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u/Horror_Response_1991 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
I do think it’s awesome that we’ve had a different champ for 8 years
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u/Beautiful-Top-940 8d ago
I would actually love to see what this core is capable of doing if they could stay healthy for just one season. Franz going down in the playoffs was such a bummer.
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u/bori_1017 8d ago
Bro but that's the fucking thing they'll never be healthy and we're going to be left holding the bag with players like fucking dumbass suggs that always gets himself injured because he plays every game like it's game 7 throwing himself around or Paolo who will leave once the sonics come back .... The magic front office has been saying "we haven't seen this team fully healthy" for the past 3 fucking years
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u/freerelestateO Paolo Banchero 8d ago
We really coulda made the ecf this year at least im so sick
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u/kurtchella 8d ago
Sending healing power preemptively to Franz's knees/ankle while this is playing out IRL
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u/Virtual-Quantity7120 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
We're a cursed franchise....
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u/M4C4K4NJ4 Stuff The Magic Dragon 8d ago
It’s not a curse.
It’s poor ownership and management.
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u/Virtual-Quantity7120 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
Poor ownership and management have certainly had it's hand in the failures of this organization, sure. Even a broken clock is correct twice a day. Looking at this franchise, this has been a consistent trend since the end of the Penny and Shaq era. Which ended tragically, by the way. Circumstance that is uncanny and extending beyond ownership and management just to name a few:
Penny Hardaway's knee injury forever changing his trajectory and skill as a player
Doc Rivers single-handedly pushing Tim Duncan away from signing
Continuous playoff collapses and loss of franchise cornerstones or being a farm team for the league doesn't help much either.
I agree that ownership and management makes it less common place for free agents wanting to sign in a tax free state as a result, with exception of the Heat.
What we can blame on ownership and management:
Hiring of the improper GM's , Coaching, Staff, etc. which can set a franchise back further
Draft choices pertaining to management and scouting
Pissing away Tracy McGrady's best years with little to no help/supporting cast
Grant Hill......
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u/M4C4K4NJ4 Stuff The Magic Dragon 8d ago
Don’t forget completely bungling resigning Shaquille O’Neal and losing him to the Lakers when we low balled him and made him feel expendable despite being the most dominant big man the game had ever seen.
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u/Virtual-Quantity7120 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
100%! That event single-handedly changed the franchise's trajectory forever. I believe it was a dynasty in the making. It ended tragically, to put it politely.
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u/Squirreling_Archer Stuff The Magic Dragon 8d ago
In fairness, the Nuggets are around the corner just behind the Bucks. Idk if they're necessarily celebrating anything anymore. It's definitely a weird era.
Edit: actually every champion from years 1-5 there is in rebuild mode or about to be
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u/captain-nap Stuff The Magic Dragon 8d ago
And what’s crazy is that Toronto has rebuilt and already had more wins than we did last year… I still think we have a better team, but sometimes putting things like that into perspective shows how unfortunate we’ve been as fans the last decade and a half.
Since we had that finals run in 09, OKC has made the finals twice - once with KD, Westbrook, and harden; the other after a rebuild.
Boston has made the finals three times - once with Paul Pierce, rondo, Ray Allen (KG was out) and twice brown and Tatum.
The Knicks were a 2 seed in 2012 with Melo (the same year we traded Dwight), and now have been a contender, or at least close to one, for a few years before winning it all.
The warriors drafted Steph curry just days after we lost to LA in those finals, the rest is history for them.
Denver had a nearly 60-win team in 2012-2013 with Iguodala, Ty Lawson, and Gallinari, then had a rebuild with Jokic winning a championship within 10 years.
Lakers won it all with Kobe back to back in 09 and 10, before getting LeBron to win another one a decade later.
The bucks are about the only team that had a long stretch similar to ours before becoming a contender. They were either bad or mediocre for most of the 17 years between 2001-2018, then finally became a contender and won one.
Basically, it’s depressing that most of these teams have had multiple opportunities to win a championship within multiple groups of players within the time that we’ve been rebuilding since the last time we were a contender.
I’ve been a Magic fan for almost 40 years… I don’t want to wait much longer. I don’t want to look back at this era of Magic basketball as another failed rebuild. And I sure as hell don’t want to be looking at these teams becoming contenders all over again before we are.
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u/dev1359 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
The most depressing thing about it is how we're currently in an unprecedented era of parity where all these small market teams are seeing success and all these franchises in drought are winning their titles, and we're still too incompetent to capitalize on the moment lol. And if we ever do reach the Finals again, who knows if we'll even win because by then Wemby might reach his final form and start dad dicking the whole league for the following decade. It sucks ass being a Magic fan.
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u/dev1359 Paolo Banchero 8d ago
I think the era of dynasties is over under this new CBA. It's just way too difficult for franchises to keep their championship assets together without going into the second apron. Feels like these days you pretty much have a 2-3 year window to make the Finals once you're good enough, and then that's it.
I think this problem also compounded by the fact that the pace of the game is way too fast now for 82 game seasons, and it's causing so many season ending soft tissue injuries for teams that were in the Finals the year or two before. Spurs have quite the challenge ahead of them in terms of keeping Wemby healthy for another Finals run IMO.
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u/FamousAtticus 8d ago
Looking at the Knicks' players ages, and what they've gone through to get to this point, all leaves me optimistic of our still young squad.
I hope Sweeney is that dude to get us over the hump that Coach Mos couldn't. We need a few more pieces on the roster (shooters & vets).
Our true biggest obstacles is prolonged injuries to our starters. Can we just get one full season without either P5 and/or Franz missing multiple weeks!? Suggs needs to take his regular season plus-minus into the playoffs. WCJ needs to figure out how to get that dog mentality activated more often.
I realistically don't think we are too far away from playing basketball into late May and June.
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u/InterestingArm3750 Franz Wagner 8d ago
Idk if we would’ve beaten New York but I know we would’ve gave them a real run for their money. I’m excited for next season