Pick your UFA target(s)...

[drsd]

This is the roster that is currently under contract for 2024/25

xxxxx/Anthony/Black
Suggs/xxxxx/Howard
F-Wagner/xxxxx/xxxxx
Banchero/xxxxx/xxxxx
Carter/xxxxx/xxxxx

Some of the xxxxx's will be filled in by the current Magicians under option-contracts (e.g. M-Wagner and Ingles), and other xxxxx's could be filled by extending current cancel-able deals (e.g. Houstan and Isaac).

But it cannot be argued that Orlando must find a starting PG, and four bench players this off-season. From within or externally (e.g. Bitadze and Fultz). One of Orlando's strengths this year has been bench depth. The Magic can end that to go for a guard upgrade if it chooses. I suspect many here will laud that sort of decision.

If the Magic, for example, sign Trent and Kennard and re-ups Issac, Houstan, Ingles and M-Wagner, resigns Bitadze, and spices in a rookie, the roster could be complete. We will see how bold management takes this. But I am kind of expecting that sort of off-season.

The result:
Suggs/Anthony/Black
Trent/Kennard/Howard
F-Wagner/Ingles/Houstan
Banchero/Isaac
Carter/M-Wagner/Bitadze

Obviously a combo-big would be a good rookie to add, but I do expect the roster to basically look something like this for opening night.

[Skybox]

4 years, $72m might get him. He'd be replacing Fultz at the same salary. He's a free agent, he's from Jacksonville, and his wife played a few years for the Orlando Pride recently.

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But he’s less of a PG than Suggs…who (as convenient a solution as it would be) is not a PG. not even a “just enough for ORL” PG. or, maybe he is- but that would be a heck of a different story than we’ve seen so far. Our most capable PG is still Franz, but he’d probably get pressed & trapped all night as primary ball handler. That’s not realistic at 6’10.

I DO like the idea of Grayson for 18x4 (as front-loaded and descending as possible) and maybe the “coming home” thing matters, but I hope we find a real PG too…maybe it’s Black and Suggs moves to a big role as 3rd guard…idk if Grayson scores enough to move Suggs to the 2nd unit. Suggs is at least a hypothetical chance of putting up 20 any night.

I agree that he’s a better choice than Klay at this point

The guy shoots amazingly from all levels at this point in his career. Scoring enough is relative to your position on the team. He has been afforded amazing spacing due to the combination of booker and Durant... and beal... but he's been their starting pg for a while because the others have primary ball handler skills. Personally I thought that was what everyone has said.... we need a 3-D pg to surround Franz and banchero.... we don't want someone that takes the ball out of their hands. Well ... at least that's the narrative people would say because the wanted the ball out of Fultz's hands more. Grayson has enough playmaking skill to allow pressure to be taken off of those two stars in the making. Mind you .... Franz and Paolo are going to continue to get better. We have to project outwards on all the players. Suggs was a pg for most of his life.... and he just needs to find his right gear in the league.permanent pg .. probably not. Secondary or tertiary ball handler ... I don't see why not. As long as that lineup stays healthy.... the need of a traditional pg is lessoned in my opinion based on the trajectory I see for them. And as Rob said.... yeah..... Suns are not in the best financial situation to just throw money at Allen. Outside of the big three .... who take up 99.99% of the cap.... they still have a roster to fill out. Would they love Grayson to stay... of course.... but the question can they afford to keep him is the question. A 28 yo that is playing the type of ball that would get him his first significant contract.

How much scoring does he need? You have two players that are looking every much of 23-27 point scorers in the near future. Grayson is a sniper from distance....remember "spacing will unleash our other players" comments? And he's not a full time pg.... but he is a wing with playmaking skills. He can handle the ball, dribble drive, shoot, can make it to the basket floor dunks, layups, and floaters, and plays DEFENSE. So he will give you everything you love about Fultz's roll in this lineup and shoot the ball at an amazing clip.

Fultz is the type of player that could be a 7-10 asst player on the right team where he is a high. Usage distributor. On our team he's none of that because his usage is a fraction of that amount due to the talent of the other players in the starting lineup. That is by design. So.... if you're not going g to use the pg position as a traditional pg ... Allen is a great option.

Now.... the other thing you mentioned is black ... by the time we are resigning black.... Allen will be nearly at the end of his contract... and Allen is also a player that if surpassed by black in the short term.. can be moved to the bench. But in the short term Allen checks all the boxes I feel Orlando would want to put with the starting lineup.

And as I said.... Fultz on a decent contingency contract.... I wouldn't mind returning as well. He is a leader on the team... and you can tell the importance he has during many of the interviews.

Interesting...I guess I haven't seen a lot of Grayson clips (other than the trips & flagrant ). You had me hooked right up to re-signing Fultz. If Grayson/Suggs is sufficient, AB (even as/is) should be more than sufficient off the bench...Fultz has to go, for his good as well.

[fateis007]

4 years, $72m might get him. He'd be replacing Fultz at the same salary. He's a free agent, he's from Jacksonville, and his wife played a few years for the Orlando Pride recently.

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But he’s less of a PG than Suggs…who (as convenient a solution as it would be) is not a PG. not even a “just enough for ORL” PG. or, maybe he is- but that would be a heck of a different story than we’ve seen so far. Our most capable PG is still Franz, but he’d probably get pressed & trapped all night as primary ball handler. That’s not realistic at 6’10.

I DO like the idea of Grayson for 18x4 (as front-loaded and descending as possible) and maybe the “coming home” thing matters, but I hope we find a real PG too…maybe it’s Black and Suggs moves to a big role as 3rd guard…idk if Grayson scores enough to move Suggs to the 2nd unit. Suggs is at least a hypothetical chance of putting up 20 any night.

I agree that he’s a better choice than Klay at this point

The guy shoots amazingly from all levels at this point in his career. Scoring enough is relative to your position on the team. He has been afforded amazing spacing due to the combination of booker and Durant... and beal... but he's been their starting pg for a while because the others have primary ball handler skills. Personally I thought that was what everyone has said.... we need a 3-D pg to surround Franz and banchero.... we don't want someone that takes the ball out of their hands. Well ... at least that's the narrative people would say because the wanted the ball out of Fultz's hands more. Grayson has enough playmaking skill to allow pressure to be taken off of those two stars in the making. Mind you .... Franz and Paolo are going to continue to get better. We have to project outwards on all the players. Suggs was a pg for most of his life.... and he just needs to find his right gear in the league.permanent pg .. probably not. Secondary or tertiary ball handler ... I don't see why not. As long as that lineup stays healthy.... the need of a traditional pg is lessoned in my opinion based on the trajectory I see for them. And as Rob said.... yeah..... Suns are not in the best financial situation to just throw money at Allen. Outside of the big three .... who take up 99.99% of the cap.... they still have a roster to fill out. Would they love Grayson to stay... of course.... but the question can they afford to keep him is the question. A 28 yo that is playing the type of ball that would get him his first significant contract.



How much scoring does he need? You have two players that are looking every much of 23-27 point scorers in the near future. Grayson is a sniper from distance....remember "spacing will unleash our other players" comments? And he's not a full time pg.... but he is a wing with playmaking skills. He can handle the ball, dribble drive, shoot, can make it to the basket floor dunks, layups, and floaters, and plays DEFENSE. So he will give you everything you love about Fultz's roll in this lineup and shoot the ball at an amazing clip.

Fultz is the type of player that could be a 7-10 asst player on the right team where he is a high. Usage distributor. On our team he's none of that because his usage is a fraction of that amount due to the talent of the other players in the starting lineup. That is by design. So.... if you're not going g to use the pg position as a traditional pg ... Allen is a great option.

Now.... the other thing you mentioned is black ... by the time we are resigning black.... Allen will be nearly at the end of his contract... and Allen is also a player that if surpassed by black in the short term.. can be moved to the bench. But in the short term Allen checks all the boxes I feel Orlando would want to put with the starting lineup.

And as I said.... Fultz on a decent contingency contract.... I wouldn't mind returning as well. He is a leader on the team... and you can tell the importance he has during many of the interviews.

Anything is an upgrade at this point. but you typically want your pointguard to be able to handle a lot of the ball duties. which is why I would prefer Monk. He comes in for the second unit and runs that offense. He has almost double the usage.

Now obviously we need spacing and defense, but i would typically prefer my third ball handler to be able to do more then just shoot open 3's.

We really do need someone that can run an offense besides Paolo/Franz and badly.

Maybe we can land both ?

[Skybox]

Thinking more about this Allen scenario...Booker is more of a PG. I'm really not buying that Grayson Allen steps in as a primary ball handler (yes I know we have Paolo & Franz-in a serious offense, they still need a high-level ballhandler or that will just be the next gaping hole to exploit).

[Knightro]

Thinking more about this Allen scenario...Booker is more of a PG. I'm really not buying that Grayson Allen steps in as a primary ball handler (yes I know we have Paolo & Franz-in a serious offense, they still need a high-level ballhandler or that will just be the next gaping hole to exploit).

I don't think Allen has any sort of primary ball handling chops whatsoever.

He's basically a souped up version of last year's Gary Harris IMO.

He doesn't actually shoot the ball *enough* I don't think. Just 7.7 3PTA per 100 which is too low for a shooter of his caliber.

[yoyojw17]

Thinking more about this Allen scenario...Booker is more of a PG. I'm really not buying that Grayson Allen steps in as a primary ball handler (yes I know we have Paolo & Franz-in a serious offense, they still need a high-level ballhandler or that will just be the next gaping hole to exploit).

What makes you say that? because he has more assists? Grayson averages 3.2 assists in 32 min.... yes.... but with a 14% usage rate. So.... he's efficient shooting the ball.... while facilitating with short amount of time that he has the ball. Devin Booker average 7 assist in 35 min.... but with a 30% usage rate. they aren't even in the same league of usage.

Full time PG... probably not all the way there... but the guy has handles on offense.... 14 assist game... not too shabby when you have to step up with no booker.

Watch on YouTube

And I want a facilitating guard ... hence the Markelle on a good deal for bench purposes (yeah yeah yeah... you'll can hate him if you want). all of which leaves room for black to rise to the top if they project him to.

[pepe1991]

One game in mindless run& gun ( 267 points scored) does not make you playmaker.

[Residual-Heat]

I am liking Monk and Claxton. Kings can only offer Monk up to 4 yr/78 mill contract. So the Magic will have to offer at least 20 mill/yr. Probably more.

Claxton will likely get a contract between 20-25 mill/yr. What do you guys think? Is 25 mill/yr too much for Claxton?

If we sign both, we'd need to trade Cole and WCJ.

Monk would be a huge upgrade over Cole.

Some would say why go for Claxton when you have a solid center already in WCJ. If we want to be a great defensive team, we need a guy that can protect the rim. The only guy on our team that can do that is JI and we cannot count on him staying healthy. Claxton is versatile defensively, and can guard quicker players better than WCJ. So I think he's a good fit.

[yoyojw17]

One game in mindless run& gun ( 267 points scored) does not make you playmaker.

No one was saying that. If we truly believe that Franz and Paolo are going to become our alpha ball handlers through continued growth.... here is a guy whocan facilitate when needed... move the ball to where it needs to go and make it easier for the team. P.s. I thought to myself... "Yep ... someone (lol including you) is gonna stumble on this and take it out of context." HAHAH

[Furinkazan]

https://youtube.com/shorts/LZpcDG3HaGk?si=yey9G_x4gksPzUIX
me checking 2024 UFA list

[pepe1991]

One game in mindless run& gun ( 267 points scored) does not make you playmaker.

No one was saying that. If we truly believe that Franz and Paolo are going to become our alpha ball handlers through continued growth.... here is a guy whocan facilitate when needed... move the ball to where it needs to go and make it easier for the team. P.s. I thought to myself... "Yep ... someone (lol including you) is gonna stumble on this and take it out of context." HAHAH

I'm just pointing out obvious

I have my reservations about getting role players of elite teams.

Allen last year played with 4 allstar players including league's MVP ( & DPOY)
Allen this year plays with one of top 20 players of all time and two additional allstars.

Not sure his game will translate if each and every player around him is that much worst than previous ones.

[FFBlitzace]

Grayson Allen is obviously a guy who can make an open shot. But he's not a guy like a JJ Redick, Klay Thompson, or even Duncan Robinson that manufactures shot opportunities for himself with masterful movement and reads. He's just a guy that's going to shoot open shots very well. There's value in that, of course, but I don't think he's dynamic enough to throw money at.

[basketballRob]

Grayson Allen is obviously a guy who can make an open shot. But he's not a guy like a JJ Redick, Klay Thompson, or even Duncan Robinson that manufactures shot opportunities for himself with masterful movement and reads. He's just a guy that's going to shoot open shots very well. There's value in that, of course, but I don't think he's dynamic enough to throw money at.

Hedo Turkoglu's highest ppg season when signed him to a MLE contract was 10 ppg. You have to imagine what a player can do with a bigger role. Right, he's been the ultimate role player for some great teams. That's exactly what Hedo was when we got him.

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[basketballRob]

Thinking more about this Allen scenario...Booker is more of a PG. I'm really not buying that Grayson Allen steps in as a primary ball handler (yes I know we have Paolo & Franz-in a serious offense, they still need a high-level ballhandler or that will just be the next gaping hole to exploit).

I don't think Allen has any sort of primary ball handling chops whatsoever.

He's basically a souped up version of last year's Gary Harris IMO.

He doesn't actually shoot the ball *enough* I don't think. Just 7.7 3PTA per 100 which is too low for a shooter of his caliber.

Ironically, Gary Harris and Grayson Allen have the same agent. I don't think having a better version of Gary Harris is a bad thing. Actually, I think they'll bring him back.

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[basketballRob]

Delete

[FFBlitzace]

Grayson Allen is obviously a guy who can make an open shot. But he's not a guy like a JJ Redick, Klay Thompson, or even Duncan Robinson that manufactures shot opportunities for himself with masterful movement and reads. He's just a guy that's going to shoot open shots very well. There's value in that, of course, but I don't think he's dynamic enough to throw money at.

Hedo Turkoglu's highest ppg season when signed him to a MLE contract was 10 ppg. You have to imagine what a player can do with a bigger role. Right, he's been the ultimate role player for some great teams. That's exactly what Hedo was when we got him.

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That's true, but Hedo was known to have ball skills, he was just relegated to smaller roles on contending teams. We didn't know he was quite as good as he was, of course, but we knew he was capable of handling the ball and passing for a guy his size. Whereas Grayson Allen is just Grayson Allen. He'll be 29 when next season starts. In his prime, but not really with anything left to unlock. We need shooting, and he can make open shots, I can't and won't argue with the simple logic of that. I just don't want to romanticize him into more than what he is.

[RookieStar]

BTW... what is up with Klay? Is his camp leaking stuff up to give him leverage or is there real interest from us?

[basketballRob]

BTW... what is up with Klay? Is his camp leaking stuff up to give him leverage or is there real interest from us?

Probably. I think Portland did when Simons was an FA. We had around $25m in cap space, and Simons got $25m a year from Portland.

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[Optimus_Steel]

Monk
Grayon Allen
GTJ
Tyus Jones
D-Lo
Bruce Brown
Buddy Heild
KCP
Isaiah Joe
Caleb Martin


Lots of shooters, and not a lot of teams projected to have money. Could possibly pick up 2 names above.

Monk should be our #1 target and someone else from that list to round out. Shooters, go get Paolo and Franz some damm help.

[JF5]

BTW... what is up with Klay? Is his camp leaking stuff up to give him leverage or is there real interest from us?

It's not real... the Magic signing or going after a clearly declining star publicly who has been benched recently doesn't seem realistic given the way they do business.