Penny & Pops Podcast - Magicbasketballonline.com

In a current media atmosphere culture that wants to rank everything, it’s quite difficult to accomplish that in an NBA era where position-less basketball is becoming the norm. However, it is still possible to look at positions such as center. Is Wendell Carter Jr. a top 10 NBA center? Ignore the contract. Because if the contract was factored in, WCJ could be top 5. The Orlando Magic’s 24-year-old big man does not get enough praise as he should. Durability is the only thing that can hamper his ascension. Team USA would’ve benefited greatly had they had Wendell at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Media day and training camp are behind us. There are now 4 Orlando Magic preseason games to play before the 2023–2024 regular season begins. Talking about the main 15-man roster. Expectations. What we want to see? Lingering questions. Who starts at SG between Gary Harris and Jalen Suggs? How will Anthony Black and Jett Howard find minutes on the floor? Jonathan Isaac is actually healthy but are there any restrictions on him? Should the Magic trade for Buddy Hield? All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Orlando Magic Media Day and training camp begin in two weeks. The team finally revealed their throwback blue stars jerseys. Great to see guys like Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson back in town for that event. Franz and Moritz Wagner are World Champions! They helped lead Germany to winning the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Why winning gold is the biggest basketball moment of their lives. It’s something Dirk Nowitzki never did. Paolo Banchero’s Team USA experience fizzled out in comparison to how it started at the World Cup. Why that’s OK both as a learning experience and because of all of the skills and info picked up from fellow coaches and players within the Team USA program. Does it matter if Paolo or Franz is designated as the #1 or #2 Magic star? Dwight Howard. Stan Van Gundy. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Team USA took care of Italy in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals. Paolo Banchero got to squash some Italian beef in victory. The reigning Rookie of the Year award winner on Friday next gets to face Franz and Moritz Wagner in the semifinals as Germany remain the only undefeated team in the tournament by surviving and defeating Latvia on Wednesday. It’s what Magic fans were hoping the basketball globe would get to see, a showdown of its two best rising stars. Will Germany pull off the huge upset of Team USA? Is the US still favorites for gold? Predictions. Germany also earned their automatic Olympic qualification for Paris 2024. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Team USA and Paolo Banchero just suffered their first loss at the hands of Lithuania but are still moving onto the quarterfinals. The US also earned their automatic ticket into the 2024 Paris Olympics (as did Canada). We cannot get a Paolo v. Wagner brothers World Cup final, that dream died. The Wagner brothers are 5-0 heading into the quarterfinals knockout stage despite Franz missing the last four games. Moritz has been great off the bench for Germany. A USA v. Germany semifinals meeting is still in play. Paolo must deal with Italy first in the quarterfinals, and that is going to be a fascinating matchup for various reasons. Goga Bitadze and Joe Ingles are going home with Georgia and Australia crashing out of the second group stage phase. Georgia will be happy with Bitadze’s performances and the nation’s basketball progress. Georgia must play in next summer’s pre-Olympic qualification tournament if they want to play in Paris. Joe and the Aussies will be disappointed in not reaching the quarterfinals, but A

A 2023 FIBA World Cup update as all 5 Orlando Magic players advanced into the second phase. Paolo Banchero (USA), Franz and Moritz Wagner (Germany), Joe Ingles (Australia), and Goga Bitadze (Georgia) each are into the second group stage. The tournament has gone from 32 down to 16 teams. Four teams in 4 groups. Each team plays games September 1st and September 3rd. Every Magic player has played well overall. The biggest concern is Franz and his rolled ankle that he suffered late in the first game. Looking ahead to which teams can make the knockout quarterfinals. A USA-Germany final is still in play. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Going over the Orlando Magic’s 2023-2024 NBA schedule that was recently released. The in-season tournament wrinkle. Awful fan road trip opportunities. Then getting into the 2023 FIBA World Cup preview. The tournament is taking place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia August 25-September 10. All games can be watched on ESPN+. The Magic have 5 players participating: Paolo Banchero for Team USA, Franz and Moritz Wagner for Germany, Joe Ingles for Australia, and Goga Bitadze for Georgia. How these players have done in FIBA friendlies as well as tournament predictions. A USA-Germany final? All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Final Summer League thoughts. The Magic brought back Admiral Schofield. Orlando made a curious draft picks trade with the Phoenix Suns. Orlando will be heading to Mexico this season because the Magic on November 9th will play the Atlanta Hawks in Mexico City. The Pascal Siakam rumor is odd. The Magic have 5 players (Paolo Banchero, Franz and Moritz Wagner, Goga Bitadze, and Joe Ingles) participating in FIBA World Cup activities already. Keeping an eye on Donovan Mitchell’s Cavaliers future. The DeVos family using the Magic franchise in politics. Jonathan Isaac has his own shoe that he’ll wear on the court. All of that and more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Considering that Joe Ingles was the only new free agent addition to Orlando, it’s been a pretty busy July for Magic fans already. Bol Bol, Michael Carter-Williams, and Admiral Schofield are gone. Moritz Wagner and Goga Bitadze are back. Our front office is going through some shuffling, and Summer League is ongoing. The Magic again demonstrate promoting from within as John Hammond steps aside. Anthony Parker and Pete D’Alessandro ascend. Orlando proving this free agency that 2023-2024 is looking like an evaluation season and how 2024 free agency and trying to trade for a disgruntled star seem to be the preference of the front office. The new NBA Cup mid-season tournament was unveiled. Summer League debuts of Anthony Black and Jett Howard. And more! #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Observations from the 2023 NBA Draft Amway Center watch party. It did not go how we wanted it to for the Orlando Magic. We took Anthony Black with the 6th pick, then Jett Howard at 11. We are not happy, and a lot of Magic fans also are unhappy. Cam Whitmore and Taylor Hendricks were available at 6th. The 11th pick had other options like Whitmore, Jordan Hawkins, Dereck Lively, and more. WeltHamm again dumped a second round pick. These draft decisions have a large impact on Cole Anthony, Gary Harris, Jalen Suggs, Markelle Fultz and others. It’s OK to question Jeff Weltman and John Hammond. Time will tell who is correct. There’s not much time to dwell because there are now roster contract decisions and free agency around the corner. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Miami got denied the championship and now it’s NBA Draft week. Last year, the Orlando Magic had the #1 pick, we controlled the board. Now at 6, 11, and 36, on top of figuring out which players you like or which veterans you’d rather trade for, there’s this chess board dance of figuring out what the other teams should or are doing. There are already smokescreens galore. The Magic, because of their cap flexibility and draft picks are linked to everyone and everything. This is where the front office earns its money. Talking Aaron Gordon, trading up for Scoot Henderson, Paolo Banchero, Cam Whitmore, the 35th anniversary logo, Kristaps Porzingis, and a lot more. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

After an interesting NBA Draft Lottery, we now know the Magic have picks 6, 11, and 36 for the June 22nd 2023 NBA Draft. So no Victor Wembanyama for Orlando. This is where WeltHamm really go to work because there’s a lot of scenarios that can happen. Trade picks for established players, trade up, trade back and accumulate more assets, or they can stay put and use their picks. With the new CBA promoting building from within the draft even more, it’s not absurd to think Jeff and John will bring in more youth by keeping and using their draft picks. This leads to a lot of ideas, speculations, and rumors. Cam Whitmore and Bobi Klintman? Taylor Hendricks and Jordan Hawkins? Dereck Lively? A Thompson twin? Gradey Dick? Anfernee Simons? A Nikola Vuceivc return? Brook Lopez? OG Anunoby? Jaylen Brown? Buddy Hield? Norm Powell? Desmond Bane? So much more. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic on Tuesday night have a chance to strike gold again in the NBA Draft Lottery with potentially two picks. Two years ago we got a stud in Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs might end up being really good still, last year we landed the #1 pick and took Paolo Banchero, which looks like the right decision by far to date. Now it’s the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. The Magic could see their 6th-best lottery odds land them in the top 4, and hopefully we leave the night with Chicago’s first rounder as well. This is a massive offseason, because the Magic might not be back in the lottery for a while if we do things right. Paolo Banchero becomes the 3rd Rookie of the Year in Magic franchise history, and the 11th player in team history to make the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Banchero was the only rookie from the 2022 draft class to be unanimously voted to the First Team. COVID, Twitter, Draft Lottery odds (9% is a lot better than 1.52%), Gilbert Arenas, Osceola Magic, Pat Williams’ MLB Orlando Dreamers mission, an

The Magic made it into April still competing for the play-in. This time last week we were still alive in the play-in chase. That’s outstanding player growth considering Orlando is one of the youngest teams in the league. The Magic fell short of the play-in but didn’t tank until the final 3 games, displaying a bright future ahead, and finishing their 34th NBA season 34-48. That’s a 12-game improvement from last season. The tankers end up happy anyway. Less than a week of tanking saw Orlando claim 13th in the East again and owning the 6th-best odds for May’s NBA Draft Lottery. That’s a 9% chance at the #1 pick. And 37.2% chance at jumping into the top 4. Penny and Pops are also going to look back and review season predictions (many were quite fantastic). #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic just went 3-0 on this homestand. The math for the play-in isn’t great for Orlando because Chicago, Toronto, and Atlanta keep winning just enough. It’s a 2% chance. That’s OK though, because we’re playing well and we’ll get into April still technically in the play-in hunt. Orlando has won 10 games more than last season already. Win-loss wise, we’re the best 5th-worst team in the last 35 years of the league’s history. That’s progress. It’s OK if the Magic leap over Portland, Indy, and the Wizards in the standings if that means we finish the season on a high note with our young guys. 5th-best lottery odds are great, 8th-best isn’t a disaster either despite what the pro-tanking crowd moans about. Dennis Scott got inducted as the 12th member of the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. Paolo Banchero should unanimously win the Rookie of the Year award. That and much more. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Seeing a lot of the Magic fan base down at the moment. Orlando can’t seem to string a win streak together and we haven’t made up ground in the play-in chase. We’ve lost ground after a disappointing home loss to the Bucks who were without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday. Jonathan Isaac had another lower body surgical procedure and is out for the rest of the season, and Isaac may never wear a Magic jersey again. It’s a possibility. This team is in the play-in hunt. We are. And we’re not dead until it’s mathematically over. And even if the Magic miss out on the play-in, we’re still going to have respectable odds of our draft pick jumping into the top 4. It’s a win-win situation either way. Watch guys like Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner grow in these added pressure games. Evaluate the roster and Jamahl Mosley’s coaching staff, and we’ll have a better idea of needs come the offseason. Those are things that tanking won’t accomplish. Also, Michael Carter-Williams is back. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult La

We’re just about done with the All-Star Break. Orlando has made some roster changes. The Magic are together again practicing for Thursday’s game. Hope you all took a deep breath, because it’s time for that final 23-game sprint to try and sneak into the play-in. Trade deadline discussion. Mo Bamba to the Lakers. Goga Bitadze signed as a free agent. Terrence Ross and RJ Hampton being waived. Admiral Schofield being converted from a 2-way contract to a standard NBA contract. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner at All-Star Weekend. The feasibility of getting into the play-in. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic lost an intense home game 102-98 to the New York Knicks. It had playoff vibes. Orlando enters the February 9th NBA Trade Deadline 22-33 and just 3 games out of a play-in spot. We discuss trade rumors, trade machine ideas, and more! Paolo Banchero won Rookie of the Month again, this time for January. Paolo and Franz Wagner were just selected first and second in the Rising Stars draft for the upcoming All-Star Weekend later this month. The Austin Rivers v. Mo Bamba fight. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

The Magic lost Wednesday night to the Sixers 105-94. Splitting this two-game series in Philly. At least the Magic again denied 76ers fans free chicken. We were there at the Wells Fargo Center, enjoying awesome seats. If the Magic could buy a 3-pointer, they would’ve taken this game. Jameer Nelson was there. The Markelle Fultz heckler was not. The NBA announced that Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner were named to the Rising Stars player pool for All-Star weekend. Jalen Suggs didn’t make it again. It’s disappointing for a 5th overall pick to not make it either year, but injuries are the main culprit. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language

Recorded in a 2-bedroom apartment in the city center of Philadelphia, the Magic just came back from 21 points down to beat the red-hot 76ers in Philly at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers had won 7 consecutive games, 9-1 in their last ten. The Magic ended that. We were there to witness it! We drove to Philly to be there for the week. Markelle Fultz got his revenge with a double-double. Paolo Banchero had an outstanding 29-point performance. Moritz and Franz Wagner brought additional scoring. Orlando is now 20-31 and hanging around in the play-in chase. Orlando won the turnover, second chance points, and fast break points battles. Why was Pops wearing an Eagles beanie with that amazing Magic throwback jacket? Why did Pops appear angry? Why Magic fans should thank the Markelle Fultz heckler in section 101 for angering and sparking the Orlando into that comeback win. It’s amazing how crazy folks become for free chicken and t-shirts. #LetsGoMagic Warning: Adult Language