Ross compared Wagner to Gordon Hayward and explained why the eighth pick is off to a fast start with the Magic.
Terrence Ross on Tuesday compared rookie teammate Franz Wagner to Gordon Hayward and explained why the eighth pick is off to a fast start this season with the Orlando Magic.
Wagner, through 28 games played, is averaging 14.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals. He currently leads the rookie class in total scoring (400 points) and has registered at least 15 points in nine out of his last 10 games overall.
He has often earned high praise from head coach Jamahl Mosley and his teammates given his ability to impact games on both ends of the floor. He plays with a great understanding of the game and can seemingly pick things up very quickly.
Ross sees some of Hayward in his game
Franz is good at everything. He is really good at everything. He can shoot, pass, score, defend and he is 6-foot-10. He is really fun to watch. He reminds me of a Gordon Hayward with a lot more size and I think (can be) a little bit better down the road. I’m excited to see what he turns into.
Wagner has also emerged as one of the best two-way rookies this season. He has found success guarding nearly every position on the court with his size and athleticism. On the other side of the ball, his ability as a facilitator at times and cutter has given the Magic plenty of versatility.
Rookie players can typically enter the NBA and impact games only on one side of the floor. It often takes time to develop to be able to defend at a high level and score on a nightly basis but Wagner has seemingly picked that up relatively quick this season.
Ross explained what makes Wagner such a great threat this season.
He is such a good two-way player that he is still figuring things out but the stuff that he does have figured out right now is really good. The way he attacks the basket, he has great footwork. He can shoot it, handle the rock. He can get around guys his size or smaller. He has really good vision. He seems like he has been playing for years and years the way he plays. He is a really good player.
The early display by Wagner has certainly been one bright spot for the Magic through the first quarter of the season. The team is in the midst of a rebuilding effort as the season will be mostly in a developmental stage but Wagner has looked to have exceeded expectations early.
Wagner projects to be near the top of the rookie scoring leaders this season and will be a strong candidate to earn recognition in the end-of-season awards races. With the arrival of Wagner, the Magic look to have added another strong foundation piece for the future.
Boston still has work to do on their roster, and we like this trio of suggestions to that end.
The Boston Celtics need to shake up their roster with some consolidatory trades, with too many talented role players to play, and not quite enough star power to prevent their offense from being easy to game plan against. And while adding a star via trade would be the obvious solution to such a situation, it is not so easy to pry them loose from teams given their status as stars in the first place.
But finding players just below that threshold who more strongly complement the team’s two star forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is less of a tall order, and a topic we will see plenty of ink spilled on in the coming weeks. In fact, we are already seeing such articles percolate up through the wider NBA media sphere, such as that recently published by Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley.
It’s no secret the team needs more playmaking, shooting, scoring, and size, and Buckley offers up a trio who address some or all of the above — let’s take a look at the trade targets he has in mind.
Terrence Ross reacts to the Magic are going into a full rebuild.
Despite back-to-back playoff appearances led by two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic are going into full rebuild mode. On trade deadline day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported three big Magic trades in the span of an hour.
First, the Magic agreed to a deal to send Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu to the Bulls for Otto Porter Jr., Wendell Carter Jr. and a pair of first-round picks.
Here's the deal: The Bulls land Nikola Vucevic and Al Farouq Aminu for Otto Porter, Wendell Carter Jr., and two first-round picks. Huge addition for Chicago, who remains in pursuit of Lonzo Ball. The Magic are moving toward a rebuild now with Aaron Gordon deal on deck.
Who’s left? Terrence Ross is! The third-leading scorer on the Magic hasn’t been dealt (as of around 1 p.m. ET), and his Twitter feed has been full of GIFs and emojis has he reacts to the franchise tearing it all down and immediately starting a rebuild.
Here’s the best tweet of them all, along with some other good ones below it:
The Philadelphia 76ers have new expectations and new lessons learned with Ben Simmons out with the injury.
The Philadelphia 76ers are in the midst of a tough time. They are in the middle of an NBA resumption in Orlando with the playoffs officially set to begin in a little over a week and they will have to do so without one the game’s best in Ben Simmons who is most likely done for the season.
This now shifts a lot of attention to the other Sixers. Obviously, Joel Embiid will take on a lot more responsibility on his shoulders, but what about a guy like Tobias Harris? He received a $180 million contract in the 2019 offseason and there are new expectations for him.
“I would say an extended opportunity,” said coach Brett Brown pregame on Friday. “I just feel like he’s going to have more opportunities to do in the absence of Ben. I think, in general, with the group, I feel like it’s an opportunity to galvanize the team. To not have an All-Star and look at the team respond, I have great confidence in. As it relates to Tobias, I see it as an opportunity as he’ll more of a usage rate and more opportunities to score the ball.”
Harris had 23 points and 13 rebounds in Friday’s win over the Orlando Magic so he had his opportunity and he ran with it. He shot 4-for-6 from the floor in the second half in the win and he has done a relatively good job of being a leader for this team.
Then, one has to look at the other Sixers. Alec Burks was terrific off the bench on Friday, Matisse Thybulle and Josh Richardson played stellar defense on Magic forward Terrence Ross who is one of their top scorers, and Al Horford stepped back into the lineup and had 21 points and nine rebounds.
Terrence Ross shot 0/10 on the night last night, but when defended by Matisse Thybulle specifically, he shot 0/6 and he was blocked twice #Sixers
“I think that there are other players, look what Alec Burks did, look at Matisse’s defense chasing Terrence Ross, and J-Rich chasing Terrence Ross, I don’t think he scored,” said Brown. “Look at Tobias crashing the offensive boards with Al Horford, we as a team ended up with 15 offensive rebounds, so you can go to a bunch of places, but I feel like there is a flashpoint where you realize without Ben Simmons, there’s some things that have to be done and let’s just start with intensity.”
The Sixers know they can’t exactly replace a guy like Simmons. He does too many things for them at such an elite level, but they do have guys who are capable of stepping up and at least filling the role.
“It’s hard to replace Ben,” said Horford. “He does a lot of our group. The way that we’re looking at it is we all just have to step up a little more and it’s going to give opportunities to guys on the bench and other guys to come in and have an impact. We really don’t know. We just hope that he’s able to get healthy and get healthy quickly.”
Simmons’ 2019-20 season appears to be over, but this now an opportunity for the Sixers to see what they’re made of. They will be able to get a closer look at the Embiid and Horford pairing and learn more about the rest of the roster.
Their next lesson will be on Sunday when they take on a desperate Portland Trail Blazers squad inside the bubble. [lawrence-related id=36501,36489,36462]
Plenty of NBA players have done a lot of complaining about their situation in the league’s Disney World bubble they’re about to be stuck in for the next three months.
And, look, when you’re putting your health and well-being on the line in a situation like this while being away from your family for three months, complaints are totally understandable and even valid.
But everything doesn’t seem to be all bad! From a small peek given to us by Orlando Magic guard Terrence Ross, things actually seem pretty sweet.
Ross posted a video of the players’ lounge the NBA’s stars will have access to while staying in Orlando. And, fam, it looks absolutely fantastic.
Terrence Ross gives a first look at the players’ lounge 👀
There are gaming stations, comfortable chairs, ping pong tables, arcade games, a pool table and so much more. Just imagine how many hours you could spend in a spot like that.
Who needs to go outside when all of that is available? Sheesh.
Few if any in sports history both embodied and embraced the mythology surrounding them quite like five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant did.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Few if any in sports history both embodied and embraced the mythology surrounding them quite like five-time NBA champion
Kobe Bryant did.
When the superstar basketball player tore his Achilles tendon, he reportedly became obsessed with the story of Achilles from the Trojan War. Bryant, a legendary warrior in his own right and in his daily mentality, was certainly mythological in each and every sense in his accomplishments during his time on this Earth.
Numerology, the belief that numbers have an almost supernatural impact on life, often plays a large role in myth. It is one of the reasons why teams retire certain numbers for their best players; the Lakers chose to retire Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 in December 2017.
Sources: Multiple NBA players have begun informally retiring Kobe Bryant’s jersey number(s) as a tribute — with Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie among them, changing from No. 8 to No. 26.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said that no one on his team will ever his numbers again.
With the sudden and tragic loss of Bryant earlier this week, some believe that the numbers should get similar treatment to what Jackie Robinson (No. 42) has in the MLB and what Wayne Gretzky (No. 99) has in the NHL with a league-wide mandate.
While no such decree has become official, several players in the NBA have taken matters into their own hands. Below are each of those to have made such a decision, which helps illustrate just how wide-spread his impact on the game was. We will continue to update this post as more news will become available.
Few if any in sports history both embodied and embraced the mythology surrounding them quite like five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant did.
Few if any in sports history both embodied and embraced the mythology surrounding them quite like five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant did. When the superstar basketball player tore his Achilles tendon, he reportedly became obsessed with the story of Achilles from the Trojan War. Bryant, a legendary warrior in his own right and in his daily mentality, was certainly mythological in each and every sense in his accomplishments during his time on this Earth.
Numerology, the belief that numbers have an almost supernatural impact on life, often plays a large role in myth. It is one of the reasons why teams retire certain numbers for their best players; the Lakers chose to retire Bryant’s No. 8 and No. 24 in December 2017.
Sources: Multiple NBA players have begun informally retiring Kobe Bryant’s jersey number(s) as a tribute — with Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie among them, changing from No. 8 to No. 26.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said that no one on his team will ever his numbers again.
With the sudden and tragic loss of Bryant earlier this week, some believe that the numbers should get similar treatment to what Jackie Robinson (No. 42) has in the MLB and what Wayne Gretzky (No. 99) has in the NHL with a league-wide mandate.
While no such decree has become official, several players in the NBA have taken matters into their own hands. Below are each of those to have made such a decision, which helps illustrate just how wide-spread his impact on the game was. We will continue to update this post as more news will become available.
SPENCER DINWIDDIE, BROOKLYN NETS
(Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to No. 26
Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie grew up in Los Angeles, Calif. and has spoken about his deep love for Bryant. Before switching to his own brand of sneakers (K8IROS), he wore the Kobe AD Mid shoes when he played.
The defending winner of the All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge recently spoke about why he changed his number as well as his recent experience chatting with Bryant in Brooklyn (via NBA.com):
“He was everything to a lot of kids and I was one of them … “I met Kobe several times, exchange pleasantries and text messages and things and, maybe this is a little bit over-exaggerated but I felt like this was the first time he was looking at me as the basketball player Spencer, you know what I mean? Briefly, told you guys how much he meant to all the people where I’m from and for him to tell me that in his book I’m an All-Star and stuff like that, talk about a popularity contest before and you don’t win things like that when you’re me, so for him to say that, I didn’t need to be selected anymore, because I was an All-Star, you feel me, it’s not just like my family, it was the guy.”
When The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that several players around the league would change their jersey number, Dinwiddie’s was the first and only name listed.
Dinwiddie has offered to pay for the first 260 people who want their apparel switched from No. 8 to No. 26 as a bit of a thank you for the support.
TERRENCE ROSS, ORLANDO MAGIC
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Change: No. 8 to No. 31Â
While he went to high school in Portland, Ore., Ross was born in Long Beach, Calif. near Los Angeles.
The Orlando wing spoke about his memories of Bryant during a recent interview (via The Guardian):
“It was my rookie year. We played him in L.A. I didn’t play that game but it was kind of like a front seat to the Lakers show. He killed us, he killed us bad. He hit a couple threes in clutch moments, he dunked to take it into overtime so I was like, “This is like vintage Kobe. And I remember my mom was sitting courtside and she was looking me the whole time, like, ‘This is bad for ‘y’all’. But it was fun, I enjoyed it.”
Ross, who had only just switched to No. 8 before this season began, will once again sport No. 31 on the court.
After leaving his sneaker deal with Li-Ning in China, he started wearing the Nike Kobe AD Mid sneakers.
ZHAIRE SMITH, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
(Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to No. 5
Philadelphia 76ers wing Zhaire Smith was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He recently told reporters that he wanted to wear No. 2 while in the NBA because that is what he wore at Texas Tech, though that was retired by the Sixers to honor Moses Malone.
Instead, he confirmed that he chose No. 8 because that was what Bryant wore in the NBA. Smith said he used some of the wild stories about Bryant’s work ethic to inspire him (via NBC Sports):
“I think I heard one of his stories where he was in the gym since 6 a.m., went home, came back. I tried to do that for one day but my body was dead, so I never did that again.”
He wore No. 7 in his first game after Bryant’s death but will switch to No. 5 for the remainder of the season.
Smith had a custom jersey that had the Philadelphia 76ers name on the front with the last name “Bryant” and the No. 8 sported on the back. He said that he will one day use that as the centerpiece of his man cave.
JAHLIL OKAFOR, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to TBD
New Orleans Pelicans big man Jahlil Okafor will reportedly no longer wear No. 8 but has not yet decided what the new number will be. Okafor wore No. 22 in high school and No. 15 when he played at Duke. He also wore No. 4 during his brief tenure with the Nets. While he is a big man, he has rocked the Nike Kobe AD NXT 360 kicks on the court.
MOE HARKLESS, LA CLIPPERS
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to No. 11
The Clippers forward is one of Bryant’s many superfans across the league. He once slept in a locker room “to see Kobe practice” and has worn Bryant’s line of sneakers for several seasons. When he was drafted, he told reporters that he was looking forward to guarding Bryant.
QUINN COOK, LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Change: No. 2 to No. 28
The guard has said that his late father Ted Cook, who passed away when Quinn was just fourteen years old, was the biggest Lakers fan he had ever met.
“I can tell you every Laker thing since I’ve been living. I watched every game, every playoffs every championship, so like I was telling my brother last night, it’s still surreal coming in here and you see all these legendary numbers, you see all the trophies, you see the years that they won it and it’s just more motivation to try and get one this year.”
Cook did not wear No. 8 or No. 24 but told Shams Charania that he no longer felt comfortable wearing his number because of its ties to Bryant’s daughter, who also perished in the terrible crash. He said that “it’s hers” and should be retired.
The former NCAA (2015) and NBA (2018) champion was spotted mourning the loss of Bryant outside Staples Center earlier this week.
MARKIEFF MORRIS, DETROIT PISTONS
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to No. 88
Last year, Morris tweeted that Bryant deserved a spot as one of the “Top 3” players of all-time. He has previously sported the Nike Zoom Kobe 4 Protro shoes on the court. During his first NBA game after the terrible tragedy that involved Bryant, Morris wrote “Mamba Forever” and “RIP 8/24” on his Nike sneakers.
ALEC BURKS, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Change: No. 8 to No. 20Â
Back in 2014, NBA wing Alec Burks completed a nasty behind-the-back crossover when guarded by Bryant. To this day, it has been one of the most memorable moments of his career. Burks will tribute Bryant by changing his number from No. 8 to No. 20.
NOTE: This story will be updated as more players make the decision to change their jersey number.
The Orlando Magic are reportedly interested in acquiring DeMar DeRozan. How would he fit with their current players and offensive system?
DeMar DeRozan is the main asset the San Antonio Spurs received when they traded Kawhi Leonard, but he may not be in their long-term plans.
As noted by The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the four-time All-Star was “quite a ways apart” from agreeing to a contract extension with San Antonio before the season. As such, it remains possible that the Spurs decide to trade the 30-year-old wing before the deadline in February to get something back for the veteran shooting guard.
According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, one team that has expressed interest in DeRozan is the Orlando Magic (via The Ringer):
“The Spurs could always deal him sooner rather than let him walk for nothing. Multiple league sources say the Magic are scouring the trade market for scoring help and have already expressed interest in trading for DeRozan. It would surprise none of the front-office executives I’ve spoken with if the Spurs did move DeRozan.”
Orlando would certainly not be willing to part with Nikola Vucevic or Aaron Gordon for a 30-year-old DeRozan. But perhaps for one of the Magic’s more ancillary pieces, a deal would be realistic.
Considering that DeRozan is one of the most prolific mid-range shooters of the last decade, the first question is whether the Magic would allow him to play that style if such a transaction occurred.
First, to properly contextualize just how important this is to his offensive role, the San Antonio wing is currently averaging more mid-range field goal attempts per game (7.0) than any other player in the league. In fact, he has connected on more mid-range field goals (33) than six different NBA teams have so far this season.
Orlando would be a natural fit in this regard considering they rank third among all NBA teams in frequency of mid-range shots, per Cleaning the Glass.
Last season, Magic wing (and former DeRozan teammate) Terrence Ross ranked ninth in mid-range field goals attempted. Considering that coach Steve Clifford allowed Ross to fire so often in this zone, the expectation should be that DeRozan would be given a similar green light.
When including passes, DeRozan has finished nearly half of his offensive possessions as the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. That would also make him a strong fit alongside Orlando’s Nikola Vucevic, who leads all active players in scoring (6.6 ppg) from these sets.
Vucevic ranks Top 5 in total scoring on pick-and-pop opportunities and just a few slots behind current DeRozan teammate LaMarcus Aldridge. The two-man offense of Vucevic and DeRozan is quite a bit better than anything else Orlando has on their roster.
But perhaps the biggest need that the Magic have right now is a lack of any one-on-one scoring threat. The team currently ranks 29th in isolation points, averaging just 3.1 ppg.
DeRozan ranks Top 20 among all NBA players on ISOs (2.5 ppg), more than doubling the output of Orlando’s current isolation-scoring leader DJ Augustin (0.9 ppg). For context: DeRozan has finished Top 20 in isolation-scoring each season since 2012-13.
In fact, he averaged almost exactly as many points (4.1 ppg) on ISOs as the entire Magic roster (4.2 ppg) last season. When including his passes in 2018-10, only Houston’s James Harden produced more points per game on this play type.
For the Magic to return to the playoffs after making it last year, a scorer like DeRozan would go a long way. If San Antonio is willing to accept a discount on a trade just so they don’t lose him for nothing as a free agent in July, he could be an interesting addition for Orlando.
