Magic Cookin’: Offseason Recap and Takeaways

Magic Cookin’: Offseason Recap and Takeaways

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. We’re your host Al, myself, Anthony. Today is well, this is immediately after the Orlando Magic first summer league game Thursday night. Uh so you might be hearing this Thursday night or you might be uh hearing and watching this on Friday morning 7-Eleven. So make sure that you get your free slurpie out. My man, what’s going on? First Summer League game is in the books. Um how you feeling, bro? Feeling good, man. Uh, too bad that Jay Searcherson had to miss a few minutes there. Looked like he had he hurt himself again. We’ve heard that he’s been dealing with some sort of right ankle injury um through the first few practices. So, it kind of sucks seeing him go down for a few minutes, but it was good that he came back and it was impressive, man. I was impressive what he looked like. Um, he is 6 feet, 61, whatever you want to say, but he doesn’t play like one. Like, he he looks really composed. Um, the most impressed I was was with his finishing abilities. Again, at 6-1, he goes to the hoop over sevenfooters and finishes with ease. So, that was good to see. Um, second round pick, uh, not quite as as exciting, uh, based on what we saw today, Noah Panda, but uh, again, defensively as advertised. And lastly, TDS. Man, how can you not be impressed with that kid? Uh, he looked amazing last year. He looked composed every single game that he played. Today, that continued a bit better. like he looks more comfortable out there offensively. Great night for him. Um those are my quick takeaways. It’s summer league. We’re not going to go too in depth into this, but what about you? What were your thoughts on how they looked? Yeah, man. It’s it’s summer league. I feel like we haven’t recorded in a little while. So, we we have a lot to catch up on in this episode where we’re going to talk about how active the Magic have been from Taius Jones to uh you know, us hiring a couple new coaches to the coaching staff. big news today coming out where the Magic did lose a coach. So, we’ll we’ll talk we’ll touch base a little bit on that. But, yeah, man. Getting into the summer league. Um it it’s it’s summer league like you you really got to take it with with a grain of salt. Like uh at the same time that the Magic are playing, the big headline is Ronnie James versus Cooper Flag and Ronnie James is giving Cooper Flag a run for his money, right? So, it’s it’s summer league and it’s hard because I have to remind myself while we were watching this game that it is summer league because it was it was a tough watch. Like it was it was ugly basketball. It it just it really was. Um but when you’re watching it, we’re obviously, you know, we we really don’t care about anyone else. Our eyes are are mainly on Tristan Dilva, Noah Penda, and then obviously Jace Richardson. And straight off the bat, yeah, that Jace looks small. He’s the smallest guy on the court, right? We we knew this going into it. Um, but this kid is active, man. The first his first chance at a bucket in the game is a three-point shot. So, it’s obviously, you know, uh, beautiful to see. He ends the game, you know, shooting two from three. Um, 14 points. The last three was like literally seconds left in the game. So, I don’t know if I personally really count that or not. Um, but you know, I did like what I saw from Jace. Uh, little scary that he did fall and he it looked like he was like wobbling off the court and took himself out of the game and, you know, they obviously ended up bringing him back out. But, you know, this is one of those things where we really don’t know how many games we’re going to see with these guys, right? Typically, the the magic number is like two or three games and and then that’s about it. So, you you take what you’re able to get. It’s a good introduction for these guys. Uh first games is always tough because it doesn’t matter who you are, how long you’ve been playing, there’s always going to be the first game jitters. Um Noah Penda looked like he was struggling with that. He didn’t have the best showing. He did have some moments where you really like seeing um the defensive deflections to, you know, there there was a moment where he took the ball um to the paint really strong. So like little moments like that uh made me feel great about him. Uh, but you know, keep in mind France Van when we saw France in the summer league, he played like crap, right? Uh, at the same time, Kevin Knox, he played like LeBron. So, it’s it’s it’s summer league games where you really don’t know what you’re really going to get. U, but you’re just happy that there’s some level of Magic Basketball. Can we highlight the fact that our new logo looks phenomenal on TV? Like, it it looked it looked great. Like reflecting a little bit on the rebrand, I love the logo so much more now than I did uh when they first announced it. Like it it has not only grown on me, I’m upset that I still haven’t had a chance to get my hands on some of the uh uh you know the the gear. So we we need to work on that. You you go to the games way more often than I do. So the minute that we get a chance to get back in there, I’m gonna need you to hook it up. I got you, man. As soon as I get to go to the arena, you know, I got you. But uh dude, talking about the logo, like honestly on TV at the NBA draft on ESPN when we first traded for Desmond Bane, like when we signed Taius Jones, like all these things that happened and you kept seeing the magic on TV. The logo just looks amazing. It it truly pops on TV. The the blue I love the new blue again pops on TV as well. So again, they did a great job with it. We’ll talk about our grades of the the total offseason in general in this episode and I think the rebrand takes a major major part of that. So, great job by the marketing team. They they killed it. Yeah. And then and then obviously I didn’t get a chance to talk about Tristan Dilva. Tristan Dilva, you know, he he looked solid out there. It’s it’s what you want. He’s it’s someone that’s going to limit the mistakes. Uh he made some great open shots. Um he looked aggressive. if there was moments in the beginning of the game where he did start off a little slow, but um Tristan D Silva is at a point now going into his second year where he knows what to expect with Summer League. You’re I’m not expecting Tristan Dilva to go out there and drop 25 30 points. I’m expecting for Tristan Dilva to just be a little more active to work on the areas that he wants to work on and and to improve to uh continue to have that rhythm from the three-point line and uh maybe see a little playmaking from him. So, um when it comes to Tristan Silva, I’m not expecting a whole lot of nothing where obviously this is a player that, you know, started over 30 plus games for us last season. uh fell out of the rotation a little bit towards the end of the year, but we’re going to be expecting, you know, big things from him this year. So, all in all, first game, good showing. It was competitive, very ugly basketball, but you you can take a little bit of high highlights from Jace, Noah, um and Tristan. Noah, little disappointing, but first game jitters. Um I’m excited to see what they do in game two. Yeah. And I mean, I think the what we saw from Noah in particular, it’s what we really saw in those tapes from France and what we heard about him coming into the league. Like, he’s a great defender. Active hands, big body, man. Big big body. I said in our in our Discord chat that we have. I would pay money to watch Paulo and him go out in training camp, in practice, like they have a very similar body build. Like these dudes are just thick. Um they’re strong. They go to the hoop strong. So, like he’s going to be a guy that he if he can learn a couple things from Paulo. Uh, and then that shot, he’s not shy. Like he he trusts his three-point shot. Of course, it didn’t go down tonight, which unfortunately that that was the case. But the fact that he wasn’t he wasn’t afraid. Yeah. He wasn’t afraid to shoot it. Exactly. He He was launching them. They weren’t going in. He was launching them. It reminds me of uh Tristan last year. You know, there was a point of the season where he went through this cold stretches, but he would still shoot the ball. Um, so that tells you the confidence is there. They’re seeing it go in in practice, so they’re like, “Hey, I’m I’m gonna try it in the games.” And hey, if you’re gonna miss, you know, four or five in a game, this is the time to do it right now in summer league. So, keep shooting it. Hopefully, we’ll get to see him at least in one more game. Um, but the Magic usually do this thing where the first two games they play, they’re they’re NBA players. After that, they shut it down. So, we have maybe one more game to go where we can see what Jace looks like, what Noah looks like, um, and potentially Tristan one more game. Yeah, summer league we get some level of Magic basketball. This will then transition into um you know I don’t I can’t remember if it was fully confirmed or not but Fran Vagner playing in international uh games as well and then it’s going to be it’s going to be a a really uh long break of nothing. A lot of the action has already happened and we’re we’re going to rewind the clock a little bit because we didn’t get a chance to talk about it. Magic got active out. Magic. I don’t I don’t know what what was going on, but literally everything that the fan base wanted, the Magic delivered, right? Uh from the branding to the acquisitions to the adjustments. So, kind of hitting the the first one off the back. What I’m excited for, I know this wasn’t your number one option, but the Magic signing Tus Jones to a one-year 7 million uh dollar deal. Um, man, what what a what a huge huge pickup. And for a free agency, I know some people were a little disappointed. Maybe they wanted more, maybe they didn’t. To me, this is huge because you’re adding a veteran player um at the point guard position. When when you when you talk about Paulo Van Carol requesting for a table setter from what’s available in the free agency, this is the guy. And you’re not you’re not getting a long-term commitment. You’re not spending a whole lot of crazy money. you’re getting a player that can come in now and support the team and allow for us to be uh more successful from behind the three-point line. This is someone that can shoot the three ball. This is somebody that has a very very um low turnover rate. This is somebody that can set the table and playmake. He has one of the best corner three-point shooting percentages in the NBA. This is someone that can do damage from a floater perspective. That was a big missing element for the Magic. I am so excited about Taius Jones being a part of this team because it is going to open up so many different um things for the Magic. To me, Taius Jones, when you have Paulo, when you have France and even Jaylen Suggs, when they have moments where they’re penetrating, you’re going to be able to have this player that is going to be off to the side, off to the corner, consistently knocking these shots down. All those times that we’ve been frustrated with Jonathan Isaac shooting those corner threes and missing them consistently, everything is forgiven because we have a player can that can now uh save, you know, our our post players um in these moments and bail them out by, you know, stretching the floor out and being able to hit and make these threes. So, I’m I’m super excited for Taius Jones. I think it’s huge and it’s also a big insurance, right? Jaylen Suggs goes down, you have somebody that can pop in, that can handle the point guard position and run it the way that we we want to run it, right? So, I’m I’m excited about Taius Jones. When you first heard the news, what was the first thing that went through your mind? So, my immediate reaction was kind of predictable. I think we we had heard some rumors leading into this that he was going to be the guy. Um, and not only that, Trey deadlines, two years in a row, he’s been the guy that Magic fans have been, “Hey, go after him. go after him. It just makes sense. And it truly does, right? When you look at what he’s what he brings to the table, right? That playmaking, that shooting, that veteran kind of that that that leadership to the locker room that we’ve we’ve needed now that Gary’s no longer there. We really don’t have vets anymore. Like he is actually our oldest player at 29 years old. So, it makes a ton of sense. Um, exciting. We haven’t had a real point guard on this team in a long time. Cult, in my opinion, was never a true point guard. Um, yeah, Corey Joseph, but I mean, come on. Let’s talk about like an actual guy that can contribute on a nightly basis, like an actual role on this team, not a third string point guard. And you you can you can debate you can debate maybe a player like Markeel Folultz um in terms of point guard, but even even with Markeel, he he never had the shooting part down. So, we haven’t had like the full package of the type of point guard that we’ve needed. Yeah, because Markeel again, Markeel was Markeel, but unfortunately, as we always knew, Markeel was going to miss a significant amount of time with injury, the shooting wasn’t there, the playmaking was outstanding, but because he couldn’t shoot, the defense didn’t respect him, and that was unfortunate. That’s what eventually led him to be, you know, let go by by the Magic. Um, so it makes a ton of sense, exciting. I think it’s an A+ signing. I think he makes a lot of sense on paper. Um, the part where I come in where I’m like, man, like I wish we maybe made a different move. It’s not so much instead of Tus is on top of signing him. I wish you would have gotten a guy like maybe like a Tim Hardway Jr. Um unfortunately before the betting issues Malik Beasley like someone that that can just come off the bench and light it up. Think of a new modern Terence Ross. Why do I say that? Because off the bench right now, if you think about our bench today, it is at the moment Tus Jones, Anthony Black. At the small forward position, is it going to be Tristan? is it going to be J Howard? We don’t know yet. Ji and then eventually Movagner. So that three position, that small forward position, if either Jay Howard or Tristan takes it and say, “Hey, this is my position. I’m going to take it. I’m going to play well. I’m going to hit open shots. I’m going to contribute off the bench and score 10 at night. That’s it. That that’s kind of what I wanted. But as of as of today, we don’t know if Jet can give us that or if Tristan can give us that in the playoffs. I’m not talking about some random game in December. I mean, in the playoffs come, you know, the second round, hopefully if we make it there, the Eastern Conference Finals, who can be that guy off the bench that can come in and light it up. Um, so again, Tyos brings the playmaking, brings the shooting, but can he give us 15 a night consistently? Probably not. So, that’s kind of what I I’m still hoping the Magic someway somehow add maybe not in the offseason, but at the trade deadline, maybe we look into that because that’s a huge void. Um, another thing, too, is AB. So, we drafted him to be a point guard last year when everyone in their mothers went out with an injury. We didn’t trust him with the point guard position. What does it say about about that? Now, this offseason comes and hey, you’re the backup point guard. We trade call away and guess what? We just signed Tios to be the backup point guard. So, it’s like, is he just not a a point guard in the Magic’s eyes? And if that’s the case, how was he feeling about that? Because he said it multiple times, I’m a playmaker. I want the ball in my hands. So, a bit of a concern there. So, eventually the move might just be you trade AB for that shooting guard, small forward that can score at some point down the road. Not saying now, but that might be be the move if we keep Taius here long term as a backup point guard. But the move itself, man, A+ props to Jeff once again. He killed it. He made the right decision. And hey, man, Taius Jones is finally an Orlando Magic player. It’s been three years in the making. Yeah. So, so I want to address one point with Anthony Black, but before we do that, um just to kind of add another layer of my excitement with um you know, Tyus Jones. Tyus Jones already comes in with um an advantage with building chemistry with this team. This is someone that has already played multiple season with with Desmond Bane. Uh he mentioned in his interview that he was at Desmond Bane’s wedding, you know, recently. Um this is somebody that uh went to Duke. So he wore the the Duke number five that you know Paul Carroll wore um as well. So he’s a part of that brotherhood as well. And then this is someone that has known Jaylen Sug for a really really long time um who comes out of the Minnesota area. So there’s there’s a lot of different connections. And um during his press conference, one of the things I loved is that he he talked about how um one of the some of the things that he’s going to bring outside of just the the shooting and the playmaking um is just being an extension of of coach Moz. Like being a point guard, there’s a certain level of responsibility that comes with being a point guard, a true point guard characteristics, and it’s being a leader on the floor. So, the fact that you have somebody like that from the second unit coming in to be able to lead any team, any squad, like this isn’t Joe Engles uh leading the second unit. This is a true point guard that’s doing that. I’m so I’m I am beyond excited to be able to have that type of player uh join this team. And you mentioned, can he be a player that, you know, can score 15 points a night for us? Um he’s he averaged 10 points last season and this is him sharing the core with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. So he’s he’s he’s going to be someone that is able to do more for us than what he did for his team in Phoenix. Um because of the way that our roster our roster’s makeup is. Um now in terms of Anthony Black, Anony’s Anony’s Black’s like goal should be making Tus Jones a third string point guard. that that should be his goal, right? To the point that he outplays the crap out of him and you just have to pay play Anthony Black more than you do Tyus Jones. Until that happens, nothing in my opinion, nothing is given. We’re we’re not going to give Anthony Black nothing. He has to earn it, right? If he really wants to be a point guard in this in this league and that’s where he feels like that’s his best fit, then he has to go out there and prove it. Not just defensively, but offensively. Tyus Jones. Yeah, maybe he can hold his own defensively, but Anthony Black has the body to be able to do way more damage than Tyus Jones is able to do just because he’s 6’7, 6’8, and he has the lateral quickness to be able to compete defensively on a super elite level. Now, if that’s not the case and we play him two, play him three, then that’s that’s where Coach Moles has to kind of make the decision of what’s best for for this team. like there’s only so much effort that they can now add on the developmental end because we’re in a a win now. So, if Anthony Black thinks that he is he is the point guard, right, cuz we we skipped out on that for him last season, then his goal is to make Tyus Jones unplayable because he plays so well. It’s just the way that I see it. Yeah. And and I even think that the way that it should work at least we should always have Desmond Bane, Jaylen Suggs, one of the two on the court and always have one of Paulo or France on the court at all times. So there might be times where Taius Jones comes in for Jaylen Suggs. Now he’s the point guard and then off the bench you bring AB and Jaylen Suggs. So now maybe Jaylen is a two in that scenario. So we’ll see. I’m sure that will be fun, man. the depth that we have right now. That’s the exciting part that we didn’t really lose any key parts of our bench when it comes to what we did in the offseason. Um so Mo has a has a a heck of a job ahead of him right now to figure out the minutes, figure out the rotations. Um so yeah, there’ll be plenty to play with. I’m not too concerned. Um I’m sure they’ll figure it out. And don’t forget AB showed some flashes shooting the ball last year. He showed some flashes um scoring 15, 16, 20 points at times off the bench. So, if he can give us that lift off the bench consistently, what Cole Anthony couldn’t do, hey, man, that’s all we can ask for. Yeah. And and just to kind of add a little more to that, Jaylen Suggs, man, we we are he was in the summer, he was in Vegas supporting the summer league team. Uh s next to coach Mo, we’re we’re we’re expecting so much from Jaylen Suggs. We we obviously uh he knows we’re expecting a lot because he got a fat contract from us, right? um if something were to happen where he just doesn’t have another healthy season, we’re not going to be in the same position that we were last year where we’re like crap, what are we going to do? Who’s going to be the the next person to to, you know, hold that point guard position? We’re not we’re not going to be hearing point guy point guard by committee. Uh it’s not going to be Cory Cory Joseph, our third string point guard, running the show for us in the playoffs. Like we you have the confidence that you have someone that that can fill in. Just want to add the last part. I Tus Jones signing Titus Jones to me was is such a huge deal. Such a huge deal. Um I I was a little not confused, but the first thing I thought about when we traded for Desmond Bane was, you know, I really wanted Jaylen Suggs to be our our two guard and I really wanted us to get, you know, a point guard, a true point guard for this team. And I feel like if the Magic decided Desmond Bane is the guy, they they invested in him and uh they obviously gave up a lot to bring him in and we obviously know that he’s going to be able to bring so much value. At the very least, you’re getting yourself a potential, you know, six man of the year. So, I’m I’m excited for it. And then leads me to the second part of the Magic being active. We were waiting and waiting and waiting for the news of, you know, the Magic needing to bring Mo Vagner back and the Magic are able to not just pull it off, man, but pull it off um in a way where it is such a f a teamfriendly deal and bringing back Mo Vagner uh to the Magic. Him signing a one-year $5 million deal um while he continues to recover from his ACL tear. Um, I I see this in in two different ways. So, the first one, there’s one thing that I absolutely loved about this off seasonason when it comes to Mo Vagner is how much of a uh fan base support there was to bring him back. That whole excuse of, you know, he’s only a part of the team because of France or, you know, whatever the case may be, that that’s all out the window. People love and they support Mo Vagner because of the energy that that he brings, because of he comes in, he’s just he’s just a punch, man. You you come in and you’re not going to like every shot that he takes. Uh he’s going to make some decisions that you’re you’re just going to be like, “No, no, no.” But wait. Oh, okay. Because he finds a way to be able to score. His pump fakes drive me absolutely insane cuz I never understand how anybody falls for it. Um, but I am so excited for Mo Vonger to be back. Man, he is um a huge makeup of our identity and the the fact that we’re able to bring him back very cheap. Uh to me this feels like a prove it deal where um we we want to see him recover from this ACL tear and continue to do and add to the contributions that he did before he he was injured um before you know uh even better deal that maybe we can commit to long term happens. But when you heard that we were bringing Moer back, what’s the first thing that you thought of? I mean it was another one of those where again expected from me uh the whole offseason I kept saying I am 99.9% sure that he’ll be back. Now where the shock came in was on the years and the money that he got that I think nobody that’s a Magic fan expected a oneear $5 million deal. Um, I can tell you this for sure. The Magic have have to have some sort of handshake behind the scenes deal with him saying, “Hey man, sign this contract today. We got you at some point. We’ll give you the contract you deserve.” The Magic just didn’t have the flexibility because Taius took that $7 million deal. We went into the um non- taxpayer uh mid-level exception. So, we only had basically $14 million to play with, 13 and change. Seven of that went to Taius and it left two roster spots open. We either had to make a trade or we had to settle on a cheap contract with Mo Vagner to make it all work for us. And apparently that was the way that we went. We basically got a very cheap contract for for Mo. $5 million. Uh yeah, $5 million contract. It’s a gift, man. It really is. I again I like him as a player. I like him as a person. Of course, he is France’s brother. What he brings to the core, you can’t replicate. He is that dog, that mentality, that guy that comes in, checks in, and just goes to work immediately. And if you guys remember before he got hurt last year, this guy was a sixman of the year candidate. He was up there up to that point. It was a guaranteed 12 to 15 points, seven to, you know, five to seven rebounds, um, a couple of three-pointers every single night. But most importantly, the energy, the fight, getting to the opponent’s face, like it it was just, he’s exactly what we need when you have him and Jaylen Sucks going at the same time. It’s so much fun. Um, I truly hope Moagner is here for a long, long time. The same way that I feel that I want to see Paulo and France here for a long, long time. Mo’s part of that in my eyes because again, what he brings is so unique. It’s so different, but yet it’s needed. Um, so super excited to see him back. It was an expected move, but man, I think as a Magic fan base, we got to be thankful of the fact that he keeps taking these pay cuts because without that, our bench would be in significant trouble. Yeah, man. Again, yeah, you think about Wendell Carter Jr., for example, another player that struggled with injury. Um, if he can go for whatever reason, you have options with Goga, you have options with Mo Vagner, you have different ways and different players that you’re able to utilize. When you take a look at our roster, you still don’t know exactly what you’re going to get with Jet Howard. uh we kind of have an idea of what we’re getting with Tristan Dilva. Um but for the most part, this is a very very deep team. Um and one of the things that cuz I I’ve seen some people kind of complain like, you know, I wish we would have did more for free agency. I I wish that we would have, you know, traded more um made an additional move. Um the Magic bring in Desmond Bane, the Magic bring in Tyus Jones. you obviously draft a player like Jace Richardson that you’re expecting uh some level of contributions from. Um that by itself like just adding changes the dynamic of the team because obviously you’re expecting on paper that we are going to shoot better. The the Magic can’t go out there and just bring in five, six, seven, eight new players and just, you know, pray and hope that they’re all shooters or expect for all of them to be shooters and then our shooting problems are over. Uh the Magic brought in three players that can shoot the basketball, but they’re also banking on the fact that our team is going to be healthier. They’re also banking on the fact that, you know, these players are going to stretch the floor out more so that we’re able to take better shots. And you’re also banking on the fact that, you know, the France, Paulo, Jaylen, uh the rest of the roster, they’re coming back. They’re busting their ass in in the off season, and they’re coming back more developed and become better basketball players, become better shooters. So there’s there’s a lot of different elements that, you know, the the Magic can improve on and not just by acquisitions, right? So, uh, Mo Vagner coming back is going to be such a huge deal because, uh, you know, he’s somebody that can also help with stretching the floor. Uh, he can step up when he needs to. He can step back when he he needs to as well. Uh, he’s just versatile, man. And him getting paid $5 million to be able to do this for us is criminal. It is so criminal. It is so criminal that it it makes my stomach turn knowing that we’re paying Jet Howard the same amount of money this year. Next year, Jet Howard on a club on the club option, he’s going to be getting paid 78 million. There’s no way that Mo Vagner is worth so much more. Um, and you know, if if Mo Vagner is ever at a bar in Orlando, nobody should allow this man to pay for his own drink. Somebody get this man a drink. Somebody paid for it. At least one. One. I agree. That’s it. I agree. I mean, it’s it’s it’s highway robbery, man. What we’ve been able to do with with Moagn the last couple years, but I think at some point the Magic will have to decide. Ji, Mo Vagner, Goa, all this money going into the big guys off the bench. At some point they’ll have to consolidate that a little bit and pay him the right way because if he keeps up the playing the way that he did last year, he comes back, you know, playing similarly at least close to the same level, this man is going to demand at least 12 to$15 million easily uh to be a sixman of the year candidate for the next few years. So the day will come, but thankfully that is not today. Yeah. And just to kind of add another layer of perspective, Jonathan Isaac is set to make $15 million this year. 15. Mo Vagner’s getting paid five. Crazy. He’s getting paid five. Jonathan Isaac, we seeing pictures of him in the offseason. He looks like he’s getting in great shape. You know, we know that he added 30 additional pounds last off season going into this season. Uh he this is the healthiest he’s ever been. We’re expecting a larger role in minutes, but if my man cannot produce as much as Mo Vagner does when he’s healthy, there’s no reason why we should be paying him $15 million and Mo Vagner only five. So that’s agree. That’s my that’s my stick. So Magic end up dropping 7 mil on Titus Jones. They drop another 5 million on Mo Vagner. And then the next step, the obvious step, right, is to, you know, pay Paula Banker $239 million. Huge. Huge, huge payday for our franchise. Huge payday for the future former number one pick of the NBA. Paulo Ben Carroll is with the Magic uh for the foreseeable future keeping Frono Desmond Jaylen together as a core for a very very long time in Central Florida. How h how happy are you that the Magic were able to lock down Paula Ben Carroll uh for the next five years? I think this was the one move that we’re like, “All right, this is going to happen for sure at some point. There was no doubt about it.” Uh man, super happy for Paulo. The fact that all the draft night drama, who’s going to go first? We end up, you know, taking him at the last minute, surprising every everyone. And to see kind of how it all played out, right? This guy unanimously, in my opinion, is the number one pick. he should have been all along and to event, you know, ultimately get to this point where he’s getting this significant contract, you know, lifech changing. He had a po uh IG story that he uploaded basically talking about how this brown ball, you know, can change your life. And in reality, he’s now a a a person that’s go going through that. He’s living through that right now. Um I will say confidently, this is the first of many contracts of this magnitude that Paulo Carro is going to sign. He is so young. He’s he has at least one or two more um at least max contracts in him if he continues to play and stay healthy. Um incredible man. Super happy for him. Super happy for the Magic. The future is bright for this franchise. We are entering uh uncharted territory. Like we haven’t been in this phase of Magic basketball in such a long time that it feels weird going into a season with two Max players, Desmond Bane, Jaylen Suggs, two key key role players for this team. It’s it’s it’s crazy to think about where we’re headed. It’s it’s exciting to be a Magic fan, but it all starts with this man right here on the screen. Uh without him, we wouldn’t be here. So exciting years ahead. Uh we have at least four to five years, man, to to make this thing work. Uh we have a core in place, France, Paulo, uh Jaylen S, Tess Bane, that’s kind of the core of the team right now. How far we go is it’s in their hands right now, but the Magic did their job. They paid their guys. They’re putting their full trust in these guys. Yes, they’re young. Yes, they are still getting experience in this in the NBA, but hey, they did their part. So, the front office can now say, “Hey, man, we did our part. Here you go. Go win me some some games and eventually get us a championship.” Yeah. I mean, we we’ve heard it all when it comes to people and and giving their thoughts on on the ownership. If there’s one thing that you cannot take away from the Magic is that they are they are spending money for the first time in a really really long time. Uh I what’s crazy is I was listening to um Dwight Howard in one of his recent podcasts where he was talking about he’s never had a hundred million dollar contract. Never. Not Not one time. And when I look back at the contract that we gave him Yeah. Never. So the fact that you know obviously France Vagna was the first one to get you know over the 200. I think he was the first player ever in Magic history to get over the 200 mil. Paulo Ben Carroll following right through obviously. So, um, this contract if if is heavily incentivized. Um, I can’t remember exactly what elements he had to hit, but you know, the contracts for 239, but he can make all the way up to 287 million, which is which is huge, man. And if there’s anyone that can that can really take this to the next level, it’s Paula Ben Carroll, man. This this dude averaged almost 20 25 26 last season. you’re you’re talking about a whole another off seasonason where now we got a full a full team to be able to make his life easier. Um, knock on wood if we are able to stay healthy and knock down shots that uh the Magic the Magic are going to be a problem. And we’re starting to hear that from all these different um outlets. And it’s now not just the news outlets. It’s not just ESPN. It’s not just Fox. There’s a lot of different podcasts out there that, you know, we’re we’re the talk of the town. Are we the OKC of the East? Can we be the Indiana Pacers this year where we just come in and we’re surprising um all these NBA teams? And uh the specific page that is super active um has been uh you know, Hard Rock uh uh sports book, right? They they’ve been jumping on the magic bandwagon so much. It seems like every pop every basketball propaganda is talking about uh the Magic. So, uh you love to see it. The money’s been put up. Now, the Magic have to go out there and and do something with it. The the front office did everything they did on their end. Jeff Welman’s job. Um Jeff Welman has done everything on his end. Now it’s Coach Mo. Now it’s the players. Now it’s it’s PA and France Vagner to be able to lead this team and do their part. Yeah, man. Actually, perfect timing. I just pulled up this graphic from our post this week that you created and basically it’s a summary of what the offseason looks like for the Orlando Magic and the title is Magic Cooked. So, if you’re listening to this, you’re now watching on YouTube. Um, you can go to our Instagram, our X account, and uh we pulled a graphic earlier this week basically recapping the offseason for the Magic and man, we’ve been critical. We’ve been very very critical of Jeff Welman, the front office, the lack of moves, not only at the trade deadline, but throughout because even last season in the offseason, we felt like we could have done more and yet we kind of settled for a couple of small moves. KCP, nobody really kind of was thrilled with the move. Thankfully, they they realized that wasn’t the right decision and they they adjusted and fixed it now. But man, this year, what a turnaround. He basically said, “All right, let’s get to work.” And it’s funny, it truly feels like he’s been going through X and just says, “All right, so they want Tyus Jones, check.” They want a shooter, that’s Mane, check. Oh, a rebrand, check. Like legitimately everything we’ve been asking for, and we’ll talk about the the the other stuff next. Even the coaching staff, we’ve been asking for, you know, some assistant coaches that are offensive oriented. Guess what? Check. Check. It’s crazy. So, um, we as Magic fans have to now say, “Hey, they did their part. I don’t want to hear anybody complain between now and next off seasonason about the front office. They did their part. On paper, we look great. We’re taking advantage of the fact the East is a conference that can be taken advantage of with all the injuries going on with Dame. Uh the Pacers are hurt. The Celtics are basically a whole different team now. It it’s truly up to the Knicks, the Cavs, the Magic, and potentially Philly, Atlanta, those teams. But we are right there, man. and the front office understood that. They said, “Let’s give ourselves a chance.” The chance is there. Um, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a heck of a season coming up here. If we can stay healthy, man, this team has a really, really good chance to make a lot of noise in the East. And again, we haven’t experienced anything like this since 2010. It’s been 15 years. Um, it’s going to be fun. But man, credit, big props to to Jeff Wman, Anthony Parker, the whole front office staff. They went to work. They made us happy. Now it’s time for us to on the court show us what what we got. Jeff Wman cooked. Simple. Simple as that. Um and the the next step of that is the big news about the magic stealing away god sham god from the Dallas Mavericks. Uh again, another element of uh national news. Uh Stephen A. Smith going on ESPN on his shirt on his show on on first tape telling him sending a message directly to God jam God to leave the Dallas Mavericks join coach Mo and the coaching staff in Orlando ASAP, right? And this is somebody that has worked closely with a lot of players. If you’re not familiar with God Sham God, this is somebody that is um has his own basketball move. I’m talking about this coach is so nice and so legendary as a player, right, that he’s the only coach in the NBA with his own signature shoe. Man, got his own signature line with Puma. Like, this is this is somebody that um I’m really excited for that he’s been added to uh the Magic coaching staff. This is somebody that can help with shooting, with uh ball handling. And when you think about bringing a player like Jace, uh when you think about Anthony Black, who is somebody that we hope can continue to develop as a point guard, uh Jaylen Suggs, who isn’t may not be a natural point guard, when you think about getting him to develop and become more of a playmaker and ball handler. Um and even what what Paulo and France are going to be able to learn from. Can you imagine Paulo and Fron out there doing doing the sham god? Like that would be insane. that will be clipped, that will be highlighted, that’s Sports Center top 10. Like, we’re talking about all of it. And it’s exciting because again, this is the magic finding creative creative ways to enhance the team’s development. This is one of the ways that you do that. And it’s huge because it makes sense for him because he’s going from um you know from uh specifically a player development role to now an assistant coaching role which is huge man. So I’m super excited for him. I cannot wait to see um his impacts as a coach continue um and for the Magic to get better with being able to have his presence around. So when you first heard the news, uh, because when when this news happened, this is this is extra. Nobody asked for this. Not not one person asked for this. Everyone wanted an offensive lead assistant. We didn’t ask for Sham God, right? Sham God is what we got. So when you heard that, what was your reaction? I mean, you said it already. It was just realizing we’re going for it. We’re going after, you know, coaches that that make a difference, that have a good reputation in this league. You hear names like Kyrie Irving, Luca Donic, as guys that love this coach, that that attribute a lot of their improvements in their careers to this coach. Um, if I’m not mistaken, Kobe Bryant spent a lot of time training with him as well. So, we’re talking about NBA superstars that are credit, you know, give credit to him for their improvement, their development in their careers in the NBA. Um to your point, what can he do for France? What can he do for Paulo? What can he do for AB and Jaylen Sus as point guards? Um it’s it’s a promotion for him. He’s going from a development coach to now an assistant coach. So, he’ll be on the bench with Mosley. Um and don’t forget, these are guys that know each other. They they work together for the Maps a few years back. And actually today in summer league, they sat together. They were talking uh in the sidelines there watching the game. So, there there’s a lot that goes into this decision. It wasn’t just a random coach they brought in. is because he knows mostly. He knows what he’s all about. They know each other. And again, this team is at a stage right now where they got to level up, right? It’s no longer about just develop a little bit. Let’s take it to the next level here day by day. It’s we we got to start winning now. And I think he’s a perfect guy to bring into the locker room. Um the guys will respect him immediately. He’s proving his work over the years. Exciting, man. Exciting. Nobody asked for this, but all of us are thrilled. Actually, this might have been one of the most popular posts that we made on our on our social media accounts both on X and IG on a summer what we traded for Desmond Bane got Taius Jones resign Vagner. This was one of the most liked posts that we had and shared post. So, it goes to show you, like I said, this guy comes in with popularity. People like this guy off the court, on the court. Um, I’m excited to see what he can do for the Orlando Magic man. But this was step one of our offensive game kind of changing a little bit um for next season. Um and I’m excited. I think he’ll make a huge impact on our team. And it doesn’t stop Magic continually looking to find ways to be able to help improve this team. when they announced that the Magic also signed uh Milwaukee assistant coach Joe Pruny, which uh again the this the Magic we’ve been asking for a lead assistant that can help us offensively. Coach Mo, obviously known for his defense and has done a killer job and creating an identity, being the right voice, being a player coach. Um but we needed some help, man. Uh, you know, obviously Nate Tibbitz came along with Coach Mos when we first hired him. Uh, he ends up getting a position elsewhere. We got paid crazy money to be able to be a a head coach in the WNBA. And then that role really wasn’t officially filled. Um, and you know, those responsibilities were divided up against the already existing coaches. So, there was a missing void. Um so Joe Pruny bringing a player bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bring bringing a coach that has been um established respected um has had head coaching experience has had lead assistant experience for a long time known for his offensive strategies and calmness uh when you finally heard the news that we were were filled again you said it earlier check mark this is what people were asking for how excited were you to hear that the magic uh spending money to bring in a lead assistant uh to be your second chair, your number two next to coach most. Man, it was a relief because again on paper the roster significant improvements. It makes a ton of sense, but there was still that doubt of what about on the coaching staff like who’s going to lead us offensively? Like we need some help. But let let’s be honest, I love Mosley. I love what he does on the defensive end, but this team has lacked offensively. And it and it goes beyond just what we do shooting the ball. There’s there’s some opportunities to improve on the coaching aspect of it. Our game plan dayto day offensively. And guess what? That’s what this guy does. He he specializes on offense. He’s an elite assistant for many, many years. He’s got he’s won a couple of rings. Most recently coached the Milwaukee Bugs. Like this is a guy that brings a ton of experience to our locker room, to the coaching staff, I don’t have words. Again, I I tweeted about this earlier like I’m not used to winning this much in the offseason. Like when was the last time that we had an offseason where we kept saying great move for the Magic, great move for the Magic. And consistently that’s the feedback that everyone is giving, not just us as Magic fans, but everyone in the media, everyone in, you know, social media, it’s been a common theme. The Magic keep making moves that are making us better and better and better and this is one of them. So I’m excited for the first, you know, four or five games of the season to see how does our offense look now compared to last year because I can tell you one thing between Shamgot now with Prunty like we will look differently. We will look differently in a good way. Um so it’s exciting to see what’s coming down the pike here in about three months when we kick off preseason and of course the regular season. Yeah. I mean, not only are you bringing in offensive players, um, but you’re also bringing in, uh, offensive coaches to continue the development, um, of the Magic’s offensive identity, which is huge, man. The Magic had one of the worst offensive ratings in the NBA for such a long time. I’m excited to see that growth. Like, I’m excited to see what that difference looks like. Um, I’m almost a little like I’m not I’m not fully ready and prepared for it just because we’re we’re used to the Magic looking a certain way. Like it got to the point that I’m numb to the fact that we suck at shooting the three-point ball. Like I’m numb to it. I’m numb to the fact that, you know, we’re we haven’t been a great offensive team even though we got Paulo and France that can easily both average 25 points a game. Um, but outside of that, it’s been horrendous. So, I’m I’m excited to see what that looks like. Um it was announced today that Jesse um I guess lead assistant Shams called him lead assistant. Um from my understanding that was never officially uh provided or officially announced. But yeah, Jesse M, if you’re familiar with the assistant coach, the gentleman with the glasses, he’s no longer a part of uh the Orlando Magic, he accepted a lead assistant role to be the number two chair uh in Phoenix. So, uh, a lot of a lot of, uh, people in the fan base very vocal with the fact that this is somebody that was supposed to lead the the offensive strategy for the Magic. Um, and we’ve been a very, very bad offensive team. A lot of people were happy with the fact that he is no longer a part um, of the Orlando Magic coaching staff. So, thoughts on that? I’m smiling because I was surprised with the reactions. We we posted the news on on X and IG and looking at the comments afterwards, I’m like, wait, what why are people so happy about the fact that he’s leaving? And it’s true. Yes, he if he really was the offensive mind, you know, in in the coaching staff, please by all means leave and go to Phoenix and best of luck. Um, but it was unreal. Like the comment the commentary was, even making this move, the Magic are still winning. Like, so it’s crazy. I I the the the the one that kind of made me laugh was was the fact that you know the the magic added by deleting. You know what I mean? So I I it makes it makes sense. It makes sense. You’re adding an additional coach already to the coaching staff. You’re replacing uh you know your uh or filling the lead assistant role. Um and it’s just it’s a new era of Magic Basketball, man. There there’s there’s a lot of there’s been a lot of changes the from the rebranding to Alex Martin stepping down to um the new elite assistant coaches the Magic spending money. I am over I am overwhelmed by how many additions and changes this off season has had. Like we literally were complaining about this front office that did absolutely nothing at the trade deadline and they have easily have had the most active off season of any NBA team period. Yeah. Yeah. No, it’s it’s it’s been a ride. And nobody if if we go into the season, knock on wood, but if this season doesn’t go the way that we wanted or planned, like nobody can fault Jeff Welman because this man has has done literally everything that the Magic fan base had asked for to the point where all of us collectively we we could have we could have done his job, right? Because everything that we’ve wanted, they’ve done. Not saying that we could do his job because I’m sure his job is way more complex than you know what we’re making it seem like. But um it’s like we’re we’re we’re on the same page, man. And that’s that’s what that’s what we wanted. Nobody asked for that. Nobody said that. There’s probably one person I saw online. Shout out to Luke. Mhm. That said Desmond Bane. Nobody said Desmond Bane. Desmond Bane was we don’t know yet because we have to we have to see it but on paper seems and sounds and feels like the best decision for this team right it’s the polar opposite of what we have um uh and how much his impacts and effects will be I I think that we’re going to be able to see it off the jump square one but if you would have told me that we would have been doing everything else that we have done so far after that trade, I I wouldn’t I wouldn’t have believed you. No, I mean, like I said, at all. Jeff Jeff did say, you know, we’re going all in, right? It’s we’re gonna, you know, go into a win now mentality. We heard it. We kind of expected some change, but man, like looking back right now, what really transpired this off season, um, it’s impressive. Again, I think why nobody brought up Desmond Bane as a possibility for the Magic is because nobody thought Memphis would trade him. Like, he was such a good fit there. He was doing so well. next to Jai and the rest of the guys there like he was not attainable in my eyes but guess what Jeff made it happen so and Jeff we trust and man I got to say it Bane from a distance I’ve always been a fan of his back when we drafted uh Cole that year I was like man like that was a guy that a few of my friends said he’s a guy that you guys should get he’s a good shooter in the draft kind of had my eyes on him but nobody expected his career to turn the way that he has but man the fact that he’s in our roster right now I can say easily he is on paper today. My favorite shooting guard that we’ve had on the Orlando Magic really since T-MAC. Like I can’t think of another shooting guard that we’ve had on on our roster. Of course, Vince, but he came out of old age. I won’t count that on Vince. Like actual talent in their prime shooting guard. My favorite shooting guard on paper right now is Desmond Bane. So, heading into a season where I’ve had to deal with Evan Fornier and whoever else came after that. Like, come on, man. we were due for this and it’s going to be exciting to see him next to our other guys, our core players here in Orlando this upcoming season. But to your point, he’s got to go out there and produce right now because we all thought JCP would make a difference last year, but he’s a night and day type of player. He’s an offensive minded guy. He attacks the rim. He shoots it well. It’s going to be fun. Um, to recap the offseason talk, one more question for you before we we we wrap it up. Caleb Houston, I know he’s a a fan favorite. We all love him. a shooter most importantly that we could trust as a as a third string player right now on paper we cannot afford him right like we don’t have the money to spend on a on a 15th roster spot unless we make some trades what do you expect do you think that this is the last we saw of Caleb Houston do you think the Magic make a trade to create some flexibility and bring him back uh what are your thoughts on that final move that we might make before training camp yeah do I think that the Magic will make a move so that they are able to keep Caleb Houston I don’t that Caleb Houston is that impactful for us to go out of the way um just to keep a roster spot for him. Uh the Magic have already gave up his jersey to um Tyus Jones that would be wearing that that number two. Uh Caleb Houston is just an odd man out. Um and unfortunately we can’t where when we talk about being a win now team, we can’t worry about the 15th spot on on the team. We just we just can’t. Um, and I think that that adds added pressure. That adds added pressure to the 14th man and the 13th man. Like Jay Howard, I’m looking at you. Uh, Noah Penda, you know, Jace Richardson, they’re they’re obviously rookies, but you know, it it forces everyone to battle. And I think that that’s iron sharpens iron, right? So, um, unfortunately, Caleb Houston, odd man out, I I don’t see him coming back. be awesome if he if the Magic found a way to be able to do that. But contractwise, I don’t see who else on the team right now. Um I would sacrifice just to keep Caleb Houston. Like if you’re going to make if you’re going to make a move, you know, make a move to, you know, enhance the roster and then, you know, if you need to keep Caleb Houston because you need to keep the body and you’re familiar with Caleb Houston, then okay. But um as of right now, I’m not I’m not entirely sure who who I would say bye to just to keep Caleb Houston. Yeah, I forgot who said it. It might have been Keith Smith on on X. He did say that he still has one year left of uh eligibility as a two-way player. Um that might be the that might be the move. You know, you could would he accept a two-way roster spot with the Magic? Did he like it here enough to say, “Hey, I’ll go back as a two-way player.” I hope so because I think again he would be a great addition to the to the locker room. the guys, you know, again, they know him that that that continuity in our roster would continue and and help us. Again, is he going to get a better offer somewhere else? We’ll see. I don’t think he’s on a summer league roster. I don’t think again he’s he hasn’t signed with anybody else. So, if the Magic come knocking and say, “Hey, this is what we got for you.” I hope he takes it. Um, so we’ll see what happens there. I I agree with you. I don’t think that we will make any more trades. The logical names are Goa or J Howard. Goa is needed right now because again, Mov still recovering. We don’t know when he’ll be back. So, come trade deadline, maybe. That’s the move that we make. Um, Jed Howard, I still believe the Magic would give him another chance. I I still think that as of today, that backup small forward position is going to come down to Tristan or Jet Howard. They’ll both get time to shine and see what they can do. They both bring three-point shooting. They both have the size. They both have the the make of what we need off the bench in the in the three position. Ultimately, it’ll be who can actually win that spot in training camp. So, it’ll be fun to watch in preseason uh and into the the early part of the season. As of right now, I give the edge to Tristan. I think he does more on the court. Uh he makes less mistakes, but shooting the ball, man. When when J when J gets going, Jet gets going and it’s fun to watch. Uh so, he might be that Terren Straw that we’ve been missing for a while. We’ll see what happens. I mean, listen, the the Magic, they they took a risk on him, drafted him way early than anyone else would have. They they obviously see that there’s potential there. I haven’t fully gave up on Jay Howard. Um, you know, we’re we’re hoping that not just not just Anthony Black, but, you know, Jay Howard makes that third season Jaylen Suggs leap. Um, and and if we’re able to if the Magic are able to do that, man, just think about how you’re able to play, you know, a six foot eight player that can that can literally shoot lights out, but can also, you know, somewhat defend, hold your own. like no one’s expecting Jay Howard to um you know be allNBA defense, but to at least be able to hold your own on that end and be efficient and effective and dangerous behind the three-point line at his size where no one’s going to be able to stop that shot from happening. Uh it’s fun to think about. Um, now it’s it’s really up to the work that he’s putting in in the off season and then the work that he continues to put, you know, in practice because coach Mo is is traditional in a lot of ways, man. If you’re not performing in practice, you’re not going to perform in the games. So, you’re not just going to have the shot. This is somebody that is not afraid um to bench you no matter what role you had. The perfect example is Cole Anthony. Cole Anthony got barely any he fell out of the rotation. And this and this was Cole Anthony, somebody that he relied on, you know, so heavily. So, um, who knows what’s going to happen with him. Who knows how they’re gonna, you know, deal with it. I don’t see Caleb Houston coming back, but if the Magic find a way to be able to bring him back, then that’s that’s cool, too. Um, you know, contractwise, uh, moneywise, if it doesn’t work, it’d be interesting to see if he would accept D2E. I’m not sure exactly what, um, his value would be across the NBA, like with with other teams. He’s a 6’8 um you know shooter, but he’s also have never had a dunk in the game. So, I’ve seen percentages of you know, elements that um that hurt him from a statistical standpoint. Um so, I just don’t know if that’s that’s really a matter. So, uh good thing is we’ll we’ll find out close enough. So, um man, this off season has been active. Um the off season does not stop. We still have the beginning of the summer league action. There’s going to be a little bit of a break where um we’ll find out in August uh what the season schedule will look like in the late September. Uh we do this all over again. Training camp starts and that’s when that’s when it really gets busy. So, uh exciting times to be a Magic fan. Um I appreciate everyone for listening, man. This was an awesome episode. Glad we were able to wrap everything up. Curious to see how the summer league ends up playing out with Jace. Noah and Tristan Silva. On that note, it’s a wrap and we’ll catch you guys on the next one. For all the latest magic news and updates, visit Orlando Magic HQ.com and follow us on Instagram at Orlando Magic HQ and on Twitter atomagichq. 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, Anthony and Al reflect on the Magic’s first summer league game and discuss the team’s offseason moves, including the signing of Tyus Jones and the re-signing of Mo Wagner.

They express excitement about locking down Paolo Banchero with a well-deserved max contract and the impact of new coaching staff additions. The conversation highlights the optimism surrounding the upcoming season and the potential for the Magic to make a significant impact in the Eastern Conference.

00:00 Summer League Insights
08:38 Tyus Jones Signing Analysis
20:57 Mo Wagner’s Return and Impact
28:28 Evaluating Player Contracts and Future Prospects
30:33 Locking Down Paolo Banchero
32:32 Magic’s Spending Strategy: A New Era
37:26 Coaching Changes: Enhancing Player Development
42:19 Offensive Strategy: New Additions to the Coaching Staff
48:35 Roster Decisions: The Future of Caleb Houston

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