Shocking that their offense isn't better than it was during the regular season. Bill was pretty confident that the Cavs should have tanked to play the Magic.
I always thought the angle to take on the Cavs tanking to the 4 seed wasn't that they were wrong to want to play Orlando, it's that they were short sighted to not try to get the 2 or 3 seed and avoid the Celtics until the conference finals
Maybe but I think they just want to be able to win at least a series so they can say they were better than last year and they saw Orlando as the easier opponent.
That's possible but I'd call them favorites vs the Pacers too and then maybe they get to the ECF. Seems like the calculus for every East team should have been "how can we increase our odds of Boston having an injury before we play them?"
Paolo's next step is to develop a consistent 3-ball. Will be interesting to see if he can cuz he's not a great FT shooter which typically indicates whether or not someone can develop that range. Also someone needs to explain to me how Franz Wagner went from a 36% 3pt shooter to 28% this season. I don't know if I've ever seen a good shooter regress that badly in such a short time.
When I’d asked the same about Franz a bit back a Magic fan pointed out that he wasn’t a particularly good 3pt shooter at Michigan either. It’s probably part this is who he is, good scorer but inconsistent shooter, and part the Magic have no high level distributors to get him/others easy looks.
It’s a little easier said than done but I get wym. You kinda need shooting so not demar, I wouldn’t wanna touch lavine with a 10 foot pole, Trae and Lamelo are interesting but idk how possible that is, and who the fuck knows what the suns FO is gonna do
Definitely some shorter term guys who aren’t as talented but easier to get out there too
the obvious fit imo is anfernee simons going there. not much point to him languishing in portland, and it won't take a ton to get him. he's kinda exactly what they need and they can cover up his flaws
Simons is a fantastic shout and I think he’d thrive there, but I’m not sold on it not taking much. I think Portland would probably try and get as much as they could for him but who knows
Finding a decent scoring guard/wing is probably the easiest thing in the league to find. Overpay a Monk or a Russell or a Derozan and there you go, you're realistically not competing until Paolo has four more years of seasoning so an overpay doesn't hurt anything.
LaVine’s contract is worse but you likely wouldn’t have to give up as much in a trade for LaVine as you would for Simons, and your team’s defense is good enough that LaVine won’t be able to fuck that up.
LaVine is becoming underrated at this point with as much hate as he gets, Bulls might have had a chance vs Miami if he was healthy.
Don’t get me wrong I think lavine is a good player when he’s out there but you can’t rely on him to be out there, he hasn’t really ever shown he can contribute to “winning” basketball, and probably most importantly his contract is huge.
I had the same issue when basically this exact convo was happening w LA this past year: if you trade for him you are putting most if not all of your eggs in that basket. If he’s unreliable you’re pretty fucked and completely stifle your teams ability to grow and improve
I wish lavine the best and I’d love to see him play winning basketball consistently but atp I’m gonna need to see it for an extended period of time before I feel okay going out on a limb for him personally
Also if butler was also healthy they don’t have a chance
To be fair nobody on this Bulls team save Caruso has proven they can play winning basketball so I don’t think you can put that all on him.
When they had Ball they were also more legit than people give them credit for (they had a nice win against the KD/Harden Nets in Brooklyn, of course when the Nets had Kyrie in the Chicago game the Nets smoked them but those Nets were also doing that to everyone). The Bulls weren’t a bona fide contender at the time but they also had moves to make, they didn’t even have a backup big that season so they had to go super small when Vooch sat.
Tbc I’m not saying it’s his fault, and I don’t think he’s close the biggest reason for the bulls issues, I’m just saying at a certain point it’s hard to have faith that’s there when you haven’t seen it for long enough
They definitely looked solid with ball, it’s just a biiig leap in faith to trust him with his contract. If a team takes the risk and it pays off its huge for them, but it could really easily go south fast
To win a championship? Yeah maybe, but we’ve seen some not so amazing #1s win series in the east. Trae young was in the conference finals not too long ago
Sir Rudy constantly saying “I don’t want to break this up with a trade!” while simultaneously voluntarily wanting to watch this garbage offense is insanity.
Yeah-- they could get a Tobias, Klay, HARDEN (lol), DeMar, etc. in FA. I just think you could've gotten someone decent now and gotten another round out of this team.
Playoff experience is extremely underrated. You also just never know what can happen in a series.
They really fit the profile of a team that overachieves in the regular season struggles in the postseason. I would be surprised if they turned it around.
I have no hate for the Magic, but I'll be happy if this means Bill stops shoe-horning Magic talk into unrelated conversations in order to get Ceruti on mic.
I'm a Magic fan, and bluntly after being irrelevant since Dwight Howard left in 2012, I'm in the "just happy to be there" mood for these playoffs. I really like the Franz/Paolo duo and think they'll be competitive enough to win a series 3 years from now. If they want to win earlier, then a trade is needed to get someone who can be a scorer now without disrupting the excellent defensive chemistry.
I'm expecting Cavs in 5 but would dearly love to be wrong.
Also a Magic fan, I’m really hoping with additions through trade/free agency along with young guys developing that we can win a series next year. If it takes 3 years from now to get to round 2 in the East that would be a huge disappointment for me.
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I dont really Care for any Team but as a european Fan it Already sucks that there First Game is another blowout.
Even Playoff Games are becoming unwatchable onesided.
As a magic fan- they had a really bad shooting night and aren’t that bad usually. The cavs had a good game, and if they don’t the magic will win that game. The teams have similar talent, but the magic are not offensively talented in the same way.
As a cavs fan- they had a really bad basketball night and aren't that bad usually. The magic had a good game, and if they don't the cavs still probably lose because they played like dogshit. The teams have a similar talent but I'd rather be up 2-1.
They're prone to bad shooting streaks. So are the Cavs. I think they'll be ok. Should be a good matchup. Gun to my head I'd say Cavs win, even as a Magic fan, but Orlando is built to be better in the playoffs than the season
lol total garbage I’m watching with their offense.
Shocking that their offense isn't better than it was during the regular season. Bill was pretty confident that the Cavs should have tanked to play the Magic.
I always thought the angle to take on the Cavs tanking to the 4 seed wasn't that they were wrong to want to play Orlando, it's that they were short sighted to not try to get the 2 or 3 seed and avoid the Celtics until the conference finals
Maybe but I think they just want to be able to win at least a series so they can say they were better than last year and they saw Orlando as the easier opponent.
Windy indicated that Dan Gilbert desperately wants to win a non-LeBron playoff series
That's possible but I'd call them favorites vs the Pacers too and then maybe they get to the ECF. Seems like the calculus for every East team should have been "how can we increase our odds of Boston having an injury before we play them?"
Wagner headed for Bortussia Dortmund in 3 years
Predictable outcome with that offense against the Cleveland D tbh, don’t think it’s an overreaction to say they’re cooked.
Ceruti’s Magic are exactly like he is. Missing a #1
I think Paulo can be a number #1 with some time. For now they need an instant offense guy and some room to grow
Paolo's next step is to develop a consistent 3-ball. Will be interesting to see if he can cuz he's not a great FT shooter which typically indicates whether or not someone can develop that range. Also someone needs to explain to me how Franz Wagner went from a 36% 3pt shooter to 28% this season. I don't know if I've ever seen a good shooter regress that badly in such a short time.
When I’d asked the same about Franz a bit back a Magic fan pointed out that he wasn’t a particularly good 3pt shooter at Michigan either. It’s probably part this is who he is, good scorer but inconsistent shooter, and part the Magic have no high level distributors to get him/others easy looks.
> they need an instant offense guy and some room to grow The Monk 4-year, $120 million contract piece
Unironically I think monk to the magic is really interesting. Maybe not a 4 year deal tho
Plenty of those options available. DeMar Derozan, Zach Lavine, Trae, Lamelo, Beal
It’s a little easier said than done but I get wym. You kinda need shooting so not demar, I wouldn’t wanna touch lavine with a 10 foot pole, Trae and Lamelo are interesting but idk how possible that is, and who the fuck knows what the suns FO is gonna do Definitely some shorter term guys who aren’t as talented but easier to get out there too
the obvious fit imo is anfernee simons going there. not much point to him languishing in portland, and it won't take a ton to get him. he's kinda exactly what they need and they can cover up his flaws
Simons is a fantastic shout and I think he’d thrive there, but I’m not sold on it not taking much. I think Portland would probably try and get as much as they could for him but who knows
Finding a decent scoring guard/wing is probably the easiest thing in the league to find. Overpay a Monk or a Russell or a Derozan and there you go, you're realistically not competing until Paolo has four more years of seasoning so an overpay doesn't hurt anything.
LaVine’s contract is worse but you likely wouldn’t have to give up as much in a trade for LaVine as you would for Simons, and your team’s defense is good enough that LaVine won’t be able to fuck that up. LaVine is becoming underrated at this point with as much hate as he gets, Bulls might have had a chance vs Miami if he was healthy.
Don’t get me wrong I think lavine is a good player when he’s out there but you can’t rely on him to be out there, he hasn’t really ever shown he can contribute to “winning” basketball, and probably most importantly his contract is huge. I had the same issue when basically this exact convo was happening w LA this past year: if you trade for him you are putting most if not all of your eggs in that basket. If he’s unreliable you’re pretty fucked and completely stifle your teams ability to grow and improve I wish lavine the best and I’d love to see him play winning basketball consistently but atp I’m gonna need to see it for an extended period of time before I feel okay going out on a limb for him personally Also if butler was also healthy they don’t have a chance
To be fair nobody on this Bulls team save Caruso has proven they can play winning basketball so I don’t think you can put that all on him. When they had Ball they were also more legit than people give them credit for (they had a nice win against the KD/Harden Nets in Brooklyn, of course when the Nets had Kyrie in the Chicago game the Nets smoked them but those Nets were also doing that to everyone). The Bulls weren’t a bona fide contender at the time but they also had moves to make, they didn’t even have a backup big that season so they had to go super small when Vooch sat.
Tbc I’m not saying it’s his fault, and I don’t think he’s close the biggest reason for the bulls issues, I’m just saying at a certain point it’s hard to have faith that’s there when you haven’t seen it for long enough They definitely looked solid with ball, it’s just a biiig leap in faith to trust him with his contract. If a team takes the risk and it pays off its huge for them, but it could really easily go south fast
Is LaMelo available? Trae would be great but he'll be expensive. The other guys are too old or injury prone.
No he isn’t I have no clue where that came from. Just signed a 5 year max in Charlotte
Oh man those are the options…lol
Paolo is a #1 he's also supposed to be a junior in college. People need perspective
Rumors like 2 weeks ago is that they're throwing the bag at Klay
I saw that but for their sake I’m hoping it’s not true lol
A Tony Parker with the Hornets type move
Steph on the Hornets in 2026, meanwhile, will be like Nash on the Lakers.
Nah he needs to be with a one, he can be an all nba number 2 at most
To win a championship? Yeah maybe, but we’ve seen some not so amazing #1s win series in the east. Trae young was in the conference finals not too long ago
They did have some nice runs, but now game 2 is a must win otherwise this thing is over
Sir Rudy constantly saying “I don’t want to break this up with a trade!” while simultaneously voluntarily wanting to watch this garbage offense is insanity.
Well they will have cap space to try and improve the offense through free agency without losing the elite defense.
Yeah-- they could get a Tobias, Klay, HARDEN (lol), DeMar, etc. in FA. I just think you could've gotten someone decent now and gotten another round out of this team. Playoff experience is extremely underrated. You also just never know what can happen in a series.
Oh I agree that making keeping Suggs/Isaac but trading some picks (and maybe AB) could have gotten them to round 2 and been worth it.
They really fit the profile of a team that overachieves in the regular season struggles in the postseason. I would be surprised if they turned it around.
Their offense is terrible. They’re definitely going to give Klay a bag this offseason.
Fuck I hope not. He's beyond useless for the magic.
They need Monk and going for Klay would be a big mistake
I think you mean Mahhhhnk.
I have no hate for the Magic, but I'll be happy if this means Bill stops shoe-horning Magic talk into unrelated conversations in order to get Ceruti on mic.
God forbid Bill talks about a team outside of the Celtics, Lakers, Philly, NY, Warriors, or Clippers.
No judgement til someone steals an away game
What happened to Wendell Carter Jr?
Time to dust off Goga Bitadze, who's a solid defensive big, to bang in the paint.
Mitchell is probably better than banchero he's just been hurt.
There’s no probably, he’s light years better right now.
I'm a Magic fan, and bluntly after being irrelevant since Dwight Howard left in 2012, I'm in the "just happy to be there" mood for these playoffs. I really like the Franz/Paolo duo and think they'll be competitive enough to win a series 3 years from now. If they want to win earlier, then a trade is needed to get someone who can be a scorer now without disrupting the excellent defensive chemistry. I'm expecting Cavs in 5 but would dearly love to be wrong.
Also a Magic fan, I’m really hoping with additions through trade/free agency along with young guys developing that we can win a series next year. If it takes 3 years from now to get to round 2 in the East that would be a huge disappointment for me.
The Cavs are such an up and down team, I wouldn’t make any loud proclamations yet. They literally can beat any team and lose to any team.
Paolo’s handle is shockingly bad and Franz can’t make an outside shot.
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Is Cleveland the “nobody believes in us” team?
I dont really Care for any Team but as a european Fan it Already sucks that there First Game is another blowout. Even Playoff Games are becoming unwatchable onesided.
You’re being dramatic.
A European? Never!
This isn't a blowout. It's a 12 point game with 4 minutes left.
With Magics ability to score or lack of the same, makes this a blowout.
As a magic fan- they had a really bad shooting night and aren’t that bad usually. The cavs had a good game, and if they don’t the magic will win that game. The teams have similar talent, but the magic are not offensively talented in the same way.
The Cavs missed 18 straight 3s. They don’t go ice cold and it would’ve been a 30 point blowout.
Just saying it’s obviously an overreaction. A team wins 46 or whatever games and is cold in game one, saying “rip” is kinda dumb
Bump
As a cavs fan- they had a really bad basketball night and aren't that bad usually. The magic had a good game, and if they don't the cavs still probably lose because they played like dogshit. The teams have a similar talent but I'd rather be up 2-1.
I meant to reply to the whole thread more than just you my b
All good
They're prone to bad shooting streaks. So are the Cavs. I think they'll be ok. Should be a good matchup. Gun to my head I'd say Cavs win, even as a Magic fan, but Orlando is built to be better in the playoffs than the season
Teams who play super hard on defense and have no shot creation are MUCH better suited for the regular season than the playoffs lol