Draft picks: 16, 46
Signed for next season ($85.4m): Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Timofey Mozgov, Markelle Fultz, DJ Augustin, Jonathon Isaac, Mo Bamba, Wesley Iwundu, Melvin Frazier
Is Gordon a star? He looks like a star but he has yet to really play like one. He needs to be paired with another badass....can Fultz be that badass?
Fournier is a nice player, reliable ball handler and good shooter. That contract seemed expensive at first but actually seems about right now.
I suspect Mozgov will be off the roster (and out of the league) by the beginning of the year.
Fultz...well, I guess we'll finally find out, right? If he's awesome it could be an amazing lift for the Magic, who made the playoffs last year--and took a game off the champs! But, if Fultz does nothing, then well, he'll do nothing.
Augustin is still a reliable vet (hmmmm....feels like a Laker, right?). If Fultz emerges, then Augustin might find himself coming off the bench for a playoff team by the end of the season.
Issac, Bamba and Iwundu each have their moments of looking like for-real badasses...but then also they have moments where they don't. Frazier, too, could still develop. There's a lot of potential in this lineup, we'll see if it turns into anything.
This summer's free agents: Nikola Vucevic, Terrence Ross, Jerian Grant, Jarell Martin, Khem Birch
I don't think they'll be able to afford Vucevic (I'm thinking Mavs) or Ross (I can see him on the Warriors). Nor do I see them bringing back Grant or Martin.
Birch, on the other hand, gave them good minutes and isn't expensive, so I reckon he'll be in the Magic rotation for a coupla years.
My gut is that the Magic should roll the dice on foreign prospects as much as possible, so if Sekou Doumbouye (France) falls, I think the Magic should go after him hard. If not, they'd do well to pick up PJ Washington (Kentucky). And #46, again, a foreigner like Luka Samanic (Croatia) might be the most intriguing pick.
Next year's lineup:
PG Augustin (til Fultz shows up), SG Fournier, SF Gordon, PF Isaac, C Bamba with Frazier, Iwundu and #16 off the bench.
Not a lot of depth but obviously they haven't even started filling out their summer roster, hard to tell at this point whether they keep Vucevic or how they replace him, and whether they see Augustin and/or Fournier as trade bait or who they pick up in the draft. Lot of work to do for the Magic this summer but there is an intriguing core already in place.
Not a lot of depth but obviously they haven't even started filling out their summer roster, hard to tell at this point whether they keep Vucevic or how they replace him, and whether they see Augustin and/or Fournier as trade bait or who they pick up in the draft. Lot of work to do for the Magic this summer but there is an intriguing core already in place.
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