Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 201 – “Boomerang“

Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 201 – “Boomerang“

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 what’s up magic fans welcome back to another episode of the Orlando Magic HQ podcast brought to you by the believe podcast Network in b online we host Al myself Anthony today is Thursday 4th of July happy Independence Day Al what’s going on man what’s going on man I’m I’m here I’m hanging in there yeah so we’re we’re we’re a few days into free agency or post-free agency and um Allan and I we decided to kind of wait off a little bit to kind of see how the dominoes kind of fell down so we can get a a broader scope of uh the decisions that uh the Jeff welman Anthony Parker front office have or have not made and uh we’re we’re at a point now where it’s is it’s time for us to be able to talk about the stuff that went down get our thoughts on it um you know now that certain elements have uh kind of marinated a little bit uh not not full media reactions which is probably better for Al because uh Al I’ll be honest with you man I was I was wor I was worried about you the last couple days every single report that came out I’m just like oh man I was not going to like this one I was not going to like that one but that’s that’s kind of it’s kind of the name of the game man so uh we’re going to break down everything free agency in today’s episode um but before we get into it just a 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 stat every match up and even live odds and spreads while the games are being played when the game is over head on over to our online casino and get in on a game of blackjack or poker or online with one of our 150 slot games head to the website today to get in to the action use promo code believe that’s bav for your 50% Free Bet credit on your first deposit up to $250 bet online the game starts here um before we jump into the episode also um this is our episode 201 if you didn’t catch uh last week’s episode we just hit our big 200 uh we we’re still um getting entries for our uh 200 giveaway for our 200 episode celebration of that um all you have to do is go to our last episode type in the word or excuse me the number 200 um and you will be registered just make sure that you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel as well all right all right let’s get into it so the Orlando Magic right there was a lot of talks a lot of rumors non-stop that we kept hearing Paul George Klay Thompson Paul George Klay Thompson and as we got closer to free agency it became extremely clear that Klay Thompson really wasn’t a thing right when when it got when it got to when it got down to it uh you know Klay Thompson just that scenario wasn’t realistic for the Orlando Magic um the one that started G gearing up to creating a lot of a lot of heat a lot of um a lot of spin a lot of run was Paul George to the magic and I will be 100% honest with you in my gut in my soul it felt right I honestly thought that it makes the most sense for Paul GE I convinced myself Paul George coming to Orlando makes all the sense in the world it didn’t make sense for him to go back to the Clippers cuz Clippers weren’t willing to give him what he wanted the max contract uh Philadelphia didn’t make sense either because hello it’s it’s Philadelphia like it’s it’s crawling on the floor Joel embiid crying after every call throwing his body around can’t stay healthy to save his life sure he won you know NBA MVP after crying about it for a couple years and they didn’t want to give it to yage a whole a whole bunch of stuff right you’re talking about players like Jimmy Butler you’re talking about you know Ben Simmons when he was playable you’re talking about uh uh James Harden countless countless top elite players playing next to Joel embiid surely Paul George looks at that scenario and says it hasn’t worked for anyone else why would it work for me um not to even forget to mention the fact that Paul George was teammates with James Harden right James Harden who has been extremely vocal about you know how uh how much he didn’t like the way that he was dealt with in Philadelphia with Daryl Mory how he called him a liar how he didn’t live up to whatever you know negotiations that they talked about I would have thought in my heart of hearts like this dude had poisoned Paul George’s ear and there’s no way that he’s going to Philadelphia also he’s a family man mid-30s like you got three kids when we talk about family like Orlando over LA and Philly like let let’s just be honest right and it was only between Philadelphia the Clippers and us because we’re the only ones that have the cap space to be able to sign them and unfortunately that just it it did not it did not go our way even though it was reported that uh Philadelphia was going to get a meeting the Orlando Magic were going to get a meeting and then the Clippers were also going to get a meeting uh Sunday uh Paul George was reported to meet with the Clippers was going to meet with Philadelphia but there was no word on the Orlando Magic and uh before a decision was even made from Paul George the Orlando Magic went in and they weren’t going to miss out on on an opportunity to be able to bring in another player and the magic announced that they signed kcp so just a quick recap of that um in your heart did you did you believe that the magic did have an opportunity at Klay Thompson and Paul George and missing out on both of them how are you feeling with the magic ending up with kcp so I mean I’ll be honest right we were texting non-stop that that Sunday waiting for updates the rumors had been you know since Saturday evening till Sunday evening hey Paul George is gonna me with the magic by itself that was a win for me and I tweeted that too like Hey listen the fact that we’re getting a meeting with Paul George that automatically tells me that we’re in the right direction one of the top free agents if not the top free agent in this class is willing to meet with us hey that that’s a huge win right then and there that’s it but then again the reality kind of kicks in like hey like are we really going to get a meeting are we really going to spend all of our cap space on Paul George I don’t know then my doubt started but you kept me kind of in the loop like you know what I’ll believe I think this can happen I’m like you know what let’s see how it plays out and man what an now we into free agency that dream was over because again we chose to go after K kcp which makes sense my take on that is Paul George must not have been ready to commit to us right at the startle free agency we probably wanted him to so we can know what our plan was he wanted to meet with Philly whatever it might have been or he just honestly used us a severage to get them most money out of Philly I don’t know what the story there is we’ll probably never find out uh but it never really quite felt real to me it would have been crazy if the magic would have signed him don’t get me wrong um and up till the very end I really thought that Klay Thompson was more of a real uh possibility just because again he’s aging wanted a little more money he can win with the magic not as much as now we know he went to Dallas at the time that wasn’t the case we only thought he may go either stay in Golden State or go to another team but but who nobody knew at the time um I don’t know man I think that clay would have been a great fit here we’re talking about it right before we started recording it’s not going to happen it’s done with kcp my really my reaction was great player great defender so our defense is going to be nasty let’s not be wrong about that I am just concerned about our struggles last year when you think back about last year our struggle was if Paulo was getting double teamed or he didn’t have it for whatever reason and France didn’t have have at that particular game we were not going to score and my question is does kcp address that we talked about this very briefly on our our last episode but that’s my concern he’s not a volume shooter he’s a great three-point shooter but not a volume shooter and not a guy that is known to create his own offense so again defensively a beast him and Jaylen sucks in the back court it’s going to be fun to watch my concern is did we do enough as a team this was our main target our main free agent to address our main weakness which again was scoring down the stretch think about that Cleveland series it would have been the third quarter and we had 32 points like that scares me a little bit still that we haven’t addressed that um but MoneyWise 3 years $66 million great defender great catch and shoe shooter fit like a glove it’s a great fit but again that part of me still worri the fact that we didn’t address the scoring um aspect of it what about you what was your first reaction when you saw that W tweet saying that we had signed him I respect it I respect it man because uh let’s say that we really did have a legitimate shot at Paul Georgia it was reported from Jake fiser that uh you know he he never really believed that it was legs um with Paul George and Klay Thompson to Orlando um and it may have been a situation where the Orlando Magic benefited from the rumor of uh Paul George you know taking a meeting with with Orlando because it it does show a change of uh trajectory with this team right because you know two years ago getting a sit down with a player like Paul George wouldn’t have happened not even an option not on the table and this time it was right but let’s say for for the sake that we did have an opportunity uh I don’t know if if I’m the Orlando Magic if I would have liked the idea of kind of being I don’t I don’t know if going last would have been a good thing or a bad thing right because if if the whole free agency is waiting on what is Paul George going to do um because it did feel like there was a moment of pause um then you you kind of have a little safe space right but what if that wasn’t the case what if kcp was you know talking and flirting with with other their teams and we missed that opportunity because we’re we’re trying to get this one guy and then we end up with nothing right so I respect the fact that the Orlando Magic decided hey kcp is our guy he addresses needs of the team we’re terrible at shooting he’s one of the be he’s he’s outside of Klay Thompson maybe Paul George the best shooter in free agency we’re going to lock him up and oh by the way uh he’s he’s a great two-way player and he’s able to defend the basketball right so when I saw that we signed kcp uh I I was hyped maybe not as obviously not as hyped as you know getting a splashy name like Paul George and Klay Thom son but I was hyped because you you take a look at our free a you take a look at the free agency and there’s been so many names that we have targeted that weren’t available Malik monk went back to the Kings uh uh you know Nick claxon ended up going back to the Nets like all these players that we wanted to bring in they they were they were gone so you take a player like kcp who is a really important piece to the de nuggets and their championship run you bring him to your team you steal him away from Denver is huge I was listening to uh you know a Denver podcast about how losing kcp is the farthest thing that they wanted to happen that they had fear of it happening and it’s going to hurt their team so much because they don’t believe that the next person that they have in line is going to be able to fill into those shoes and you’re right you know you know looking at the steps kcp may not be a volume shooter but he didn’t have to be you know they they had so many weapons on that team you know their their whole starting lineup is stacked and the fact that he was able to be in there with him is is is huge and you know the the report was that um that Denver offered him a similar contract um and he still decided to go with us uh there was another report that I saw I don’t I don’t know if it was confirmed or not but I guess something came out that case cp’s girlfriend fiance wife whoever partner came out and said that Denver never offered it um so not sure which one is which but the fact that we took him away this is someone that’s won two championships this is a clear upgrade from Gary Harris you know at least gives you some excitement because Jaylen Suggs if he’s able to continue his shooting stretch carry that over into the season along with kcp I’m expecting for kcp to have more green light than he’s ever had before so I’m not I’m not too worried about the volume I I do believe that there’s going to be so much opportunity especially with Paul George for that volume to increase that that we’re going to be all right and just just one last point that I wanted to add um getting kcp stealing him away from Denver and I I posted this on social media um it it in my opinion satisfies our trade for Aaron Gordon right because we got RJ Hampton we got Gary Harris we got that future Denver pick um and you know obviously Gary Harris you know you everyone has their feeling towards Gary Harris not consistent wish he would be more healthy wish that you know he would make more of his shots and and you know be available for us um but RJ Hampton was a complete dud right so we kind of left with nothing really of major value other than you know that future second round pick so being able to steal a kcp away from them uh in my opinion makes up for that trade um that’s the way that I’m at least convincing myself but I’m I’m excited and I think that the best thing about signing kcp is the fact that we also brought in Gary Harris I love that I know that you were against it I know when I saw the message I was confused I was not expecting it I thought when we brought in kcp Gary Harris is gone right um but I I think that it allows us to it it instead of upgrading the shooting guard position uh in my in my mind in my opinion is that we now added more shooting it’s one thing to swap them out um and upgrade that position it’s another thing to be able to add an additional shooter to Your Arsenal so I know kcp wasn’t wasn’t a splashy name but now that you’ve kind of marinated with kcp on the lineup um I think it’s safe to say that you’re you’re on board with kcp I will say this to your point adding Gary Harris which I got a lot of people on Twitter X were upset we brought him back but to your point the way that I see it is we literally now really truly upgraded the shooting guard position because we didn’t just replace them we added to it and not only did we add to it we again kept Gary Harris which was one of our best Shooters last year despite his struggles but now the fact you’re adding a 40% three-point shooting in kcp on on top of that plus Jaylen sugs and Jet Howard we we expect to play plus the Silva who we expect to see maybe minor minutes but it’s known to be a shooter and Caleb Houston like hey all of a sudden we have a back court that is full of Shooters so from that perspective that was exciting right um kyp also man a vet a two-time champion a guy that is known to be a great locker room presence add to Gary Harris who’s known for the same qualities as well in the locker room so in a way in a weird way bringing G Harris back kind of made the move look better to me it wasn’t just a swap of two guards we added more talent and more shooting at the shooting guard position um the concern is for many fans is he goingon to take minutes away Gary Harris is he gonna to take minutes away from Anthony black from J Howard and the young guys honestly we’ll find out a training camp I honestly don’t think so but I will tell you this the front office the coaching staff they’re fully on board letting je Howard get a chance letting AB get a chance if they don’t get minutes over Gary Harris at this point it’s because they haven’t earned it it’s a simple as that so if you want to be mad at someone be mad at them because these guys are in the you know they’re training non-stop with the coaching staff this summer they’re prepping for a role next year if for some reason Gary Harris is out there on the court before they are again then we have some more of the questions so be asking yeah this is this this has been the biggest complaint from from a lot of people that I’ve read is you know J J Howard Anthony black they’re not going to be able to get minute so what like they we’re we’re not we’re not at a point where we’re focusing our primary focus is not unfortunately jet Howard and Anthony black I personally believe Anthony black at one point will be our starting future point guard I I do believe that I really really do but if he’s not ready right now we can’t wait we can’t we’re we’re now we’re at the stage where it’s all about winning games and if there’s any indication if we’ve learned anything from last season it’s that every single game counts well you know they they went on a nine game winning streak none of that goes it and you said it they have to earn it and this team that we have from top to bottom there’s competition and there there’s going to be opportunity unfortunately the magic have not shown that they’ve been able to be 100% healthy all year long in a very very long time they’re going to get their time they’re going to get their reps they’re going to have they’re going to have those opportunities um but I’m not I’m not worried about if you’re worried about you know how many minutes of J how we’re going to play you’re worrying about the wrong things because the the most important thing is winning ball games and whether or not jet Howard plays unfortunately it’s not the primary purpose that we are going to win games um and I and I think that with time people people will see that like you you take a look at Gary Harris and this is your your starting two guard last season is now coming off the bench for you your bench lineup your your second unit is now stronger because of it and let let’s say that you’re you’re even ignoring that aspect of it Gary Harris struggled with health last season he did so at the very least you take a look at kcp last season he played 76 Gam GES season before 76 season before 77 before 67 69 82 74 75 76 8280 this is a person that’s available to play for you and I think for me that’s that’s the exciting part is that for for a team that has struggled with health knock on wood you know you bring in a player that for the lack of better term checks all the boxes right because that’s that’s the that’s a new hot keyw from from you know president wman um but it’s it’s the fact that you bring in a shooter you bring in someone that is great defensively you bring in somebody that has Championship pedigree and you have someone that is available and I think that you can’t you can’t put a price on that I I love the signing I I love the contract we gave them um 3 years 66 mil I I think that that’s that’s fair I think that’s at market rate um listening to the Denver podcast the two or three that I listened to um they they said that that was the amount that they were expecting Denver uh to offer them and that they’re disappointed that they weren’t able to get something done and you know every single media outlet that I saw we we got grades of you know B+ a minuses I think this was a really really good move for the magic um given what the free agency landscape was Isaiah hardenstein decided to go back to OKC like you take a look at what’s available in free agency and what’s what’s available are are guys who are on our roster that we should and did bring back so kind of jumping into it you you miss out on Isaiah hardstein which he got a crazy contract um to sign with OKC um what was the amount he got I got it right here so he got a threeyear where am I the notes Here I know it’s $29 million per year I think it’s 87 million that he got okay three years starting at 29 million yeah so big contract for for Isaiah hardstein I think I saw that he gets paid a little bit more now than Jaylen Brunson which is kind of crazy um so the the magic end up bringing back Goa 3year 25 mil the magic signed Gary Harris to a 2-year um and they they just updated W re um had reported it was for 14 mil and then he came out and and it was an adjustment so two years for 15 mil magic bring back Mo Vagner which was huge uh 2 years 22 million uh for me Mo vogner that was that was a big big bring back sign like you you obviously know you knew it was going to happen but this team just wouldn’t feel right in my opinion it wouldn’t feel the same without Mo Vagner like what what he brings to the table um the way that he uh you know it has this Knack this ability to be able to get under the skin of everyone else I thought bringing back Mo was was huge and really really happy for for him for him to be able to get the contract that he got and also for France because that’s that’s a big deal for them for them to be able to play together yeah man I mean two guys to me that again three guys in this this roster that make us who we are today I think Cole Anthony Jaylen sucks Mo Vagner like they’re they’re just the attitude on the court the the fact that they get on people’s skin um you need those guys so I’m really happy to see Mo Vagner back Goga earned it man go Goa stepped in last year when Wendell went down we didn’t miss a beat he was out there grabbing rebounds blocking shots protecting the rim we always talk about how would this team look with a big Center that can block shots and grab rebounds guess what that’s Goga so we brought him in when we let go of moamba and we didn’t miss a beat not once that we thought man like what if moama was here Goa came in and did a great job earned this new contract and I’m glad we kept him because actually the Knicks wanted him and Knicks fans were like trying to celebrate the fact that they were going to get him after uh Isaiah left him and guess what we actually ended up keeping Goa so that was huge we talked about Gary already and mo Vagner the impact that he will have on this team so the best part is four names we’ve mentioned so far kcp Goa Gary Harris Mo Vagner all the contracts that they got man Team friendly guys chose to come here nothing that will kill us in the cap you know in years to come we know we got to pay France and Jaylen suck this summer next year we got to pay Paulo so we know we got some big contracts coming up these are some incredible contracts man for guys that will be in town that want to be here that deserve the contract they got so that’s the biggest thing for me at the front office say what you want I know we we all wanted more drama this off season they didn’t quite happen but one thing is for sure they continue to make safe moves keeping us in play for whenever that next you know big trade super star goes out there and says hey I want to be out of whatever Cleveland New York wherever it may be Orlando has the players the contracts the picks everything in place to go and acquire that guy and truthfully I think that’s the way that we’re going to go after a star it’s not going to be in my opinion free agency It’s Gonna Be by bundling together you know Goa Gary Harris and call Anthony plus picks to go get for example Trey young that example like that’s the way it’s going to be done in the future we have so much depth so much talent in this roster at some point you have to consolidate we’ve been talking about this for two years now we’re going to have to do it at some point we cannot pay everybody so we got to be patient one more summer one more season and that will close it out with this we said so much back in May April man it sucks the season came to an end this was such a fun team to watch we hope we can watch this team again we wish it could be longer this season we would we would have beat in Cleveland and watch them against the Celtics well guess what we’re getting what we wanted we’re going to bring back the entire team as of right now only two guys have’t been brought back chuma and marel outside of that really oh Joe Engles we’ll talk about him later ended up leaving us too but outside of that it’s the old team so we’ll get to keep on watching this squad and having fun with it and I think that it screams volumes as well the fact that Gary Harris uh coming back M vogner Goa coming back like when you’re able to retain uh you know your players back and my opinion very easily uh there there was no fear or risk of of losing any of those guys it it really it really does prove a point that you are building something special and for a player like Goa who uh the New York Knicks uh when they lost Isaiah hardenstein you know they were a team that were possibly looking to probably go go away from the Orlando Magic and you know that that would have been that would have been a tough hit because if you lose Goa now you have to go into the market and and maybe you find a player that um is is cheaper and and can do what Goa does but Goa fits the timeline he’s already acclimated with the guys um he’s shown that he can step up and and you know uh start if we need him to start he’s he’s also shown that you know if he’s he’s if he’s getting liit in minutes that he’s going to come in he’s going to make an impact man we we’ve saw time and time uh last season how how many times have we seen him come into the game and he’s he’s protecting the rim he’s he’s playing great defensive basketball um so I’m really really glad and happy that we brought him back and then um Jonathan Isaac was also that that was that was a big one there was a report that came out that the magic were looking to renegotiate and extend his contract uh Jonathan Isaac ends up getting a contract extension 5 years $84 million so Jonathan Isaac definitely on the verge of uh getting paid man because this this past season in my opinion was make break for Jonathan Isaac he had to prove uh his worth he had to prove his value um if he couldn’t stay healthy it didn’t make sense for the magic to to bring him back after last season and Not only was he able to maintain his health for a good period even though there was a a yearlong minute restriction um but man his his level of play Jonathan Isaac healthy is easy all defensive team easy NBA all defense um so you take a look at his 5 years 84 million and then you take a look at the contract you know welman is so Savvy with how he structures his contract I don’t think wman has done one bad contract since he’s been with the magic which is I I remember when we first brought him on that’s the first thing that he talked about that he’s going to make sure he doesn’t mortgage the future he’s going to make sure that the contracts make sense um and and he’s he’s he’s done that So based on his contract um Orlando added 10 million to Isaac’s 2425 he was set to make 17 million this year so really instead of an $85 million contract it’s really more like a 67 million because he was going to paid that money this year anyways um but uh that 10 million is going to be to Isaac’s 2425 salary salary uh for the cap room it’s going to decline by about 40% to 16.4 million next year and then a maximum 8% declin to land at 12.9 Million by uh by 2829 so total 85.3 million for johnan ISAC really really happy for him um and it was also reported by John Hollinger that there’s there’s going to be some protection in there for for the team just in case the event that John thing doesn’t stay healthy which is in my opinion fair for the magic and also fair for John Den Isaac there’s incentive for him to be on the floor dude what a what a incredible job by joh by by front office right the fact that you again we were wondering what do we do we have like $29 million left in cap room what are we going to spend it on Jeff knew all along what to do he he had this in plan he hey let me let me bring back ji let me restructure this contract it makes sense to do it think about the fact that if ji can stay healthy and have the same impact that he has today on defense by you know four years from now five years from now it be making $12 million that’s going to be a steal by then now that’s all assuming of course that he stays healthy but to your point earlier this is a guy that when he is healthy and you add him to jayen sucks Anthony black kcp the defensive identity of this team is incredible again you keep adding pieces that are just going to make it even better so definitely a steal in my eyes the fact that we’re able to do this and the fact that we knew for a fact it was going to be heavily protected just because we know the injury history I’m pretty sure there’s some you know protections around the knee the ankles probably so if any of that happens maybe you can void the contract we’ll find out more details later on that but at least on paper what we know right now makes a ton of sense and in my eyes what this also tells me is you’re pretty much counting on a big four in Orlando right now you’re counting on Paulo France Jaylen suck Jonathan Isaac that’s your kind of core Foundation that you’re building around again everybody else is up to be you know evaluated do you fit into the identity that we’re building with this other four guys so ji here for the long run Franson sucks should be getting extended this summer Paulo for sure next summer that’s your core that’s what you’re building around when you go after a star player trade free agency it’s around those guys so we know now that for sure so that’s pretty cool to know we for years we wondered who are the cornerstones who we building around we didn’t have an identity even when V was here a who’s the man well now we know who the guys are so that at least for me as a fan is good to know so again great job by by the front office man it’s it’s uh honestly my eyes a steal yeah and listen the magic were successful Beyond successful last season so it makes sense not to shake it up too much now the the concern from a lot of magic fan bases that you know Paulo B Caro publicly stated that he wants someone to to be able to set the table up to be able to set the offense so that you know Paula can be a little more off ball right um and unfortunately one can debate that that’s one of the ways that the magic you know didn’t address his free agency and I I would say that free agency outside of the top man it it was pretty of a it was pretty much of a weak uh free agency class and I think that you know you you remove that kcp signing and the magic were left with nothing man like if if they don’t sign kcp now we’re looking at a failure of a free agency because the magic didn’t get better um you know through free agency in a team in a year where the team desperately needed some shooting so um you know applaud to the front office for be able to be being able to lock that down um because the team no matter what you feel or or if you’re unsatisfied with the signing of kcp and bringing you know the same guys back the magic got better 100% you got you got a A starting caliber uh championship ship level shooting guard that can shoot 40% from the three-point line who can play 70 80 games a season um it’s going to be huge it’s going to be huge and the defense between kcp and Jaylen Suggs is going to it’s going to be nuts um so unfortunately I know Paulo would like to be off ball more and would like to you know be able to have a table setter unless jayen Suggs drastically improves on the point guard side um you know unfortunately he’s going to to he going to have to you know support with the ball handling it’s just what it is um cuz Jay there’s there’s no way yeah there’s no way that you take off Jaylen Suggs from that point guard position now that you have kcp he’s he’s wrong point just what it is it’s not going to happen I think the only other option would be if you say hey um France be the one that kind of initiates the offense more often for Paulo so I mean maybe the summer to me personally that’s something that both France and sugs should be working on heavily this offseason is those you know those point guard kind of uh skills so playmaking creating offense pick and roll offense like that should be 100% of they spending their time on and of course France the shooting we got to get that shooting back for France but I mean in my opinion Jaylen sucks did what he had to do it was a year where he was thrown into the point guard position it wasn’t expected but then Marquel went down and it was kind of unexpected but hey in my opinion he did a great job led us to the playoffs ran the point in the playoffs fairly well I against a young guy man he’s still learning still adapting to the NBA game and don’t forget he played point guard in college so it’s not like it’s you know something completely different to him so I believe in him I think he can figure it out but in the worst case scenario France going have the ball in his hands plenty as well so Paulo will get his chance to get more offense created for him um and let’s see what happens we still have a roster spot open I don’t expect that person that we signed to get minutes at this point um but we’ll see what happens you never know this front office what moves they make yeah who knows maybe the idea is you know you you you have J Suggs play that point guard position uh kcp is two two years guaranteed third year is a player option um and you know maybe maybe two three years from now Anthony black he he improves his jump shot and he earns that starting position and he slight sucks at the two like you never know what what could happen and at the very least this gives you know the coach Mo some some flexibility um so really happy for for Jonathan Isaac and the rest of the guys because it’s it’s a good group um we always talked about team chemistry how that’s one of the strengths uh of this team and it looks like that it’s just going to continue so really really awesome for them um you mentioned chuma not going to be back uh Magic did not extend a qualifying offer for chuma OK like what however it is that we decide that we’re going to pronounce his name um and then uh Joe Eng Les also it was reported that he is not coming back so he just signed a one-year deal um with the Timberwolves um which I thought was pretty interesting because the report initially was that um you know we’re going to we’re we’re not going to offer him we’re going to we’re going to wait to see right um and then we’re going to there’s still wants from both sides to be able to get a contract done and then we got the news today that you know he signed with the Timberwolves which in my opinion I know it’s kind of like magic Civil War you got half of the people that say you know Joe angles is is massive to that second unit was the reason why they were successful he was a great playmaker and all these things but man if I can tell you I’m so happy that the Joe Les experience is is over I am I’m glad that it’s done I’m happy that we can move on and move forward um but what what are your quickly what are your thoughts on Joe Eng Les and him deciding to leave the Orlando Magic so besides the ji you know extension um this was probably the second biggest shock to me in the free agency period just because in my eyes he was coming back like there was no doubt about it just like Mo Vagner he was coming back um and man he spoke so highly of the city the fact that he moves his family here the family loves it here so it felt like Hey we’re only doing this for math purposes we’re going to bring you back and guess what Minnesota gave him the minimum it’s not like they gave him you know 10 million to to go there so I’m like Orlando can get him back easily so surprising to see him leave now we know that apparently last year he also considered going there uh ultimately chose us because we paid him more um so kind of surprising all around to your point I do think we’ll miss him not on the court however as a leader on the locker room he was a great guy that you could see you know during timeouts he’ll be the first one to step up and pull you know Jaylen suck aside and calm him down he’ll pull France aside and help him out with certain things on the court will miss that leadership so hopefully you know Gary Harris in my opinion this is my conspiracy theory here they knew Joe Engles was leaving they brought back Gary Harris as that leader in the locker room because he’s been known for that leadership role for a few years now so once they figured out Hey Joe may not be coming back let’s bring back Joe um Gary Harris that’s the role he’ll play this year so I don’t anticipate Gary will be in the rotation necessarily again unless ab and Jet are just not getting it done um but it’s going to hurt it’s going to hurt in the locker room let’s see what we do with the 15 throst spot I wouldn’t mind us bringing in a vet that can kind of replace that that influence that Joe Engles had but on the court you’re right I’m not going to miss him you know just gu’s walking right by him on defense um the three-point shooting he shot it well but not enough to make a difference in my opinion he would hit what one three-pointer a game if that like it wasn’t what we expected um but again in the locker room I do think we’ll miss him yeah and I think that this gives an opportunity also for some of our guys Step Up vocally on the leadership side Paulo Bank Carroll you’re you’re the face of the franchise his leadership has to be on point and has to step up now um and I I will say some of the things I loved about Joe Eng Les is is his smack talking so that’s definitely something that I I am going to miss but you know I think that everyone’s going to have to you know tap into their inner dog and and that’s just going to have to come out like this is this is a different time this is a a different feel for this team now there’s there’s expect patience last year we were talking about you know fingers crossed let let’s let’s try to get into uh the plan now it’s man let’s let’s get homecourt Advantage for the first round let’s get into the second round like those those are the expectations and if we don’t get that it’s going to feel as if we failed um so it’s it’s exciting um just to kind of put a a a bowl on free agency uh it may or may not have been what people have have wanted but but at the very least we can hang our hat on the fact that the magic did get better we didn’t sign any bad contracts kcp will be an upgrade at the starting two position um and the magic can still if there’s an opportunity to to improve this roster we haven’t even dabbled into the trade market yet and we have everything at our disposal we have now some real money that we can move around we have still every single draft pick um that’s that’s that’s you know in our hands that we can utilize and if the magic sees something uh you know later on if there’s any frustrated or or disgruntled stars out there the magic are in super good position to be able to be a player in the trademarket that’s if they decide that they want to so as of right now I don’t expect it I don’t I don’t have that sense there hasn’t been any any uh any rumors or anything that would indicate that that we would be um you know you mentioned earlier that you hope for the last spot that we don’t bring in Marquel that we bring in uh like a a need for like a big man to be able to fit that power forward position especially if Jonathan Isaac isn’t going to be or you you don’t have 100% confidence that you know Jonathan Isaac is is going to be able to play full minutes for the full year we don’t know what that’s going to look like um me personally I think hey why why not bring Marquel folz Paulo B Caroll said that he wanted a table setter uh Marquel folz healthy Marquel folz not dealing with injuries is exactly that Marquel folz is easily our best point guard when he’s him unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to see that last year from him so who knows maybe with with this off season um we we get an opportunity to see him if we do bring him back but this is somebody that you know is is is loved by the front office loved by the teammates um if it’s your last roster spot it doesn’t matter who you bring in with that last roster spot um I don’t I don’t know I I can’t see I can’t see anyone having more upside than a healthy Marquel folz what does that contract look like don’t know what are the expectations have no idea um but as of right now I’m rooting for I went from you know it’s time to move on from marqual folz to and we only have one roster spot left let’s bring it back I to be honest with you man I we talked about it again via text today I I just think that you got to cut the ties man like again even if he comes back I doubt that mcel fols is trying to stay alive keep his career going in the NBA it’s going to come in to be a third string point guard at this point because again you got Cole Anthony you got Jaylen sucks you got Anthony black he would have to be okay with that role of being a a you know third stringer at this point is he going to be okay with that we don’t know if he is give it a chance however what we saw last year from him you know the shooting struggles were still there the shoulder this is what I would say though would he be okay so ultimately I don’t see a world where coach M doesn’t play him right coach M will still find a way to play him in front of Anthony black maybe in front of Cole Anthony like we and this is this is who who knows again if Marquel FZ comes back healthy I can see a world where if if we if we get what we expect Marquel like if everyone’s expectation of Marquel fols come to fruition this is somebody that could earn a starting point guard position back at some point if it’s a Marquel folz that that we know he can beat and I’m not talking about something that we haven’t seen before like we’ve seen the level of Marquel folz where you know he’s 12 scoring 12 13 maybe 14 points a game but he’s he’s getting people in position he’s he’s making he’s he’s being Savvy with how he’s penetrating to the basket uh we didn’t get a chance to really see that last year and if if there’s a little bit of that back I don’t again I I think it’s it’s it’s a good it’s a good risk yeah I mean like I said if if we saw the announcement that he resigned I think I’ll be happy with it just not in a way that he’s going to like starting a season getting minutes I think that we need shooting we need Paulo and France to get the floor spread as much much as possible and based on what we saw last year that shoulder still an issue for him I don’t know what happened but he had a setback unfortunately so that’s my concern that we’ll be playing this game of like hoping that marel gets healthy and putting him in front of ab at this point you drafted AB number six let him let him lose and mean AB made no mistakes last year like this kid played excellent basketball adapted to the role that he was given hit three-pointers played solid defense I think he earned the role this year to be either backup point guard backup shooting guard whatever it’s going to be um that’s another thing to keep an eye on because AB did say I want the ball in my hands more I’m a playmaker and again you have Co Anthony as a backup point guard right now how do you make that work is Cole Anthony now the backup shooting guard in this scenario we don’t know we’re gonna find all this out training camp summer uh preseason too early to think about that but just keep that in mind that AB did say I’m a playmaker that’s that’s my strength that’s what I do um so we’ll see how the whole thing plays out yeah magic move on from Kon Harris and ameral scoffield uh we extend a qualifying offer to Trevin Queen um and we’ll we’ll see if the magic even decide to bring that that extra person back and then we let’s find out and see what we end up doing with with the two-way so uh key dates for what’s next for the Orlando Magic we have the NBA Vegas summer league uh between July 12th and the 22nd first game um in in and probably the the best way possible we we we go against the Cleveland Cavaliers July 12th on NBA TV go figure um July 14th against the Pelicans 7:30 on NBA TV July 17th against a Grizzlies 700 p.m. on ESPN plus um and then July 18th versus the Nets 800 p.m NBA TV this is where we’re going to get our first look at Tristan D Silva in Orlando Magic uniform um and you know hopefully obviously by then we’ll we’ll figure out if we see J Howard and Anthony black October 7th NBA first preseason game of the magic uh for this upcoming season um and then October 21st is a important day for you to to circle on your calendar this will be the last day for the magic to agree to a contract extension with France vogner and Jaylen Suggs um there’s been a lot of crazy contracts going on for extensions across the league uh so this is definitely something that you want to keep your eye on free agency is done would the magic end up dabbling into the trade market or is this a team that we’re fully going to go with um heading into the season a lot of questions still need to be answered um but as of right now super looking forward to uh the summer league are you heading to Vegas for the summer league um thinking about it yeah we’ll see yeah I mean you you already flew out to Cleveland for a playoff game let’s let’s going to Vegas for a summer league we still got to do a HQ summer league trip we’ve been talking about this for years with the ladies and make it like a thing we got to make that happen at some point yeah find me a babysitter and I’m there make it happen just bring them they come watch the games yeah yeah for sure yeah there you go all right man everyone enjoy their fourth of July happy Independence Day show is presented by B online catch you guys soon 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 this episode of the Orlando Magic HQ Podcast:

– Paul George Drama
– KCP
– Thoughts on how free agency played out…
– Isaac’s new contract + Ingles departure
… and much more

Timeline:

00:00 The Pursuit of Paul George and Klay Thompson
06:19 Analyzing the Signing of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
09:11 The Importance of Re-signing Gary Harris, Mo Wagner, and Goga Bitadze
11:33 Team-Friendly Contracts and Positive Direction of the Front Office
26:25 Bringing Back the Current Roster
27:53 Jonathan Isaac’s Contract Extension
37:00 The Departure of Joe Ingles
42:56 Speculation on the Remaining Roster Spot
46:09 Upcoming Events: NBA Summer League and Contract Extension Deadlines

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