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Magic Notes: Front Office Changes, Isaac, Harris, Shooting

September 22nd, 2022 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

The Magic issued a press release this week announcing a long list of promotions and additions within their basketball operations department.

Among the most noteworthy of those front office changes was the promotion of Pete D’Alessandro – a former high-ranking executive in Sacramento and Denver – to the role of associate general manager. D’Alessandro had previously been an assistant general manager for Orlando.

David Bencs has been promoted to fill D’Alessandro’s old position as an assistant GM, while Adetunji Adedipe was named the Magic’s new vice president of player personnel. Kevin Tiller, meanwhile, has become the new GM of the Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate.

Here’s more on the Magic:

  • Magic players led the NBA last season in games missed due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols (449), according to Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel, who explores the health-related questions already facing the club this fall. As Price observes, the team will have to address the status of Jonathan Isaac, as well as Gary Harris, on Media Day next week. Isaac hasn’t played since 2020 due to an ACL tear and suffered a setback in March, while Harris underwent surgery this offseason to address a meniscus tear.
  • In a separate story for The Orlando Sentinel, Price identifies three storylines to monitor related to the Magic’s wing players. Besides Harris’ injury, Price will be keeping an eye on Franz Wagner‘s usage following a busy summer with the German national team and will be curious to see how the battle for minutes at power forward could affect the wing rotation.
  • After finishing among the NBA’s bottom four teams in three-point percentage in back-to-back seasons, the Magic hope to improve their shooting this season, Price writes for The Orlando Sentinel, though any upgrades they made in that area may be marginal. Price notes that second-round pick Caleb Houston was a solid three-point shooter at Michigan and suggests that play-makers like Markelle Fultz and Paolo Banchero may be able to open up better looks for teammates beyond the arc.
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Magic Notes: Offseason, Wagner, EuroBasket

September 18th, 2022 at 4:18pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Following a 22-60 season in 2021/22, the Magic are crossing their fingers that No. 1 overall draft pick Paolo Banchero can become their transformative franchise player. In a new piece for The Athletic, Zach Harper recaps the Banchero draft selection and the rest of Orlando’s eventful 2022 offseason

In addition to Banchero, the Magic selected swingman Caleb Houstan out of Michigan with the No. 32 pick in the draft. Harper thinks that the team had a solid, under-the-radar summer and views Banchero as a prospect capable of making a positive impact on the team even as a rookie. Still, Harper cautions that the team will probably continue to have trouble recording a significant uptick in wins this season. He also wonders about how the team’s top three healthy backcourt players — Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz — will contribute.

There’s more out of Orlando:

  • Magic small forward Franz Wagner, the No. 7 draft pick in 2021 out of Michigan, enjoyed an eventful 2022 EuroBasket run playing for his native Germany. Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at where the 21-year-old thrived for the German national team, and what areas could still use some work. Price notes that Wagner’s play-making, his three-point shooting, and his skills as an off-ball cutter were among the highlights of his summer abroad. Price suggests that Wagner could still work to upgrade his ability to finish around the rim in coverage.
  • After nabbing the bronze medal against Poland today, Wagner is optimistic that the German national team can look at its success at EuroBasket as a foundation for the future, per John Rammas of Eurohoops.“Hopefully, we can keep a little momentum from this,” Wagner said. “It was very difficult, I thought. Mentally, to re-focus and get a really intense Polish team. They did a good job fighting all tournament and obviously tonight. That was the toughest part.”
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Three Guard Storylines To Monitor

September 16th, 2022 at 9:58pm CST by Rory Maher
  • Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel lists three storylines to monitor regarding the Magic‘s guards. Price wonders whether Jalen Suggs can improve his shooting percentages after an injury-plagued rookie season saw him post a .361/.214/.773 slash line. His 21.4% three-point percentage ranked last out of 292 players who appeared in 20+ games and averaged at least two attempts per contest, Price notes. R.J. Hampton‘s role and the team’s backcourt rotation and starters are also worth keeping an eye on, Price writes.
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And-Ones: Schröder, Free Agents, Hammon, Noel, Paul

September 13th, 2022 at 4:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Free agent guard Dennis Schröder continues to make a case to NBA teams for a contract offer. He scored a team-high 26 points and added five assists until he got ejected in the late going of Germany’s 107-96 victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece in the EuroBasket quarterfinals, as Eurohoops.net relays.

Magic second-year forward Franz Wagner added 19 points for the victors. Antetokounmpo was ejected with five minutes remaining for committing his second unsportsmanlike foul.

There’s a “rising buzz” in league circles regarding Schröder’s job prospects, Marc Stein tweets.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Speaking of free agents, Eric Pincus notes in a Bleacher Report post that there are plenty of veterans still looking for jobs. Pincus takes a closer look at where players like Schröder, Eric Bledsoe, Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin and others might land.
  • Becky Hammon is showing NBA teams what they’re missing after she wasn’t offered a head coaching position, Nancy Armour of USA Today opines. Hammon has the Las Vegas Aces on the verge of a WNBA championship with a more creative offense while maintaining a solid defense. The former Spurs assistant was passed over the Orlando and Portland head coaching jobs in 2021.
  • Nerlens Noel‘s $58MM lawsuit against Rich Paul and Klutch Sports Group has been dismissed, Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal tweets. As previously noted, the case is instead heading to NBPA arbitration. The judge ruled a “valid, enforceable agreement to arbitrate” existed between the parties.
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And-Ones: Russell, Noel, Paul, Team USA, Baker

September 12th, 2022 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bill Russell‘s No. 6 will be retired throughout the league and another Hall of Famer, Alonzo Mourning, said it was much-deserved honor, Marc J. Spears of Andscape writes.

“We still need to celebrate his name, because he paved the way during a time where he had to deal with so many different obstacles,” Mourning said. “Not just on the court, but off the court. He paved the way for all of us.”

Mourning and Jerry West were on stage at the Hall of Fame’s annual ceremony over the weekend to honor Russell before the Class of 2022 was inducted.

We have more from around the basketball world:

  • Pistons center Nerlens Noel‘s lawsuit against agent Rich Paul is headed to arbitration, Michael McCann of Sportico reports in a subscribers-only article. Noel sued Paul last August, alleging that the agent’s negotiating tactics during 2017 cost him a four-year, $70MM extension with Dallas.
  • USA Basketball wound up with the bronze medal in the AmeriCup by defeating Canada 84-80 (Twitter link). Former NBA forward Gary Clark led the way with 18 points. Argentina, having defeated Team USA in the semifinals, earned the gold medal with a victory over Brazil.
  • The G League Lakeland Magic acquired the returning player rights to forward Robert Baker from the Stockton Kings in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick, JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors tweets. Baker, 24, appeared in 26 games with the Stockton Kings last season and one Summer League game with the Thunder.
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Magic Sign Guard Joel Ayayi

September 12th, 2022 at 9:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Magic have signed free agent guard Joel Ayayi, according to a team press release.

Ayayi appeared in seven games with the Wizards last season but only played a total of 20 minutes. He was on a two-way contract but was waived in March.

After going undrafted out of Gonzaga last summer, Ayayi signed a two-way deal with the Lakers, but was cut just before the season began. The Frenchman was claimed off waivers by Washington.

Ayayi started 29 games for the Capital City Go-Go, the Wizards’ G League affiliate, and averaged 10.7 PPG, 6.6 APG and 5.7 RPG.

The Magic already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and both two-way slots filled, so it’s almost certainly an Exhibit 10 deal for Ayayi. Orlando has also reportedly reached Exhibit 10 agreements with four other players.

Exhibit 10 deals are non-guaranteed and carry a minimum salary, but Ayayi could receive a $50K bonus if he’s waived before the start of the regular season and joins the team’s G League affiliate in Lakeland.

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Franz Wagner Sprains Ankle In EuroBasket Game

September 11th, 2022 at 11:57am CST by Arthur Hill
  • Magic forward Franz Wagner is questionable for the EuroBasket quarterfinals after twisting his ankle in Germany’s win on Saturday, according to Eurohoops. Wagner didn’t return to the game after suffering the injury in the third quarter. There has been no official word on his status for Germany’s next game on Tuesday.
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Southeast Notes: Okongwu, Wagner, Wizards

September 8th, 2022 at 10:47pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Hawks reserve center Onyeka Okongwu took a big leap during his second NBA season in 2021/22, though Atlanta as a team took a significant step back in the playoffs. Okongwu is taking pains to put in the work during the offseason to improve his skill set, per Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In 48 games last year, the 6’8″ big man out of USC averaged 8.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.1 APG, while shooting an excellent 69% from the floor.

The 21-year-old big man is striving to improve his jump shooting. “People are going to have expectations for me,” Okongwu said. “You know, I got to this point for a reason. I got drafted by this team for a reason. So, I definitely make sure I do what I do, but adding on something every year, every year, just add a little something.”

There’s more out of the Southeast Division:

  • Magic small forward Franz Wagner has played somewhat erratically in EuroBasket competition, but has managed to be a big contributor for the German national team when firing on all cylinders, per Ethan Fuller of Basketball News. Fuller writes that Wagner appears to have improved his pull-up three-point shooting and his play around the rim during this international run.
  • The Wizards currently boast a plethora of solid wing players, to the point that Josh Robbins of The Athletic addresses whether or not Washington may look to make a move to address that logjam by making a consolidation trade. Elsewhere in his mailbag, Robbins projects where the club could finish in a loaded Eastern Conference this season after missing the playoffs last year, as well as contextualizing the Summer League struggles of rookie lottery pick Johnny Davis.
  • In case you missed it, our Rory Maher recently took a look at extension-eligible Heat guard Tyler Herro, and assessed the reigning Sixth Man of the Year’s candidacy for a lucrative new contract.
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And-Ones: Expansion, Seattle, Vegas, Draft Assets, Ignite

September 7th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Is the NBA ready to move forward on its long-rumored plans to expand to Seattle and Las Vegas? Willie G. Ramirez of The Associated Press (Twitter link) says he has heard from multiple sources that the league wants to announce expansion when those two cities hosts preseason games this fall. The Clippers will play in Seattle on September 30 and October 3, while the Lakers are set to play in Vegas on October 5 and 6.

Despite Ramirez’s report, it’s still probably premature to get excited about an impending announcement. Rumors of possible expansion have simmered off and on for years, and the NBA has repeatedly shot them down, indicating that any plans to add more teams are on the back-burner. Still, it seems increasingly likely that expansion is coming sooner or later, with Seattle and Las Vegas atop the league’s list of potential destinations.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • As rumors about expansion resurface, Evan Sidery of BasketballNews.com considers what an expansion draft might look like if the NBA uses the same rules it did for its last expansion draft (the Bobcats in 2004). Of course, Sidery’s hypothetical expansion draft is based on teams’ current rosters, and any expansion team is unlikely to enter the league for a few years, but it’s still an interesting exercise that shows what kinds of players might go unprotected.
  • Following the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell blockbuster trades, the Jazz have the strongest collection of future draft picks of any NBA team, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link), who ranks Utah’s draft assets slightly ahead of the Thunder‘s. The Spurs have the third-best stash of future picks, per Marks. The Pelicans, Rockets, Knicks, Magic, and Pacers round out his top eight, in that order.
  • The G League Ignite have officially announced the additions of Australian prospect Mojave King and Canadian prospect Leonard Miller, confirming the signings today in a press release. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony previously reported that King and Miller would be joining the Ignite.
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2022/23 NBA Over/Unders: Southeast Division

September 6th, 2022 at 9:11am CST by Luke Adams

The 2022/23 NBA regular season will tip off next month, so it’s time to start getting serious about predictions for the upcoming campaign and to resume an annual Hoops Rumors tradition.

With the help of the lines from a handful of sports betting sites – including Bovada, BetOnline, and Betway – we’re running through the predicted win totals for each of the NBA’s 30 teams, by division. In a series of team-by-team polls, you’ll get the chance to weigh in on whether you think those forecasts are too optimistic or too pessimistic.

In 2021/22, our voters went 16-14 on their over/under picks. Can you top that in ’22/23?

We’ll begin our series today with the Southeast division…

Miami Heat

Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte Hornets

Washington Wizards

Orlando Magic

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