballRob]

Fultz is still listed out until at least December 30.

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