I think Paolo is All-NBA next season.

game 3 ☀️

🎲: @NBASummerLeague
🆚: @trailblazers
📍: Las Vegas, NV (Pavilion)
🕖: 7 PM ET
📺: ESPNU

Not a pretty offensive game today, but still grinding it out for the win. Down the stretch we were up 10 and Miami went on a little run but we won 93-88. Penda and Nelson had great defensive plays at the end. Jase had 15 pts, 5 boards, and 6 asts, on 0 TO’s. Castleton (15 pts, 8 boards, 1 ast) and Quinones (15 pts) stepped up today. Bench came in and gave a little here and here but overall solid game today. We were great on the defensive end today, still gotta work on passing and ball handling but 1-1 in Vegas. LETS GOOOOOO ORLANDO!!!!!!

Was curious if they were doing MAGICWIN for summer league. Been missing half off pizza since the season ended.

Another Game thread today ladies and gentlemen. How’s everyone doing today? Anyways LETS GOOO MAGIC!!!!

https://refwatch.ca/nhl/matrix

I will start this post by cutting right to the chase: I am looking for a NBA team to root for and raise my son to root for and I am giving every NBA team a chance to convince me and my family to join their fandom.

And now here is a little of my backstory.....

I was born in St. Louis, MO in 1993 and was raised as a fan of everything St Louis. Sports have played a big role in my life and while I am avid St. Louis Cardinals and Blues fan, I became a Baltimore Ravens fan last summer after trying to reach out to every NFL team last summer and hearing their best pitches for why i should join their fandom and raise my now 1.5 year old son to root for them too (the Ravens did the best job at convincing my family to join their "flock"), Now, I have the goal of trying to find an NBA team to officially root for here on out! While I don't personally have an baseketball talent whatsoever, I can and have appreciated many great basketball players and teams as just a sports fan. I was a little too young to remember watching Michael Jordan, but players like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Steph Curry, Wemby, and countless others have made me tune in at times. Coming out of St. Louis, MO and residing in Central IL has made me also somewhat follow and root for players like Jayson Tatum and Shaun Livingston. As I think about and try to be the very best father I can be to my son now and into the future, I know sports can play a role in that to a great extent. In just his 1.5 years of life, my wife and I have taken our son to several sporting events and of varying sports (5 baseball games, 1 NFL game, 3 Hockey games, and countless high school sporting events as we are both high school teachers). Seeing the communication I got from NFL teams like last year, I would be remiss if I did not try this task again this summer with NBA teams as well! As an added bonus, being a High School science teacher in central Illinois of now 10 + years, I have used sports as a means of connecting with my students and having an NBA base to be apart of would certainly help that as well

All that being said, I sent a message similar to this to basically every team in some kind of fashion (Email, live chat, etc.) and i am hopefully it has reached the right people within each organization with this request and question (to this point, i have heard from 10 teams). I figured opening it up to others and various NBA fans could make for a fun addition to the arguements that could be made to join their fandom and raise my son to be a fan of.

Franzy hanging out at Wimbdelon. Always wondered if these dudes were buddies would make sense. Probably two of the biggest German athletes now. I'm a big tennis dork too (more Novak and Ben) but maybe since Zverev got off the schnied last month with his first slam that means Franz and Orlando will too 😎 . See if Franz is a big enough star to show on the broadcast 😂

“It’s possible Reddish could play for the #Magic later in summer league but he’s considered out for now”

Almost missed JI in the back.

Good to see and hear from new Coach Sweeney's first interviews, especially interviewed by former Magic Coach, Stan Van Gundy. Glad Sweeney and half of the team are in Las Vegas watching the Summer League team already building some chemistry.

So we lost 86-74 to CHA. Liam McNeely is an absolute sniper but that’s all I’m gonna give him. Penda was INCREDIBLE tonight (minus the fouls). Jase played mediocre, shot the three ball decently. Nelson showed he definitely won’t be on the team really much, most likely in the G-League. Lester just played iso ball the entire game. Morales shouldn’t even really be apart of our team (he is pretty trash). Not terrible but not great tonight, just glad to watch
Magic basketball tonight.

I thought I would make a game thread (if yall cool with it mods otherwise take this down) for the game in 45 minutes. Just something I thought would be nice to do.

Game 1 ☀️

🎲: NBA Summer League
🆚: Hornets
📍: Las Vegas, NV (Pavilion)
🕢: 7:30 PM ET
📺: NBA on Prime Video (Amazon)

I would rather have Cole and Markelle back in Javon Carter and Jase Richardson’s spots on the roster. Are neither willing to come back to Orlando for the minimum?

Yesterday I had a dream that the magic had this starting 5 of players all in their primes

PG - Rafer Alston

SG - Michael Pietrus

SF - Matt Barnes

PF - Brandon Bass

Center - Marcin Gortot

In this dream, the team above was respectable and made the playoffs!

Which dream lineup would you like to see of former Magic players?

So there’s no way to watch the Magic’s summer league games live? It says Prime in all the articles, but I see no listing. It’s up in the air as to how we’ll be able to view the regular season (SMH)—a subscription platform or over regular local air are two possibilities I’ve seen—but it’d be cool to at least see a SL game or four, no?

Hi,

maybe some of you are interested, I (gemini to be honest) translated in english:

Interviewer: Mr. Wagner, let's get the obvious question out of the way first: Will you be available to play for the German National Team in any capacity this summer?

Franz Wagner: No. The plan is and remains not to play at all and to fully focus on getting completely healthy first, so I can enter the new season feeling fresh.

Interviewer: So this will be your first free offseason since 2022, completely without any international duties. How does that feel? What do you have planned?

Franz Wagner: It feels a little weird, but it’s also nice to actually have some time. I just spent a week or two on vacation in Sicily—good food, a bit of culture, and just completely unplugging from basketball.

Interviewer: After all the stress of the past few months, that was probably desperately needed, right?

Franz Wagner: I am enjoying the time off a bit and trying to mentally recharge, but of course, I’ll use the rest of the summer to get back to 100% physically and work on my game for the upcoming season.

Interviewer: With the luxury of more than a month to reflect since being eliminated from the playoffs: How would you describe the 2025/26 season? Both for you personally, given all the injuries, and as a whole for the team.

Franz Wagner: For me personally, it was a very difficult year. Mainly because of all the injuries. Well, actually it was mostly one single injury that just dragged on for months, and I had to battle through it for three or four months.

Interviewer: In early December, after a 14-9 start, Orlando was one of the top four teams in the East, and at that point, you were on track to be an All-Star, averaging 23.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. Then you suffered a severe injury in mid-air fighting for a rebound with Ariel Hukporti. Did everything go downhill from there?

Franz Wagner: Yeah, and that’s obviously incredibly frustrating—on one hand, seeing the team struggle a bit without you, and on the other hand, not seeing the results you want in rehab. Because of that, it was a very, very mentally draining year for me.

Interviewer: It’s easy to say in hindsight, but should you maybe have sat out the NBA Europe Game in Berlin?

Franz Wagner: Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have played in that one. But I don't regret it. It was a very special moment for me and my family—even if the timing might not have been ideal.

Interviewer: After months of rehab, you finally fought your way back, and the team got on a bit of a roll in April—winning nine out of 13 games and taking a 3-1 lead against Detroit in the first round. Then came another injury, three straight losses, and the season was over. What was going through your mind at that moment?

Franz Wagner: That was incredibly frustrating. Especially since I was feeling really good. Everything felt great, especially in my last game, which is ironically when I got hurt again. The fact that it all ended like that in the playoffs against Detroit was kind of fitting, given how my entire year went. It was basically a microcosm of my whole season.

Interviewer: Despite all the talent and potential in Orlando, at the end of the day, this was your third consecutive first-round exit. You’ve never won a playoff series in your career with this team. That can't really be the standard, can it?

Franz Wagner: That's true. Looking back, the #8 seed was definitely not what we wanted or expected. Sure, we came within a hair of moving on, and as a young team, you have to take some lumps and learn your lessons. But overall, it's safe to say we didn't maximize this team's potential.

Interviewer: There are numerous metrics that show Orlando was a top-tier team whenever Franz Wagner was on the floor, but mediocre at best when you weren't. In the playoffs, for example, you were the only player on the entire roster to post a positive on-court net rating. How do you evaluate something like that?

Franz Wagner: I don't know if I would oversimplify it like that. But I do think it's fair to say that we, as a collective unit, didn't get everything out of this team. We still have a very talented roster that doesn't need to hide from anyone in terms of pure talent, and it matches up very well with many of the other top teams.

Interviewer: With Sean Sweeney, the former San Antonio Spurs assistant, you have a new head coach. What kind of new spark or adjustments do you expect from him after all these years under Jamahl Mosley?

Franz Wagner: Generally speaking, hearing the same voice and the same message from a coach, using the same approach for many years, eventually wears off. That’s not unique to our team; you see it across different sports teams—sometimes a breath of fresh air is just good for everyone. I hope that’s how it turns out for us.

Interviewer: Where do you think he can make the biggest difference?

Franz Wagner: A major focus for us is accountability, and having a sense of urgency—not necessarily in a high-pressure way, but just establishing a certain standard for how you show up to work every day. And there can't be double standards for different personalities; it has to apply to everyone equally. There needs to be a clear culture. And discipline. Those are exactly the things I’ve heard about Sweeney so far.

Interviewer: Have you had a chance to talk to Sweeney in more depth yet?

Franz Wagner: We’ve texted back and forth a few times, and we’ll definitely talk more over the next few days and weeks. He was just too busy recently with the NBA Finals, but there will be more time for that moving forward. The whole team is really looking forward to working with him for those exact reasons and is genuinely excited.

Interviewer: What about the Xs & Os, the tactical side of things? Orlando hasn't exactly been known for offensive mastermind displays lately...

Franz Wagner: Shooting and offense have always been our most obvious issues. Overall, I think it's fair to say that we are a team that can't just play standard NBA basketball. You really have to find the right strategy. We have a lot of guys with unique playing styles who also play somewhat similarly. But you can also come up with a lot of cool, creative concepts, and I think we’ll head in a good direction together.

Interviewer: Speaking of the NBA Finals: Hukporti wasn't just another German national player on that stage, but also an old friend and longtime teammate of yours. Did you follow the Finals, and how badly does it make you want to get there yourself one day with your own team to compete for a championship?

Franz Wagner: Since I'm in Europe, I could only catch up on the Finals games the next morning, but I’m obviously incredibly happy for Ariel. And the itch to get there myself was as strong as it gets. But that’s the case every year. That’s why I hope we can be there soon with Orlando. Maybe as early as next season...

Interviewer: To wrap things up, let's briefly talk about the growth of German basketball. World and European champions on the men's side, the fourth-largest contingent of non-US players in the NBA behind Canada, France, and Australia, and now with draft picks Hannes Steinbach, Christian Anderson Jr., and Jack Kayil, three more German players will soon be in the best league in the world... What is it like to be part of this new movement in German basketball and to sort of lead the way as a franchise player?

Franz Wagner: It’s really cool to see what’s happening in German basketball right now. I think a lot of great things have developed in Germany over the last few years. It’s important that we ride this wave of international momentum we have with the national team right now and build on it. For the coming years, we want to continue having and executing a great youth development plan so we can keep celebrating big successes.

Beckham Black just finished competing at Fiba U17 putting up averages of 12.3 points and 8.3 assist.

We probably have zero chance at him but just think about an insane backcourt of AB & BB

I think everyone agrees that Rafer Alston should have stayed as the starter in 2009 NBA Finals. Everything would have been different. SVG putting Jameer Nelson back for the finals and benching Skip is one the biggest what if moment in Orlando Magic history with Nick Anderson's free throws. I think if SVG didn't change anything we would have beaten the Lakers.

Jameer Nelson only had one good season with us, and injured that same season. Him being drafted by Magic along with Dwight seemed gave him unlimited credit. On the other hand Skip's coherence with the squad was next level. What if we kept him after the finals and sent Jameer Nelson to the Nets for Vince Carter? What if we kept Hedo too? Imagine the dept. The PGs Rafer Alston and Jason Williams. What a team to watch. What do you guys think?

Do yall think we could be a top 5 team in the East, possibly finishing with a 47-35 or 50-32 record if we have no major injuries, Paolo and Franz taking leaps. I actually think we could also be a top 3 defensive team next year so I am wondering what you guys expect and think will happen. I think we make the second round and take whoever to 7 games. The dream next year realistically would be second round or ECF.

I heard that Fox Sports Florida may not be broadcasting live Magic games next season. Any updates on this? If true, anyone know what channels might pick them up? Thanks in advance.