Cohen: This Is A Major Reason Why The Orlando Magic Are One Of The Hottest Teams Again

[Bensational]

There's a big gap between "barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball" Anthony Black and "has the ball on every single possession and dribbles the air out of it" Trae Young. Those two are literally the two extreme ends of the spectrum.

Finding something in the middle of those two extremes (while retaining Black) seems like the best of both worlds..

There’s also a big gap between rookie Jalen “worst shooter in the league who can’t dribble” Suggs and what he has become in this 3rd season. Time and opportunity paid dividends with him, so I’m inclined to repeat the process with Black. That isn’t mutually exclusive to adding another good guard, but it would require being very selective with who to target.

[RookieStar]

I know that this isnt the thread BUT...

Who do we throw the moneybag at?

Jrue or Klay???? Pros and Cons if you answer pls.

[Magicman125]

I know that this isnt the thread BUT...

Who do we throw the moneybag at?

Jrue or Klay???? Pros and Cons if you answer pls.

Jrue is still a pretty good shooter. He's also sill a great perimeter defender and has size for the PG spot. The defensive backcourt of him and Suggs would be insane. He can both run an offense and is pretty good as a scoring option on offense, but is obviously not a #1 offensive option in a lineup with Paolo and Franz, so there wouldn't be questions/issues with role with him.

Klay still seems to have trouble adjusting to the fact he's past his peak and not optimizing his role now that he's weaker on defense and less dynamic and consistent on offense. I worry he'd command a majority of our cap space and wouldn't live up to the contract as he's already shown regression from his peak and at his age it'd be very rare for him to bounce back to his career best efficiencies and defensive metrics.

[Knightro]

There's a big gap between "barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball" Anthony Black and "has the ball on every single possession and dribbles the air out of it" Trae Young. Those two are literally the two extreme ends of the spectrum.

Finding something in the middle of those two extremes (while retaining Black) seems like the best of both worlds..

There’s also a big gap between rookie Jalen “worst shooter in the league who can’t dribble” Suggs and what he has become in this 3rd season. Time and opportunity paid dividends with him, so I’m inclined to repeat the process with Black. That isn’t mutually exclusive to adding another good guard, but it would require being very selective with who to target.

It's just not an either or situation. Wanting to add a guard is not an indictment of Anthony Black in any respect.

But it is just fact that the financial freedom the Magic currently possess as an avenue to improve the roster will not last forever.

Patience is fine, but there's only so many opportunities left to increase the overall talent level of the team with money. They shouldn't ignore that because they also have a 20 year old kid they like. The 20 year old can still play regardless. This isn't a Bamba/Vucevic they can't share the floor thing.

Move Fultz, Gary, Cole and Ingles out to create minutes.

Figure it out.

[Residual-Heat]

I know that this isnt the thread BUT...

Who do we throw the moneybag at?

Jrue or Klay???? Pros and Cons if you answer pls.

Easily Jrue. Our big issues offensively are 3pt shooting and turnovers. Jrue helps with both. I could easily see Jrue maintaining his production level on the Magic, less so for Klay. I dont really have much faith in Mosley using Klay to his full potential the way Kerr can. I fear that Klay on the Magic is no more than a 15 or so PPG guy who shoots near 40% (FG and 3pt) and is a defensive liability. Jrue on the other hand I think will make everyone better. Think like what Conley has been to the Wolves, but better and a couple of years younger.

Bonus is we get to make the best team in the east, a worse team
Extra Bonus is that team is the Celtics

[Bensational]

There's a big gap between "barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball" Anthony Black and "has the ball on every single possession and dribbles the air out of it" Trae Young. Those two are literally the two extreme ends of the spectrum.

Finding something in the middle of those two extremes (while retaining Black) seems like the best of both worlds..

There’s also a big gap between rookie Jalen “worst shooter in the league who can’t dribble” Suggs and what he has become in this 3rd season. Time and opportunity paid dividends with him, so I’m inclined to repeat the process with Black. That isn’t mutually exclusive to adding another good guard, but it would require being very selective with who to target.

It's just not an either or situation. Wanting to add a guard is not an indictment of Anthony Black in any respect.

But it is just fact that the financial freedom the Magic currently possess as an avenue to improve the roster will not last forever.

Patience is fine, but there's only so many opportunities left to increase the overall talent level of the team with money. They shouldn't ignore that because they also have a 20 year old kid they like. The 20 year old can still play regardless. This isn't a Bamba/Vucevic they can't share the floor thing.

Move Fultz, Gary, Cole and Ingles out to create minutes.

Figure it out.

No the indictment I was picking up on was the “barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball” as justification to address the position now. I was just pointing out that Suggs is doing well and growing into a 3rd star impact guy, but if we’d gone by what his reputation was after his rookie season and chased a veteran to replace him then we might not have had the chance to see this version of Suggs arise. I like that he was benched last season and had to fight for his role and minutes, but the bar was Gary Harris and not Brogdon/Jrue/LaVine/etc.

“barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball” only applies this season, or ongoing if that’s all you think Black will ever be. But if we’re allowing comparable room for growth like Suggs has shown then maybe Black becomes that player in the sweet spot between Trae and where he is presently? And to allow for that growth we need to have pathways to minutes and increased usage. Which is why I’m stressing that we need to pick the right guys - and too often “available” is enough to make someone “the right guy” for some fans.

[p0peye]

There's a big gap between "barely dribbles and never does anything with the ball" Anthony Black and "has the ball on every single possession and dribbles the air out of it" Trae Young. Those two are literally the two extreme ends of the spectrum.

Finding something in the middle of those two extremes (while retaining Black) seems like the best of both worlds..

There’s also a big gap between rookie Jalen “worst shooter in the league who can’t dribble” Suggs and what he has become in this 3rd season. Time and opportunity paid dividends with him, so I’m inclined to repeat the process with Black. That isn’t mutually exclusive to adding another good guard, but it would require being very selective with who to target.

It's just not an either or situation. Wanting to add a guard is not an indictment of Anthony Black in any respect.

But it is just fact that the financial freedom the Magic currently possess as an avenue to improve the roster will not last forever.

Patience is fine, but there's only so many opportunities left to increase the overall talent level of the team with money. They shouldn't ignore that because they also have a 20 year old kid they like. The 20 year old can still play regardless. This isn't a Bamba/Vucevic they can't share the floor thing.

Move Fultz, Gary, Cole and Ingles out to create minutes.

Figure it out.

Fultz has already moved to the low post, no reason to bring him into every discussion.

[drsd]

Fultz has already moved to the low post, no reason to bring him into every discussion.

Worth re-reading the Lowe quote one more time:

Markelle Fultz doesn't appear to be happening.

[Ducklett]

Being relatively healthy (for us anyway) and the schedule getting easier have been major contributors.

Team has a lot of offensive developments to make but they are TOUGH to beat when fully healthy.

Not exactly sure playing 2 of the best 3 teams away makes the schedule easy... but it has been easier than the league hardest schedule we started with.

[CocoaFan]

I know that this isnt the thread BUT...

Who do we throw the moneybag at?

Jrue or Klay???? Pros and Cons if you answer pls.

Malik Monk 4 years ~$80M. Fits our timeline whereas Klay or Jrue are short term fixes that will be gone when we're ready to compete for the chip.

[p0peye]

Fultz has already moved to the low post, no reason to bring him into every discussion.

Worth re-reading the Lowe quote one more time:

Markelle Fultz doesn't appear to be happening.

Zach Lowe doesn't appear to be phrasing it correctly.