r/OrlandoMagic

Hartenstein is twisting Wembys arms and intentionally trying to hurt him on every damn play. Pretty obvious that he’s being coached to hurt Wemby. Lu Dort is the biggest POS to ever play in the nba, he makes draymond green seem like a great guy. Caruso cheats and fouls every play then he’s shocked that he can’t use his shoe to block a shot.
Wemby is the best player since Micheal Jordan and the reason that everyone is watching this game and OKC is cheating playing dirty as all hell to Intentionally hurt him. Seriously f0ck this trash team, no wonder everyone hates them. NBA needs to do something about this or the will ruin the best thing that’s happened to this league in a long time.

Unlike the NFL, NBA contracts are usually fully guaranteed. That means the day they sign the deal a player will see everything promised to them. In the NFL there are flashy numbers for a player signing a 5 year $900M deal but it's really 3 years at $10M and years 4 and 5 at $435M each. An NFL player only gets that money if they're on the roster. There are other cap wizardry tactics in the NFL that do not apply to the NBA.

Unlike the MLB, NBA contracts can't be longer then 5 years. So there not $500M 10 year deal to be had. There are also no shenanigans like signing for peanuts in 2024 and getting paid on annual basis for 50 years.

Fully guaranteed contracts means that cutting a player does not provide cap relief, and this is why a team will hold onto a clearly declining player longer then you would like. So yeah Ben Simmons sucked for years and was never worth his max deal, but someone signed him and he was getting that money if he dressed up or not so better see what you can get out of him.

The next thing to remember is rookie deals in the NBA for first round players are for 4+1. 4 guaranteed years with a 1 year option. This is basically set in stone, as is contract value based draft position. This was all negotiated by the NBAPA and the Owners to set a rookie salary scale. Generally unless you suck out loud, a team will pick up a rookie's option and sign them to a second contract.

If a player does not have his option picked up, they become a Restricted Free Agent. This means that they can try and move to a different team however any deal they sign can (and generally is) matched by the drafting team. This is why Kuminga was stuck on the Warriors despite being a bad fit for both sides until he was traded.

The second contract for a player is typically with the team that drafted them, this is "freely negotiated" and can be for anything up to a rookie max deal. This is a deal that typically based on promise and potential that may or may not pan out. Ben Simmons is the poster boy of a second contract that went bad and why teams work so hard to not hand out max deals which we get into next.

Now one thing to remember with contracts is something called years of service, or how long a player has been in the NBA. This matters mainly for setting the max percentage of the cap that a player is allowed to sign for. It's 0-6 25%, 7-9 30%, and 10+ 35%. There is also the Super Max which is 35% of the deal if they qualify for certain awards like All NBA, MVP, and Defensive player of the year.

The max sets a hard cap for the value of a deal, however because the cap raises every year, in effect there are built in raises for the deal and this trickles down to most players taking escalating deals where they make more every season. This is the norm for most of the NBA, and how a deal that seems reasonable year 1 seems an absolute joke year 5.

After a rookie contract a player has less then 6 years of service so they can only sign for the "rookie max" which is 25% of the cap. This is what Franz and Paolo are signed for. If that player hits the "Rose Rule" meaning they are an MVP or selected for an All-NBA team that can escalate to 30% of the cap. This is what Cade Cunningham has.

So what does this mean? Once a player signs a deal he's making that $100+M no matter what. You and stretch and waive a player - this is what the Bucks did to get out from under Dame's deal. This means that you take the remaining amount of money owed to a player and chop it up over I think 7 years, and that lower amount sits on your cap for the next seven years. Regardless that money will be paid, and it will count against your cap.

So TL;DR?

• The money will be paid no matter what;
• Because of that keeping a player on the team is better then waiving them
• Stop thinking of raw dollar value, but instead as a % of the cap
• Most players will see a second contract and the rough parameters of the deal are baked in from jump

Big blender guy

Hi Everone. Just looking to check the pulse of the team/fanbase here, have some questions.

It looks like next season you're in the first apron....are you looking to get out? How?

How do you guys feel about Anthony Black? He is due for a pricey extension and the team is already expensive.

How do you guys feel about Jett Howard? It looks like he hasn't gotten an extension?

What players are you looking to trade away? What needs are you looking to trade for?

Thank you.

Thank you Cavs for supplanting us as the biggest chokers in the 2026 playoffs. Maybe it can be argued that ours “looked” worse because of missing 23 shots in a row. But these dudes were up by 22 with 7 minutes left in the fourth and completely fell apart. Gave up a 44-11 run similar to the 39-9 run we gave up. This is a petty post…But misery loves company.

I’m a diehard Gator fan, so trust me, this is not Billy Donovan hate.

Billy is a great coach. He gave Florida fans memories we’ll never forget. Back-to-back titles. Elite teams. Real culture. I’ll always respect him.

But as a Magic fan, I don’t know if he’s the move I’d be most excited about.

The Magic already have structure.

They already have defense.

They already have young talent.

What they need now is a coach who can raise the ceiling of Paolo, Franz, and this offense.

That’s why I keep coming back to Sam Cassell.

Cassell has been around winning basketball his whole career. He has rings as a player. He has coached around stars. He has been around strong forwards and wings like Tatum, Brown, Kawhi, PG, and Embiid. He feels like the type of coach who could walk into the room and instantly have respect.

The last few NBA champions show a trend.

Teams aren’t just hiring the biggest name anymore.

They’re winning with coaches who fit the roster, connect with stars, and bring a clear identity.

Daigneault with OKC.

Mazzulla with Boston.

Malone with Denver.

None of those were “safe big-name” hires at the time. They were the right fit.

That’s where I’m at with Cassell.

Billy feels safe.

Cassell feels like a swing.

And honestly, this Magic team might be at the point where the safe hire is not enough.

I love Billy Donovan.

But I want what’s best for the Magic more.

So Jason Kidd just got fired... (or i guess "mutually agree to part ways")

I know he is a defensive-minded coach, and according to some Mavericks fans is a mannequin on offense. IDK how he would fit but I guess the defense would get better.

Would this be a good hire or would someone like Billy, Thibs, or Bulldozer be better?

I feel like Kidd was a pretty good coach but I guess that could also be due to him having Luka for most of his time and now Flagg.

Watching OKC vs the Spurs really hits home just how far we are from winning a championship. Both those teams were down in the pits with us a few seasons ago and now they are streets ahead of us.

It also reaffirms my belief that the league is trending towards athleticism and speed over size. You need a couple of true centers and then to surround them with fast and skilled players.

Outside of their centers, neither OKC or Spurs have any players in their rotations over 6'7. The Pacers were very similar last season, and the Hawks (who killed us this season) are built in the same way.

A big contrast to our team that has 3 starters of 6'10, who combined weigh well over 700lbs. We are a very big and slow team and to me that is a big part of why we find it so hard to create good shots.

People are massively down on Suggs (I get it, he drives me crazy too) but it feels like him, AB, and Jamal Cain are the archetypes of players that are actually thriving right now.

Am i crazy for thinking we should look into hiring Chris Paul or Rondo as a heach coach. First off we can look at the recent ones like jj and Tiago Splitter. Players who are from the 2010s era but arent cutoff to the 200s like with kidd and lue. I say this in that they are more in touch with the current nba play style and with the turnaround the jj and tiago have done to there teams i dont see why not go out and get a guard like paul or rondo who not only where leaders on ther eteam but these players watched growing up. I think taking a chance with a guard leader esprecially with jow our guard positions have been lately would be a big plus even if it takes some adjustments. Compared to whats out there right now i think the magic going for those 2 is whatsbest.

I really want the white association Bane jersey, but I've spent so much on jerseys lately and $120 is tough. I've been putting it off all season and now that its tank top season, i want one. These damn things never go on sale.

Side note; how bad are the Fantics Replica jerseys? I don't mind that the Nike symbol is missing and like the idea of it being light weigh compared to a regular jersey. The Nike jerseys are heavy. But im afraid it may be too baggy. Im a short guy (5 foot 6) with a built chest and arms. I wear a 44 in regular jerseys, not sure Fantics. S or M

https://preview.redd.it/wp31w2xyxz1h1.png?width=752&format=png&auto=webp&s=622048cceaf86f9749a617930579999138733b21

Soooo yeah. 3 Conference finals team/contenders and then us.

a lot of reports about trading jalen suggs to look for expiring and cheap contracts as a salary dump move. Not because we don't like how he played, but literally cuz we cant keep this team together anymore.

Our starting 5 next season cost as much as celtics and okc roster this season. AB extension is coming up too. Very bad cap situation.

also idk how people can take a look at this and say "yeah lets add another 50m or 44m from ja/murray"