Here's part 2 in the series about what you would do during the off-season, should select a specific player in the upcoming draft.
If you'd like to jump in about other top prospects, I've done this for the other top guys here:
'What If' the Magic take Paolo Banchero
'What If' the Magic take Chet Holmgrem
It's draft night. Adam Silver walks to the podium, but everyone on twitter already knows what he's going to say: "With the first pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic select...Jabari Smith out of Auburn University."
Confetti and hugs all around.
We haven't seen the OPP Scouting Report for Smith just yet, but I'll update this with the link once we have it.
Now...it's the next morning, and it's time to pull up the Magic's payroll page on basketball ref, the espn trade machine, and get to work!
There's your cap sheet. The Salary Cap is expected to be set at a whopping $122M, with the luxury tax hitting at $149M. As you can see, currently the Magic are at $84M, even with Smith's contract.
There are currently 12 members on the team; with Harris (UFA), Bamba (RFA), Lopez (UFA), and Bol (UFA?) as options to return. Keep in mind there are cap holds for these players, so if you want to sign someone to a big contract into the Cap space, you'd have to renounce or sign some/all of these players first. Bamba's is the biggest concern, at ~$22M, as he's going to be shopping for as big a deal as he can get (what you think he'll get, you can list below as part of your plan to either keep him or let him walk). Harris has a similar sized hold. Lopez & Bol are negligible. But between Bamba & Harris, the Magic technically don't have any cap space. To create it, you have to waive one or both of them.
So lay it out in the comments. What do you do with the expiring deals? Do you make additional consolidation trades? Do you stay young but look to swap for different young prospects? If so, what moves would you look make? Do you stand pat? If so, how do your lineups shake out? How do you expect the team you're working towards will play? How do you hope they will play? What's your rough off-season regime for the newest member of the Magic, and for the existing members.
Try not to go full "NBA2K" on trade proposals, please. Realistic makes for more interesting conversations.
I'm excited to see how some you would want to see from the Magic, should they draft Jabari at #1!
A thanks in advance for anyone willing to play this little "what if" game with me & your fellow posters.
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