Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 200 – “200“

Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 200 – “200“

live from Orlando Florida you’re listening to the Orlando Magic HQ podcast the voice of magic fans join us every week for a unique fan perspective on all of the latest Magic news and updates the show starts now welcome back to another episode of the Orlando Magic HQ podcast brought to you by the believe podcast Network and bet online where your host Al myself Anthony today is Friday June 28th and uh this isn’t just any normal regular episode man uh a bunch of Celebration is in order not just because the magic did decide to pick to keep their 18th pick in the NBA draft and drafting Tristan the Silva out of Colorado not just because of that although that is a a very good bonus and gift and we’ll talk more about that a little bit um but it’s because there our two 100th episode now we we really need to do like we we need one of those boxes where we press a button and then there’s there’s there’s Applause we need we need some type of sound effects but 200th episode ow this is the 200 time you and I have recorded talking about our our our faithful Orlando Magic team um I I don’t want to spend too much time kind of reminiscing or or going too deep into our heart and our thoughts and our feelings but 200 is is it’s a lot of episodes to record the amount of consistency the amount of hard work the amount of sacrifice the amount of uh roller coaster didn’t matter if we’ve been we were playing our best basketball our worst basketball we still managed to you know be as consistent as possible and and be able to share um you know our thoughts on on you know this this team that we we’re so passionate about and we’re we’re so grateful for all the the people out there that tune in to us week in and week out um I’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment just to say thank you so much um 200 episodes it is it’s crazy two Z dude it’s it’s it’s surreal to me that we’ve come this far uh to your point doing it while covering the team in some of its Darkest Hours right like we’re coming up a a great season no doubt about it but let’s not let’s not kid ourselves we went through a rebuild we went through the pandemic um that was really the height of the show right when we kind of grew the most is in the pandemic all the guests that we had back then um I’m G keep it short and sweet man just thank you to all you guys that tune in every week all the messages that we get uh when we go to games you guys are come in and and say hi to us um we do it for you guys right we love talking about the magic But ultimately we love doing this to share our thoughts and opinions on the team but ultimately because you guys enjoy it we keep hearing about it all the time and that gives us the energy those days that you may not want to record those days that you may be like man the team is just I don’t know I don’t want to do this today we still show up for you guys so thank you guys for keeping us going um 200’s a lot let’s not kid ourselves but uh this a lot more to come and hopefully hopefully a lot more episodes coming up to celebrate what should be a much better and improved Orlando Magic team so that’s the exciting part yeah thank you for all the engagement um it’s it’s really the reason why we do this uh originally when Al slid in my DMs and was like hey you want to start a podcast it it was something that you know it it it took a lot of um time effort planning and the fact that you know 200 episodes later we we’ve been able to really grow and establish this thing and it’s it’s been absolutely beautiful it’s exactly what we wanted um and and listen we’re not the most analytical we we’re not breaking down anything we’re not we’re not Pros we’re really just two friends just talking about the team that we that we love man and and I we appreciate every single listener that has you know been on this ride with us and it’s awesome because we’ve always talked about man can you imagine you know how it’s going to feel us finally recording you know this podcast and this team is is actually winning and it’s a good product on the on the floor and the fact that we that we’re here and we we have this awesome team that now we’re rooting for makes it just that much more sweeter and gives us more um you know motivation to do it for another 200 episodes get to 400 um but with that with that being said we we want to celebrate the 200 um by doing a giveaway Al do you want to break that down yes sir so we’re going to keep it really really simple for you guys if you’re listening to the show um all we’re asking for let me actually start with the price right so the price we want to keep it simple sweet and to the point we want to give a winner um a $200 Orlando Magic team shop gift card we don’t want to you know limit yourselves to a jersey or you know shirts and hats you choose whatever you want so $200 gift card to the Orlando Magic team shop if you live locally we can mail that into to you if you live internationally we can send to you via email so that is the price and all that we’re asking for is go to our YouTube channel if you haven’t already subscribe and simply comment on this episode our 200th episode comment the number 200 is that simple so joining in the celebration we’re going to choose a winner here um by our first Summer League game so we’re giving people plenty of time to join in and participate we want to make sure that all you guys get it in and again if you’re listening to this on Apple podcast Spotify wherever you listen to us just quickly take a second go on YouTube search Orlando Magic HQ go find this episode and again it’ll be right there for you to Simply uh reply comment 200 so best of luck to everyone uh again should be a nice gift here with a new rookie to buy a jersey for potentially or hey maybe Klay Thompson Paul George kcp get that customized Jersey you want to make sure you never trade in that Jersey ever get that customized Jersey you pick the number you pick the you pick your name put your own name on the back a lot of options man but uh when you go to YouTube don’t just stop there the whole Orlando M magic HQ team we got a lot of content that’s out there got Steven that just dropped on the close-up magic podcast just dropped his um episode with Jason beid um from the Orlando s know last week um our guy BJ he was um uh in the presser yesterday um front action boots on the ground just dropped his uh article the Orlando Magic stru gold Landing Tristan the Silva so make sure you go check that out he should be dropping a YouTube video soon um and then you got our spaces guys man they’ve been putting a lot of really good work on Bleacher Report and doing their uh their live videos so um doesn’t matter how you consume your Orlando Magic content we got something for you so just make sure you check it out um but enough enough with that let’s let’s get into our our reactions right Tristan da Silva drafted by the Orlando Magic we’re going to talk a little bit about that but we’re also going to talk about free agency free agency starts on Sunday and the Rumor Mill it is it is Flowing man and there’s there’s a lot of uh speculations of what the magic made do how much of magic may spend um you know how many years that’s that’s a big Talk of the Town right now um and we’re going to break down what we’ve been hearing um in just a moment but before we get into that quick word from our sponsor bet online bet online is your number one source for all your sports betting needs this season from baseball golf soccer right to all the top fights in UFC MMA and boxing every set every matchup and even live odds and spreads while the game are being played when the game’s over head on over to our online casino get in on a game of blackjack or poker or unwind with one of our 150 slot games head to the website today to get in into the action use promo code believe for your 50% Free Bet credit on your first deposit up to $250 B online the game starts here so um we’re before we even got to the draft out um you and I we pretty confident that you know the magic we’re we’re not going to keep this pick right there there’s a there’s a a a pit in my stomach almost because once we started getting to you know 8 9 10 11 and things aren’t coming through I I’m sending you messages like man we’re we might just really we might keep this pick like this this might happen we’re we’re hearing all the different trades that are happening I mean it was it was a little slower we not a whole lot lot of movement but um we we didn’t hear a whole lot of talks there wasn’t any uh you know specific room there was there was no communication nothing at all and it it started to feel like man the magic might keep in as we got closer and closer and closer to that pick you know you had uh uh the the guard from duke uh McCain you had um you know uh connect you had uh you know uh the Silva which is a player that mentioned in previous episodes that you you’ve liked U it’s so good shout out there but you know it got to a point where you know the the thing about Tristan is is he he is an Orlando Magic player there’s a lot of things that he does that fits the Orlando Magic mode and you know the the more I thought about it afterwards um you know I I’m I’m happy that we decided to keep the pick and not trade it makes me curious to think that um because obviously shooting is a big weakness for the Orlando Magic it would have been interesting to see if Tristan was really our guy or if he was just kind of uh you know the the best left over cuz you know there there’s a lot of hype around connect I I I believe everyone that I I I was looking at online that’s that’s who everyone wanted and what makes this draft a little special for me is the fact that we’ve done no research on this draft nothing I I honestly without without looking online I couldn’t even tell you who the number one pick is I can’t I couldn’t pronounce his name I can’t even tell you what he really looks like I i’ I followed and I don’t know if it’s more of the fact that I didn’t have a horse in the race early on because I I truthfully truthfully felt like we were going to move the pick or the draft was really that weak that you know there there just wasn’t a whole lot of star power or it could be a mix of both um but the fact that you know this was a player that we have talked about in the past and the magic ended up going with this player and not somebody random like you know someone that we didn’t even think about like a Jay Howard last year right that caught us by surprise um it it does make it special because this is a player that definitely feels like it it fits so what what were your initial thoughts when you know you you sent me the text message yesterday like he’s still on the board he’s still on the board magic don’t mess this up and then you heard his name well like you mentioned my expectation was we’re going to pick someone random like it always happens right in how many years if you have been listening to this podcast for 200 episodes every single draft I have my list of guys and I’m like those guys will be perfect in Orlando and then we go and don’t get those guys it’s just happens every year um it’s Tradition at this point it is right so this is the first time that I feel feel like I had a guy that I kind of liked and the magic actually did it they ended up drafting him um but to your point there were some other guys that were around that pick that were still available that I’m like wait if those guys fall to 18 will we actually pick them or is Tristan the guy that we really really want and I mean part of me after hearing uh mostly speak and and welman yesterday after the draft and then speaking so highly not only of the player that he is but also how well he did in the interview process makes me believe that he was their pick so even if another guy that should have been the top I don’t know 12 guy would have dropped to us I still think they would have drafted him and you know why I think that because just like last year Jeff Howard got picked early we were all like why that was their guy for whatever reason so I think that that was the case and by the way man we got to pause for a second and give a huge shout out to our front office we give him a hard time for not drafting Shooters but gu what guess what look back at the last few drafts you think about you know Caleb Houston Jed Howard Jon the Silva all guys all our guys that shot a ton of three-point shots in college made a good percentage of them so they’re trying it’s just probably taking us longer than we’ve wanted for them to address the shooting when it comes to like a free agency move or a trade but they’re developing those guys um Jaylen sucks major boost last year Paulo as well so shout out to to the front office man if France can some way somehow fix our shot and start hitting threes again and all these other guys that we are either drafting or developing also hit their stride man that’s going to be exciting but going back to the draft I think they got it right 68 200 lbs I mean fits right in I saw some tape on this kid and reminds me of France Wagner just the way that he cuts the basket passes the ball well shoots the ball well decent Defender more of a Team Defender not so much individually but some of those things are things that we heard about France Vagner coming out of college and we were like okay that’s all great and all but what’s the hype I think the hype is that as a team player when you put him out there the court with Paulo France whoever else he’s going to shine because he’ll do his role really really well individually I don’t think he’ll be an All-Star I don’t think he’ll be a starter even maybe in this league but he’ll be a solid 3 andd guy that that again will make the game easier for Paulo and France so really excited with the pick again wanted him from the jump the fact that we got him that’s exciting yeah I mean big in size 6’8 maybe 69 with shoes 6’10 wingspan um but that that’s just the start of it man uh you know during the press conference uh Jeff wman was was talking a little bit about you know this was a going into the draft there were there were four boxes that that you know they they were looking for and this was a player that was able to check all those boxes this is another you know individual who’s a good character kid you can tell the way that you know he he carries himself the way his teammates talk about him um definitely a player that you can plug into your team and it’s not going to mess up any of that team chemistry he’s going to add to it um obviously the shooting is is a is a big key is a big factor you know shot 39 and a half uh three-point percentage off of uh what almost five attempts so this is a player that you know is able to impact the game immediately and not not just by uh you know statistics and and shooting statistics but you know this is somebody that that was a four-year senior coming out of Colorado so you know he’s 20 23 years old um this is somebody that is we’re expecting uh to make an impact right now with the team like we’re we’re expecting for him to to get minutes and this is somebody that we can clearly see that the front office believes that he’s able to do it while listening to um you know Phil on lock on Magic his his recent podcast um where he’s talking about Tristan to Silva he he brought up a really good point where you know this reminded him of you know when we drafted Courtney Lee um this is somebody that you know is it’s a it’s you know mature in age kind of knows what he’s able to bring to the table what his game is what his role would be knows himself to where he knows that this is the way that he’s going to be able to impact the game and I love the fact that we went with somebody um that that’s a little bit older uh the magic are not at a point where we we should be uh taking on any projects we’re way past that stage we don’t we don’t have the capacity we don’t have the ban with uh we already have you know Anthony black and Jet Howard um and we would even throwing Caleb Houston in there too th those are the guys that we’re we’re developing right um and you know drafting a player like like Tristan I I hope that this is a a indicator that you know the uh the Joe Les experiment is is over like I hope that we can move on from that I I I hope that there’s better veterans out there that you know can can help and support in you know more ways on the court as much as i’ like all the attributes that Joe Engles brings off the court um and you know I’m I’m excited man I’m I’m excited for what the magic um are are going to do with with this type of player um you know summer league is is uh you know obviously a free agency but summer league is going to be exciting to watch you know Tristan and and Jay Howard and hopefully Anthony black it’s going to be exciting to see those guys out there playing together and already building you know some level of chemistry yeah man and the fact that he has chemistry also with again already knowing he’s by the way he’s born and raised in Germany so those that may see the last name may be like what he’s Brazilian he has roots from Brazil actually born and raised in Germany and um he actually said he already has spoken to France and mo Vagner uh his brother actually plays with them in the national team so the connections are all there the front office smart enough to know hey want to bring a rookie but we want him to be already kind of connected in the locker room a little bit there it is guy that already knows Mo and France he’s he’s golden there um so again in my opinion man I think we did a great job in the draft I truly expected us to trade the pick that was my initial reaction kind of when we heading into the draft didn’t happen which I said on our last episode I think if we keep the P keep the pick and actually not trade him the next day or whatever I feel better about free agency which we’ll talk about in a few minutes I think it’s related to the fact that we may throw the bag at someone and we have to keep cheap contracts on the roster that’s my thoughts behind it I could be crazy I could be wrong that’s my thinking so we’ll talk about free agency later but keep an eye on that because again we got a great kid but at the same time we got a cheap contract a guy that’s experienced a lot of years in college can shoot it can play good defense again I think we we hit a home run there yeah and uh it was cool kind of hearing um coach MOS talk about like part part of one of the boxes that that they were looking at uh looking into a player is a player that you know had high IQ they they love his positional versatility they like the fact that he was able to shoot um and you know just watching some of the highlights like everyone else everyone you know dials in and starts doing their research right I am no expert on on Tristan D Silva but from the little bit that I saw man this is somebody that um again is it’s going to be able to get the ball into the hands of of the right player and that’s something that he even touched on and and talked about so it’s going to be exciting to see um you know his press conference I believe I saw was at 2:30 p.m. on Friday um that they’ll they’ll be introducing him um you know to the Orlando fan base so that’s going to be really exciting it did give me a little PTSD seeing him uh seeing the Jersey created uh him wearing number 23 um and made me think of Mario honia and how terrible of a train wreck that experiments was that that experiment was so um gave me a little PTSD but I’m I’m excited to see um you know what what he’s able to do so uh it’s going to be interesting stuff man we didn’t go with the Michigan player that was cool um um I think it’s going to be a good fit he’s it from what it from what it looks like it’s going to be a a fun a fun ad just thinking about the Dynamics of uh again 6’1 France 6’10 poo 6’10 Wendell 6’9 trist like just positionist basketball go out there just run the floor play hard basketball on both ends um and our identity continues to grow so it’s it’s a good pick man I’m I’m really proud of the front office and what they were able to do if you were to draft them if you were to grade them on this giraffe what would you give them see I’m might be a little biased right because I wanted the kid we ended up drafting him so I’m going be biased and say I’m I’m G give him an a just because I really did not think he was going to be there I really expected either La Miami to draft him just because again he’s a good system player and I feel like those teams are competing they want to win now I think he would fit in right in again with the Lakers with the heat and they were picking right behind us so I’m like uh I think that they might take him before we do so the fact that we got him again to your point already the way that he fits in I think it’s a home run for us so I’m G give an a just again a little biased probably what about you what what would you give the front office on the job they did U by driving than him um so I I’m I’m I feel so here here’s my thing my fear with drafting a player was we’re already a really young team right so adding another young player is going to take us back a little bit um but the fact that you know you’re you’re bringing in a 4year senior 23 years old um you know it it makes me it makes me feel better knowing that you know we’re having at least some type of uh maturity being added into the flux so yeah I’ll give him I’ll give him about maybe a B+ e minus like I don’t I don’t think we it sound like we got a player that fell down to us really far right this is somebody that was projected around the range and you know we were available and we were able to take him um but I I like the decision of keeping the pick because of the scenario um this in my opinion this allows us to be more flexible in terms of if we did a trade free agency like we’re able to spend a little bit more money because now we don’t have to keep certain players or resign because now we have a really really cheap contract um in Tristan to Silva so um that’s that’s that’s that’s pretty much it man I think I think they did a good job I’m I’m excited about it I think the fan base was really excited and you finally got a pick right in the draft congratulations finally it only took 200 episodes so at least we got it today that that’s that’s good timing um that’s right I got I got to ask you too so the second round so no surprises here I think we all expected the magic to do what they do every single year and that is trade the second round pick which by the way we were on the clock we’re like Hey we’re actually going to keep it site Shams tweeted right away saying nope the magic are trading the pick to the New Orleans Pelicans for the right to swap a 2030 and a 2031 second round pick so basically the best um second round pick between ours and the Pelicans we have the right to to swap um with that being said quickly touch upon this thoughts on that were you surprised by the move are you happy what they did with the pick what are your thoughts on the second round pick yeah bye we don’t we don’t need it like this is it’s not the it’s not the stage that we’re at um I think uh Jason beid had had tweeted out earlier today that between now in the next what8 nine years we have 13 second round picks like it it’s is something that you know it’s could you have brought in a player and sent to aiola sure you could have but I personally I think it would have been unfair to that specific player again the bandwidth just just it’s not it’s not there so trade trade the second round picks it’s not the first time that we’ve done it uh I’m surprised if anything it’s an upgrade that we just didn’t do it for cash considerations normally we like to sell those off for money um I’m I’m good with it not disappointed not surprised whatsoever really sorry for anyone that was watching the second round t uh today uh th Thursday evening and uh waiting to see who the magic were going to pick just for them to trade it off so good with it different I agree with you I’m the same way I think that it was the right move we don’t need another young guy I know people might say Hey you could have drafted someone that then you can send to you know Oola two-way contract we’ll find somebody else trust me again this this wasn’t a deep draft where in my opinion whoever you can get in the second round or after someone that didn’t get drafted the talent pool I think is pretty similar so I’m not too concerned about that um again whoever we drafted in the second round was not going to see minutes next year that’s just my honest opinion so PT that for for the future let’s see what happens Tristan the Silva exciting man we’re exciting exciting time to be an Orlando Magic fan um and now we we look into free agency on Sunday so the rumor mill we we keep hearing the new name that’s been brought into the mix now is is kcp right you it was just reported that he declined his player option um from the de nuggets $15.4 million player option that he opt out of so now he becomes a free agent um you know the The Talk of the Town right now the the rumors that we’ve been seeing is that the magic is willing to offer Thompson or kcp a short-term big money deal starting at 2 years for 50 mil um that was according to Matt more of action sports um and I I guess my question to you is you know the the big name that everyone was kind of Clinging On to was Malik mon right that that was that was the for a lot of people that was their number one guy on on their list of players to add right Malik monk didn’t give any other team a chance uh surprisingly I was surprised because I I thought things were Rocky out there uh between him and the head coach but uh surprisingly he goes back to Sacramento doesn’t give an opportunity to anyone else so he’s off the list right um Klay Thompson is a player that we’re we’re reading and we’re learning that you know there there’s a strong strong indication that uh they they just might be parting ways even if it’s not uh you know with the magic wherever he’s he’s he’s out of there you know there’s there’s already Rumblings about Golden State looking to try and find a way to bring Paul George to Golden State um uh inside of a golden state War’s uniform so um it it’s starting to look like definitely for sure Klay Thompson is leaning towards elsewhere the issue with Klay Thompson is that he’s looking for a three-year deal he’s wanting to do the three uh Golden State didn’t seem like they were willing to give him the three-year it doesn’t look like the magic are looking to do that either so that that kind of puts that situation uh a little more complicated uh because of the Year factor in my opinion I I hope that this is all true 100% because I don’t I don’t want us to give anyone a three-year deal uh I think that we need to maintain our flexibility uh I think that for us 2 years is is a good time span for us to be able to see exactly where this team is at who’s fitting who is not gives Anthony black and opportunity to develop J Howard an opportunity Tristan now an opportunity to develop um and then you kind of see where where you’re at right um and I and I think that I hope the magic can can stay strong on that but if Klay Thompson is on the board what are your thoughts on kcp is that somebody that you would throw you know 25 million dollars a year at that’s that’s a tough part right so to me the way that I see it kcp no doubt about a better Defender today he’s two years three years younger than Klay Thompson he is definitely an improvement over today’s version of Gary Harris a lot more reliable so he plays he he barely ever misses games since he got into the league so from a health standpoint and an improvement standpoint it helps right he is better today than than Gary Harris would be my only concern is to your point $25 million for kcp is he worth that kind of money I guess not a short-term deal to your point twoe 50 million let’s say maybe sure but I’m ask you a quick question is kcp what we need when when you think about what he brings to the table a great shooter a solid Defender I’m assuming he’ll start at the two so Jaylen sucks and him will be incredible playing defense against all no way you pay him 25 million doesn’t start there’s no way exactly so my question to you is if you if this was if this happened so 6:30 6:35 on Sunday night we get a tweet from W saying the magic have signed kcp for two years 50 million whatever it may be are you thrilled pumping your fist like man we did it this is exactly what we need or are you like oh man I kind of wish we got someone that can produce a little more offense cuz I think that’s the thing that I’m kind of leaning towards like I think we need more offense right that’s what Paulo and France need I don’t think nobody’s scared by kcp having the ball in his hands other than a catch and shoot situation so what are your thoughts on that do you think he fits in to what the team needs besides shooting and and defense because I know they value that a lot but the coring punch is see what we need yeah I mean do we need him to do more than just catch and shooting this is my this is my argument right paa bang Carroll is is looking to improve hey he’s he’s already talked about it Mike Miller’s already talked about it like they want to get to a point where Pao Ben Carol is averaging you know above 30 points a game like that’s that’s what he’s working towards right so obviously that’s going to be more offensive um you more more game coming from Paulo France Vagner had a somewhat of a Down year so we’re expecting more from him Jaylen Suggs developed tremendously on the offensive end had a better offensive year I’m expecting another better year coming from him um you really want to be able to have somebody that can be a knockdown shooter um and even if it’s just something that he just turns into like I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’ve seen a whole lot of kcp in Denver um or in Washington or in LA but I can tell you that he’s a two-time champion uh and he dud you know close to 40% from the three-point line so you know there’s not too many players like that available in free agency um I don’t think that he should be our main target uh no matter what we believe in Klay Thompson no matter you know how many people out there disagree he should be our number one target his reput his um uh reputation by itself opens up the floor drastically this is somebody that can can really light it up on days at Pao B Caro cuz we saw it last year year where Paulo banero had some rough games where he couldn’t get it going we saw that more times than we wanted uh you know with with France Vagner so on the days that you know France isn’t feeling it Paulo isn’t feeling it Jaylen Suggs isn’t feeling it you know you can rely on Klay Thompson to maybe step into those moments the issue with golden state is that they were needing him to do that consistently we don’t need him to do that as often as he did in Golden State maybe even a quarter right we we just need to be able to have when these teams are game planning they can’t leave Klay Thompson they they can’t triple team Pao B Carroll because they need to put a body on Klay Thompson because this dude can drop 30 points in one quarter he’s done it time and time again um so in my opinion I as much as much as I say that you know I don’t want us to give up more than two years I also would be flexible for a player like Klay Thompson on maybe a three-year team option like meet us in the middle somehow some way like I would feel more comfortable giving Klay Thompson 25 mil than I would kcp like kcp has two championships but Klay Thompson got more like Klay Thompson is you bring Klay Thompson to the magic and that that’s that’s a that’s a Hollywood ad that’s that’s putting respect on the Orlando Magic name and and in my my opinion you bring in a player like Klay Thompson you sign him in free agency now you’re proving that this is a free agent a free agency destination because you just you just got you just pulled Klay Thompson away from Golden State Warriors like that’s not that’s not an easy feat to do and I feel like that would trickle down and that will start you know um uh uh hopefully um you know an avalanche of like this is this is a team that big names would want to come to so in my opinion uh you you try to get clay first if you miss out on Clay there’s really there’s there’s not a better shooter out there than kcp outside of clay so I I think me and you on the same page then because that’s that’s my thinking also right so Klay Thompson is like the Superstar move the star move again the Hollywood kind of signing Casey pets in my opinion is a safe move now to add context to this so Vegas which not very often isong when it comes to betting odds currently has the magic as favorites which is surprising it used to be we we tied with the Warriors before now we’re actually the favorites according to Vada and DraftKings to get Klay Thompson in free agency so whatever you want to take with that go ahead and take it another thing is that clay supposedly is frustrated with the way the Warriors have handled his contract negotiations and again he has until Saturday to agree to a deal with them otherwise he’s a free agent so all all that to say in my opinion I’m like you I I I’ll add this though I still think he goes back to the Warriors for whatever reason something tells me him sta breaking up this lay to the career I would love it if he came to the magic trust me I just don’t see how he leaves the Warriors but if he does he’s my number one Target right now Paul George would be amazing I would love Paul George with the magic I think he goes either to the Warriors stays with the Clippers I don’t see him leaving um the West Coast again Klay Thompson my opinion people might say he’s older people might say oh the injury history most recently man he’s just coming off a season where he played 77 games the year before that 69 oh yeah 2021 he he only played 32 of course that’s when he had all the injuries so only once in his career has he played less than 66 games and that is T season so compare that to who we had last year at the shooting guard position Gary Harris who again barely ever played and he would get hurt every other game so whether you sign clay whether you sign uh kcp you’re getting a a solid two that can shoot the ball really well can hit the free throws can play solid defense let’s see what happens but my opinion is if you have the chance to have a meeting with Klay Thompson and bring him to Orlando you can’t pass that up that’s just my opinion yeah and listen you have you have somebody like Steve Kerr that he is coming out publicly and saying that he he wants he wants to keep Klay Thompson like he has made it abundantly clear to the Golden State Warriors organization that he wants to bring Klay Thompson back so there is kind of a a push and pull uh in my opinion I I think you know it’s it’s a different it’s a different regime in Goen State I I think they’re they’re ready to do something different like you can’t you can’t do that with Steph Curry but with a player like Klay Thompson you you can try to push him out I’m actually surprised that clay would be the first one uh to leave um I always thought it was going to be Draymond Green just because of the amount of headache that he has given that organization I I really thought that he was going to be the first one um but I mean it’s it’s coming it’s coming to a point where uh Zack low reported that he believes that the Warriors are emotionally prepared to move on from clay um my issue is that you know if let’s say that Klay did uh decide to sign with us I wonder what that’s going to be like for him like it’s it’s going to be an adjustment for him um you know the transition itself I I don’t believe that he in his heart wants to leave I feel like in in his heart he has to leave um I feel like maybe some part of him even feels a little disrespected I think so um and I’m I’m just looking right now if you if you if you go on Google type in Klay Thompson’s name real quick the first thing that pops up is is an article from heavy.com that says uh going St Warriors Klay Thompson’s predicted to land a $100 million deal so when I read that I’m like from who because the magic ain’t given that so um although vas has you know us with with the biggest odd and you know the house never likes losing um I am skeptical like I I I’m also not foolish in the thought of you know we we’ve given Rashard Lewis you know that crazy contract you know back in the day but it’s because you know we’re we’re trying to we’re trying to earn him so I I I I think that the magic might have to overpay a little bit and honestly for a player like Klay Thompson who the so the the drawback right is that yeah people joke around about him going you know over 10 in the playoffs whatever like I that I’m not worried about like a shooter is going to shoot like you’re you’re not you’re not going to go I’m not going to take just a couple games towards the back end of from a player that was already frustrated with this with this situation right I’m not I’m not going to hold that against him the injury part is where I’m I’m a little concerned about like that’s a lot of money to give to a player that has really struggled with a very serious injury hello Grant Hill right um but again sometimes we we we got to take a risk I think that the magic have done a good job um with this past season not talking anything before this past season just the past season with how they handle Jonathan Isaac um the part that would be frustrating is you know Jonathan Isaac’s contract compared to what we would play Klay Thompson like you you could you know you’re you’re going to Baby Klay Thompson way more than you ever did with Jonathan Isaac because that’s that’s your investment like that’s who you’re expecting to to kind of carry you farther right um so that that would that would probably be the only uh you know cause of concern that I would have um but I I I a part of me doesn’t feel like Klay Thompson wants to leave but all the reports are saying that he’s been extremely frustrated with how the Warriors have handled his contract negotiations he’s ready to be out um and if that’s the case I think the magic might have to pull that trigger if they got a pony up a little bit more I think it might be time to spend that money and don’t forget he just followed Paulo on uh Instagram uh he does not follow drives me absolutely insane that this is even a conversation that we have to have because of you know the day and age that that we live because everyone is doing like Isaiah hardenstein he’s he’s following everybody and their mom man following people from OKC following people from the magic like it’s it’s it’s it can easily be turned and utilized as a strategy right that’s the part that kind of pisses me off a little bit because uh you don’t you don’t want Paul George like I I feel like Paul George talking highly about the magic as much as he’s had is is a is a strategy like I I don’t want anyone to utilize us so that they can get a couple extra dollars on their contract and social media without talking about it because you know you don’t want to get fined uh is is is one hell of a clever way to do that yeah that now the only tricky part with uh with Clay also is he unfollowed the Warriors and he deleted a bunch of pictures with the Warriors like w the championship um run when they beat the Celtics a couple years ago all that’s deleted so let’s see what happens the cool thing is but here but here’s the thing he doesn’t care like you think that that’s you think that that’s his real IG page that’s that’s his commercial IG page all those pictures I’m sure he has a personal IG page that he only has for his friends his family I’m sure he still has all that over there for him to keep that’s his own personal collection but the the one that’s available for the world you don’t care delete that all for the contract so this is my prediction with Klay Thompson in particular if you’re the magic you get on the phone on Saturday and he’s somewhat intrigued to come to Orlando I would feel comfortable you tell me what you think about this I would feel comfortable saying Jeff offer this guy a three-year $90 million contract declining every year with the Clauses that that are Jonathan Isa contract has which is it doesn’t become fully guaranteed until January that way God forbid he has an injury of any kind and he becomes worse you can void his contract that’s the same way that we did it with with ji we paid him a bunch of money but it was very very uh insured let’s call it in the event that he got hurt again so I would do the same thing with Clay heck I would even throw a four-year team option in there to make him happy but the thing is man to your point you got to overpay if somebody like Klay Thompson comes to Orlando we’re now on ESPN we’re now going to be talked about there’s more that comes to Orlando with a guy of of of his stature it’s not just oh a shooting guard that we just signed it’s a four-time champion has the commercial backing behind him again it it makes sense is it going to happen I don’t know I’m just saying if I was Jeff Anthony Parker I go out there and say you know mind let me overpay a little bit declining contract add some insurance to it let’s see what happens there’s one thing that you can confidently hang your head on is Jeff welman has this this Knack this way of making sure that financially we’re in a good we’re in a good place with these contracts that we’re we’re protected like our our future is not compromised our future is not mortgage we’re not tied into a bad contract now one player is tied into a bad contract everything has been in our favor and I don’t see why that that would change and I and I believe that there there should be and hopefully will be a happy median and if not and kcp is right there for the taking um another player that we’ve we and we’ve briefly touched base on him but Isaiah hardenstein Knicks are unlikely to retain him um the Knicks ended up greatly improving their roster kudos to them they mortgage to their their future um in a in a massive trade to bring you know for former players um hole when they brought in maau bridges um man it’s a it’s a cool story I’ll be honest with you it’s it’s a cool story um as much as I I I I I wish it were a West Coast team because I I feel like I would root for something like that but since they’re on the East Coast you know I hope you know that it’s a train wreck and it just doesn’t work out um but you know they they also signed OG to another massive contract they able to keep him so they’ve definitely have have bolstered up their their team and you know there there may not be space for you know their young Center so um you know the Thunder and the magic are the teams who are expected to show interest you really got to pay attention to the wording when they when these reports come out they said that the Thunder and the magic expect to show interest not that we have this season we have shown interest in in the past um so this is somebody just to kind of keep your eye on but man that that would be an awesome awesome add in free agency if you can bring a player like that um to your team you know it it would it would be great competition because people automatically assume like you you bring in hardenstein that you you got to get rid of Wendell Carter and I don’t I don’t see it that way I I see have them both battle it out to see you know who’s who’s going to be the starter like why why do you have to get rid of Wendell Carter in his awesome contract you know you might have to kind of figure some things out with you know mo Vagner and and whatever the case may be but you know I think that that would be an awesome addition yeah man I think the biggest thing to that I like about him is the guy just plays hard he’s another kind of Mo Vagner type he just plays hard goes for rebounds protects to rim um a bit different quite a bit different actually than uh when cter now don’t forget a couple of years ago we almost signed him before he went to the Knicks like it was a done deal it seemed like Mark Stein was reporting that we were going to sign him and then something fell through and he went to the Knicks we ended up getting moamba back so there’s some interest there from the past so keep an eye on this one and don’t forget we got enough money that we can pay you know Klay Thompson let’s say a lot of money and have enough to offer to him to come to Orlando so that would be a massive offseason if we were able to come in it come out of it with Klay Thompson and uh hardstein but let’s see what happens man I I I’m not going to get my my uh Magic fandom in the middle of all this and get excited about things that haven’t happened yet my rule has been this offseason until things didn’t happen I’m not going to celebrate I’m not going to enjoy it so let’s see what happens but if we can get him I’d be I’ll be thrilled yeah and then another name that we heard was kind of left F but Landry shim and has drawn exploratory interest from multiple teams including the magic um here here’s the thing when we ended up signing Joe Engles in my opinion that was so left field not a player that I was even on my board of of you know possibilities um it it was it was not that it was random because the magic have been linked to Joe Engles in the pass um but didn’t even think of it as an option so when I see Landry shit’s name I it kind of puts me in a place of that like it’s a it’s a very random player that that we could add and in my opinion it’s only a player that you add if you completely strike out on Klay Thompson on kcp you know this is somebody that’s still serviceable but not my first second third or fourth option same here man I don’t know where that came from that report I don’t see it he’s a shooter that’s all I can tell you about him and again that’s that might be why he’s being linked to us because everyone knows we need shooting but outside of that I really don’t see it if anything tyus Jones is a guy from Washington that we should be going after um so in my opinion that kind of came out of nowhere I don’t I don’t see it uh yeah I mean listen this is just us having a conversation around free agency we talked about the draft but you know it’s been it’s been a little quiet on the on the trade side um still an opportunity for the magic to you know improve their roster through trade um it’ll be curious to see what ends up happening uh there uh Anthony Parker on you know when he was uh on the show with Brandon kravit said you know we’ll see hopefully we can add someone that will allow for us to continue to take steps forward as an organization um anytime I hear anyone from the front office speak um they do a really good job of saying a whole lot of words but not saying anything Jeff Walman you know in one of his um you know interviews that he was doing said a whole lot of nothing 15 minutes yeah nothing nothing nothing I I remember watching and and you know texting you and being like being like man he’s really good at what he does like this is this is straight CIA talk like if this is his way of communicating with somebody else and there’s like Morse cold in the middle of what he’s saying you know we are completely missing it because he says a whole lot of nothing which is which is great I don’t say it in a bad way um I say in a in a sense of you know if they if there was any indication that the magic are you know full-blown lock down when it comes to their information you know if there was any proof of that was you know drafting po B per with the number one pick uh seconds [Music] after wge comes out and says that we’re going to draft Jabari Smith Jr um so uh uh the whole draft process still frustrates me the fact that we know who’s being picked like minutes yeah minutes before it actually happened so just glad that there was a wrinkle there but I just want to shout that out but outside of that man uh Magic still need to make some decisions on on our own free agents uh we still don’t know what the magic are going to do with folz Harris you know chuma goo we have in we we have ideas um but nothing nothing nothing official yet um between any of those guys do you think that we is there an opportunity is there a possibility that we keep any of them I think there’s a world in which we bring back Joe Engles on a restructured contract so he won’t be making whatever it was 12 $15 million anymore he might be making $5 million so I could see that world where hey he’s a vet he was enjoyable to have around bring him back but on a cheaper contract um I’ll outside of that honestly man the only other guy that I can definitely see coming back is Mo Vagner of course I think Mo Vagner is for sure coming back so that’s where I’m at I really don’t see Gary Harris coming back especially if we’re going to go after clay or kcp or any other shooting guard out there um chuma and Goa out of those two I think Goa may be able to get a new contract with us let’s see what happens in free agency first uh but I definitely think that Tron the Silva has replaced chumai the roster that’s kind of my opinion there I see a world where we keep marel H yeah so that I trust me I want to but this is my thing you got Cole you got Jaylen suck who I guess now is our starting point guard you have Anthony black who wants to have the ball more in His Hands Where does m car fill in into all this you’re going to play J Howard next season um I don’t I don’t I don’t know I couldn’t I couldn’t tell you I’m just telling you that I can see a world where we do do I think that we will maybe yes maybe no I I think that you know Mark Hill has a you know a soft spot like front or or excuse me Jeff woman has a soft spot for Mark Hill folks this just my personal feeling in my gut like I I think that you can bring Mark Hill back in a very very very team-friendly deal um considering the circumstance I I think that there’s there’s uh maybe an exception based on you know cuz we we we know cuz here’s the thing right the reward would be really high we know that this year Marquel really struggled with injuries he he just wasn’t you know his normal Marquel self right so I don’t know I I see a world where where it could happen I also see a world where you know they they could just decide it’s it’s time to move on but I think out of those players I I would I would definitely say Marquel Joe Eng Les I I agree with you I think that we’ll find a team we’ll find a way to keep him on the team um but the magic need to do some uh consolidation because it’s getting a little um it’s getting a little crowded they do man I think that’s where that’s where it leads me to believe that if you bring Marquel back then you have to decide what do you do with Cole Anthony what do you do with Anthony black like something’s got to happen because SE marel was like hey yeah let me come back I love Orlando I want to be back I’ll be a third string Center uh point guard I don’t care I’ll just do it cool but then again you still have Anthony black that like I said earlier one step ball in his hands call Anthony is a point guard Off the Bench and then again we’re assuming that Jaylen sucks will start a point guard next season it’s like to your point it’s a lot of players that need minutes and want the ball in their hands so you got to consolidate some way somehow to make it all work but I wouldn’t mind Marquel back on a smaller role no longer seeing him as a starter anymore um but does he want that that’s the question yeah decisions need to be made by Saturday um Caleb Houston’s contract also becomes fully guaranteed on the 30th um and then some additional key dates to remember Saturday June 29th decisions need to be made on our own free agents Sunday June 30th free agency starts at 6 p.m. um awesome that they’re doing it on a Sunday we’re all off which is perfect July 12th um to the 22nd Vegas summer league we really need to find a year that we actually make it out there to Vegas I’m sure that’s an awesome experience and then October 7th so from July um 22nd to October 7th we would have to wait until our first NBA preseason game obviously we’re going to have some International play that that would kind of hold us down for a little bit um until then but October 21st last day for the magic to agree to a contract extension with France Vagner and jayen sug so a lot of decisions to be made in the very very near future um with the amount of with the amount of money that some of these players are making uh Scotty Barnes just signed a crazy crazy contract um you know the the new TV deals are are obviously going to change the way that some of these contracts will look um I’m curious to see where the magic end up falling when it comes to contract extensions for France and Jaylen um because where these numbers might surprise a lot of people I’ll say this man I think France is going to get paid way more if not the max than what many people are expecting I know I see a lot of magic fans saying no way that France gets what Scotty Barnes C blah BL blah blah reality is man like you said all this TV money that’s coming to the NBA it may not mean much for for France to make $30 million next season so it’s wild to think about but uh be be ready because again this contracts are going to get ridiculous the way that this TV money is being thrown around absolutely um man Sunday it’s going to be a big day find out where the magic stand in free agency um we’re expecting for things to heat up leading up to Sunday um and we’ll we’ll see what ends up happening don’t forget to check out orlandomagic hq.com a lot of content there make sure you’re following us on our social media uh pages and then don’t forget to comment 200 on the comment field of this YouTube video on that note it’s a rap man I appreciate all you guys for listening 200 episodes is absolutely insane show is presented by B online we’ll catch you guys in a little bit for all the latest Magic news and updates visit Orlando Magic hq.com and follow us on Instagram at Orlando magicq and on Twitter at om magicq also remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel And subscribe and leave a five-star review on your favorite listening platform

In the 200th episode of the Orlando Magic HQ podcast:

– 200th episode giveaway
– Takeaways from NBA Draft
– da Silva’s fit with the team
– Rumors: Klay, KCP, Hartstein…
… and much more

Timeline:

00:00 Introduction and Celebration of 200th Episode
07:06 Discussion of the 2024 NBA Draft
28:49 Debating the Fit of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP)
31:12 Excitement over the Potential Signing of Klay Thompson
36:47 Other Potential Targets: Isaiah Hartenstein and Landry Shamet
50:12 Speculating on the Future of Current Magic Players

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