How The Portland Trail Blazers Can Follow the Orlando Magic’s Rebuild Blueprint

How The Portland Trail Blazers Can Follow the Orlando Magic’s Rebuild Blueprint

In today’s show the Blazers bounce back from a debacle in Miami by losing again but this time only by one at the buzzer we’ll talk about the game against the Orlando Magic and look at the magic as a potential path for the Blazers to follow in their rebuild welcome to lockdown

Blazers let’s get into it you are locked on Trailblazers your daily Portland Trailblazers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up world it’s your past first point guard and Trailblazers reporter Mike Richman you are listening to another episode of Locked on Blazers part of the

Locked on podcast network available wherever you get podcasts and also on YouTube thanks for making this show your first listen it’s coming at you each and every weekday Monday through Friday so make it a part of your daily routine make it your first listen tell your

Friends to do the same it’s locked on Blazers your team every day in today’s show talk about the Blazers lost to the magic a game that came down to the wire there was no 60-point blowout in this one Portland hung around and even battled back to give themselves a chance

To win it at the buzzer talk about the final play of the game which is a little bit um lackluster uh donon banson who had a really nice night and then I want to focus heavily on the Orlando Magic as a vision for the Blazers rebuild I promis

This tease this in in yesterday’s show but it’s what we’re going to focus on today I’ve done we’ve done this with a handful of team teams five or six teams this year maybe maybe six or eight teams rather it’s like look at how they got from being a bad team to being a

Competitive team and whether the Blazers can emulate that path what are the challenges along the way in those things and I think the magic are a really interesting case study for exactly this type of thing uh we will get into that in the second and third segments let’s

Let’s start with the game itself though we’ll do we do with the fastest recap in the west uh Blazers lost by 60 in Miami and um no team is more equipped no team in maybe mod NBA history is more equipped to bounce back from A 60-point Loss than the 2024 Portland Trailblazers

And that’s what they did they leted after one 2322 uh found themselves down seven at the break 4855 and and down 10 after three 8373 uh Magic led by led by as many as 15 in the third quarter but a late turnover and a leakout dunk by Delano

Banson cut the lead to 10 heading into the fourth and the Blazers made a nice little charge in the fourth quarter in fact they took the lead twice under six minutes on on on buckets from Delon o banson hit a three and then Jabari Walker had a put back twice the Blazers

Had a lead both times Orlando immediately answered but the Blazers were hung tough made this a game and when they found themselves down nine with three minutes left they still didn’t fold they got a three from Jabari Walker they got a three from Delano banson uh that quickly cut the lead to

Three points and then a really bad foul from scoot enderson uh the magic go back up five uh and and then the Blazers come down and and tough twisting you know cutting off the ball twisting layup from from scoot Henderson gets the lead back to three the Blazers get a stop on a

Danto Delo banson block inside he had two blocks in the final three minutes block inside on on uh Wendell Carter Jr and the Blazers go quickly and get a a seal like DeAndre and Sprints the floor when they get the loose ball they throw it ahead to him with just under 40

Seconds left he’s in the paint turns from a paint seal you see uh Anthony Davis do this a bunch uh but da did a really nice job of it running the floor getting good position turns inside and scores uh Cuts cuts the lead to one and the magic come down the Blazers now

They’ve they’ve created themselves a two for one the last 40 seconds they created themselves a chance with a with they they don’t have to foul they can just defend they you know load up to the ball on FR on a fron Vagner drive he kicks

Out to Palo B Carol for an open Corner three he misses it Blazers get the rebound and then the the weirdness ensues from there when andreen gets the rebound instead of immediately turning to call a timeout um I guess it wasn’t communicated clearly during the break uh

That there was a timeout after um after the uh the eighton buckets by the magic to kind of set up what they wanted to do and and um the Blazers they either didn’t talk about it or DeAndre missed it and he just he he hands the ball to

Delo Bon but when he passes the ball you don’t get to advance it on a timeout second time this year that uh that Aiden has grabbed the ball late in a game and quickly gotten it out of his hands I think the the instinct is good right

Like he’s not a dribbler he’s not he’s not going to push the pace on his own get the ball to your guards and run um but in this case because he he passed it he handed the ball off to Toano banson you that means the Blazers attempted to

Advance the ball and so they get their timeout is in the back court so now they have to go to the length of the floor they actually had a second timeout that they chose not to use and it set up um a really strange play that I’ll talk about

At the end but they they they have to go to the length of the floor 12.2 seconds left and Scoot Henderson charges the length of the courts um gets himself into the paint probably got grabbed by Jaylen Suggs but they didn’t call it ends up down on one knee in a crowd

Throws a behind the back pass out of a crowd from one knee to DeAndre and on the left wing it’s a shot he can make shotty makes shotty shoots really well maybe as good as anyone in the league from from right in that at least that

Distance he’s better from top of the key than the wings but like as good a mid-range jump shooter as they’ve got in the league certainly and he just he’s short on it the ball comes out the ball’s off the rim and the magic hold on to win 104 103 that’s your fastest recap

In the west um you know nobody back healthy in this one still no amre Simon still know uh still know Jeremy Grant still know Shaden sharp who is who’s back and traveling with the team met him in Florida traveling with the team uh but you you know you you’re you’re

Getting da along with Chris Murray Jabari Walker um Ryan ruper and then a bunch of Delano banson Ashen hain’s back with the club after he was with the remix because it was more important to win a g- league game than an NBA game on Friday nights uh Zano banson was really

Good in this game I’ll talk about him in a second uh he had 265 and five I thought I thought he and he just made some big big plays in the final three minutes big plays in the final five minutes he was he was good um I thought

Scoot had a pretty good passing game he finished with 13 points eight boards nine assists six of 16 from the floor one of five from three five turnovers um I thought he probably had two or three or maybe even four other just like good decision passes that if he passes it to

Another shooter those shots go in um I thought this was a good floor game from scoot despite the turnovers he still makes some kind of crazy plays and he had a play like late in this game where the ball just Gary Harris just knocked the ball off him out of bounds trying to

Get the ball inbounds you got to come to the ball strong and be a point guard um still does some stuff that’s frustrating youngster stuff but I I thought in terms of um like in terms of like the overarching sort of scoot floor games I thought this

Was a pretty good floor game wasn’t awful um it wasn’t good like this wasn’t like A+ by any means but I think um the box score kind of overstates I thought he was better than the box score suggest and he finished with 138 and N uh 20

For8 along with 20 and 12 for eight and a classic no no threes no free throw attempts game for him Jabari Walker had 18 um nine boards and five assists a nice a really nice Jabari game um and and Ryan ruper hit three threes and when

Ruper hits threes you can see the vision right like I I I think there’s the when the shots jumpers don’t go in for him it’s like hm I get it he’s long and does and is like a competitive Defender but when the shots go in you’re like he

Could be a player like I I want to believe and he got four real fourth quarter minutes in this game I thought he was good I thought Ashton hains had um I I feel like Ashton Haggins this is how I feel about him he’s just like he’s

Not an NBA player he’s a pretty clearly not an NBA player but he plays so dang hard that it’s easy to root for and I think I think sometimes just playing hard particularly in a game like this where the magic aren’t good enough on offense to kind of run off on you and

Make it and make like man you wish Hagens could score like um he just he just like does he does some posit he does some positive stuff just by just by playing hard I I can’t imagine that he has a long-term NBA career just cuz um he doesn’t bring enough on the offensive

End at at a position where you kind of need to do that um and he but uh but I enjoy I enjoy how hard he plays real quick on Delano banson um he was just straight up good in this game you know I have been um critical

Isn’t the right word but I have been noting that a lot of banton’s production comes in these high volume games right it comes in these games and it’s like well he took 24 Shots you know it’s like he was good 24 Shots 27 field goal attempts you know

18 Shots tonight 17 shots and eight free throws still a pretty high usage game for him but they need him they need his shot creation so it’s like um spinning it forward that’s why I’m like thinking about these these like big volume games it’s like he’s probably not going to

Have big volume games in the future but I I just thought he was really good down the stretch of this game hit two threes that they desperately needed him to hit one off of a off a off an inbounds play and another off he throw it into the

Post post get it back from DeAndre and from the post ball fake to get open and shoot it like he does a pass fake like I’m going to swing it like I’m going to swing it the scoot no I’m not going to shoot it like um you know he has some

Bad misses from three in this game as well but and and he had a a late floater where he just kind of got himself into the paint was like I have to shoot because there’s no other way out of here but I couple nice rotation uh shot

Blocks wer junor could have gone up a little faster and not got blocked but he didn’t and he got his shot blocked um the ability getting pain is is valuable the ability to put to make plays in transition is valuable and the shooting was there tonight for Delano four of

Eight from three and and two big ones in the fourth quarter um in the final in the in the final six minutes to kind of make sure that this was still a game after the the magic led by nine with three minutes to go and like you know he

Gives them the lead with with you know just under six minutes like 545 left and then hits another huge three with under two minutes to kind of give put them in a position um I thought this was a good Delano game like I I think he’s he continues to be intriguing with his

Length and his pacing um it’s it is I have a I’m still having a little trouble figuring out what the vision is for him next year on a team um but I think he has I’ll say it a million times what he’s he’s he’s just played well enough

That he the Blazers have to keep him in their plans he’s not like a fixture oh you you got to find a starting role in 28 minutes a night for Delano banson but he’s so intriguing that they got to like hold on to his non-g guaranteed contract

For an extended period of time because he’s like he has some stuff that they don’t get from other spots um and he and he was good in this game and he’s an interesting interesting late season find one of the like the true bright spots of

Of of a late season um bummer machine uh let’s let’s talk about um the final play and then and then a little bit about the and then a bunch about the magic and their rebuild approach that’s what we will we will do in the second segment

First let me tell you that this next segment is brought To Us by better help if you are thinking about starting therapy why not give better help a try therapy can be incredibly Val valuable to you if you’re uh you know experiencing an acute traumatic event if

You have if you have a major trauma in your life then therapy can be incredibly value valuable in helping you navigate that by talking to a neutral third party about what you’re going through but also therapy can just be incredibly valuable if you are navigating the everyday trials and tribulations of being alive

It can be think of it like routine for your car you take your car in you know every 25,000 Mi to make sure it’s running smoothly take yourself to a therapist to make sure you are developing the tools to help you run as smoothly as you can so like I said if

You’re thinking about starting therapy give better help a try it’s entirely online it’s designed to be flexible and suited to your schedule you can visit betterhelp.com lockon NBA and get 10% off your first month that’s betterhelp hp.com lockon NBA all all right so I want to talk

About the final play for a moment here the Blazers do all this good stuff to come back really strange end of the end of the game and when um you know you you get a stop obviously they’re they’re just comfortable with Palo ban shooting The Magik are just like they’re they’re

Just not a good shooting team you load up the paint you make them take a jumper they did a good job making them take a jumper right you get the rebound clock under under 15 seconds I don’t know if this is the bench or this is Da cuz da did this in

Another game too where he got the rebounds on a missed free throw late in the game threw it ahead and the Blazers kind of had a like a willy-nilly okay we’re just going to push in transition and try to win the game without a timeout I don’t mind the hit ahead pass

But DA’s got to know under 15 seconds that your team has it got to be communicated in the Huddle and he’s got to know this when it’s communicated to you in the Huddle both both things are true like to take a time out and then

When they don’t Advance it I think ch ch bips just needs to advance the ball with a second timeout I understand why you don’t use two time outs there because if you shoot and miss and they get the rebound and then foul like you want that second timeout right but when you choose

To go the length of the Court the chances that you’re going to get a second shot with 12 seconds left are relatively limited particularly when the plan is to give the ball to the 19-year-old uh he’s 20 now when they give the ball to the 20-year-old they had been running a lot

Of offense through Scoot and he had been um mostly okay a couple couple gaps but I think in uh particularly he had like seven um seven of his 13 in the 30 quart he’d been better in the second half after kind of uh after after a after a start that you’re familiar

With but um they run this play they get the ball the scoot you know they’re they’re inbounding basically like even with the foul line on the far end so what whatever that is 80 feet from the rim they’re 80 feet from the rim they inbound it to him Delano Bon’s hanging

Back in the back court and then when scoot gets it Delano banson Sprints like he’s supposed to start in the corner why isn’t banson just starting in the corner to begin with like why aren’t we setting up something that looks we be we being the Royal Wii here like what what’s the

Plan here so Banton runs to the corner it looks like what it’s going to be is two wide pin Downs uh one that Jabari Walker is setting for uh Chris Murray coming up in the corner and he’ll come up and one that uh uh da is setting in

The corner for uh for Delano bans and he’ll come up so what I assume is it something like you want to have both Corner Defenders lift and have scoot Henderson be able to drive and then the lift is like Delano banson is going to come into the area that that scoot just

Vacated by driving and he’ll have some kick options and have a chance to you know get himself downhill and find da out on the wing and maybe find Delano banson out at the top of the key but he’ll have decisions right but it is

Like it is a play it is a if that’s the play if the play is two wide pin downs and Scoot go cook what like I there’s there’s a couple options here one the play was scoot was two wide pin downs and Scoot go cook which is like I kind of like

Giving scoot the ball at the end the last 10 seconds and say hey can you win the game young man um but like I think good players benefit from lack of structure sometimes because their Brilliance and their improvisation takes over I think bad players are better served with a more rigid

Structure and this play if I I think the Blazers just failed to ex like the players failed to execute it but if what it looks like to my eyes and I’ve probably watched the final play five times as I’m recording this like it looked to me like it was there wasn’t going to

Be it was always going to be scoot get downhill um it’s it was curious to me in the end like he drives into the paint and like this is scoot at his worst is just like head down drive into the paint four guys no plan he doesn’t have the

Explosiveness to really finish around in traffic he had one really nice finishing contact actually in this game in the fourth quarter but like he’s not explosive where he’s going to cram over and dunk over everyone like John morance um his floater game is has not really developed yet like scoot downhill into

Into the trees has mostly LED itself lended itself to terrible results this season he gets into the paint I think Jaylen sucks fouled him like I think he grabbed his jersey um it is what it is they didn’t call it scoot ends up now on the ground losing the ball on one knee

Throws it out from one knee to DeAndre and and Di gets a shot he can make and win the game he can make him win the game absolutely um it just was It just strikes me that it’s like at that stage in the game that’s

What the coach gets to do they get to put their imprint on the game by calling something up drawing it up in the score drawing it up on the Whiteboard um to get yourself the best shot possible to win this is your chance to say hey we’re

Going to execute we’re going to play the right way we’re going to do this thing I’m going to I’m this is my time to shine type of thing for coaches and they just like I would probably give it something like 58% on the players for not executing whatever the plan was and

The remaining uh the remaining 42% on Chanty for what was that what was that uh in the end like the Blazers are trying to lose and they did mission accomplished so uh whatever um I think this was a nice bounceback for them to you know they got throttled by 60 on

Friday and to like be in a game where they were competitive and had a chance to win and came back from um you know down 15 in the third quarter and down nine with three minutes left and gave themselves a chance this was nice nice nice little loss I don’t even mean

That I guess part of me is glad that they played a competitive game because it’s more fun to talk about on the show let’s talk Orlando Magic though we’ve done this a couple times on the program which is where I discuss kind of the path of how teams went from bad to good

Or from bad to competitive uh and and look at sort of how they did it and how the Blazers could either mirror that path or why they wouldn’t want to walk that path or why it’s or all the sort of pitfalls and and and and positives that

That come from thinking about how team building Works through the lens of another team and I think the magic are a really fascinating one and depending on how you slice it the magic are either like a a true warning of like it can go wrong or they the vision of exactly how

To do it and what I mean by that is when the magic traded Dwight Howard in 2012 they were awful for a long time they spent six seasons out of the playoffs cycled through four coaches and when they hired their fifth coach and Steve Clifford uh in 201819 they made the playoffs

Back-to-back Seasons as an eight seed and won a total of two games they went 4-1 4-1 and back-to-back playoff losses or 1 1414 and back-to-back playoff losses if you look at that like some of you um shout out to shout out to my recent College grads listening to the

Program you were in the sixth grade when this happened uh but like the post Dwight May magic is um that’s not like this is how a rebuild works and in those years they picked 2 4 5 11 6 and six but this is what happens when you draft

Victor olot and then and then you um you draft Aaron Gordon uh the fifth pick was Mario honia at five the following after the honia year they picked damont sabonis at 11 but traded him and Oladipo on draft night for sergy Baka you trade two lottery picks for

Sergy Baka could couldn’t this is a nightmare right like you’re chasing the middle by getting like a decent veteran sergy Bach ended up being like a useful part on a team that won um won a title for the magic um or for the when the magic traded him to the Raptors but

Like Victor Oladipo and and Deon sabonis ended up being like the the parts that went to Indiana and the Paul George trade it’s like you chasing the middle and not getting stars back is a problem then you you know you get six and six one of those picks is Mo bomba it’s just

Like a lot can a lot can go wrong so if you look at that era of the magic it’s like don’t don’t be that don’t the you know that’s like the more more analogous to where the Blazers are you trade your franchise pillar for and then you end up

In the wilderness the Wilderness was six seasons four coaches six picks in the top 11 and it ended with two playoff runs that get you the eighth seed and then they made hard decisions and then it worked out let’s talk about the hard decisions and how it worked out and how

The Blazers can follow that path to close the show join me there won’t you but first let’s talk game time the MLB season is upon us and game time is the authorized ticket Market Marketplace for Major League Baseball it makes getting tickets even faster and easier and prices on the game time app

Are actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch so say you’re in say you’re in Portland where we don’t have a baseball team and we’re unlikely to get one for a variety of reasons that are for another show um but like going to Seattle for baseball game is wonderful

Is a wonderful summertime activity and say you’re a procrastinator well there’s no better way to procrastinate then using the game time app and saying you know what it’s Friday afternoon I want to go to a baseball game on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon in Seattle

Let’s check the app and then you pull it up you get a you know you’ll get a picture of the of of T-Mobile park right there on your phone you’ll get to look at the view from your seats if you click on preview from your seats you’ll get to

See the the Allin pricing so there’s no going to be you know what you see is what you get right there on the screen there’s no surprises or convenience fees or any of that you can take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time so download that game time app

Create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase again terms apply create an account and use redemption code locked on NBA that’s l o c k d o n NBA for2 off download the game time app today last minute tickets lowest prices

Guaranteed still a pass first point guard I’m still Mike Richmond and you are still listening to locked on Blazers the magic were bad Post in the post white mare era they were bad and they made a lot of gaffs and they made a lot of Mario honia moamba picks and they

Made a lot of trading Victor Oladipo and Damonte sabonis for sergy Baka trades and that is the sort of those those are the pitfalls of a team that’s rebuilding is you it’s really hard to get the draft right like it’s just hard um so even if

You have a bunch of chances at it 2 four 5 11 66 and in in six straight years you’re you might you might screw it up because it’s just it’s hard to get it right and and obviously they don’t two you know Old Depot ended up being pretty

Good but health and he wasn’t pretty good for them he was pretty good for other teams um but like they’re not picking up the top of the drafts and then they were chasing the Middle with with with the sergy Baka trade and kind

Of and and ended up in a in an in a unique spot because they didn’t they couldn’t they couldn’t get enough right to commit to getting young and then in 2020 and 2021 this is like the year that started in December following the covid season they made the hard

Decisions they tore down a core that wasn’t working and they went another Direction and this hard pivot paid off in a hurry they traded ni lusich who had been an All-Star Forum he was making he was about to play a second All-Star Game best player on the team and they said

You know what we’re going to trade him and they trade him to the Bulls um heading into that um heading into that trade deadline they got wend Carter Jr they got the pick that became fron Vagner in 2021 and the pick that became jet Howard in 2023 who knows what jet

Howard’s going to be fron vogner looks like he’s going to be awesome saved in a lot of ways this trade saved the franchise they also pivoted off um Aaron Gordon during this same uh during this same run they have a 2025 pick owed to them by the Nuggets we’ll see what that

Ends up it’s probably going to be a late draft pick but you still get a first round pick for it um and then they end up with Gary Harrison RJ Hampton arj Hampton didn’t work out Gary Harris is a useful vet for him but you’re not going

To it’s like you might not win every trade they probably at the time Gordon you know a interesting young piece in Hampton um and the money to make it work and a first round pick was like was about the going rain the Blazers bed at trading for for Aaron

Gordon blame blame Neil O’s unwillingness to include one of his young guards Gary Trent Jr or Anthony Simons in the deal you trade V you end up with with when Carter Jr you end up with with the pick that becomes fron vogner that summer in 2021 with their

Own pick the Orlando Magic draft jayen Suggs with the eighth pick that they received from the Bulls they draft uh they draft France Vagner so now you’ve got the makings of a core but they stink The Following season because Jaylen Suggs is a player who just hasn’t

Figured out offensively yet he’s a good defensive player but he’s really bad on offense wend Carter is just not quite there there’s still kind of uh the back half of their rosters they’re still kind of figuring out with with who plays and when and V while he is a really

Intriguing young rookie he’s a rookie and he doesn’t impact winning in the way that you want to do and what are the what do the way they might want and what what do the magic do they win the freaking Draft Lottery and they get Palo Bank Carroll so in back-to-back drafts

They draft Jaylen Suggs and fron Vagner in 2022 at the following year they draft pal Ben Carol three guys who started in the game tonight um from 2021 from the 2021 trade deadline they acquired wend Carter Jr they acquired Gary Harris they acquired the pick that became uh France Vagner

And then they got with their own picks the following two years they drafted Jaylen Suggs and pal ban Carrol those are the five guys who started the game tonight that’s the hard pivot that’s the hard pivot uh then in 2023 they drafted Anthony black who I I like um I I think

You know he’s maybe not good enough to play on a playoff team right now but I think he has upside an interesting defensive guard and Jet Howard who’ like I’ve never seen him play a single minute in the NBA and looking um quickly at his basketball reference page he’s played

Less than 60 Minutes in the league so that’s why um I think this is two things for the Blazers one if you depending on where you want to cut it if you cut it prior to if you immediately after the Dwight mayare um which is the season where he

Asked out asked for a trade and then lied and then put his arm around Stan Van Gundy and Stan Van Gundy SI a pep Diet Pepsi awkwardly and it was just a quite a time to be an NBA fan I miss it simpler times indeed um but like it it’s

It’s either like oh man it can go really bad or if you make the hard decisions and I think this is the lesson from the Blazers one the lesson one it’s hard to get the draft right 2 four 5 11 6 six none of those dudes are still on the team none of

Them but you get you have to get the picks right so getting jayen Suggs who’s you know fron vogner is better than Jaylen Suggs you pick sugs at five and Vagner at eight you never know but like both of them really useful Vagner has like All-Star upside Suggs is like all

Defense upside both are really solid pal banero is was an All-Star this year is is like a kind of that sort of foundational Hub that you can say okay we have this what else can we do to to move forward with it fron and Palo and back toback drafts are the foundation

That you can build off of but to do that they had to make the hard decisions and that’s trade an Allstar level vet because they knew they were in the middle they knew they were stuck and I think this is where the Blazers kind of they don’t find themselves exactly here

Cuz they’re not in the middle they’re a bad team they’re going to win you know 20 some games um if they win again 20 to 21 20 to 22 games do I think they’re going to win three games the rest of the year I don’t 20 to 21

Games but they have some vets who if you move off them you don’t you you kind of just want to move off your veteran players when when um you can get value for him and I think about the vich thing in the way that I think about amrey Simons this

Summer you might be trading to get worse right like they won the following year after trading vich they won 19 games they were awful bad and and and now they’re going to be a playoff team and they’re kind of On The Rise um and and and but even but even after trading

Lusich they spent three years as a bad playf bad team still right like it’s still not easy but that hard decision that decision to Pivot off a veteran that helps and helps you win and wins games and was like clearly the best player on on the team that decision

Saved the franchise that decision let them head on this direction that they want to be the trades that they made at the deadline in 2021 all five basically five of those dudes and the draft picks they acquired by being bad by making those trades started the game tonight on

A team that is 44 and 31 and might finish you know out of the playin in the West in the Eastern Conference race you got to make tough decisions I think the path for the ma for the magic if you just look at sort of the Modern

Magic is like or the like the year eight and Beyond of the of the um excuse me yeah yeah year seven and Beyond of the of the of the post Dwight era magic is like you make the hard decisions you trade away veterans that can help you win but aren’t going to be

Part of what’s next and you nail the draft and that’s what the Blazers have to do in my mind that’s what this summer is about trading away the veterans who are helpful and useful but not going to be part of what’s next do the hard thing

And nail the draft easier said than done and who it’s unclear exactly what the market is for any of the Blazers like tradable Parts Jeremy Grant Malcolm Brogden anrey Simons like who knows um I don’t think they have to trade every single one of them I’m not encouraging

Them to go extremely young you look at some of the reason why I think the magic have you know have they I think they have a good mix right I think Joe Engles and and Gary Harris give them a mix of like guys who’ve been in the league a

Long time and can get it done and also like young promising players that you can lean on right they’re they’re incredibly young but have mix in some vets I think there is a there is a version of the Blazers that moves forward that looks something like

This but you got to nail some draft picks you got to pick a fron Vagner at eight you got to pick a jayen sugs long-term NBA starter at five you got to pick a Palo ban Carrol future All-Star somewhere in that that top half of the lottery you start there you make the

Tough decisions and you can get back to being a competitive team and the magic are they a championship level team no are they close not particularly but what they are is a team with a really good foundation that can get better by eventually cashing in their assets to do so

They got young players they don’t have a bunch of negative money attached to them and they have a path to be better in the near future both with internal growth and with adding players from the outside and that’s where the Blazers want to be in two years is a team that has

Foundational pieces that you can build with and the flexibility to get better and some of that is going to become some of that is coming from making hard decisions and the other part is nailing the draft the magic are an interesting study right because they’re not a team that’s going to sign

Free agents um they’re they’re they’re in a in a way a lot like the Blazers they’re a team that has to win through making shrewd trades and nailing draft picks the Blazers this summer got to make make some shrewd trades and nail some draft picks and then maybe in a

Couple years we will talk about them about pivoting like the magic did and getting their frons and their p and being able to build from there that is going to do it for today’s show in tomorrow show a very fun one Chris Manning of locked on Cavs is going to

Join the program and we’re going to talk about uh Darius Garland’s growth from struggling rookie in year one to Allstar by year three and talk about how maybe scoot Henderson can follow that path and what are the traits that that Garland displayed in year one that showed up in

Year three and what are the things he improved on and um sort of what it looks like for a player to go from not good to good in a hurry from 20 to 22 that maturation Chris has been covering the league for a long time you will not want

To miss that one that’ll be in your feed on Wednesday you’re listening to Tuesday April 2nd show do me a favor if you listen this long this deep into the show about the Blazers playing the Dallas playing the Orlando Magic excuse me on a night where the women’s Elite 8 was just

A significantly better basketball games tell your friends about the podcast tell them they can get it wherever they already get podcasts and also on YouTube free in all platforms coming at you each and every weekday and then come back and listen to tomorrow show I appreciate you listening I’ll talk to you soon

A loss at the buzzer is more fun than losing by 60 in professional opinion. Plus, the Orlando Magic have built an intriguing young core. It’s a path the Trail Blazers should emulate.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBlazers?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

Watch the show and subscribe on YouTube
📺 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeE7WdPaNWwA-IZGfHek90Q?sub_confirmation=1

Music for Locked On Blazers by Drae Slapz. Find more of Drae’s work here: https://ffm.bio/thedraeslapz

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Nissan
Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
Get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
#TrailBlazers #NBA