What the center market looks like for the Orlando Magic | Zach LaVine?!

What the center market looks like for the Orlando Magic | Zach LaVine?!

we’ve talked on and on about the guards in the free agent Market but what about centers and bigs what’s out there for that plus Zack LaVine and an NBA Finals look ahead on today’s locked on Magic you are locked on Magic your daily Orlando Magic podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday and you are indeed locked on Magic today is June 2nd it will be June 3rd 2024 my name is Philip Rossman I I’m the senior writer over at orlandomagic.com you can follow me on Twitter Philip rrd on today’s episode of lock on Magic we’ve talked a lot about the guards and the wings and filling that need but what about centers we’ll talk about why that might be something for the magic to consider and how much it’s going to cost and we’re GNA get to that plus a whole lot more on today’s episode of lock down magic but first we want to thank you again for making lockdown magic part of your day every day no matter when you listen to us whether it’s first in the morning whether it’s right when we upload we truly appreciate you making lock on Magic part of your day every day remember there’s great locked on podcasts covering every single team in the NBA just s for lockon and the team you’re looking for the lockon podcast Network it’s your team every day today’s episode of lockdown magic is brought to you by LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster post your job for free at linkedin.com loock onba that’s linkedin.com lockon NBA to post your jop for free terms and conditions apply so we’ve talked a lot in preparation for free agency about what the room looks like you know obviously I think a lot of us came out of the playoffs came out of the series with the Cleveland Cavaliers saying the magic need a ball handler palano freaking came out to the Washington Post and said you know we need a table setter someone that’s just going to get us organized get me easy shots get Fran’s easy shots just make things easier for this team and we’re gonna have this discussion but I I want to make sure it’s abundantly clear the two things the magic need more than anything else if the magic just Baseline goal for this off season it’s get another ball handler get another Creator get a point guard a more truer point guard in my opinion and add shooting that means shooting Improvement internally that means shooting Improvement externally and there are plenty of those whether it’s kyp whether it’s called will Pope whether it’s Malik Beasley whether it’s mik monk whether it’s Klay Thompson there there are a lot tyus Jones there are Danel Russell there are a lot of shooting options there are a lot of point guard options out there and we’ll see ultimately what the magic decide but you probably also remember that that we’ve talked a lot about traits and and and and and this is a point that I make this point our friend Keith Smith the spot track always makes the magic have a lot of cap room but that doesn’t mean they have to spend it on free agency they can also spend it in trades so we had that episode a few weeks ago with Mike Richmond of lockon blazers talking about anony Simons and you probably noticed a name popped up in that and and a name keeps popping up in every trade scenario so if the magic are going to make sure they get a guard and that is the number one priority it in all likelihood will cost them Wendell car you know say what you want about wend Carter he is a quality starting center in the league uh injuries aside he is excellent defensively he’s a good floor spacer he’s a solid shooter defends his position well there is are reasons to believe the magic need an upgrade at Center but it is still a second order problem the first thing the magic have to find is the guard and the shooting but if it costs wendo Carter then they got to ask themselves well what does this Center Market look like because you don’t want to get caught going into the season without a starting center I didn’t love the Jonathan Isaac experimented Center I’m very much on the record about that I think it looked bad I’m very much on the record of believing that Jonathan Isaac is not a center or a backup center certainly not for longer than a few minutes I I’m not against Isaac at Center lineups but like the Golden State Warriors lineup with Draymond Green you only play it sparingly and it’s something that that needs more work and is probably more matchup dependent than than anything else and so yes the guard position is the most important but what does the center market look like can the magic solve both these problems you maybe it’s a problem maybe it’s not but can the magic solve both of these needs at once if they’re going to trade Wendall Carter they’re going to need a center and and I I’ll continue to say this I’ve got a few ideas I don’t know if you’ll like like them or not um but the magic probably still need to spend one of their roster spots they need to replace Goa baz if if baz is gonna walk if he’s gone they need to find a backup center who is capable of starting 15 to 20 games a year because wend Carter is gonna miss 15 to 20 games year it’s it’s just it’s just how it is at this point so what does the center market look like not good not good at all Jake Fischer of Yahoo sports came out with the article with an article um kind of assessing the Center Market uh I believe Saturday was when it came out it might have been Friday um and essentially said your two options are Isaiah hartenstein and Nick claxon and both of them appear to be commanding a contract somewhere between 20 to $25 million per year now we’ve talked about this a little bit before but the New York Nicks are very limited in what they can offer isaah hartstein because he is uh he only they only have early bird rights to him I believe they can only offer him a contract starting at 16 and a half or1 17 million per year so if hartenstein is going to get 20 million a year and I think that is a very safe bet 25 a year is I think on the high end but not impossible with the competition here um if he’s going to get that the Knicks are priced out and the Knicks would have to do some work to get to to get to a number where they could offer him that much uh and that would be for dealing with OG and anobi who they’re going to have to spend on as well the Nick are a bit of a pickle when it comes to Isaiah hartstein and look his numbers don’t look impressive but he’s a solid rim protector a really versatile a really good Defender not super not versatile in the Way Wendell is but can hold his own I think he’s an excellent passer I think he’s a better shooter than than people give him credit for there’s a reason why I traded him in last year’s lock down mock draft I I’ve had plenty of people say I’ve been Vindicated on that on that deal that everyone hated at the time um but hartenstein would be a really good Center option as with Nick claxon who’s an excellent Defender much better a better rim protector better shop blocker by the numbers um little bit less versatile offensively in my opinion but it sounds like Brooklyn Brooklyn’s main priority this offseason is to bring back Nick Claxton uh once the finals ends they can start negotiating a a uh can start negotiating the uh uh extension with him and they could have that done before June 30th so look the magic are going to it’s you know the mager know who’s going where by the time this happens let’s not let’s not pretend otherwise but after that that is about it for the Center Market you got Jonas valenines um who I don’t think he’s a starting center in the league anymore he played only 24 minutes per game this season uh he’s kind of an Earthbound you know he’s an Earthbound Center he’s big he’s tough he rebounds well but you know he doesn’t space the floor very well he’s not super versatile defensively I don’t think he’s a player of the magic would Chase after and then that’s it for starting level centers you might as well stick to Goa batad at that point again I don’t think I think googa is very good I think googa deserves an opportunity to go play backup center somewhere I he’s not placed he’s not replacing Mo Vagner at this point we had that competition Mo Vagner won it um you know there are other options iMagic could chase after there’s a few veterans there but there are no other starting level centers that’s why when we did that mock trade with lockon Blazers and did that episode I pitched adding Robert Williams to the deal because Robert Williams at least gives the magic a good Center option A A A A capable floor spacer an excellent defender on the perimeter a solid shop Locker uh someone who can can fill all those roles uh but yes very very injury prone and missed pretty much the entire season last year um as as he struggled with those injuries and and struggled with those injuries in Boston too so you’d still have the problem of you would need to go out and find a third Center a starting capable third Center to to help you out this is all to say that the Center Market this summer complicates a lot of the decisions the magic are gonna have to make this year because again everything is running on the same track and I know you could say the magic could draft kelw they could draft evees Missy those those players are fine they’re not starting ready especially for a team that wants to compete like the magic I’d rather keep wend Carter if that’s the choice but that there in lies the problem and that’s again why we’re probably hunting for guards in free agency because if a trade is going to cost the magic wend Carter the options to replace him are much smaller are much more difficult or you’re gonna have you’re gonna have to construct that trade to get your replacement for Wendel Carter because a all you know there are some indications that the Oklahoma City Thunder could be chasing after Isaiah hartstein or the Detroit Pistons could chase after Isaiah hartstein there is going to be competition for the few centers out there in the market and that’s only going to drive the price up the Knicks are probably Losing Isaiah hartenstein because there are enough guy enough teams driving that price up that they’re not going to be able to match or they’re not going to have the time to be able to to put together the the pieces to match to to get rid of the pieces they need to match that contract and still retain their flexibility that’s that’s going to be the struggle for the New York Knicks and why hartenstein is going to get a fat payday he will get 80 plus million he may get 90 100 I still think is a little high that it wouldn’t surprise me in this in this market in this atmosphere because there’s just so few quality centers available and yeah I don’t know why Detroit needs a center but Detroit’s GNA throw their money at somebody Oklahoma City definitely needs a Center Oklahoma City does not want to play CAD home gr at Center again they need a center Isaiah hartstein would be an interesting option for them that creates competition that creates that means you’re gonna someone’s goingon to have to pay a higher price and that means if the magic want to trade wend Carter if it if to get the guy the magic need they have to trade wend Carter that means they’re paying a lot more for Center than maybe anyone anticipated it’s a very very tight market for centers um in free agency at least it’s going to be really really tricky for the magic to pull something off like that uh and get the kind of player that they’re looking for but that’s what the center free agency market looks like and that’s going to be one of the interesting pieces of this puzzle for Orlando coming up though we’re going to go back to talking about star trades and why they’re so difficult and why it probably isn’t the best idea quite yet but one rumor keeps popping up people keep trying to make something happen well since our friends at lock on Bulls brought it up we will address it here Zack LaVine back in the news we’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment but first it’s time for quick work from our friends over at LinkedIn when you’re hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals who are right for the role that’s why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help you find the right Professionals for your team faster and for free LinkedIn isn’t just another job board LinkedIn has a vast network of more than a billion professionals which makes it the best place to hire it gives you access to professionals you can’t find anywhere else LinkedIn does all that while making the process easy and intuitive I know as a job Seeker LinkedIn is one of my favorite job boards to look at I know that it has connections to all the biggest companies uh in the world and now it is Avail now that power and that resource is available to you and your small business LinkedIn knows that small business is wearing so many hats and might not have the time or resources to hire LinkedIn is constantly finding ways to make that process easier they even just launched a feature that helps you write job descriptions two and a half million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring so why not you post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NBA that’s linkedin.com loock NBA post your job for free terms and conditions apply we want to thank you for making lockdown magic part of your day every day now be sure to check out the lock on sports day 247 streaming Channel there’s so much going on in the World of Sports now NBA finals on the horizon Stanley Cup Final on the horizon WNBA I don’t know if they have nwsl but they should get nwsl because nwsl is popping now with the Orlando Pride sitting on top and you want the best analysis of all your and Mobb of course uh you want the best analysis of all your favorite sports and the biggest Sports stories of the day that’s where the lock on sports today 247 streaming Channel comes in it’s programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming lock on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lock podcast Network it’s your team every day so popping up here uh on my uh on my social media on on wherever I get my news and everything else um I do keep tabs on all of our lock on podcast networks and all of our locked on friends and and I want to you know encourage you if you’re interested in any team don caralis of locked on celt we’ll get to we’ll get to some final stuff here in a minute but John kis of lockon Celtics Nick angad of locked on Mavericks do an incredible job with their teams you know John carus is frankly the Celtics Rider he’s he’s I’m I am the magic version of him he is not the Celtics version of me I am the magic version of him and and and DW and he dwarfs me frankly um he you will be ready for the NBA Finals no matter what I can tell you about the NBA Finals you’ll be ready for the NBA Finals by listening to them but our friends at lockon Bulls had an interesting headline on their episode yesterday and you know pitched and examined potential trade between the Orlando Magic and the Chicago Bulls involving Zack LaVine now I have seen several kind of you know blogger types you Bleacher Report come up with a lot of lot of things saying well if the Bulls are going to trade Zack LaVine the magic would be a good spot for him to live and I’ve seen them try and put together deals to a Zack LaVine to Orlando deal happen and I’m sure some of you have talked about it to it’s it’s impossible frankly I couldn’t find any like hard reporting suggesting that the magic are interested or that something is imminent but look it’s hard to deny that there should be some interest if Chicago is preparing to break their team apart a little bit if they are preparing to make a change and and and kind of flip their script a little bit trading Zack LaVine toward Orlando is not the worst idea in the world he averaged 19 and a half points per game last year shot 45.2% from floor 34.9% from three on 6.8 attempts per game uh 85.4 free throw attempts uh free throw percentage 5.2 rebounds 3.9 assists we all know firsthand what a spury scorer he can be how quickly he can get hot how quickly he can change games uh you know pretty much each of the last two years and three probably three times that the magic have faced the bulls with LaVine playing he has single-handedly clawed Chicago back into the game the issue of course is that he has a long injury history played only 25 games last year had major had another kind of major knee issue that kept him out of the lineup he’s coming off Seasons where he played 77 67 58 60 63 um 63 games you know so he’s he’s played more than 70 games just three times in his career and one of them was in 2023 he is a two-time NBA All-Star in 2023 when he played 77 games he averaged 24.8 points per game shot 48 and a half% from the floor 37 and a half% from thre career 38.2% three-point shooter 4.2 assists per game 4.5 rebounds per game when he was in Minnesota they tried him at point guard a little bit um essentially what I’m saying is yes Zack LaVine checks a lot of boxes for the magic offensively he’s an excellent shooter he is another scorer and playmaker and Creator he is someone that can EAS scoring load off of Palo and frons when needed but he may be at a stage in this career where he can kind of take a step back the biggest impediment of course is a the injury issue and B his salary he has got three more years left on his contract including a player option in 2027 that will pay him $43 million in 2025 $46 million in 2026 and then $49 million in a little bit less than $49 million off that team option in 2027 so essentially if the magic were to trade for Zack LaVine and this is the part they didn’t really talk about in on lock on bulls the magic would be committing themselves to three years of Zack LaVine that’s that’s the honestly that’s more the trade than getting Zack line because when Z’s healthy like yes he would really help this team and even though you know even playing with nicoa vuich and dear de rosan he still found his ways to pick his spots and find himself but there in lies the problem to get to that number a the magic could absorb a lot of it into their cap room but they can’t absorb all of it um they would have to give up something and the deal that the that the lock down Bulls crew came up with centered on I believe it was uh either Cole I believe they centered it on Mo Vagner Joe Eng Les and the 18th pick which you know that’s 11 plus that’s $19 million so you’re resorbing more than $20 million into your C room which the magic could do they’re going to go out and sign a $23 million year guy but if the magic are going to make a trade my preference is to get that number down to about 15 million so you can still go out and sign another $20 million guy maybe another 10 maybe another another 8 million doll guy into your room exception which is the idea that Keith Smith had with moer um the math just becomes very very difficult because again I think you know when we get to this offseason we’re talking about this offseason yes the instinct is right here to say that the magic are in a win now mode they want to win we’re done with rebuilding we’re done with kind of hedging these B the winning window is open the magic have to be doing things to improve their roster improve their standing in the Eastern Conference and set themselves up especially now with you know contracts starting to come do set themselves up for future trades um personally I don’t think Zack LaVine does that and and this is why I’ve been kind of pitching a more moderate approach where I don’t think the magic spend all their money on one guy this summer is more about arranging the chess pieces it’s about yes adding a starting caliber guard next to Jaylen sug so you have that shooting and you have that that’s priority number one I’m not going to sit here and pretend otherwise that’s going to cost you somewhere between probably 22 and $25 million a year the magic have 32 probably they really have $40 million in cap room let’s let’s just assume they’re going to wave Joe Engles at this point um if they have $40 million in cap room they’re going to spend half of it on one player and that’s okay that’s fine then they will have another F you know 10 to 15 million to spend elsewhere again that’s why I think trying to get that trade if you’re going to make a trade get that trade number down to 10 to 15 and then spend that 20 to 25 million on an Isaiah hartstein on a on Nick claxon on someone else to bring into the roster that’s that’s that’s kind of the sweet spot for me um and so this is why I’m more for a moderate approach if you are acquiring Zack LaVine or acquiring a player like him that’s going to cost a lot of money like Paul George like Klay Thompson you are essentially committing yourself to that team and you lose all your flexibility and the magic are not in a place where they should Lo completely lose their flexibility now obviously they gotta spend uh and this is the summer to spent we’re not going to pretend otherwise this is the Summer where they got to spend because fron voger is about to make $35 million a year at minimum if not the full Max of 38$ 39 million a year um that’s coming uh the finances are going to get very weird very very quickly here um and very foreign because again the cap is just about to just balloon like crazy and balloon exponentially here over the next several years um the magic need to maintain some flexibility to make these trades to make these deals and to say okay this plan didn’t work we still need to be good you don’t want to get trapped with a bad roster that’s what happened to Chicago Chicago got trapped with a bad rosters they said unlocked on bulls the bulls built the Magic’s roster and we thank them for it honestly I don’t know why Chicago would call Jeff welman I don’t know why Chicago would arturus carsen noas would answer the phone from Jeff welman the magic don’t want to kind of be stuck where stuck like the Bulls are where their only option is to trade some of their stars for either swap them out for another star or trade them for kind of pieces to kind of reset themselves we don’t want to do that so I think that it’s key for the magic to exit this offseason still with a little bit of flexibility and I just don’t think he can do that with Zack line I agree he checks a lot of boxes offensively I don’t think he’s as bad defensively he’s obviously been part of good defensive teams in Chicago so you bring him into a good defensive culture he’s not going to take too much away from that that the injury history the salary that just makes it really tough for me to believe and again constructing a deal becomes really tough are they gonna take Chicago going to take Wendell Carter back as our friends at locked on bull said the team that’s acquiring Wendell Carter is already thinking about where they’re to trade him that’s that’s unfortunately kind of where wend Carter is right now um are they going to take him back again I talked a little bit earlier about okay what happens with the center spot after that I don’t know but this is the problem with trades is the Magic’s options to trade are very very limited they’re not trading Jonathan Isaac sorry kids um they’re not trading Jonathan Isaac Cole Anthony is fouryear deal just starting a four-year deal coming off his worst prob a season he was fine he played well but his numbers were really poor um so is anyone going to be taking him wend Carter is coming off of a really bad year it’s gonna you know the magic have draft Capital to spend and they should spend you know they should be willing to spend some of it but it’s tough and I don’t think that Zack LaVine quite does it it’s it’s it’s not that I wouldn’t like the aggression and look LaVine would help this team tremendously it’s that’s it that’s the game that’s your team are you going to win a championship in the next three years with that and when what happens when lavine’s done lavine’s contract comes up are you looking to move him again well the value is gonna be a little bit different but are you looking to move him again or are you gonna let him walk and now you don’t have the full $40 million he free the full $49 million he frees up It’s Tricky it’s really really tricky but I don’t think the magic would pursue Zack LaVine Monday is our big NBA pitcher idea a day so we’ll talk a little bit about what we’re expecting to see in the NBA Finals now that the match up is set we’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment but first it’s time for quick work from our friends over at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you come with more than 122 million parts for your number one Rider die you will always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home some huge wins keep your ride or dialog live at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers so here we are we have finally made it and and with what little time we have left on today’s show let’s talk bigger NBA picture here let let let’s get to the bigger NBA picture the NBA finals are finally here and we’ll talk a little bit more about what we should watching as magic fans in the NBA finals on Thursday’s episode of lock on locked on Magic before game one uh but I I want to touch briefly on what we’re seeing here in the league and kind of bigger picture stuff as we begin to look and examine this series between the Celtics and the Mavericks um I I will probably give my prediction for the series on Thursday but again I would encourage all of you if you want to stay up to date on the NBA Finals either check out the lock on sports day 247 streaming Channel because both locked on Celtics and locked on Mavericks will be there but if you want to stay up to date with the best preview and Analysis of the NBA Finals check out John corales of lockon Celtics John’s good F good friend of the show here um oh big big magic fan too uh but uh John John knows that Celtics team inside and out give give his show a listen for the Celtics perspective Nick angad of lockon Mavericks does a fantastic job covering the Dallas Mavericks give his show a listen uh from Lockdown Mavericks you will be more than covered in a way that I’m not going to be able to touch here um but I do want to talk about some bigger storylines overall uh first of all the Celtics are the ones seed you know mo the dominant team in the league but I think John Hollinger of the athletic did a really good job painting this picture for the first time I think it’s since for the first time since the 1980s or 1970s the NBA will have six different Champions it is exceedingly rare for the league to not have a dynasty and obviously the Golden State Warriors Dynasty is coming to pass maybe we Define dynasties differently in the salary cap age and now in the second apron age um where it’s really hard to keep teams together but frankly if you look at the standings if you look at the way the league is composed we are in a age of parody and the Dallas Mavericks were the five seed they finished with 50 wins only three more wins in Orlando Magic same seeding as the magic the Dallas Mavericks were the five seed the Minnesota Timberwolves were the three seed the Indiana Pacers were the six seed we had a very very strange Western we had a very strange Conference Finals with teams that were not expected to be there teams that surprised everyone to reach their spot to reach this spot to reach this level it is it is a I think it’s a good thing ultimately for the NBA because you know I I used to say in the in the 2000s like the NBA is the most predictable league in the world and in in major sports we can pick out the three or four teams that probably are going to win the championship before the season starts and so I would tell people like you know the end n ba is not about the winner you know we kind of have an idea of who’s going to win the championship pretty early on in the season if not in the preseason it’s about the journey it’s about the the the random game on a Tuesday night when someone pops off for 45 or 50 it’s the stories and the buffoonery that happens along the way the NBA is very much a league about the journey but now that we’ve had an eight seed Miami Heat make the NBA Finals we had a seven seed Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals last year it’s been two straight years of parody of a belief that any team can make it if they get into the field that was kind of the big lesson I took from the Miami Heat and obviously Miami is a little bit different the veteran team kind of stuck their way in but none of us would have been surprised if you know Philadelphia’s were healthy if they snuck in as the seven seed and paraded to the championship that team was that team was the second best team in the East if not for Joel embiid’s injury and obviously he was playing hurt in in playoffs and the Nicks beat him this is you know the the big thing that Hollinger wrote in his piece on the athletic is that it really feels like if you can get into the second round anything can happen and look Boston paraded to the finals they off they’ve lost only two games in this in this playoffs you could say they got lucky with injuries whether it was Jimmy Butler Donovan Mitchell Tyrese Alberton that’s part of the game they’ve been the most dominant team in the league all year when it IT Hollander warned that look this may not be an incoming age app parody this could be the beginning of the Celtics Dynasty for all we know and remember Boston made the finals two years ago missed it last year they’re back they’re back again this will be their second finals in three years this could be the first of a long run and everybody’s going to be chasing the Celtics here for a little bit that’s also true I would also argue that the East looks pretty settled for at least the foreseeable future again we’ll see what happens this off season but it’s hard for me to Envision anyone outside of the playoff picture breaking through these these first eight the the eight that made made the playoffs this year I feel pretty comfortable that even if Orlando took a step back they will be in the playoffs again next year because frankly I’m not scared of Brooklyn as presently constructed I’m not scared of Atlanta as presently constructed Atlanta’s funky but I’m not scared of them not scared of Chicago as presently constructed Charlotte’s not gonna Charlotte’s gonna need some time Toronto is probably not ready to to make that step yet Detroit certainly isn’t Washington certainly isn’t the eight teams that made the playoffs and frankly maybe the 10 teams Brooklyn The Only Exception the 10 teams the eight teams that made the playoffs are probably going to be there for a little while or probably be there again next year who knows for a little while but you know we’ll see what happens this off season a lot can happen but we kind of know who who the teams are that are going to be meaningful next season in the east at least and it does feel like if you can win a series which the manrick can they almost did this year you do have that chance to do anything now the West is a mess like the West is super competitive the Dallas Mavericks have two of the best guards you know guards in the league there’s a reason why people are talking about Luca donic and Kyrie Irving is one of the best guard Duos in league history they’re playing that way right now um they are very very good and at the end of the day this is the magic need to upgrade their talent I know I’ve just kind of said oh the magic shouldn’t go after Zack LaVine there’s gonna be a point you know we’ll see what fron vager timately becomes we’ll see what pow bener ultimately becomes but the magic are gonna have to upgrade some Talent they’re going to have to improve throughout their roster to get where they ultimately want to go and and they’re best players are going to have to play a lot better than they did in the playoffs and Pao played pretty well already but that’s the thing I think despite how good Boston is there is clear opportunity Indiana can freaking you know as much as I said Indiana struggled with pace which I I think they did they can sit there and say we had a lead in in the last two minutes of three of the four games we got swept but it wasn’t like we were blown out every game they are more than C they were more than capable of taking a few games off of Boston and probably should have won two of those games that’s how close the league is that’s how close things are in the playoffs and the magic have found themselves in that discussion and so yes I’m not going to sit here and say the magic are going to the finals next year I will joke about it but I’m not going to say that um but it’s not so farfetched and that should be something that this season teaches everybody the league is really close the league is does have a lot of parity and anybody can beat anybody give them the right circumstances give them the right team give them the injuries give them all of that this league is as as equal and and full of parity as it’s been in its history and yeah the team with the top record might still win the championship this year let’s not pretend otherwise but it’s always going to be a fight and the playoffs are always going to be a really difficult difficult Journey for whoever survives it we will talk more NBA finals on Thursday’s episode of lockon magic tomorrow we’re going to get back to our draft Tuesday I will I’m currently writing my first mock draft I’ll tell you who I have the magic picking and the players that I I really think are on the target list we’ll get to that on tomorrow’s episode of lockdown magic but that’s going to do it for me today I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of lockon magic just find me on Twitter Philip romd subscribe to the podcast and apple podcast you’re tuned in him Google Spotify Odyssey and all the funb podcast to your podcast enable listen device for L on the Orlando Magic be sure to be sure to check out Orlando Magic da.com you can follow us on Twitter Magic daily and for even more Orlando Magic content including my player evaluations I’m currently working through my player evaluations that’ll be on my patreon page at the Orlando magichub that’s patreon.com Orlando Magic hub now that you’re done listening to me be sure to check out the lockdown sports today 247 streaming Channel on YouTube and now available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app lockdown Sports to is here for you 247 covering covering the top sports stories of the day with local Experts of lockdown plus our national shows covering every leek find lockon sports now available on the free Fire TV channels app that’s going to do it for me today though I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of lockdown magic for Orlando Magic daily and lockon Magic this has been Philip Rossman Reich we’ll see you again next time for another episode of lockon magic for

The Orlando Magic are likely looking for a guard first and foremost this offseason. But if they go for a trade, it likely means they are looking for a replacement for Wendell Carter. The center free agent market will also be important for them to examine. It is decidedly barren however.

Also the rumors will not die. Are the Magic interested in Zach LaVine? Part of it makes sense. But overall, it does not seem like something the Magic will pursue this offseason.

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