Magic/Hawks is Michigan city right now on league pass. Kobe and Caleb both playing due to Trae and Paolo being out, Franz getting a ton of touches as the lone star
Trae is out for a while so Kobe is gonna start getting some regular PT
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Really good first half for Caleb! 4-5 from three for 12 points. He must like playing the Hawks. Had a season (career?) vs them earlier in the year
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Looking at the box scoreā¦ Iād say you jinxed him 
Some of our deep bench guys are playing! Itās time for an update!
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Kobe Bufkin played 29 minutes total between 3 of the Hawksā last 5 games. Heās made 3 of his 10 shots, 1 of his 7 threes. He handed out 3 assists and also got a steal and a block in a little short of 11 minutes last night, in his best showing. Iām skeptical that Trae Young plays again this year (I guess it depends how they play in these next 4 weeks), so Kobe should get some burn.
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Jett Howard played 2 games last week, and made 1 of his 3 3-point attempts in 7:10 of combined PT. Not much else to note.
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Moussa Diabate has DNPād since 1/1.
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Caleb Houstan has gotten 47 minutes across three of the Magicās last 6 games, making 6/11 of threes and missing the only two he took. He grabbed 4 rebounds and handed out 1 assist.
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Isaiah Livers has not played since becoming a Wizard.
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Franz Wagner scored 19.8 ppg, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists since our last update. He shot 47.3% from the floor, but only 30% from three, this was mitigated by making 23 of 26 FTās over the stretch. The counting stats are depressed a little big because Jamaal Moesley has been keeping minutes tight across the board - the only time heās crossed 32 minutes was in an overtime win against the Bulls. The three pointer has always waxed and waned for him, but he continues to shoot well from 2 and the line, and provide enough value elsewhere in his game. Heās still not āall-star caliberā but is a good solid starter.
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Jordan Pooleās struggles have finally landed him on the bench (the impetus being a 3-point, 1/12 performance), and has scored 52 points on 40 shots in his last two games coming off the bench - an improvement over his performance for the season. The change is mostly cosmetic, while his spot is now Bilal Coulibalyās, his minutes are mostly intact in this span. Heās scored 17.2 ppg along with 3.6 assists to 2.3 turnovers. He shot 36.9% from the floor and and 39.5% from three - so the completely vanished 2 point shooting this year continues to plague him, even if his three is mostly falling.
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Mo Wagner put up an 11/4.5 in about 14 minutes per game, shooting over 65% from the floor, nearly exclusively from the rim and the free throw line. The man is what he is - a very good offensive reserve center.
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Bad news first: Caris Levert has had a brutal shoot stretch here, weather a 5/28 stretch across three games. In sum, he shot 36.7% from the floor and 20% from 3, averaging 9.8 points, 6.4 rebounds (he had a 12 rebound game), and 5.7 assists to 1.2 turnovers. In other words - other than the miserable shooting, this is pretty good! Levert is (maybe?) on the upswing though - in his last game he immolated fellow Wolverine Jordan Poole - 18 points on 10 shots, 12 boards, 8 assists.
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Tim Hardaway has also been shooting relatively poorly since the last update - 33.3% from the floor, 28.1% from 3, scoring 9.2 ppg. The Mavericks changed their roster appreciably at the trade deadline, but Hardawayās role appears unchanged.
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A bad game on 2/26 aside, Duncan Robinson, on the other hand, has been hot, scoring 15.8 points on 45.8% shooting, and 47.5% from 3. Delon Wright and Jimmy Butler have been in and out of the lineup, putting Robinson in the starting lineup, and the team won all three starts (two without Butler!). Iām not sure Duncan will ever reach the heights he achieved in the 270-three point makes year, but this year is trending to be just as valuable (if not more) than the season that followed - heās matching the roughly 40.5% shooting from 3, and thre 63% true shooting (but on a pretty different shot mix - more two, more FTās), but is posting over double the assist rate. Heās still not a good defender, but hey.
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Livers news:
https://twitter.com/WashWizards/status/1762241515999392236?t=3MhpddTZUNi2wbFCrFpbOA&s=19
Sadly, I think his NBA career is over.
if kobe bufkin is out of the league in two years i am going to become the joker about this season even more than i already am
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lol thatās not a worry.
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iām worried about it! itās a worry!!!
Iām optimistic Kobe will hang around and get a second contract because thereās enough skill and potential thereā¦but I donāt think we can rule out that he will end up like Stauskas and wash out sooner than we think. Heās never been a very good outside shooter beyond a few weeks hot stretch as a sophomore and he hasnāt yet shown his ability to play as a backup PG. I think he will figure it out and have a Levert-like career, but they need to figure out what his primary NBA skill will be.
Heās literally played like 5 nba games. He had an injury at the start of the year
Actually whatās shown well already is defense. Heās had some nice moments defensively.
Iāve been watching a lot of Magic games this year (thanks 2023-2024 Michigan Basketball dumpster fire!). I can honestly say that I think Franz brings more to the team than basic stats can reflect (I think we all saw this at Michigan too to some degree). I think heās reached the point of fringe all-star - if Paolo can make it, I can make a strong argument that Franz is a better 2-way player. Interestingly, when Paolo was out the other night, Franz started out playing wellā¦but the Hawks started shading a double team towards Franz and taking away his lanes (ICE the high screens) and it was clear that he was frustrated. The next step for Franz (in addition to being more consistent shooting from distance) is to a find a way to be the alpha when the defense is purposefully trying to take you out of the game. I think thatās the thing separating him from all-star status at this point.
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That game for Duncan last night he still managed 11 assists, was fun watching some of his passes
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Man someone just needs to shake Franz every morning and remind him how good he is/can be and to be aggressive at all times. That confidence going in and out is pretty frustrating, record scratching on open 3ās again tonight
Airballed a wide open 3 with a few minutes left and super close game. Then probably had a shot or two he couldāve stepped into, and didnāt. His shooting is definitely a confidence thing. Still fills the stat sheet, though!
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Can you imagine someone telling you when he was at Michigan that he would have the best NBA career of pretty much any Beilein player (possible exception to THJ) and that youād be watching a highlight of him doing THAT in 2024? Just crazy.
Almost makes me think Juwan should be recruiting D3 players this off-season looking for the next Duncan.
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