Awful timing on his injury, was breaking out while taking a bigger load with Paolo hurt
2 Likes
At least now weāre likely going to get some A/B testing on who drives more performance without the other 
2 Likes
https://www.instagram.com/p/DDXPjA4ML-0/?igsh=cmlpbHJ0YTIybmgz
We have a @PAX sighting in the Wagner doc
3 Likes
Wonder which Orlando Magic sites he frequents.
3 Likes
Jett lost his spot in the rotation in the 2nd half tonight to Caleb. Feels like Jett as the asset attached to Gary Harris contract (or some similar move) is coming at the deadline
3 Likes
Moe out here dropping 30 point bombs now, albeit in a loss
1 Like
Was going to touch on this in my thing, but I think Mo will be getting lots of opportunity coming up - heās basically the only above average offensive player they have active at the moment.
1 Like
Update!
Kobe Bufkin appears to have fallen back out of Atlantaās rotation, picking up DNP-CDās in the two NBA cup tournament games, and also in a close win against the Lakers, only getting into a 30 point loss to the Nuggets in that stretch. Thus, Kobe only played in 3 of the Hawksā six matchups, averaging 9:30 in playing time, scoring 5 points and handing out 1 assist and incurring 1 turnover in that span. He did shoot 7/12 from the floor, missing his only three point attempt. For the monent, the backup PG role appears to mostly be occupied by Bogdan Bogdanovic.
With both of Orlandoās starting forwards and offensive creators out (more on that later), the door is open to any forward-ish shaped guy who can play some offense - thatās Jett Howardās music! Jett found himself firmly in the rotation for a span here, but appeared to lose some time to fellow former Wolverine Caleb Houstan in their last contest. Jett played in 5 of their 6 games in this span, getting 12 minutes per game. He scored 4 points per game, shooting 29% from the floor and 17.6% from 3. Coupled with getting 5 rebounds in these 5 games and 4 assists, there just hasnāt been very much to suggest he can help the team even in itās weakened state, hence the shift to Houstan. Heās now at 37% for the year, with 31% three point shooting after a solid start in those metrics.
The injury bug giveth, but now hath takethā¦all of Moussaās playing time. With the return of both Nick Richards and Mark Williams from the injury ledger, Moussa saw most of his playing time evaporate - even getting sent to the G League for a game (he did get some run in their most recent game). Williams is extremely rickety, and Richards isnāt very good, so the door here isnāt shut, but seems to only be cracked at the moment. Diabate played in 3 of the teamās 5 games, averaging 11 mpg (his time cut by 2/3 from the prior update), and scored 9 points and grabbed 7 rebounds (4 offensive) in that span.
Caleb Houstan and Jett howard appear locked in a one on one battle for ābench shooterā, and Howard got the preponderance of those opportunities in the past 2 weeks, but hasnāt really done much with the opportunity, and based on the close of the Knicks game, that pendulum by have swung towards Houstan. Itās not like heās lighting the world on fire here - played in 5 of their past 6 games, getting 8 minutes per game, scoring 3 points per game. His stat line is as empy as Jettās - hes grabbed 2 rebounds and handed out 1 assist, but the ball definitely went in more often - he made 5 of his 8 shots, 4 of 7 from three. Pulling out to a slightly larger samples, heās still only 31% from the floor and 27% from three, a similar level of struggle to Jett. I donāt that the Magic have a guy to put either of these dudes out of their misery with the two injured stars, so this is likely a battle of whose hand is less cold for the time being.
So we all know Franz got hurt. He played 3 prior to the injury, scoring 31.6 ppg, 5 boards, and 4 assists, making 47% of his shots, but only 22% of his threes (he did go 26/26 from the line in the three games). He listed as out āindefinitelyā, and will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks (3 from today). His teammate, Paolo Banchero, has the same injury (torn oblique), and was given the same time table. Heās been out 6.5 weeks and appeared at practice for the first time two days ago, doing some ālight shootingā. The team did declare he was ānot closeā to returning. Obviously, people are different, injuries that are the same donāt heal the same or suffer the same severity - Iām just holding this out as a point of comparison. The Magic were well on their way to making the playoffs/avoiding the play-in, but thatās clearly in jeopardy at the moment, as they just donāt have guys to facilitate offense at this stage, other than Cole Anthony who facilitates bad offense.
Jordan Poole is a meme again (itās above if you want to see it). Thatās probably not good. I donāt thing his behavior is as egregious as the headlines/commentariat says, but he does certainly seem be prioritizing gloating over playing for a moment (I assume he thought he could do both). He scored 18 ppg and racked up nearly 6 assists, but did turn the ball over 4 times a game. He shot 39.5% from the floor and 33% from 3, but his overall shooting numbers are still pretty good - 43% from the floor, 39% on a massive volume of thees, 5 assists per game. I guess this again establishes Jordan isnāt without his assets but is perhaps too silly to be on a team thatās taking winning seriously.
Mortiz Wagner is just sort of doing his thing. 21.5 mpg, 16.2 ppg, 7 boards. He shot 59% from the floor and even got 19 threes up (3+ per game), making 9 (47.3%). His scoring is up from the norm as they rode his hot hand for 20 points in a 12/3 loss to New York, and again for 32 points in a lossā¦to the Knicksā¦again last night - he got 53 minutes in those two games, other than that, his load has largely been in his high-teen standard range. The Magic are starting 2 centers (Wendell Carter and Goga Bitadze) and play Jonathan Isaac as one off the bench - for a team that is crying for anyone to put the ball in the hoop, Mo is arguably the only guy around who can do it at a high level. Iām not a coach, but it would not shock me to see Moās minute load climb to the mid-20ās at least on a regular basis, as they need his offense and this team doesnāt really lack true centerās he can pair with to hide his sins. He is on pace for his fourth season over 63% true shooting, and is on pace to set a career high in usage (26.7% currently). Most interestingly - he had sort of cut three-pointers from his shot diet last year after struggling to make them at an average clip for basically his entire career. This year, his attempt rate climbed back up to his prior levels, but heās canning 36%.
Caris Levert is back from injury, and filling his sixth-man role for the Cavs, higlighted by a 21 point (11 shots)/6 assist performance in a 12-point win over Denver. Caris played 26.4 minutes per game in their last five games, scoring 13 ppg, handing out 4.6 assists and grabbing 3 boards, shooting 51.3% from the floor, 50% from three. Thereās likely some regression coming here - Caris has been nailing 46.5% of his threes (the Cavs collectively are on a season-long heater of historic three-point shooting). His true shooting right now is at 65%, to a single season career high of 55%.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 8.5 ppg in the past 5 weeks, on 48% shooting. Itās sort of odd - heās not shooting badly, obviously, (though only 3/13 on threes), but his shot volume is just really low - about 6 attempts a game in this span when heās averaging 25 minutes - itās half his attempt rate from his Dallas days. Heās not a bad defender, but I do sort of question what heās for if heās not taking shots - heās only at 41%/34% for the season, neither terrible but not what youād like. Combined with his really low work rate (his usage is 14%, his career low is 22%), itās hard not to feel like somethingās up here.
The Heatās rotation is ever in flux, but Duncan Robinson continues to start - playing 24.5 mpg, scoring 12 points, and handing out over three assists, as the Heat lean into lineups that can space for the suddenly devastating on-ball game of Tyler Herro. Duncanās 2 weeks were really carried by two consecutive wins over Phoenix and Cleveland where he scored 42 points across the two games, on 23 shots. Overall, he shot 49% from the floor and 40% from three over the five games, and is shooting 38.3% from three on the year on a robust volume. Heās obviously not going to replicate 2019/2020 again, but his performance continues to be at the level of the rest of his career, excepting the miserable 22/23 season.
5 Likes
Ever since his head injury, Tim has been more down than up. But then tonightās OT happened. You just never know. He also took 2 charges in the game. He was tied for 3rd in the league after the first one, so he might now be in the top-2 with 12 on the season.
1 Like
essentially 2 wasted seasons all due to injury. horrible way to start a career
3 Likes
Same injury as last year, which is the concern I think
Itās sort of wild they let him back?
No last year he had different issues (thumb and toe). He hurt his shoulder over the summer, then dislocated again in October. Came back and played a bit. then stopped playing with no announcement. and now is getting surgery. Whether he got the surgery now or a month ago probably doesnāt matter a ton, makes sense they wanted to see if he could go without surgery at first
1 Like
The Podcast That Shall Not Be Named had Franz somewhere between the third and sixth best prospect (age 24 and under) in the NBA
Basically: Wembayana, Edwards, and then a group of Franz, Holmgren, Jalen Williams. Paolo
Itās three guys (including Hollinger who had him the highest at third), but it basically went:
- Wemby
- Edwards
A group of Franz, Williams, Paolo, Holmgren, Mobley
A group of Barnes, Ball, Sengun, Cunningham
6 Likes
Whats the story behind calling the podcast that?
basically that I donāt care to re-litigate everyoneās strongly held opinion of it, which there seemed to be, and thus the conversation turned more to āis this podcast goodā and not the thing they were discussing (at the time, draft scouting)
Oh no. Terrible looking knee injury for Moe, non-contact and couldnāt put any weight on it on the way back to the locker room. Adding insult to injury for Michigan south, Mosley might just be officially done with Jett at this point. Got pulled after 1 minute tonight and 2 turnovers
torn ACL for Mo. horrible szn for our hoopers.
https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1870912326871748928?s=46&t=SywsRwjImAPP0DFzyXGjwg
Both Wagners with serious injuries while they were having great seasons 
2 Likes