Just over a year ago, the Philadelphia 76ers gave up on former No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz by trading him to the Orlando Magic for pennies on the dollar. Direly in need of a floor general who fit its timeline, Orlando bought in on a player that most people had written off despite being only…
In this episode of The NBA Podcast, Morten Jensen (@msjnba) and Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) re-select the first 14 picks of the 2017 NBA Draft. Which player goes No. 1 overall? (2:48) Who do you take now when choosing between Bam Adebayo or Jayson Tatum? (12:18) How much does John Collins rise? (25:11) Where does Kyle…
For as much as I love to talk about schemes and tactics of team offense and defense, the game really comes down to individuals making winning plays. Guys have to score the basketball, but the best teams and individual defenders find ways to take away strong suits of their opponents. The best scorers have counter…
Before the first game of the season, I threw out 50 fairly bold predictions for the NBA season, all of which were rooted in optimism and belief. As always, one subtle action can change how the dominos fall, whether it’s an injury (here’s looking at you, Stephen Curry) or the unforeseen ascension of talent. We’re…
The Orlando Magic were incredibly lucky in terms of health last season. Their top six rotation players—Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic, D.J. Augustin, Jonathan Isaac and Terrence Ross—combined to miss only 16 games. They rode that good fortune to a 42-40 record and their first playoff berth in seven seasons. They’ve been far less…
Ten games is a small sample size. It’s a little early to be hitting a panic button. Unfortunately, it might be apt in the case of the Orlando Magic. Through ten games, the Magic are nearing record incompetence in terms of scoring. It took them until game eight of the year to top the century…
Now that the NBA regular season has finally begun, it’s time to continue ranking each and every team’s young prospects. Just to reiterate, these rankings might seem surprising on the surface with some rather unorthodox choices at various slots, but this list’s criteria are weighted heavily toward teams with a high volume of prospects that…
The 2019-20 season is almost here, so it’s time to be bold about what we think will actually happen. For some, these predictions may not seem incredibly bold while they may be preposterous to others. But basketball is back, and that in itself is worth celebrating: 1. Ben Simmons makes 11 three-pointers Let’s dive right…
Fresh off their most successful season since the Dwight Howard era—albeit a 42-40 record, 7th-place finish and five-game first-round ouster—the Orlando Magic are largely running back the same group. They re-signed All-Star center Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross and signed forward Al-Farouq Aminu in free agency, but they otherwise valued continuity after their first playoff…
The 2019-20 NBA season is just around the corner. After an offseason chock-full of player movement, the title race appears as wide-open as it has been in years. Over the coming weeks, we will examine one big question hanging over each team heading into the season. We’ll continue today with the Southeast Division, where two…
