What Kentavious Caldwell-Pope brings to the Orlando Magic | Running it back again!

What Kentavious Caldwell-Pope brings to the Orlando Magic | Running it back again!

so we’ve had about a day now to sit with cavius Callo poop what does he bring to the Orlando Magic and we’re getting the rest of the gang back together again we’ll talk about the moves of magic have reportedly made on Monday and a whole lot more on today’s episode of Locked on Magic you are locked on Magic your daily Orlando Magic podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and you are indeed locked on Magic today is July 2nd 2024 happy NBA New Year once again to everyone my name is Philip Rosman Reich I’m the senior writer over at orlandomagic.com follow me on Twitter Philip rrd on today’s episode of lock on Magic we’ll dive a little bit deeper into what the Orlando Magic are getting in gavius calwell pop how he makes the magic a better team and might be more than just a Gary Harris plus plus speaking about Gary Harris um he’s coming back so is Goa patad so might Mo Vagner probably Mo Vagner and so will Jonathan Isaac we’ll get into all the reported moves that the magic are have ma made on Monday what that means for the team and where the magic go next we’re gonna get to all that coming up here in just a moment first we want to thank you again for making lock on Magic part of your day every day no matter when you listen to us whether it’s first in the morning whether it’s right when we upload we truly appreciate you making lockdown magic part of your day every day remember there’s a great lockdown podcast covering every single team in the NBA to search for locked on and the team you’re looking for the lock on podcast Network it’s your team every day today’s episode of lockdown magic is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more with the playoffs wound Down Sports have stopped sporting it certainly stopped for the US Men’s National Team and I’m still a little angry about it but this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fel.com lockon to get started so we’ve had now more than 24 hours to kind of sit back assess and review the magic big signing of the offseason um and at this point it is the big signing of the offseason a three-year $66 million deal uh for kavus cwell pop there is a player there are reports that suggest there’s a player option on the third year what’s not yet clear is how the contract is structured if there’s the standard 5% raises or decreases um it means that either the contract would start at about $20 million which is how magic still had $30 million a cap room or if it’s front loaded it could start at $24 million we’ll do a little bit of math maybe later in the week to kind of sus some of this stuff out I haven’t had a chance to sit down and do a lot do all this math I don’t like math as some of you noted on yesterday’s show when I did some bad mathing uh live on a I was running on fumes but um I need to sit down and have the numbers in front of me before I can uh do some math on some things and and even some things that we’ll discuss a little bit later on in the show the most important thing know that we want to know is what kind of player are the magic getting in gavius called W poop and and and my initial reaction to the signing is that essentially this is the magic getting a better version of Gary Harris whatever the magic had in Gary Harris and we will talk Gary Harris here in a minute but whatever the magic had in Gary Harris cavius calwell Pope does all of those things does all the things that Gary Harris does but does them better he is a better three-point shooter he is a better Defender um but he does them without meeting the ball a ton and I know you’re probably thinking why are we spending 22 million you know average of $22 million over the next three years for someone like that well he does them a a lot better especially the defensive side he he’s a much bigger player uh he is a starter in the league he’s 31 years old but he is a starter in this league and someone that is going to gain and have the respective defenses in a way that Gary Harris didn’t on top of that where Gary Harris plays misses 20 games a year canabus calwell Pope has failed to reach 70 games in only two seasons in his career and one of those seasons was the co shorten 2020 season when they don’t think they even played 70 games in the regular season so kcp is a much more reliable player from an availability standpoint which is kind of important for this magic team but also a a much better a much better player in a lot of the ways that matter here is Gary Harris’s averages Gary Harris averaged 6.9 points per game shot 37.1% on 3.8 3.10 per game and at 11.7% usage rate so again about what 11% of possessions ended with Harris having the final action a shot a turnover what have you cavius callwell Pope with the Denver Nuggets last year averaged 10.1 points per game so not a huge increase but you know in the long run like the margins in the league are so small that four points per game difference is actually pretty significant extra three is really significant um 4.1 three-point attempts per game and a 12.9% usage rate this is coming by the way on a Denver Nuggets team the only team that shot fewer threes in the Orlando Magic now I get it they have Nicole yic that does change some things but I think the magic might be open to to H shooting more threes that’s a big thing I’m about with this team and so maybe kyp can increase that a little bit get up to 12 13 points per game uh you know shoot five six threes per game I think that’s where the magic probably want him to land on top of all this kcp made 39.7% of his 3.3 three catch and shoot three-point attempts per game he gets his threes in different ways he’s not just a catch and shoot guy Gary Harris was essentially only a catch and shoot guy 37% on his catch on three and a half catch and shoot three-point attempts per game According to second Spectrum um but essentially again offensively at least Caldwell Pope does everything that Gary Harris does but better and he’s gonna play essentially the same role and that’s going to be a theme of this show because yes the magic are going for continuity they’re going to like not rock this boat too much and we will discuss in a little bit whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing the pros and the cons of it and where the magic go next we’re going to get to that later in the episode but for this for the purpose of this part of the conversation the reason why I think cavius calwell Pope can work the reason why I think his stats from Denver are translatable that perhaps the magic can get him to increase that production a little bit is because played virtually the same role in Denver he is comfortable playing a role where he does not have the ball in his hands a lot and so Orlando can just slot him into the Gary Harris Rule and just from a just ba you know this was my conclusion in the immediate reaction pop in the immediate reaction that I did yesterday on the on the on the live show or two days ago on the live show um at the very least the magic got better they may not have filled all of their needs they may not have you know kav is called well Pope is not making plays he’s not attacking a ton off the dribble he’ll slash a little bit more he’ll get to the basket a little bit more um he’s not exclusively a three-point shooter like Gary Harris is um but on a baseline level just on the offense alone the magic are replacing Gary Harris with a better version of what he does and as much as people want to hate on Gary Harris and and I get it he had a terrible playoffs I’m not going to sit here and deny that um with Gary Harris as the as the starting shooting guard the magic had a 11 14.7 offensive rating and a 102 defensive rating um if kavi called well Pope is truly better at at both ends of the floor than Gary Harris but can play the same role and just plug into that same role and not disrupt anything else the magic are doing um the magic got better and that of course doesn’t get into the defense cavius callwell Pope is a solid Defender he received 11 votes for all defensive all defensive second team I know he struggled in the playoffs a little bit with Anthony Edwards who wouldn’t um but that game that series still went seven games uh and he’s gonna be he’s gonna fit right in defensively he’s 65 he’s a big guy he’s 65 like 2011 he’s a big guy he can switch onto defend onto any Defender really that you put that you would throw him at the magria could be able to be a lot more aggressive on defense so a defense that’s already one of the best defenses in the league just got better just got a lot better in fact and the magic are going to be real tough and and look bottom line is this some part of what we’re thinking about is the competition like who are the magic facing that they’re going to need to climb over to win championships well between Jaylen Suggs and tavius cwell pop and fron voger they have two guys who are already receiving all defensive team votes and I think a lot of us would recognize and understand fron vager is a very underrated Defender so when you have to play J Tatum and and Jaylen Brown the magic are set or when you have to play you know Derrick White and Drew holiday obviously a much tougher group too but um that’s a tough team but Orlando has players who can match up they’re loading up to match up against those guys going up against Darius Garland and Jaylen and and Donovan Mitchell the magic are a little bit better prepared to play them and throw different bodies and different types of players at them than maybe they were in the playoff season and it’s not that Gary Harris is a bad Defender I think he’s a solid Defender but he is not disruptive kcp is disruptive he will get deflections he will get steals he will get into passing lanes and that’s again at the very Baseline before we get to any of the other things that the magic did or didn’t do Baseline the magic got better and kcp is a player that fits right into what the magic are doing and does not disrupt anything else he’s not taking shots from poo banero he’s not taking those reps from fron Vagner he’s not taking away from Jaylen Suggs he stays out of the way and he will be successful in that role and so the magic have a better version of what they had last year and you hope that that means especially because they were again a half away from getting out of the first round you hope some a little bit more consistency and I know kcp struggled in the playoffs this year but a little bit more consistency perhaps gets you over the top into that next level and just elevates you a little bit magic don’t have to go very far now obviously team behind them got significantly better in Philadelphia so the magic do have some work to do and we’re going to talk about where the magic go next but first we have to talk about what they did Monday because the runit back train is back the theme of today’s episode is continuity and boy The Magik are back at it with continuu we’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment but first it’s time for quick work for our friends over at FanDuel um I typically love sports but you know today was depressing US Men’s National Team falling to Uruguay bowing out of Copa America the summer of soccer is become a summer of tragedy and it’s not what we want to feel on this holiday weekend there’s so many great events going on and so many fun things still to come the WNBA still in full swing MLB in full swing NFL on the horizon so as the sports that we know and love wind down and other sports take their place FanDuel lets you keep keep it going whenever you want all you have to do is open the app and dream up that’ss anytime you are in the mood and this summer FanDuel is hooking up all customers that’s in all caps with a boost or a bonus daily that’s also in all caps that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long so head over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most of your summer obviously free agency has happened in the NBA so if we’re looking ahead to some NBA futures or the orl magic are now no longer the long shots to win the Eastern Conference in fact Eastern Conference 2024 25 winners the line magic went from the worst odds among all teams that made the playoffs to fifth right behind Boston Philadelphia New York and Milwaukee plus 2000 that’s tied with Miami believe it or not um and Cleveland so Orlando Back In the Mix now to win the Eastern Conference somehow Indiana’s plus 3,000 that’s a pretty that’s a pretty good line so if you want an early bet on the Orlando Magic winning the Eastern Conference now is the time to do it check it out again at f.com lockon fanduel’s official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball we want to thank you again for making lock on Magic part of your day every day for your next listen be sure to check out the lockon sports today 247 streaming channel to catch up on all the big news around the NBA all the big news around the Sports World from the local experts who know their team best lockdown sports today brings you the can’t miss analysis opinions and news the best of the lock on podcast network streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app as part of lockon podcast Network your team every day so after the magic made the kentavius cwell pope signing we suspected okay maybe the magic are still going to be in on Isaiah hartenstein maybe they’ll go out and make a big move well that move got quieted very early Monday uh when Ro reported that the Oklahoma City Thunder had brought him on a contract that paid him $30 million a year or $28 million a year something like that and I think most magic fans were like yeah it’s probably a little too rich he’s not that big of an improvement over Wendell Carter we’ll we’ll take our chances we’re not GNA lose sleep over that one we made our big spend on gfi’s calwell popee and then you start looking around and you’re like okay well the magic kind of filled out their starting lineup um there’s no other real good Center options where are the magic going to go and obviously I kind of said like my goal for the this season was go get a starting guard they did that maybe not the one we all thought we’ll talk about where the match go next from here um in a minute but maybe not the one we thought but they got a starting guard they got someone’s a good shooter made the team better I’m pretty you know I’m I would call it an A+ move it’s a solid beat I’m H I’m happy get on based well you know the team is better today than it was a week ago um then I was looking at okay let’s get a bench shooter let’s get a wing Off the Bench who can shoot let’s secure a third Center and then if we can let me get a let me get a third point guard a third veteran point guard to kind of complete the summer that’s that’s kind of where I’m still at those are still kind of the needs that I see on this roster I suspected that it was possible and I probably thought I probably thought like this would be the ideal actually at the magic go ahead and fill that third Center spot with go bat no reason to go with anyone different there’s not anyone that’s significantly better on the market he’s probably not going to get the contract you really likes you’re G to be willing to pay him a little bit more just because you know him you have the money you it it was a good match and so not a complete surprise but the Orlando Magic are reportedly going to sign Goku Paz to a three-year $28 million deal so a little bit bigger contract than I thought $8 million essentially we’ve talked about this a lot the magic uh we talk about this a lot the magic declined the team option on Mo Vagner expecting to bring him back at the room mid-level exception the magic essentially spent the room mid-level exception on goab baz the room mid level exception came at about $7.9 million a little bit more than that um around 8 million still um there there is a way to structure the deal to fit into that full room mid-level exception so the magic spent the mid-level exception on their third Center um that doesn’t mean that MO Vagner is out of the picture the magic because they’re not going out and spending big on a second free agent do have the money do have the ability and I believe they do have full bird right so I don’t think it I don’t think it matters that much but they do have the ability to go out and retain moer um that is absolutely something they can do they will probably give him a healthy pay bump I’m expecting something in the range of three for 36 now if goa’s getting eight Mo’s GNA get 12 and so if you get three for 36 put put some put a team option put a player option on that third year put a non- guarantee on that third year again um that that to me would be a solid get you’ll have to solve that Center problem beforehand but again we’ll get to that in a minute um Jason BD of the Orlando cental reporting that the magic and mo Vagner are still very open to a return that’s probably a sign that yes he will be back um I’m not Jason’s not reporting that I’m reading between the lines on that um but it does seem like that that’s on track Mo Vagner is probably the top Center of ailable in free agency right now and so I do think the magic probably going to have to pay a little bit more I’m betting what’s going on is the magic are saying go go get an offer from someone set your Market we’ll pay it and that that’ll take care of that the other signing the magic made to the magic reportedly made today was a bit of surprise um and a lot of magic fans not super thrilled about it but I I I honestly don’t think it’s terrible uh the magic are set to bring Gary Harris back on a two-year $14 million deal probably flat 7 million for the last two years essentially manag to cut his salary in half um but they still get to retain one of their best three-point Shooters now look I get it Gary Harris is dealt with a lot of injuries uh he had a really bad playoff stopped 31% from three from the playoffs and for a team that has so few shooters that is a big deal like you f like Gary Harris’s one role on this team the one reason he was starting is he was a reliable shooter so when the magic could could lean on wasn’t going to demand the ball a lot would be there when the ball swung to him his one job was to make threes he didn’t make threes in the big biggest moment and so I get that that that really stins but he still shot 38% from three this year he’s above 40% uh in 2023 um he’s still a really good shooter he’s still a really solid Defender and you know some of the options we talked about for that shooting role a get that cheap but U but you get what you pay for um some of the other shooters that we talked about in that shooting role Gary Trent Jr and Buddy heel especially not good Shooters not good Shooters um or not they’re good Shooters actually let me check that they are good Shooters not good Defenders don’t fit the style the magic want and and I think above everything else the magic have made it very very clear that they’re not going to compromise their defense for shooting again agree or disagree with that decision there’s plenty to debate about it but I think it’s become very very clear the magic are not compromising on certain key principles as they look to add to the roster at least at this stage now there may be a come a time when that risk becomes tolerable they are not there yet and so you look at the Players they’ve added and the players that they’ve emphasized on adding it is about staying true to this team Jeff wman told us the day after the season ended we are not going to give up our North Star or our DNA this summer they were not chasing players who did not fit the culture that they had already established it did not feel like they would add or enhance their culture and so that has them it seems like ending up essentially running the team back just like they did last summer when the magic only added Anthony black jet Howard and Joe Engles it feels like a really good chance that the magic are only going to add Tristan to Silva and cavius cwell pop and that’s going to be How They Roll things forward um look Jeff Wellman has very much said that he believes continuity is is especially valuable for young teams and this is still a young team do not get it wrong this is still a very young team um and so continuity with the coaching staff continuity with the players gives a bit of familiarity gives gives them a little bit of a leg up to pick up the speed of the very basic stuff in training camp and start getting better and start growing I 100% believe that the momentum from the end of the season into this season kind of hitting the ground running I think that really helped this team will it help it again and this is I think the gamble you’re making a little bit is that at some point stuff goes does go stale I’m was having a conversation with a buddy about this who was talking about you know do you think the magic would bring back Markell fultz and I I will say this if the magic are looking to add a third point guard Marquel folz is an option I I don’t think they will do it I I think that the limitations are there I think they want to create a very clear pathway for Anthony black to play um so I think Marco I don’t think they will bring back Marco folz but like I’ve said before no one in that locker room is more beloved than markz they love that dude and we like as a person we all love that dude that dude is is a real is a real one um but I was me making this point it’s like you know it it Mark the marel situation reminds me a little bit of Grant Hill in that when the magic let Grant Hill walk after the 2007 season that’s how they got the money to sign rard Lewis but when they let Grant Hill walk after the 2007 season my understanding and I wasn’t covering the team back then but the story is I I’d always heard was that Odis Smith made the decision then because he didn’t want white Howard and jir Nelson deferring to Grant Hill he didn’t want Grant Hill to be the leader of the team he wanted that team to be very unequivocally Dwight Dwight Howard’s team but Dwight and Jr’s team for the for for leadership purposes and I feel like that’s the kind of situation the magic are in now like in order for pao and fron or to take over in order for ab to get the playing time that he needs you got to take away the security blanket um and that’s to me the the the risk of constantly churning over with continuity to me that’s the risk of doing this again it doesn’t mean you make wholesale changes I was only expecting one change to the starting lineup maybe it adding a Max of like three veteran players um so I’m not a big fan of like oh change the roster over every year all role players gone that’s what the magic did with Tracer McGrady and it stunk it was not good um someone at you know someone said you know this you know the the way the magic are kind of sitting on their hands and not doing something big perhaps um this is how they lost Shack or or whatever and and you’re right to an extent um but I would also add this churning you know Jeff welman has an organizing philosophy he does have the thing that he is looking for he does have a vision for how this team plays and honestly he has done a very good job being disciplined to that approach the results have come you can’t argue with the process because we’ve had the results uh and I think he’s doing that again he knows what this magic team is going to be he is not compromising on that to get a few extra wins to get a few extra wins in the season because that’s not going to help them get to where they need to be and that’s winning a championship at the end of the day um look as much as we want to talk about these individual moves and additions this project is still about poo benero and fron vagra if Palo ban Caro becomes a superstar this year if he’s an All-Star again the magic are going to be fine they’re they’re better they are a better team like Gary Harris people don’t like Gary Harris and and look he had a bad playoffs I get it um I don’t like Gary Harris as a starter I came away from the playoffs saying he is not a starter in the league anymore but Off the Bench I’m fine with him off the bench I love that role for him off the bench and if you need him to start a game or two because kyp’s out that’s fine but I love him off the bench he is great Off the Bench that is a high the magic are essentially taking a starter a successful starter from last and moving him to the bench depth is not bad this team is deep and especially when we do start talking about traits maybe at the trade deadline maybe next summer maybe later this summer having that depth is going to be very very valuable Magic now have some movable contracts as well it looks like so where do the magic go next what are they doing next we’ll talk a little bit about the needs they didn’t address and the needs that they should still address coming up here in just a moment so there’s one more move that that’s being reported out there it’s not official yet um or it hasn’t been like that that the whole thing hasn’t been made official like by reporting because nothing’s official till Saturday um one more move to think one more move that’s out there Jake fiser of Yahoo and I know he’s had a little bit of a tough run with reporting but Jake fiser is a good reporter um some someone described it you know I’ve always told people like you know understand the sources and and what reporters do um reporters are reporters are typically not lying someone told them something um whether it turns out true or not things change very quickly in this league but someone told them something and they and they felt comfortable enough to run with it I reporters are I don’t think reporters are very rarely trying to be they’re not trying to be wrong number one uh and they’re not trying to deceive Their audience you know they’re relaying information uh that they received um and so you know Jake’s a good guy you know he someone someone kind of described him as like he’s like if the GMS had a water cooler and they’re just kind of talking um that’s that’s kind of that’s kind of what his role is but he reported earlier today earlier Monday that uh the magic are planning to do a renegotiation and extension of Jonathan Isaac’s contract um this so if I’m sitting here saying the magic are pretty much done in free agency it’s because essentially the magic are going to use the rest of their cap room or or whatever they need to do to get to that payroll floor on Jonathan Isaac to increase his salary this year and extend his contract out for two three years probably um this is a relatively new thing in the in the CBA in the CBA um there was in the last iteration of the CBA so it’s not new to this new CBA but if you are a team with cap room you are allowed to do H to use cap room to increase the salary of a player’s contract and renegotiate that contract you can never decrease the salary uh on that first year but on the New Years of the contract you can decrease that salary by as much as 40% and then the standard eight you know standard maximum minimum of maximum of eight% on each subsequent year so the magic could vary the magic are very likely going to Jonathan Isaac’s Camp Jonathan Isaac’s camp and probably increasing his salary to like 24 25 26 I I saw someone estimate $30 million and then dropping it back down to like 17 18 for two or three more years um that’s that’s a very interesting use of cap room um it retains Jonathan Isaac who they’re signaling as a very important player for their team um gives them some more trade ballast as well especially a big contract this year if that’s what they want to do um it’s it’s a it’s a thing um when that happens we’ll break that down a little bit more but where did the magic go next uh like I said it feels like they have resolved a lot of the immediate needs on the roster they added the starting guard and the shooting they added a bench shooter it was Gary Harris wasn’t who maybe we thought it was wasn’t someone external they added bench shooter they got the third Center so to me there are really two needs left on the roster I believe they do have two roster spots left if they’re losing chuma if they’re losing Joe um if they’re losing Marquel that’s three that’s three new players they can add Tristan D Silva cavius callwell pop they got one more roster spot and then Mo voder they need to resign Mo voder that has to happen there’s no good Center options left on the table I’d be fine with Goa playing backup if it really came to that then you got to find a third Center to fill that part that part but um go resign Mo Vagner again contracted $1 million a year three for 33 three for 36 whatever whatever it is um then I think they have to find a veteran third point guard because if there is a fair complaint if there is a fair statement of what are the magic doing here the magic did not solve or did not really address their point guard problem coming out of the playoffs a lot of us identified playmaking and really just point guard game managing as one of the biggest needs the magic had um it was one of the most glaring issues the magic had during their playoff run they needed a point guard to manage and control the game to be another driver and attacker they just simply did not have that and it hurt them it cost it cost them seriously last year it cost them seriously in the playoffs and so you know a lot of us focused on the point guard class and wasn’t a super impressive point guard class like you know again the magic were unwilling to compromise on their defense and so theangel Russell was out tyus Jones was out there’s some reporting suggest the magic were really in on Malik monk but Malik monk decided to stay sounded like Orlando wasn’t willing to give him the years monk really wanted to stay in Sacramento he stayed in Sacramento and so those options dried up pretty quickly and Reporting especially after monk sign suggested the magic do believe jayen Suggs can get there I I agree with most a lot of magic fans who say who are very skeptical of that and we talked about it a little bit a week ago a week or so ago now about whether Jaylen Suggs can step into that role we’re gonna find out I don’t know I don’t have the answer to that um he hasn’t he hasn’t you know he played some point guard but not a lot of those point guard responsibilities and again I think a lot of us looked at okay find a shooter who can do a little bit of playmaking um gavius cwell pop is not that and so this point guard issue is left unsolved unresolved the magic didn’t want to commit you know whether the magic could have or or or were in discussions for Deon Murray is certainly a point for debate you know we don’t know it really feels like the magic are trying to hold their draft picks for their big trade and they don’t think Dante Murray’s that the the Pelicans paid three first round picks to get Dante Murray the magic didn’t want to pay that they’re waiting for a bigger fish it looks like they’re they’re trying to hold on to that for for something bigger um so to that extent to that point the magic did not address the point guard it’s still out there and the magic are GNA go into this season again looking very much like the same team this is the magic are running it back they are they are running it back with contavious calwell Pope and Tristan DL and so maybe the magic have a up their sleeves it’d be for a center it’d be to upgrade wend wend Carter it wouldn’t be for the starting lineup now because they’re starting lineup four their five starting lineup spots are set Jaylen Suggs gavius cwell Pope fron vager poo banero so the only trade left on the table is Wendell Carter to upgrade the center are they going after Robert Williams are they going you know anrey Simons is off the table now like they’re Simon in starting over kcp um so are they going after Robert Williams are they going after DeAndre Aon what are the centers are out there who else is on the trade market that you would want uh I mean I can’t I can’t I’m look I’m looking at my team list right now and I’m I’m not seeing any centers that are like screaming to me go get this guy um Walker Kessler has been the popular name I I don’t know if the Jazz want to do that um Jazz might be in on Mo vogner um but the magic are kind of who they are now and so I think the next move comes at the deadline and while I think Jeff welman was aggressive this summer aggressive it was aggressive going after players that fit this team in what the magic want they were always in on Ki skullo that was their guy um they were not they were clearly not that into Klay Thompson they were clearly not that into Paul George they were allowed to be leverage and that’s fine teams are okay with that you know I I I I I think it was who was it uh it was someone on danne lebatard might have been Jake Fischer again um who said essentially that you know the magic probably allowed Paul George to use them as leverage because it made them look good we talked about how it made them look good now it’s like oh now it’s a new ball game we’re talk we’re we’re in the we’re in the room with the best free agent in this in the summer even if they don’t get him they are in the room they are a viable option for him and honestly what what I said in the first 15 minutes of the live show yesterday or Sunday is still 100% true the magic are in the room for these top stars and so the next big move for the Orlando Magic is to make that trade is to find that trade to add a better Center to add a top point guard to add another star to the mix that elevates the magic from where they are at as a quality solid first round team to to a team that’s competing for the Conference Finals and again maybe the magic are that team and we don’t know it yet because Paulo got better fron can hit a shot again and Jaylen Suggs learned how to play point guard over the summer I think that leap is those those leaps are all three of those leaps happening I think is not far-fetched but unlikely and I think the magic will you know again I think I said this last year maybe my sites are said a little too low but a lot of this season’s about doing it again show us that you can do it again be a top defense again make the playoffs again compete in the playoffs again if you can get out of the first round great be a team that everyone looks to and says you should get out of the first round and you know I think we could sit here and say that because yeah that’s what they were last year they’re better now um but I think we want to see that develop as the season goes on and say okay this looks like a second round team like last year the magic last year like no offense to the magic last year but last like the 2024 season the magic never really looked like a team that was getting out of the first round like great they got to a game seven they look like a team that was gonna that was like learning the playoffs and learning how to win now now we know how to do that now you got to do it again now you gotta play at a higher level and Elevate yourself and if the team can’t do that then Jeff welman’s going to have to make changes externally that’s when you stop with the continuity stuff when the continu d goes stale and that that’s going to be the concern all year but the magic are in a position now to make the next big move that’s the point they’ve got the salaries they’ve got the depth they’ve got the draft stash they will be in on the next big move whoever it is could be like Tyler hero from Miami I don’t like that option either but I’m just I’m looking at my board of of NBA teams going down the list of who this could be whoever that next big player is the magic will be in on them they set themselves up I think this summer to do that but they’re going to go in with the group they got they they believe they like they believe in what they’re building they believe it wholeheartedly they keep bringing everybody back and that seems to be how the magic are approaching this upcoming season I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of lockon magic who find me on Twitter Philip rrd subscribe to podcast Apple podcast search you’re tuned in himo Google play Spotify Odyssey and all of podcast to your podcast enable listening device for on the Orlando Magic be sure to check out Orlando Magic daily.com you can find us there on Twitter at Magic daily and for even more Orlando Magic content be sure to check out my patreon page the Orlando Magic Hub Whenever there is breaking news um I’m going to start getting back to this um whenever there’s breaking news you can get my immediate reactions typically on my patreon page so go to patreon.com orlandomagic HUB And subscribe and of course I thank you all for your support now that you’re done listening to me be sure to check out the lock on sports day 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now available on Amazon Fire TV in the free Fire TV channels app lockdown Sports is here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of lockon plus our national shows covering every League find lockdown sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app on tomorrow’s episode of lockdown magic we’re gonna talk to lock on Buffs about Tristan D Silva that’s unless some something crazy happens if there’s crazy news we’ll attack that first or attack that in whole but tomorrow certain absolutely this week we’ll hear from lockon Buffs about Tristan the Silva the Orlando Magic’s new forward but until then for Orlando Magic daily and lock on Magic this has been Philip Rossman Reich we’ll see you again next time through another episode of lockdown Magic

The Orlando Magic reportedly agreed to a new contract with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. What does the veteran wing bring to Orlando? It is a little bit more than just a better version of what they had. But KCP will undoubtedly fit right in.

The Magic were also busy Monday, reportedly bringing back Goga Bitadze and Gary Harris. Yep, it feels like the Magic are running it back again as they set up their future beyond.

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