JB7 wrote:Scase wrote:WuTang_OG wrote:
Paolo to Scottie , not RJ
Raps core is IQ, RJ, Scottie, Dick with another 2 drafts up coming to add more talent with some more tanking in order to get to ORL today
I'd say they are on course for that. If they don't get there, Scottie isn't what we think he is.
Yeah that's fair I misread.
But as I mentioned elsewhere :
Scottie = Paolo, or slightly better with his 2 way play.
Franz > RJ
Suggs > IQ, Suggs' defence is way better than IQs offence. It's easier to teach him to be an average shooter, than IQ to be all defence level.
And I guess it's Gradey vs Black? Which if so, either way is way too early to tell for either of them.
And again, all this ignores the magic having the age advantage, the cap space advantage, the contract control advantage, the cost advantage, and the draft capital advantage. I mean christ they have every advantage possible, have a younger and less experienced team and were tied for the 2nd best defence in the league.
There is no way in 2 years we are matching that.
Maybe I could see the argument if we were to actually bottom out and tank another 2 years, but we all know that isn't happening. It's play in or bust next season, we likely aren't going to be adding any high end draft picks, maybe this year if we keep it, and even then it's a weak draft. As much as the team needs roleplayers since we have no bench to speak of, we need high end talent more, and we aren't getting that this year.
I think as pointed out by others is that the biggest difference between the Magic's core (Paolo, Franz, Suggs & Black/Howard) and Raps core (BBQ & Dick) is scoring. All 4 of the Raps core looks like can be relied on to get a bucket, whereas for the Magic, Paolo seems to be the only consistent scorer.
The playoffs expose teams true strengths and weaknesses, unlike the regular season. The Magic's seeding was not indicative of their actual performance, and they lost to a Cavs team that frankly has been a mess at the tail end of the season. Had the Cav's played any other opponent in the 1st round, they probably would have been swept. They specifically chose the Magic, because they knew they were the weakest opponent.
In terms of ages, these players are only a year or two apart, so nothing major. RJ a year older than Franz, Barnes a year older than Paolo and IQ a couple years older than Suggs. If it were a gap of 4-5 years, then that is a difference.
The cap space/contract advantage that the Magic appear to have could disappear as soon as this summer, as Suggs and Franz are eligible for extensions. If the Raps can get IQ on a contract similar to RJ, they will have half of their core on deals well less than max. Barnes will clearly get a max extension, just like Paolo, but that is kind of known. The issue is what do Franz and Suggs get paid. Especially since they are starting to show their limitations. If they get rich deals, which a team like the Magic might feel pressured to do, since they have not had a lot of success recently, until this year, then the Magic could be tying their hands to players with significant limitations.
Their defensive rating could be hard to maintain next year. The Magic falling back to the bottom of the East could easily happen if the Sixers, Heat and Pacers all continue to improve.
Your focus on age is ignoring the actual defining factor,
experience.RJ is going into season 6, IQ into season 5, and Scottie into 4. Franz and Suggs are season 4, Paolo into season 3. That is both age AND less years in the league, meaning they theoretically have more room for growth, despite already making it into the playoffs and having the 2nd best defence in the NBA.
Franz and Suggs both have another year on their rookie scale, with extensions that are likely on par with IQ/RJ, despite again, being younger and signed to full length contracts. Paolo has another 2 years on his. That is a massive amount more control and wiggle room to play with.
Their seeding absolutely was indicative of their performance, they won 47 games, period. The cavs didn't win/lose games with the sole purpose to play the Magic, that's absurd. They are an extremely young team that managed the 5th best record in the east, with their core made up of 3rd and 2nd year players.
We went 8-14 in games with BBQ playing. We will grow and get a little better (Scottie most likely significantly better), they will most likely have their entire core get significantly better. They simply have reached higher highs with a younger and less experienced roster.
And you think that if the sixers/pacers/heat improve THEY are the ones to suffer lol? They went 2-1, 1-3, 0-3 against the pacers, heat, and sixers respectively. They played about as poorly against them as they could have and still managed the 2nd best defence and 5th in the east. The heat are in a terrible spot, the pacers dont look like they are going anywhere any time soon, and the Sixers just crumble every single season.
They have youth and time on their side, the other teams, not so much. As for them tying themselves to players with significant limitations, what do you think we are doing? I'm not hear arguing the magic are going to be contenders in a couple years, far from it. I'm saying they have a significantly better situation than we do, and have achieved a remarkable amount with just 2-3 years of experience under their core.
The primary issue their team has right now is scoring, they also have the cap space to sign/trade for players who can fix that. The magic are missing scoring, we are missing scoring AND defence.
