Who wins big first, the Miami Heat or Orlando Magic? | Five on the Floor

Who wins big first, the Miami Heat or Orlando Magic? | Five on the Floor

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And now today’s episode. Mercy luxurious heat nation. Yeah. Where go down the on the floor for my dogs. Where’s the thing? You can check the score. Hustle hard. Couple stars. and bubble frog down the bisc and pap. Welcome to five on the floor, a daily insider show on the Miami Heat and the NBA featuring Ethan Skolnick, Greg Sander, Alex Toledo, Brady Hawk, and others from the Five Reason Sports Network. Also, make sure to subscribe to Off the Floor for the most heat anywhere. All right, welcome back to Five on the Floor. Here’s today’s floor plan. I’m Ethan Skulling. You can follow me at EtherJ Skull at Five of Sports. I got Greg Sander. You can follow him at Greg Sander. We’re still doing our 2006 series. Uh Matameorga did an interview with Eric Reid we’re going to put up this week. He also has done some with Ira Wintererman. uh Tim Reynolds, Mike Wallace. So, those will all find their way to the feed as well as original interviews that we’re going to do. Also, still doing the State of the Heat series. We’ve done four of those. Sean Rochester is scheduled for one. Eternal, if he gets out of the dentist chair, he’ll do one as well. Uh and then we’ll have others from the network on too. Uh but we are following latest breaking developments. I mean, what qualifies as news these days. So, check out the two episodes on Kai Jones, who the Heat have worked out this week. one with Alex and one with somebody who knows Kai very well, uh, Timothy Bane. He was actually the first to really interview him when he was 17 years old. So Tim Timothy goes way back with him and signal to us that this might be a possibility. So we’re still tracking it. But there was also a a press conference on Tuesday. Jose Peda, friend of the program, uh, hosted this one and we kind of had a feeling that something was going on led to this effect. a preseason game announced. It’ll be October 4th uh to kick off the Heat’s preseason schedule. They play six games. There will be two at Casayiah Center. Casaya Center, I never pronounced it correctly. I think the first is on the 6th, one is on the 8th, and then three road games. But this is I guess those will be a home game, I think. But it’s in Puerto Rico. It’ll be tied in with other community events and celebrity events and things like that. I’ll try to make my way down there. Doesn’t seem like a bad trip. October 4th. October 4th, uh, they’ll be playing the Magic and it just sets up a conversation here because you have a very strong opinion on this, Greg Sander. Right now, nothing’s going to be decided in this particular game, by the way. Although, I will uh I will anticipate that most of the core players will play because when you do these showcases in other countries to build the game, you play your core guys. So I I remember in Rio uh I was in Rio with the Heat in 2014. The Cavs were staying down the street. LeBron played, Dwayne played on other teams, opposite teams at that point. Uh Chris Boss, etc. They all played. So I would expect that Tyler and Bam and Palo Montero and France Vagner and Desmond Bane uh will play. Now the problem here for the Heat is there are more marquee players on the Magic than there are in the Heat right now. And that’s what we’re going to talk about because the Heat have been the marquee franchise. Uh 1988 they came in the Magic I believe were 89. Yeah. And since that time, correct me if I’m wrong, the Magic have made the finals twice, right? Once with Shaq and once with Dwight. Once with Dwight. They lost both. They were swept in 1994 by the Rockets. They lost to the Lakers, right? In u 2009. And the Heat have made seven finals and they’ve won three championships. The Heat have been the better franchise. The Magic have had their ups. They had uh you know again the Shaq era, excuse me, which ended early. Uh Dwight in between. They’ve had Grant Hill. They’ve had Tracy McGrady. They’ve had Penny Hardaway. They’ve had some great players there, but they have not broken through organizationally consistently the way that the Heat have. But they went through a rebuild and they came up with the number one overall pick and and they took Bonaro Banko and that has worked out. France Vagner has outplayed others who were taken ahead of him. That was a smart pick. Uh Jaylen Suggs, despite the injury last year, looks like he was a good pick, fitting what they need. Sort of defensive-minded guard who can score a little bit as well. And now they’ve traded a bunch of first round picks to get uh what they believe is a missing piece to a contending team. Desmond Bane, who’s a can be a two-way guard, very good shooter, uh physical player, obviously was a was a a high scorer in Memphis. But you don’t think this will last? Now I Is this simply because of the Magic’s history? And I I mean I’m not a fan of their ownership just in terms of some of their political views, but I it has it has I mean they haven’t had a lot of stability, but they have lately. Yeah, they have lately. So I should I should uh I guess add context. It’s not that I necessarily don’t like what the Magic are building. And as I look at um just spending throughout the league, it’s interesting that 2.8 million separates these two teams. They’re both spending about $200 million on the roster, meaning Miami is 16th in payroll. Orlando’s 18th, if I’m looking at this correctly, uh per spot track. So, it’s interesting that they’re so close in how much that they’re shelling out for their roster when you think about what Orlando has built and what they think that they have cuz they think they’re an ascending team and it would look like they are. They they have the benefit of Banero being their best player and being still on his rookie deal. Now, obviously, that’s going to like um accelerate as as time goes on, but he also looks like he may be the real deal in terms of a at least a an option one score. We’ll see how far uh the team can go as a playoff team. They think that they plugged their major hole. So, I I totally would understand if there’s a lot of Heat fans that will roll their eyes at me because I think Orlando probably will finish with a better record than Miami next year. And in the short term, they look like they’re heading in a um I guess you would say more people would consider Orlando to be closer to a contender than Miami. Uh I just to this point the Magic are going to magic eventually. And I just don’t know what the exactly that means yet, but I tend to, and I did this with Philadelphia when everyone thought that they had every um like weapon in the uh in the arsenal and like they were stocked with assets, great young players, an MVP, the tanking worked out, and the Sixers, I mean, would anyone rather be the Sixers? No. And so I just I guess at this moment where we’re kind of reflecting on where Orlando is uh related to Miami because they’re going to play in Puerto Rico, I just don’t think that beyond maybe this very shortterm moment, you’re going to see sustained success from Orlando over Miami. And I I’m just betting on uh the history there. And maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I don’t think so. Well, I I I’ll I’ll start here. I mean, one of the things we look for if you’re going to see sustained success is stability at certain spots. And the Magic did not have that for a long time. They’ve had a lot of interesting coaches who’ve gone in and out of there, but Jamal Mosley’s been there now since 2021. So, they’ve given him an opportunity to grow with this team. That’s a good thing. It’s a very good thing. Now, sometimes it’s like what leads to what? Like, does success lead into stability or stability lead to success? We know obviously that Eric Schultz is the longest tenure coach uh with one team in the NBA right now. The Heat believe that that leads to success. Uh, and so they’ve kept him in place even when he’s had a couple of down seasons. Uh, you know, there really has there’s never any concern that they’re going a different direction. They gave him an eight-year contract a couple years ago. So that there is a model there that the Magic are following and that they’ve given Mosley a chance. Now, I could see a scenario if this team disappoints this year that there are some very high-profile coaches who are out of work right now or are working as assistants who would covet this particular job because of the young talent and also because it is a no state tax situation just like Miami is. Um, they have pretty good facilities in Orlando. Nobody really complains about that. Not my favorite city, but people who like to play golf, they they like the area if they live out on the outskirts and they have the money to do it. Uh, so there there it is going to be an attractive job. Okay. If Mosley does not pan out. Now, what does panning out mean? I I don’t think there’s anybody who’s going to pick the Heat to finish ahead of the Magic this year. I I just don’t I I think if and that is that’s even considering the fact that the Magic kind of disappointed last year. I think that the the growth was expected last season and people say, well, Paulo missed a lot of time, Fran missed a lot of time, but actually they played better at times without one or both. It was really Suggs’ injury that kind of sunk them late in the season and then they had to kind of scrape their way out of it. So, I don’t think they’ve really fulfilled what the talent level shows, but the talent level is higher than Miami’s right now. I I don’t I don’t think you can argue that. I don’t think there’s anybody on the Heat who has the upside that Paulo has. I I just don’t. And I It’s funny because Paulo is one of those guys when you watch him on television, it’s hard sometimes because he doesn’t move like some other superstars. So, it’s kind of like sometimes I’m like, well, what’s the big deal here? But when you watch him in person, it’s a different experience. And I I came away very impressed the the two times I saw him up close last year. Um, I think they’re going to rely on him on the global stage eventually as well. They will. And and I’m I’m a big Fron guy, but again, Fran is kind of bombed in the playoffs. And so that’s that has to be a step that he takes. Uh, next Bane’s a very good player. Now, was he worth all of that? It wasn’t really four first round picks because one of the picks was really to get rid of KCP’s contract. So, there’s a lot of other maneuvering in there, but it’s a pretty steep price um for a guy at a position where we’ve seen a lot of teams are moving away from that archetype. Now, Bane is a more physical player than say Tyler is. Um I think he’s a better defender than Tyler is when he’s engaged and I know that the Heat liked him. I thought that’s who they should have picked that year by the way. That Maxi was not my guy that year. It was if Bane was still there, take Bane. So, I like him as a player. Um but we’ll see how he fits as a third or fourth guy. I I think he’s going to fit well. I think he, you know, he’s been a number two mostly in Memphis. Majire Jackson would step up. Sometimes he’d be a number three, but I I think the role is going to suit him. So, they have a lot of piece and they’ve got some interesting role players on that team, too. I mean, they traded a couple, but they’ve got I mean, Mo Vagner is a backup now back from injury. He’s helpful. I like their drafts the past couple of years. I know Adele liked their drafts the past couple of years. D Silva looked pretty good to me out in Summerly. So, it’s it’s an interesting court. They should they should finish ahead of the Heat. They’re the one team in the division that absolutely should. Atlanta could Orlando should. That’s kind of where I’m at with this. And I know nobody cares about the divisions, but I I guess on the other side is what I want to get to you is how much we can because I do think you do this a lot and I understand it and I’m in this place too where it is, you know, well, the Heat have done it before so they’re going to do it again. And I and I I’m not necessarily going to argue with that because these people have a proven track record of success and we even saw this off season that they stole Norm Powell for nothing. And that’s the kind of move that reminds you of what they’ve accomplished over the years. But there are a lot of organizations in sports that, you know, we we gave them credit for their, you know, their laurels for a long time, but then they rested on them and it didn’t really pop again. And you do see some organizations you don’t expect. I mean, look, the Knicks, okay, James Dolan, laughingstock of the league for basically 15 years now. Then he hired Leon Rose and they’re not a laughingstock anymore. The coaching starts this year went great, but like it’s they’re not so organizations do change and I think sometimes we just say, well, they’re the Spurs, they’re the Patriots, they’re the Heat, they’re this one, they’re that one. Okay, they’re going to figure it out. And there is a certain point where sometimes those organizations don’t. Steelers are another one of those, too. That typically there’s a there’s a there’s a competence assigned to certain organizations in sports. That’s true. and and probably a a bias appropriately so. Right. And I’ll tell you one one organization that that was assigned idiocy for years and years and years is the one closest to where I live, which is the Florida Panthers. And now they are literally the model organization of management, not in hockey, in all of sports. They’re the only they’re the only two-time defending champion going on right now. And honestly, with their talent level, they probably will win the next three. Uh, but on the other side of this, I want to tell you about a great They didn’t get the big three. Well, that’s true. They didn’t get Well, I don’t know. Maran, Marshawn, Barkoff, and Kachchuck is a pretty good place to start. Any Well, Bararkov they had all along. Bararkov was their wade. Uh, Kachchuck Kachchuck and Marshon were Bosch and LeBron, I guess. All right. Anyway, do want to tell you about a great sponsor of the Five Reason Sports Network. Our friend Lynette, the Align Training Method by Nette is offering a free 30inut virtual movement assessment. If you feel been feeling tight in your hips, stiff in your spine, or like your body is just out of alignment, listen up. It’s completely free. This isn’t some generic workout plan. You got a personalized breakdown of your posture, hip function, and movement pattern so you can train smarter, avoid injury, and move better overall. It’s great for anybody working through pain, coming back from injury, just looking to reset their body mechanics. Just head to the vault training. That’s the vaultraining.online to book your session. This is where smarter movement begins. Okay. So, I I guess that would be the question. What would cause you to lose faith, an organization that does have a 30-year record track record of relative success compared to others? I mean, I think kind of where I went with the State of the Heat episode and and the word that I chose and the being dramatic with it being a crossroads, I think it’s going to depend on what they do with their um with their upcoming roster flexibility and what they do to fortify whether it be around BAM or if something bigger pops off and BAM has to be included. I think just to your point early early in the offseason and we’ve done a lot of episodes now by mid August you said everything should be on the table and you know what even me who doesn’t want to put bam out of bio in trades everything should be on the table and so I I think that we’ll have to see how they come out of this next cycle of building up a team that can be a contender and who leads that group. I just think there’s a lot of question marks. So, it’s it’s ultimately why a lot of fans on social media are probably going to laugh at me when I say that the Heat are going to eventually um leapfrog over the Orlando Magic again. And it’s just I’ve seen this happen before where a team looks like they’re ascending and then all of a sudden the next thing you know the Heat are in the conference finals in their home. And so I think that there’s a lot of moves that have to happen for that to to come to fruition. So, I don’t want to act like it like um it’s not going to take a lot of work. I’m not naive to all of that. Uh I just usually will bet on the Heat to figure it out, but there it’s going to be crucial that they don’t invest in a team that can’t get there. Uh and so it’s just going to basically be a lot of hard decisions. And so that like that’s I guess the next moment where we’re going to have to take a real temperature check is when they make these decisions on guys like Hero, Norm Pal, um and and Yoic to a degree as well. Well, here’s when you can leaprog a team that looks pretty good. If that team has drafted the wrong guys. That that’s really what we’re talking because, you know, you talked about Philadelphia and why nobody has faith in Philadelphia. It’s cuz for the most part, you know, the process for first thing, the process kind of got cut in between because Hanky got pushed out and Kangelo came in, went a different direction, then it was Bran, then it was Mores. They’ve been all over the place. But they also made a lot of bad picks early in the draft. I mean, Okafur was a bad pick. Uh, obviously they hit on Embiid, but in a huge way, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy enough to really lead them anywhere. Uh, and Simmons, honestly, didn’t really work out uh the way that they had hoped he would work out. So, but I I think with Orlando, their picks have been smart. Um, and you know, look, Paulo, that was not a great draft where he was the number one overall pick. So, it’s not like Orlando lucked into, you know, the what’s like Cooper Flag draft for instance, but it looks like they got the best player. Okay. And so, I mean, that sometimes that’s not easy to do even if you have the number one overall pick to just get the best player when there were a lot of players that were projected in the top five that year. Fron has worked out. Suggs has worked out. There were some questions about Suggs. I think he’s already answered. So, the draft contract is descending, which I think is also super smart that they did that. So, I do want to give them credit there. They are run better than they’ve been run before. I I just I think that is something to consider. It does not mean they’ll cash it in. I because look, you look at some of these teams and sometimes they can’t get over certain playoff thresholds. But I think what he fans will say is, “Okay, where are we going to get that guy?” like where are we going to get the guy that that like unless it is a guy like Paulo after his rookie contract’s over with like is there one of those out there but we can’t get them on the rookie contracts we can’t because it’s not the way that we operate right as you know in terms of of tanking or putting yourself in that position Orlando made a decision or there were three teams that around that time see here’s the thing if you’re Sacramento they keep screwing the thing up right like the Clippers used to years and years years ago they kept drafting all these great college allstars and They throw the Ken Normans and the Danny Mannings and the all Darius years and years of this, right? Didn’t cash it, right? But Detroit, Orlando, Houston all kind of pivoted to rebuilds at the same time. Yeah. When they traded Vu to to Chicago, they that was a whole bunch of moves all at once. Forier, there was a whole bunch of guys who used to hurt the Heat, but they were they were stuck in this kind of bottom middle situation, right? Like sort of like Chicago has been now, I guess. So they kind of turned Chicago into them kind of like they traded Vousvich there, right? So but they those three franchises and we saw Orlando got off the mat first. Okay. Detroit continued to suffer, hired another coach, but then like Kade is so transcendent. I think that I think Kade has a chance to be he’s a he’s a dark horse MVP for me this year because if they can if Detroit can get in the top three in the East, I think there’ll be conversation about it. That Kate has transcended. So now that he has found it, these other young players are starting to rally around him. Houston just kept gathering talent. That’s basically what they did. They added a couple of veteran pieces in Dylan Brooks and and Van. Still don’t know if they fit too. We don’t. But now they’ve added Durant. So now like they’ve taken it and they fasttracked it, right? In terms of training Jaylen Green. I I am curious now to see which of these three franchises can sustain. But Orlando and Detroit are the two in the East that most are saying they can break into what has recently been and some of this is injury related. Boston, Indiana, Milwaukee, you know, and then obviously you’ve got, you know, Philadelphia when they’re healthy, Miami, but it’s it’s Detroit and Orlando. These two that I’m I’m who takes that step because now they’re expectations. when their expectations, as you said, it’s different. The Heat have you been used to dealing with expectations for three decades. The Magic have not a lot. They’ve been the little brother. Okay. And that’s why I kind of got a kick out of it today because they have always force-fed this rivalry thing and it ain’t been a rivalry. I mean, even Myers Leonard said that when he was in the heat, it ain’t been around. Like, I I get it for this press conference today and they’re trying to make Nick Anderson feel welcome and all this, but even Glenn Rice, okay, who predated Riley, Pat traded your guy, made a joke today about scoring 56 against Orlando, right? I mean, this has been a no contest really for for all this time. Even when they got like you said Shaq as a number one overall pick and even when they got Penny well they got Weber and traded him for Penny but as a basically a number one overall pick and even when they got Dwight the Heat have still exceeded them. Okay so that is what you can hold your hat on because it has happened many times before. I just want to know where’s the Paulo coming from for this team. Not that Bam’s not great, but you’re not giving the ball to Bam and having him carry you offensively in a playoff series like I think Orlando is counting on Paulo to do in the same and not in a two-way way that uh that you know with with Tyler. So anyway, that’s where we’re at with it. All right, so more episodes to come. As I said, we’ll be doing past, present, future just to get our way through August. We are expecting the release of the regular season schedule over the next couple of days. So we will get into that. doesn’t mean anything because everybody knows who they’re playing already. But uh we may preview every single game that’ll get us all the way to September. The Heat versus Charlotte, December 18th, 700 p.m. And yeah, we’ll be getting into that. We might actually. Have a good day, everybody. Thank you for listening to the five on the floor on the five reason sports network. After all, someone needs to listen to my dad.

As the Heat and Magic announce a preseason game in Puerto Rico, Ethan Skolnick and Greg Sylvander discuss the state of the two franchises in the Southeast Division.

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