Official Summer 2024 Magic Free Agency and Trade Ideas Thread 4.0

[eyriq]

I am so 50/50 on this because I do feel like beggars can’t be choosers.

Why are we beggars? We have a 47 win team built around a core aged 21, 22, 22, with a bunch of roleplayers around them that don't fit and aren't playoff rotation quality.

We have two lotto talents besides, aged 20, that are ready to contribute. We have cap flexibility and draft equity for trades, and pre-extension cap space for free agents. Our player acquisition toolkit is league best as is our player development pipeline.

We are anything but beggars.

[bigdogdylan5]

Might be possible but if he has another good year someone might be willing to overpay him. What are your thoughts on my thoughts with George with those last two years? I don’t want to be that idiot that says this star doesn’t meet our timeline but this is a move playing more for Paolo and Franz next two years and putting the following 2 years in jeopardy.

I am so 50/50 on this because I do feel like beggars can’t be choosers. His game is not totally built on athleticism so he might not age too bad. But as opposed to that using that same money to sign Jones and Monk to big two year deals and preserving trade flexibility might make more sense. If we sign those two guys and someone good comes on trade market you can match salaries way easier. If we sign George and let’s say a big fish hits trade market we would have to combine Suggs and Isaac as opposed to Isaac and like Monk to make it work.

Yeah I mean it's not an easy thing. If Isaac plays really well next season, he'll be an unrestricted free agent heading into the summer of 2025 with his age 28 season on tap.

He would be somebody the Magic would want and probably need to resign as it's very likely he would have contributed a LOT to winning in 2024-2025.

But ultimately that's a good problem to have. Having so many good players that ownership has to suck it up financially and deal with it as you're trying to win a championship is not a bad thing.

In a perfect world, I would say three years would be the maximum I'd go on PG, but he might not be willing to go three years.

Agree with all that. I could be wrong as teams might be more disciplined now but Philly I think has not much to lose giving him a full max. If they don’t succeed in next two years Embiid will ask out. At that point they are headed to a rebuild and the last two years for George won’t matter.

[Knightro]

As an aside, but related...

I truly hate how we've been repeatedly conditioned as fans to think about the financial element above all else when it comes to sports transactions.

Even more than that, I hate that we do that for a sport like the NBA which doesn't even have a hard salary cap.

There's absolutely nothing stopping the Magic, or any other NBA team for that matter, to go into the tax and even beyond the aprons to build and keep a team together in the pursuit of a championship.

Basically the billionaires who own these teams simply don't want to spend the money if they don't have to spend it. And as fans, that is not something we *should* find acceptable, but we are essentially resigned to it.

[bigdogdylan5]

I am so 50/50 on this because I do feel like beggars can’t be choosers.

Why are we beggars? We have a 47 win team built around a core aged 21, 22, 22, with a bunch of roleplayers around them that don't fit and aren't playoff rotation quality.

We have two lotto talents besides, aged 20, that are ready to contribute. We have cap flexibility and draft equity for trades, and pre-extension cap space for free agents. Our player acquisition toolkit is league best as is our player development pipeline.

We are anything but beggars.

Talking from a FA perspective only. This is the last year for a while we will have significant cap space. Your preaching to the choir with me. My priority is trying to some more shooting and not blocking Jett or Black completely out of rotation. The realistic best case scenario barring Luka Booker or some other prime star wanting to come here is that Black and/or Suggs get better enough to take some playmaking from Paolo and Franz. You need to see what you have there. Everyone continues to just say sign this player or that player but … Internal improvement for shooting is needed. I think I want to sign Tyus Jones to replace Fultz and maybe start at PG. Jett take Harris mins in bench role. Black take ingles minutes.

[eyriq]

I am so 50/50 on this because I do feel like beggars can’t be choosers.

Why are we beggars? We have a 47 win team built around a core aged 21, 22, 22, with a bunch of roleplayers around them that don't fit and aren't playoff rotation quality.

We have two lotto talents besides, aged 20, that are ready to contribute. We have cap flexibility and draft equity for trades, and pre-extension cap space for free agents. Our player acquisition toolkit is league best as is our player development pipeline.

We are anything but beggars.

Talking from a FA perspective only. This is the last year for a while we will have significant cap space. Your preaching to the choir with me. My priority is trying to some more shooting and not blocking Jett or Black completely out of rotation. The realistic best case scenario barring Luka Booker or some other prime star wanting to come here is that Black and/or Suggs get better enough to take some playmaking from Paolo and Franz. You need to see what you have there. Everyone continues to just say sign this player or that player but … Internal improvement for shooting is needed. I think I want to sign Tyus Jones to replace Fultz and maybe start at PG. Jett take Harris mins in bench role. Black take ingles minutes.

Oh snap, we are very like minded here. Great!

[CocoaFan]

Simons is worse than/close to the same as Monk IMO.

And one guy would cost assets in a trade while the other guy will only cost money.

I agree both Monk and Simons are comparable. But if you’re comparing them I think you have to admit that Simons shooting ability is a level above Monk’s.. maybe even 2 levels

While Monk looks like he can be an average defender and it would be a stretch to ever project that for Simons

Both guys seem like they would ultimately play the same role on this team. Best scorer and playmaking guard on the team but not a pure PG

I’d be curious on others thoughts on Monk vs Simons (factoring in the cost to acquire either as well)

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

[Rainwater]

Philly has no depth, and embid is always injured.

Orlando has brighter future

Better weather and no income tax

But I could see him going for philly instead of Orlando

There is no chance Paul George heads to Orlando. The Sixers are contending for a title now, the Magic are a few years away. Approaching the age of 35, pretty certain he’d either stay in LA or go to Philly.

are they? Embiid cant stay healthy and while they found Maxey to run with him, they still havent made it far consistently for me to say they are a title contending team

Philly is a top three team in the east when Embiid is healthy, I don’t know how you don’t consider them title contender. Yes, they do have a history of folding and do have health concerns but this doesn’t take away from the fact they are built to win a title with a guy who should have won MVP if he never got hurt.

[tiderulz]

There is no chance Paul George heads to Orlando. The Sixers are contending for a title now, the Magic are a few years away. Approaching the age of 35, pretty certain he’d either stay in LA or go to Philly.

are they? Embiid cant stay healthy and while they found Maxey to run with him, they still havent made it far consistently for me to say they are a title contending team

Philly is a top three team in the east when Embiid is healthy, I don’t know how you don’t consider them title contender. Yes, they do have a history of folding and do have health concerns but this doesn’t take away from the fact they are built to win a title with a guy who should have won MVP if he never got hurt.

its because they have a history of folding and not being healthy that i dont consider them a contender.

[Rainwater]

are they? Embiid cant stay healthy and while they found Maxey to run with him, they still havent made it far consistently for me to say they are a title contending team

Philly is a top three team in the east when Embiid is healthy, I don’t know how you don’t consider them title contender. Yes, they do have a history of folding and do have health concerns but this doesn’t take away from the fact they are built to win a title with a guy who should have won MVP if he never got hurt.

its because they have a history of folding and not being healthy that i dont consider them a contender.

Maybe this is a “chicken vs Egg” type conversation but Philly still has a title contending team. This is not like the Magic who are still building and are few years away. Every team has health concerns or have to go ver some hurdles but doesn’t take away from the fact they are still contenders and a good team.

[CarraT]

Simons is worse than/close to the same as Monk IMO.

And one guy would cost assets in a trade while the other guy will only cost money.

I agree both Monk and Simons are comparable. But if you’re comparing them I think you have to admit that Simons shooting ability is a level above Monk’s.. maybe even 2 levels

While Monk looks like he can be an average defender and it would be a stretch to ever project that for Simons

Both guys seem like they would ultimately play the same role on this team. Best scorer and playmaking guard on the team but not a pure PG

I’d be curious on others thoughts on Monk vs Simons (factoring in the cost to acquire either as well)

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

With the capspace you still have by trading for Simons instead of signing Monk, you can get other, new assets.

[yoyojw17]

Simons is worse than/close to the same as Monk IMO.

And one guy would cost assets in a trade while the other guy will only cost money.

I agree both Monk and Simons are comparable. But if you’re comparing them I think you have to admit that Simons shooting ability is a level above Monk’s.. maybe even 2 levels

While Monk looks like he can be an average defender and it would be a stretch to ever project that for Simons

Both guys seem like they would ultimately play the same role on this team. Best scorer and playmaking guard on the team but not a pure PG

I’d be curious on others thoughts on Monk vs Simons (factoring in the cost to acquire either as well)

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

With Grayson off the table.... I'm back to monk again. Hopefully, grayson set the price and we could get him for a similar contract. 4 year... $70 mill. He's played off of other young stars... and i think he will acclimate himself well here with the young guys. I'm down for him to continue filling the role that he has for the kings or step it up a notch and be a beast in our system. Playmaking would be great.... just hoping that our stars start cutting more often! lol

[tiderulz]

I agree both Monk and Simons are comparable. But if you’re comparing them I think you have to admit that Simons shooting ability is a level above Monk’s.. maybe even 2 levels

While Monk looks like he can be an average defender and it would be a stretch to ever project that for Simons

Both guys seem like they would ultimately play the same role on this team. Best scorer and playmaking guard on the team but not a pure PG

I’d be curious on others thoughts on Monk vs Simons (factoring in the cost to acquire either as well)

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

With Grayson off the table.... I'm back to monk again. Hopefully, grayson set the price and we could get him for a similar contract. 4 year... $70 mill. He's played off of other young stars... and i think he will acclimate himself well here with the young guys. I'm down for him to continue filling the role that he has for the kings or step it up a notch and be a beast in our system. Playmaking would be great.... just hoping that our stars start cutting more often! lol

4 yr $70mil, he stays with Sacramento.

[Knightro]

There is no chance Paul George heads to Orlando. The Sixers are contending for a title now, the Magic are a few years away. Approaching the age of 35, pretty certain he’d either stay in LA or go to Philly.

are they? Embiid cant stay healthy and while they found Maxey to run with him, they still havent made it far consistently for me to say they are a title contending team

Philly is a top three team in the east when Embiid is healthy, I don’t know how you don’t consider them title contender. Yes, they do have a history of folding and do have health concerns but this doesn’t take away from the fact they are built to win a title with a guy who should have won MVP if he never got hurt.

I really think Embiid is a special basketball player, but we're now 10 years into his NBA career and he's never played more than 68 games in a single season and he's never had a fully healthy playoff run either.

In a perfect world? Sure, Embiid is an established MVP caliber guy and Maxey is an established all-NBA caliber guy, so that is more appealing on paper than what Orlando has to offer from an on-court perspective.

But Embiid's health has, quite literally, always been an issue. He's always banged up in the playoffs.

[basketballRob]

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

With Grayson off the table.... I'm back to monk again. Hopefully, grayson set the price and we could get him for a similar contract. 4 year... $70 mill. He's played off of other young stars... and i think he will acclimate himself well here with the young guys. I'm down for him to continue filling the role that he has for the kings or step it up a notch and be a beast in our system. Playmaking would be great.... just hoping that our stars start cutting more often! lol

4 yr $70mil, he stays with Sacramento.

Maybe. That puts them right at the tax threshold, and they didn't make the playoffs.

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[Knightro]

I think it's a no brainer to take Monk over Simons. They are comparable players but with Monk we keep all our assets. We would have to give up Black and more to get Simons. I think Monk is a better playmaker and Simons a little better shooter but keeping assets will allow us to improve the team in other areas going forward.

With Grayson off the table.... I'm back to monk again. Hopefully, grayson set the price and we could get him for a similar contract. 4 year... $70 mill. He's played off of other young stars... and i think he will acclimate himself well here with the young guys. I'm down for him to continue filling the role that he has for the kings or step it up a notch and be a beast in our system. Playmaking would be great.... just hoping that our stars start cutting more often! lol

4 yr $70mil, he stays with Sacramento.

I agree.

Sacramento can offer Monk 4/78 and I see no reason why they won't offer him that full amount.

So it's gonna take IMO at least 4/85, maybe 4/90 to get him.

[basketballRob]

If Philadelphia signs Paul George and Detroit signs Tobias Harris, I would sign Fontecchio and Melton.

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[three3d]

Remember when we briefly had Patrick Beverly last season? Pretty sure we all knew he’d never play for us and after that his remarks about us this season he’s toxic and hated here BUT he would have been a nice piece for the bench this season.

[Fortune Teller]

I am so 50/50 on this because I do feel like beggars can’t be choosers.

Why are we beggars? We have a 47 win team built around a core aged 21, 22, 22, with a bunch of roleplayers around them that don't fit and aren't playoff rotation quality.

We have two lotto talents besides, aged 20, that are ready to contribute. We have cap flexibility and draft equity for trades, and pre-extension cap space for free agents. Our player acquisition toolkit is league best as is our player development pipeline.

We are anything but beggars.

Agree on everything except “two lotto talents”. We do have 2 players drafted in the first 11 picks who don’t/can’t contribute. They have close to zero trade value right now.

[Skybox]

Remember when we briefly had Patrick Beverly last season? Pretty sure we all knew he’d never play for us and after that his remarks about us this season he’s toxic and hated here BUT he would have been a nice piece for the bench this season.

Wouldn’t he be our starting PG? Shouldn’t he?

Not saying that’s a desirable outcome- only that we don’t have any other viable options

[bigdogdylan5]

As an aside, but related...

I truly hate how we've been repeatedly conditioned as fans to think about the financial element above all else when it comes to sports transactions.

Even more than that, I hate that we do that for a sport like the NBA which doesn't even have a hard salary cap.

There's absolutely nothing stopping the Magic, or any other NBA team for that matter, to go into the tax and even beyond the aprons to build and keep a team together in the pursuit of a championship.

Basically the billionaires who own these teams simply don't want to spend the money if they don't have to spend it. And as fans, that is not something we *should* find acceptable, but we are essentially resigned to it.

My comments are mostly related to the really restrictive second apron restrictions and normal salary cap room. I will be very interested to see how the son devos handles spending in contention. We have been a bit spoiled for small market team as Rich Devos had little qualms going into the tax with a winning team. Will see if that changes with the kids in control. The magic fans have done their job. We are 12th in attendance this year.