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10.30.17

S.E.: So, are we all ready to congratulate the 2017 Eastern Conference Champions, The Orlando Magic?

J.S.: Definitely, and all it took was the firing of former general manager and Emerson College alum Rob Hennigan.

S.E.: But seriously…..

 Are the Magic actually good?  

Here is the short and less interesting answer: Probably/definitely not. It’s six games into the season and the Magic are 4-2. It’s a nice start but Orlando is loaded with a ton of players who don’t really fit together or in today’s NBA landscape.Evan Fournier won’t shoot better than 50 percent from three all season. Aaron Gordon, who is averaging nearly 24 points and 10 rebounds and has made 14 of 25 (!) three-points shots, won’t play like Shawn Kemp 2.0 all season. Nikola Vucevic will revert to ball-pounding again because we know who he is. The grind of a long season will catch up to them and they will sag to a mediocre record with a directionless roster.Here is the fun and more optimistic answer: OH HELL YEAH! The Magic have so far beaten San Antonio and Cleveland by a combined 48 points. They have an intriguing top-four of Gordon, Fournier, Vucevic and Spurs-castoff Jonathan Simmons who are all playing out of their minds. As a team, Orlando is shooting almost 50 percent from the floor and 45.9 percent from deep.Where did this come from? Vegas had this team at 30.5 wins for the year, which, considering the #TankCulture in the league right now, almost seemed like an insult. Too good to be bad and too bad to be good. All of a sudden, this core looks --- Good? Exciting? Explosive? A trainwreck waiting to happen?Who knows!

The Hinkie Curse is real and it is thriving

*picture credit: SI

Throughout the 76ers prolonged tank job, the common defense has taken the form of a question like this one: Would you rather have the long term outlook of the 76ers or the Hornets?

To this question, we counter: WOULD YOU RATHER BE THE HORNETS OR A TEAM THAT IS CURSED FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY?

Drastic? Too much abuse of the caps lock too soon? All fair critiques. But let us explain to you The Process© of The (former 76er general manager Sam) Hinkie Curse.

First, here is a tweet worth knowing about:

• A highly-thought of draft pick (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz) will miss (at least) all of his first season.

• Said draft pick will return in tantalizing spurts, but because of injury or trade, will never come to fruition as a contributing member of the 76ers.

• All insufferable 76ers fans claiming it’s a good thing to lose 70 games a season for half a decade will be banished to Antarctica for the rest of their lives.

The Hinkie Curse is a work-in-progress. The last bullet point is a lie. But the wrath is coming.

The Cavs are playing very average, low effort basketball and it doesn't matter

*picture credit: Boston Globe

In the last 51 regular season games, the Cavaliers have a 26-25 record. They got worked by the Knicks last night and are 3-4 through seven.  Here come the Cavs are over the hill takes. Yawn.

The season is eight months long and the star-studded teams have the luxury of coasting through the first few months of the season without any urgency. 

It’s only the lower level, unproven and undefined teams that show some sense of intensity out of the gates. Brooklyn, Detroit, and Orlando, to name a few, are supposed to roll over this season. They've all pulled some early upsets (Pistons just beat the GSW in Oakland 115-107 last night). They'll all come back to earth.But, as the Cavs have proved every year, once the playoffs arrive they flip the switch.

It will be a long two months with blown-up box scores scattered with upsets until the faces of the NBA start to care.Was that enough of a buzzkill for you?

• We did the math: Victor Oladipo is the best player ever. Perhaps that is prisoner-of-the-moment rhetoric, but he is averaging 25.5 points per game through six and he sunk the Spurs with a go-ahead bucket with 10 seconds to go last night.

• Did you see Bradley Beal smack Draymond Green upside the head? It’s a good watch.

• Phoenix’s Eric Bledsoe and Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor are both still on their teams, but also not really. Neither has been traded yet, but that time is coming for both.

• A free reminder that the Celtics own the rights to the Lakers 2018 first round draft choice, should it fall between No. 2 and No. 5. The Lakers have started 2-4.

• S.I.’s Richard Deitsch held a round table with seven NBA reporters and asked them various questions including the league’s hardest interviews and where LeBron James will land next season. [Tap Here]

• Here’s a weird but good think piece about LeBron James and the NBA he’s created by The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion. [Tap Here]

• S.I. looks at the financial side of basketball and explains the spending power that big market teams have, even if they’re over the luxury tax limit. [Tap Here]

Video Rewind: Little Mo was an assist machine.

#throwbackeveryday

October 30, 1982: Philly staple Maurice "Mo" Cheeks tallies 22 assists in a 110-99 win over the New Jersey Nets. 

*picture credit: NBA