Orlando Magic Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Troy Caupain Signs With Israeli Team

November 4th, 2019 at 9:58am CST by Arthur Hill

NOVEMBER 4: Caupain has officially signed with Hapoel Holon, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along.

NOVEMBER 2: Israel may be the next stop for Troy Caupain, who was waived by the Trail Blazers before the start of the season, relays Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Caupain is reportedly in talks with Hapoel Holon, according to a report from Walla Sport of Israel.

A 6’4″ guard out of Cincinnati, Caupain spent last season as a two-way player with the Magic. He got into just four NBA games, but averaged 16.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 49 games for Lakeland in the G League. The 23-year-old signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Portland in September, but wasn’t able to earn a roster spot.

Caupain’s teammates with Hapoel Holon would include Malachi Richardson, who played briefly for the Raptors last season.

Magic Notes: Fultz, Bamba, Birch, Jefferson

November 3rd, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Arthur Hill

It only took six games for Markelle Fultz to crack the starting lineup in Orlando, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Magic head coach Steve Clifford called Fultz Saturday morning to tell him that he would be replacing D.J. Augustin as a starter for yesterday’s game against the Nuggets.

The reasons for the move go beyond a show of confidence in the top player taken in the 2017 draft. Clifford and his staff believe Fultz’s ability to get into the lane will create better scoring opportunities for the rest of the starting lineup, while Augustin provides another shooter for the second unit with Terrence Ross struggling to score.

“I don’t look too far back, but I’m taking baby steps,” Fultz said after the game. “That’s the biggest thing. I want to take it a step at a time, and I’m just checking stuff off my list. I’ve got to start small. My goal is high, but I’ve got to start with the basics.”

It’s a significant milestone after Fultz saw his season end last November because of thoracic outlet syndrome. Traded to the Magic in February after playing just 33 games in a year and a half in Philadelphia, Fultz has a chance to become a regular contributor for the first time in his NBA career.

There’s more news from Orlando:

Mo Bamba won’t be used in back-to-back games this season, Robbins tweets. The first instance came this weekend as he was held out of Friday’s game against the Bucks before playing last night. The Magic are being careful with their second-year center after a tibial stress fracture caused him to miss 30 games last year. Orlando has just 11 back-to-backs, tied for the lowest number in the league.
Reserve center Khem Birch, who has gotten into just two games so far, offered to go to the G League as a way to get playing time, according to John Denton of NBA.com (Twitter link). “How many guys would do that,” Clifford said. “He’s the best, the best.”
Amile Jefferson will make $9,156 per day while he’s on the Magic roster and will count as a $1.52MM cap hit, tweets Bobby Marks of ESPN. Facing a Monday deadline to reach the 14-man roster minimum, Orlando converted Jefferson’s two-way deal to a standard contract on Friday.

Amile Jefferson Signs Two-Year Contract With Magic

November 1st, 2019 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

4:47pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

1:37pm: The Magic have agreed to sign big man Amile Jefferson to a two-year contract, agent Michael Tellem tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Jefferson had been on a two-way deal with Orlando.

A former undrafted free agent out of Duke, Jefferson spent much of the 2017/18 season on a two-way contract with the Timberwolves, though he didn’t appear in an NBA game for the team. He was on a two-way deal with the Magic for the entire 2018/19 campaign, playing limited minutes in 12 games at the NBA level, before signing another two-way pact for ’19/20.

Although Jefferson hasn’t seen much action in the NBA, he has thrived in the G League, with averages of 17.9 PPG, 12.1 RPG, and 2.9 PG in 81 total games (34.1 MPG) for the Iowa Wolves and Lakeland Magic. He was named to the All-NBAGL Third Team last spring.

The Magic had been carrying just 13 players on their standard roster to open the regular season. NBA rules require teams to dip below 14 players for up to two weeks at a time, so Orlando had to add a player by early next week. Jefferson will be the club’s 14th man once his new deal becomes official.

While Wojnarowski didn’t offer additional details on Jefferson’s two-year contract, I’d expected a non-guaranteed, minimum-salary deal to give the Magic some flexibility.

Augustin Wants To Retire In 3-4 Seasons

October 28th, 2019 at 5:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Magic point guard D.J. Augustin plans to play until he’s 35 or 36, as he told Sean Deveney of Forbes.com. Given that Augustin turns 32 next month, that would mean another three or four seasons in the league. Augustin began this season as the Magic’s starter at the point, though the team hopes that Markelle Fultz eventually emerges in that role. Augustin, an unrestricted free agent next summer, averaged 11.7 PPG and 5.3 APG last season while making 42.1% of his 3-pointers.

“I have sacrificed a lot, I am away from my kids a lot. They’re getting older,” the Magic point guard said. “I think 35, 36 would be a good age for me to be done and just spend time with them and be more involved with their lives.”

Southeast Notes: Hawks, I. Thomas, Herro, Magic

October 27th, 2019 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hawks owner Tony Ressler has no regrets about trading Luka Doncic for Trae Young and would make the same decision again, relays Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Atlanta shook up the 2018 draft by agreeing to a deal that enabled Dallas to move up to No. 3 and select the eventual Rookie of the Year. The Hawks received Young, who also looks like a star after a slow start, along with a 2019 pick that was used to add Cam Reddish.

“I have to be honest, but I didn’t think Luka would be this good,” said Ressler, who admitted to being nervous about the gamble. “I didn’t think Trae was going to be this good. They are both better than I expected. I think they’re both really special players and have a shot to be for a really long time if they stay focused. I think this trade is going to have a nice, long history of discussion. I wouldn’t completely, again, declare success or whether we won it or lost it today because I do think both teams have someone they can really help build around for years and years to come.”

The Hawks are in the third step of the plan that Ressler developed to build a title contender after purchasing the team in 2015. Step one was a $200MM renovation to State Farm Arena. Next came a new management team with Travis Schlenk as general manager and Lloyd Pierce, who had experienced rebuilding with the Sixers, as head coach.

“The third step, we don’t know when and we want to do it intelligently, but is spending the money that it will take to add greatness to what we hope is existing greatness,” Ressler explained. “That is how you become a contender.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division:

Isaiah Thomas had a promising debut with the Wizards Saturday night, writes Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. After missing his first four shots, Thomas finished with 16 points, five assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes. The performance offered hope that he can become productive again after two injury-plagued seasons.
Years of early-morning workouts with his father helped prepare rookie Tyler Herro for the Heat culture, notes Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. When Herro was taken with the 13th pick in this year’s draft, he was ready for Miami’s emphasis on fitness and hard work. “We say it all the time: We’re not for everyone. You have to be the right kind of player,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “So, for a young player you’re checking to see if there’s any kind of entitlement. And there’s zero with that kid. He has a whole lot to his game, because you can tell he’s put in a lot of hours and sweat equity behind the scenes when no one was watching. He’s extremely driven, very ambitious. We love that.”
Even though the Magic are coming off a playoff season, outside shooting remains an area of concern, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic.

Magic Apply For Cap Relief For Mozgov Contract

October 25th, 2019 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic have put in a request to the NBA applying to have Timofey Mozgov‘s dead money removed from their cap due to a career-ending injury/illness, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).

Mozgov, who entered the 2019/20 league year on an expiring $16.72MM contract, was waived by Orlando during the offseason. However, because the last year of his deal was fully guaranteed, it remains on the Magic’s books, having been stretched across three seasons at an annual rate of approximately $5.57MM.

Mozgov, 33, was initially acquired by the Magic during the 2018 offseason in a salary-dump deal, but didn’t appear in a single game for the team last season due to knee issues. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure in January.

If a player is diagnosed with an ailment believed to be career-ending, his team is eligible to apply for cap relief one year after he last appeared in a game. In order for the Magic to receive cap relief, an independent physician or a Fitness to Play panel would have to rule it would be a medically unacceptable risk for Mozgov to return to action. The veteran center would still receive his remaining salary in that scenario.

Chris Bosh, Nikola Pekovic, Mirza Teletovic, and Omer Asik are some of the other players who have suffered career-ending injuries or illnesses and had their salaries removed from their teams’ caps in recent years.

Mozgov’s case looks a little more complicated though, since he signed with Russian team Khimki shortly after being waived by Orlando and is working to make his way back on the court. If it appears as though he’s on track to get healthy and play for Khimki, the Magic’s request is unlikely to be granted.

If the NBA does approve the request, the team would be able to remove Mozgov’s $5.57MM cap charge from its books for this season and the following two. That extra flexibility would be a big help this season, since the team is currently carrying just 13 players on standard contracts and is only $1.9MM below its hard cap, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots To Start Season

October 23rd, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

As of Monday’s roster cutdown deadline, no NBA team is carrying more than 17 players in total — 15 on standard contracts and two on two-way deals. However, not every team is making use of all 17 roster spots available to them.

Currently, a third of the league’s 30 teams have at least one open roster spot, either on their regular roster or in their two-way slots.

For most clubs, that decision is financially motivated — teams like the Magic and Nuggets are getting dangerously close to the tax line and prefer to avoid moving even closer by paying an extra player or two. The Thunder and Trail Blazers are already over the tax and won’t want to push their projected bills higher.

For teams like the Heat and Warriors, the decision not to carry a 15th man is dictated by the hard cap — neither club currently has sufficient room under the hard cap for more than 14 players.

Teams’ reasoning for retaining an open two-way spot is less clear. Those players earn very modest salaries and don’t count against the cap, so finances shouldn’t be a factor. Perhaps the teams with two-way openings are still considering their options before G League training camps begin next week, recognizing that any two-way player they sign now is unlikely to actually play for the NBA team this week.

Listed below, with the help of our roster counts breakdown, are the teams that aren’t carrying full rosters.

Teams with an open 15-man roster spot:

Atlanta Hawks
Cleveland Cavaliers
Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Miami Heat
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
- Note: The Magic have two open roster spots, giving them two weeks to get to the required minimum of 14 players.
Portland Trail Blazers

Teams with an open two-way slot:

Brooklyn Nets
Phoenix Suns

NBA Teams With Most, Least Roster Continuity

October 22nd, 2019 at 10:10am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s 2019 offseason featured even more player movement than usual, with new rookies entering the league, free agents changing teams, and a total of 43(!) trades being completed between the end of the 2018/19 season and 2019/20’s opening night.

That roster turnover is reflected in this season’s list of returning players for each team. Last fall, when we looked at the teams with the most and least roster continuity from year to year, a dozen teams were bringing back at least 11 players from their 2017/18 rosters, while only two clubs carried over fewer than eight players.

Heading into the 2019/20 season though, just four teams – the Magic, Nuggets, Spurs, and Mavericks – are bringing back at least 11 players from last year’s end-of-season rosters. Meanwhile, 11 clubs will carry over fewer than eight players from their 2018/19 rosters.

[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Roster Counts]

Listed below are the number of returning players for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, from most to fewest. Bringing back a significant number of players doesn’t necessarily lead to regular season success, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a few of the teams near the top of this list enjoy fast starts due to their players’ familiarity with each other, while teams near the bottom of the list may take some time to get used to their changes.

Here’s the returning-player count for each team:

Orlando Magic: 13
Denver Nuggets: 12
San Antonio Spurs: 12
Dallas Mavericks: 11
Charlotte Hornets: 10
Chicago Bulls: 10
Cleveland Cavaliers: 10
Houston Rockets: 10
Miami Heat: 10
Milwaukee Bucks: 10
Sacramento Kings: 10
Toronto Raptors: 10
Detroit Pistons: 9
Los Angeles Clippers: 9
Philadelphia 76ers: 9
Boston Celtics: 8
Indiana Pacers: 8
Oklahoma City Thunder: 8
Portland Trail Blazers: 8
Brooklyn Nets: 7
Minnesota Timberwolves: 7
New York Knicks: 7
Utah Jazz: 7
Atlanta Hawks: 6
Golden State Warriors: 6
Los Angeles Lakers: 6
Memphis Grizzlies: 6
New Orleans Pelicans: 6
Phoenix Suns: 6
Washington Wizards: 6

Kings Claim Forward DaQuan Jeffries

October 21st, 2019 at 4:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Kings have claimed rookie swingman DaQuan Jeffries off waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Jeffries was one of five players waived by the Magic on Saturday. The 6’5” Jeffries, who played college ball at Tulsa, was ranked by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony as the fourth-best prospect who wasn’t drafted in 2019. He posted 13.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.2 BPG, and 1.0 SPG in his final college season, shooting .502/.366/.755. Jeffries made five brief appearances during Orlando’s preseason games but didn’t score.

Tyler Lydon will likely be waived to clear a roster spot for Jeffries, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. The former Nuggets forward signed a two-year, minimum-salary pact with Sacramento in July but only $50K was guaranteed in the first year.

Southeast Notes: Fultz, Thomas, Waiters, Borrego

October 20th, 2019 at 6:53pm CST by JD Shaw

Magic guard Markelle Fultz is regaining confidence in his game as the start of the 2019/20 season nears, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel writes.

Fultz, who’s entering his third NBA campaign, has only appeared in 33 regular season games since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2017 due to a well-documented shoulder injury. He was acquired by Orlando in exchange for Jonathon Simmons, a first-round pick and a second-round pick this past February.

“Every day I go back out there I get more and more comfortable. I get used to being back out there,” Fultz said. “It’s been so long for me that I’m just happy to be out there and I’m just trying to learn and play as hard as I can.”

Fultz failed to live up to the high expectations with Philadelphia, but at just 21 years old and finally healthy, he could help propel Orlando in the race for the Eastern Conference playoffs this season.

In six preseason games with Orlando, Fultz averaged 6.7 points, four assists and 1.8 steals per contest off the bench. Despite his exact role being immediately unclear, both Fultz and the Magic recognize that he’s headed in the right direction.

“I mean, we’ll see,” coach Steve Clifford said of Fultz’ role in the rotation. “Markelle needs to do, in my opinion, what Markelle has done since he got here: have good days. Have a good day tomorrow. That’s what the best players do. That’s what the best teams do: is have good days, [and] put good stretches of days together. Be better Friday than he is Tuesday. I think that in my experiences that’s what the best players do, [and] that’s what the best teams do.”

There’s more from the Southeast Division tonight:

Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas participated in a full practice Saturday and hopes to play in Wednesday’s season opener against Dallas, according to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, head coach Scott Brooks isn’t ready to commit on a potential Thomas return just yet. “I’d love to have him for the first game,” Brooks said on whether Thomas would play. “We’ll see. Probably not, but we’ll see.”
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel provides additional details on Dion Waiters‘ suspension, including his decision to make some rather questionable posts on social media in wake of the announcement. The suspension stems from a heated conversation between Waiters and head coach Erik Spoelstra after Waiters played only 10 minutes in the Heat‘s final preseason game on Friday.
Hornets coach James Borrego is taking a different approach entering his second season with the team, asserting his authority more while ensuring that he remains a good listener and keeps a positive attitude, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer writes. “I feel like J.B. probably too much, to an extent, last (season) tried to keep everybody happy,” Marvin Williams said of Borrego. “I think this (season), he’s much more comfortable with people. He understands who we are as people and players. He’s just in a better place because of that.”