The Philadelphia 76ers traded former No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic. In exchange, the 76ers are receiving Jonathan Simmons, along with a 2020 first-round draft pick and a second-round draft pick.
According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the 76ers first acquired the 2020 pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Jerami Grant deal.
Markelle Fultz looks on against the Chicago Bulls (Getty Images)
The 20-year-old Upper Marlboro, Maryland native appeared in 19 games this season with 15 starts. He averaged 8.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
He has not played with the 76ers since Nov. 19 against the Phoenix Suns. He scored zero points in the game in 7 minutes and five seconds.
His best game of the 2018-19 season was 16 points against the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 29. This is also his career-high.
Fultz has appeared in 33 games, including 15 starts with Philadelphia. He is averaging 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
The 29-year-old Houston, Texas native will be joining his third NBA team. Besides playing for the Magic, he began his career with the San Antonio Spurs.
This season, Simmons made 41 appearances, including nine starts. He was averaging 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game.
In his career, he has made 243 appearances with 69 appearances. He is averaging all-time 8.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game.
Orlando Magic president Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond consider the Fultz acquisition as a low-risk, high-reward proposition. Magic will proceed with his arrival as long-term project and like chances w/ Steve Clifford and his staff getting to work with the former No. 1 pick.
Newly acquired Jimmy Butler made his debut with the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. However, things did not go as planned, as the team lost to the Orlando Magic.
The Magic won 111-106 over the 76ers at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
Orlando is 7-8 on the season. However, they improved to 4-5 at home.
The Magic now has a one-game win streak as they lost to the Washington Wizards, 117-109, in their last game.
Nikola Vucevic being defended by Philadelphia 76ers’ Amir Johnson (Getty Images)
Philadelphia fell to 9-7 on the season. They are now 2-7 on the road.
The 76ers are on a one-game losing streak after defeating the Miami Heat in their last game, 124-114.
Butler was acquired from the 76ers officially on Monday in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Philadelphia also received Josh Patton in the package.
The 76ers sent Jerryd Bayless, Robert Covington, and Dario Šarić, along with a 2022 second-round draft pick, to Minnesota.
Nikola Vučević led the Magic with 30 points. He also had eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
He was one of five Orlando players, who scored in double-figures. Aaron Gordon added 17 points, while Terrence Ross had 15 points and Jonathon Simmons contributed 12 points. Wesley Iwundu had 11 points.
The Magic had 40 bench points. Ross led the bench with his 15 points. He also had seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
J.J. Redick led the 76ers with 22 points. He also had four rebounds and six assists.
Redick was one of four Philadelphia players, who scored in double-figures. Joel Embiid added 19 points, while Wilson Chandler and Butler contributed 14 points each.
The 76ers had just 20 bench points. Markelle Fultz led the bench with eight points. He also had three rebounds and two assists.
Be sure to click on my author page at the bottom of this article to read the rest of the Offseason Reviews that have already been completed. This is #7 in a series of thirty for every team.
The Orlando Magic are the perpetual rebuilders. They have now amassed a series of various lottery picks over the years in the hope that they can find the kind of upside talent necessary to bring an NBA franchise to the next level. They are, once again, coming off of a 25-win season with an abysmal offensive and mediocre defensive efficiency, and they still lack the guard play necessary to improve long-term.
Aaron Gordon shooting the ball against the Houston Rockets
Forward Aaron Gordon already has been through all four years of his rookie contract, and faced restricted free agency this summer, with the Magic being in the same position as they were when they drafted him: mired in a rebuild with no end in sight.
The next lottery pick was G/F Mario Hezonja, who, despite some occasional showings of adeptness, did not have his fourth-year team option renewed, so he hit free agency this summer as well. They traded promising F/C Domantas Sabonis in order to get Serge Ibaka in return, but Serge is no longer with the team.
The last two picks are last year’s F Jonathan Issac, and this year’s C Mo Bamba. Now, they have positional overlap in their best position groups, and a lack of even starting potential at the Point Guard spot. We can expect them to be in the lottery again come next June.
Here’s how the roster currently sits, with cap figures in millions:
PG- Jerian Grant (2.6); D.J. Augustin (7.3); Isaiah Briscoe (0.8)*
SF- Jonathon Simmons (6.0); Terrence Ross (10.5); Jarell Martin (2.4)
PF- Aaron Gordon (21.6); Jonathan Isaac (5.0); Khem Birch (1.4)
C- Nikola Vucevic (12.8); Mo Bamba (4.9); Timofey Mozgov (16.0)
This means that they currently have around $112 million pledged on their cap, which places them well under the luxury tax but well over the soft cap. They still have a majority of their mid-level exception left, which they could use in the hope of acquiring an additional player, and they could spend all $7 or so million they have remaining without running into tax problems.
In terms of potential turnover for next year, both Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic are unrestricted free agents next summer. Both players could potentially have value as the Magic move forward, as Vucevic is coming off of another season where he almost averaged a double-double, and he’s consistently among the Top 10 to 15 in the league in rebound percentage.
Even if he’s good for 16 points and 10 rebounds again for another season, there’s a league-wide consensus that he isn’t a good defender, which I think is partially unfair. He’s not the smartest on-ball defender, and can get lost out of position, but he isn’t a terrible shot blocker, and he’s not bad enough to be consistently targeted down the floor.
If I were the Magic, I’d bring up his defensive metrics to my trade adversary before I actually let them value him under what he’s actually worth. Now, that doesn’t mean that he’s a complete steal, either. He seems often like an empty calories type of player who can gobble up boards and put back some shots, but struggles to have an actually identifiable skill to talk about.
Ross’s value is going to be tied hugely to health, after only playing 24 games last year. He also wasn’t necessarily a positive value in the limited time he was available, either, after posting a PER below 10 this most recent season. He needs to come out of the gates being able to shoot and still be athletic enough to defend on the perimeter adequately.
Either way, Ross only takes away from the Magic’s potential year to experiment playing Isaac, Gordon, and Bamba all together, and Vucevic is clogging up the young frontcourt as well. There probably needs to be some subsequent deals done before the Magic roster gets really set for the back half of the season.
In terms of additional housekeeping, they have the rights to F-Justin Jackson from Maryland after acquiring him in a pick-swap with Denver during the draft in the second round. He doesn’t appear to be heading to camp this year, so we’ll look out for him in summer league next year.
As for their future picks, they have their own first rounder for 2019 and have two-second rounders through a couple of deals, one of them from a deal this summer and one from moving back to take Jackson.
Outside of the second round pick swap, where they moved back two spots to take Jackson and got an additional 2019 2nd rounder, they also took G/F-Melvin Frazier at pick #35 from Tulane. He got a guaranteed contract that bit slightly into the Magic’s mid-level exception this summer, so expect to see him spending some time between Orlando and their G-League team this year.
Their other pick was the #6 overall pick, Mo Bamba, from Texas. Bamba is probably the most athletically gifted Center in the draft class, but is extremely raw and has a long way to go. I foresee him coming off the bench this year behind Vucevic for the time being.
Incoming players on the roster include:
C- Mo Bamba (draft, #6 overall from Texas)
G/F- Melvin Frazier (draft, #35 overall from Tulane)
G- Jerian Grant (trade with Chicago)
C- Timofey Mozgov (trade with Charlotte)
G- Isaiah Briscoe (signed as a free agent, from Portland)
F- Jarell Martin (trade with Memphis)
Departures from last year’s roster include:
C- Bismack Biyombo (trade with Charlotte)
F- Mario Hezonja (free agent, signed with New York)
G- Shelvin Mack (waived, signed with Memphis)
G- Rodney Purvis (trade with Oklahoma City)
G- Arron Afflalo (free agent, unclaimed)
F/C- Mo Speights (free agent, unclaimed)
The initial housekeeping moves done by Orlando at the start of the offseason included waiving G-Shelvin Mack and guaranteeing the contract of F/C-Khem Birch, who they had for a limited run last year. They were low on guard depth, so they signed Isaiah Briscoe to an unguaranteed minimum.
They made two trades this summer. The first was as follows:
Charlotte gets: C-Bismack Biyombo, 2019 2nd rounder
Chicago gets: G-Julyan Stone
This move allowed them to maneuver two players with hardly any ability to play, but end up adding Jerian Grant in the process. They can take a flier on Grant as a potential Point Guard piece while still not playing Mozgov, who essentially will take a back-of-the-bench role just as Biyombo would have done this year with the arrival of Bamba.
This trade was fine for Orlando, if there’s any value to Biyombo, they got some of it out by being able to test the waters on Grant for a season before he hits restricted free agency. If he plays well, they can go through the process with him, if he doesn’t, they can cut their losses and still be in the same financial situation with Mozgov as they were with Biyombo. Chicago needed to clear two million more in space to get Jabari Parker, and Charlotte will be able to try to use Biyombo as a defensive specialist in their frontcourt, while Mosgov would’ve just been unplayable.
Grant averaged 8 points and 5 assists last year for Chicago in a spot-starter role, and although he’s not much of a long-range shooter, he had a decent assist percentage, decent PER, but also unkind defensive metrics. I think he’s probably a better player right now than Augustin, so I’d give him a chance to start and see if he can develop a connection with one of the bigs in pick-and-roll.
If Isaac is going to be a sixth man long term off of the bench due to the sheer clutter of the frontcourt, it’d be nice if Grant could develop a chemistry with him.
The second trade they made went like this:
Orlando gets: C-Dakari Johnson (and cash)
OKC gets: G- Rodney Purvis
Then, they immediately pivoted to get rid of Johnson in another transaction:
Orlando gets F-Jarell Martin (and cash)
Memphis gets: C-Dakari Johnson and the draft rights to G-Tyler Harvey (2015 second round pick)
I’m not sure that Jarell Martin will be part of the rotation, so I’m assuming that they are stockpiling cash in case they want to use the rest of their mid-level exception, even if with a few additional minimums, they run into tax concerns. Because Frazier and Briscoe are taking up a small chunk of it, they have almost $7 million still to use on a player, so these small deals ending up with Martin seem to be more finance related than player related.
That being said, Martin did have a decent last few months last year, so maybe he could be a backup piece if someone gets injured.
Finally, the big Orlando news of the summer was the contract they gave Aaron Gordon in restricted free agency, worth 4 years for 80 million, with a descending total of salary throughout the years. He’ll make almost 22 million this year, but he’ll only make around 17 million in the fourth year.
I have been a huge supporter of Gordon’s career development. I love his athleticism, and I love his dedication to expanding his game into different facets. The inefficiency and willingness to settle for stand-still jumpers is a problem, though, and I wonder if he needs to find the healthy balance of still trying to be a complete player but also realizing what his strengths are.
His 53% true shooting percentage last year was abysmal, so his career high at almost 18 points per game doesn’t tell the entire story of how his offensive season actually went. That number also doesn’t describe how well he shot the ball at the beginning of the year, and then how he began to fall off after the first month.
Regardless, Gordon is player who is working to expand his offensive game, can guard multiple positions, and clearly is worth a contract that will be exceptionally reasonable in two-to-three years when the Magic start to make their push to be more competitive.
My complaint with the Magic isn’t about the moves that they made. The Gordon signing was the right play, and they still have some assets for the future. My issue is what they didn’t do. They need to begin moving off of guys like Vucevic and Ross, and they need to improve their guard play.
Jerian Grant and D.J. Augustin are not enough at Point Guard, and the PG position is necessary to help the bigger guys grow as offensive players. A good passer could aid in Isaac, Gordon, and Bamba’s development, but the Magic are so focused on staying in the lottery that they didn’t want to add anyone to help their players grow.
The Orlando Magic have fired head coach Frank Vogel. He lasted two seasons with the team.
“We said from the outset that we’re going to take the year to evaluate and we took the whole year,’’ Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman, who has worked in tandem this season with GM John Hammond, said in a statement. “There’s no `ahhh-ha’ moment, no date, there’s no event that kind of clicked into place. It was just looking at the season, weighing all of the information, game-by-game, day-by-day and adding it all up at the end of the season.’’
Vogel is the second head coach fired by an NBA team on Thursday. The New York Knicks fired head coach Jeff Hornacek, as well.
Frank Vogel (Getty Images)
These two may not be the only head coaches fired on Thursday or over the next several weeks. Wednesday night was the end of the regular season in the NBA, so it would be surprising if more moves happen.
The 44-year-old Wildwood Crest, N.J. Native went 25-57 with the Magic this season. During his first season with the team last season, he guided the team to a 29-53 record.
in his two seasons, he guided the team to a 54-110 record. Neither season did Vogel guide the Magic to the postseason.
There was no Mickey Magic during his tenure, as they finished fifth in the Southeast Division both seasons.
“It’s tough and I feel bad for Frank because he’s a great guy and he did his best … with the situation that he had here, having a new team last year and it didn’t work out for us on the court,’’ said center Nikola Vucevic, the Magic’s longest-tenured player over six seasons. “This year, too, our season didn’t go the way that we wanted it to. It’s a tough business for him, but (Vogel) did everything he could to help us be the best team that we can. But this is the way the business goes sometimes.
“It (stinks) for all of the assistants as well because you build relationships with all those guys, but it’s part of the business,’’ Vucevic continued. “It’s nothing too new to me. It’s going to be my fifth coach in seven years, so I’m used to it.’’
Orlando is looking for their fifth head coach since the 2012-13 season. Besides Vogel, Jacque Vaughn, James Borrega, and Scott Skiles were the coaches in this time frame, neither guiding the team to the playoffs.
The Orlando Magic have released two-way player Adreian Payne. He was playing for the Lakeland Magic.
Payne was released by the Magic after his name surface in the Michigan State scandal. A sexual assault scandal has tarnished the Spartans image, including its sports teams.
Former Minnesota Timberwolves player Adreian Payne (Getty Images)
Larry Nassar, who used to be affiliated with the school, reportedly sexually assaulted multiple women. His name came up on Friday during an ESPN report.
Payne played for the Spartans from 2010 through 2014. He, along with former player Keith Appling, was accused of raping a female student in 2010 when all where in their freshman orientation.
The accusation has been out there; however, the details that ESPN reported are new. The Magic did not want to suffer backlash from this report so they released him.
Carolyn Schaner, the victim, said to the Michigan State Police that Appling and Payne “penetrated her vaginally, anally and orally against her will in their dorm room in 2010.” Payne, when he was questioned, reportedly told the police, “[he could] understand how she would feel that she was not free to leave.”
Payne was a first-round draft pick by the Atlanta Hawks in 2014. He has played in 107 NBA games in his career.
The 26-year-old has played for the Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic in his NBA career. He has also played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Austin Spurs, Erie Bayhawks and the Lakeland Magic in his G-League career.
The Orlando Magic have fired their general manager Rob Hennigan. The 35-year-old was let go after the team missed out on making the playoffs once again.
The Magic never made the playoffs under Hennigan. Since he took over, the team also had four head coaches since June 2012.
Rob Hennigan (Getty Images)
With Hennigan calling the shots, the team finished 5th in the Southeast Division all five seasons. During the 2015-16 season, they finished 11th in the Eastern Conference.
The Magic had a 35-47 record under Scott Skiles, then Skiles left after the season. Frank Vogel came in this season, but they could only muster a 29-53 record.
He’s been sent down to the NBA D-League several times this season. He was even linked in a potential Lance Stephenson deal that would have sent the two players to the Orlando Magic for Channing Frye, before that deal fell apart.
The Frye trade fell apart when he went to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-way deal that the Magic felt like it was a better deal. Stephenson then was shipped in another deal with the Memphis Grizzlies for Jeff Green, who previously played for Clippers head coach Doc Rivers in Boston.
This season, he’s appeared in 13 games. During those games, he’s averaging 1.5 points in 4.6 minutes per game.
In 18 NBA D-League games, including 16 starts, he’s averaging 18.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists with the Bakersfield Jam and the Charge.
During the 2014-15 season with the Clippers, he appeared in 21 games. He averaged just 2.0 points and 0.4 assists in 4.8 minutes.
Wilcox was also a member of the 2015 Orlando Pro Summer League, where he averaged 14.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 32 minutes per game.
The 25-year-old was the Clippers first-round pick, 28th overall, in the 2014 NBA Draft. The six-foot-five guard played collegiate basketball with the Washington Huskies, and has played for the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants, besides the Jam and the Charge when he hasn’t suited up for the Clippers.
Beno Udrih, who was acquired by the Miami Heat in November from the Memphis Grizzlies, will miss the rest of the season. He underwent season-ending surgery on his right foot, according to Yahoo Sports.
He underwent an MRI earlier today before having the surgery. This is more bad news for the Heat. It’s the second Heat guard to be lost for the rest of the season.
Tyler Johnson had shoulder surgery early this month.
The team is also currently without Chris Bosh, who is dealing with serious health problems right now. He had a health scare in his calf, which may be from a blood clot issue that cost him the latter part of last season. He even missed participating in All-Star weekend at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto because of this problem.
Bosh’s life was on the line last year. However, this issue is not expected to be that bad – but he’s still missing games, as the Heat must continue on without him.
Udrih, whose 33-years-old and was acquired in the Grizzlies and Heat trade from Nov. when Mario Chalmers was sent packing. He was backing-up Goran Dragić and was averaging 4.4 points and 2.5 assists per game.
Udrih and Jarnell Stokes was traded to the Heat on Nov. 10, 2015 for Chalmers and James Ennis. The Grizzlies also reportedly included Jon Leuer’s trade exception to make it work.
The New York Knicks have fired head coach Derek Fisher. He was hand-picked by Knicks president Phil Jackson, and he lasted a year and a half with his mentor.
The Knicks are 23-31 this season and they were just 17-65 in his first-year as the Knicks head coach.
Fisher did not have previous head coaching experience, but his mentor was able to overlook that. Jackson tried to get Steve Kerr to take over the team, but he declined to do so, as he hand-picked the Golden State Warriors team.
With the Warriors, Kerr was able to guide the team to the The Finals Championship over the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer. For Jackson, that had to be hurtful, as one of his former Bulls player wouldn’t take the job that he wanted him to do so, then won the championship months later.
The team’s losing this season hasn’t done any favors for Fisher, who reportedly had a hard time transitioning from a player to a coach, according to ESPN‘sBrian Windhorst.
Fisher came on board to help turn the Knicks franchise around. However, in the two seasons, the team has barely improved as they’ve only one six more games than last season through mid-season.
Fisher and Jackson had previously had a relationship dating back to when Fisher played for the Jackson-led Los Angeles Lakers teams. He was the point guard for the Lakers team when they won five championships.
“I know it’s a relief for him, taking away some of that stress from the job,” Jackson said. “It’s also a person I have a long relation with and care deeply about and hope for his success. It’s time for us to make a change, turn this team around and move forward and get some wins and keep going down the road we started here at the beginning of the year.”
Fisher replaced Mike Woodson, who went 109-79 in parts of three seasons with the team. Woodson won only one playoff series as the Knicks head coach, and several players were disappointed when he was fired, especially Carmelo Anthony.
“This is a very talented team with strong character and I am confident they will succeed,” Fisher added. “Obviously, I’m disappointed, but have learned an immense amount from this experience and hope to grow from it.”
The 32-year-old is reportedly available in a trade since being placed on the trade market last month. Earlier this season, the Timberwolves reportedly talked to two teams about trading Martin; however, nothing happened.
At the time, the team was not willing to trade Martin after they began the season with an 8-8 start. Since that time, the Wolves have gone 4-19 and their last lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-96 on Jan. 12th.
It’s also curious that the Bucks are interested in Martin, as they are the 13th ranked team in the Eastern Conference. They’re out of playoff contention right now and the Brooklyn Nets (10 wins) and the Philadelphia 76ers (4 wins) have a worst record in the East.
Right now, the Orlando Magic hold the 8th position in the playoffs should it start today. The New York Knicks are right on their heels with a 20-20 record, while the Magic have a 20-18 record.
Recently, the Bucks were interested in acquiring Caron Butler. However, with this Martin news, it doesn’t appear like they’re interested in re-acquiring Butler once again.
The team has reportedly also met with power forward Carlos Boozer, who hasn’t played this season. He last played in the Association with the Los Angeles Lakers last season.
Martin has been with the Wolves for the past three seasons. He has appeared in 29 games this season, including 12 starts. He’s averaging 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23.8 minutes per game.
The 23.8 minutes per game is the lowest singe he joined the NBA as a rookie in 2004-05 with the Kings. He’s getting paid $7.085 million this season – and has a player option for next season at $7.37 million.
Martin is averaging 17.7 points, 3 rebounds, 1.81 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.05 blocks per game during his Wolves tenure.
Besides playing for the Wolves and six-years with the Kings, he also played three seasons with the Houston Rockets. He was a piece of the trade that sent James Harden from the Thunder to the Rockets, where he’s developed into a star.
After the Harden trade, he only played in one season with the Thunder, before going to Minnesota.
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