This thread is for all of us to predict how each Magic player will do next season. I'm curious to see the expectations that some of you have for our players and your opinions on how they will improve from last season. [imgl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3818.jpg[/imgl]Dwight Howard Let's start with our franchise player, Dwight Howard. I think this is the year where Dwight breaks out. The third year is very important for young players because their sophomore slump is over and they are starting to reach their potential. Kevin Garnett (who was similar to Howard in his first two season) also broke out in his third season in the league. I see Dwight improving in points per game, rebounds per game, and blocks per game on his way to his first All-Star game. My predicted averages for Dwight are 17 PPG, 14 RPG, and 2 BPG. [imgl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3837.jpg[/imgl]Jameer Nelson Now let's move on to Dwight's side kick, Jameer Nelson. He played excellent towards the end of last season, averaging 17 PPG and 6 APG in the last 20 games of the season. He will have the starting point guard spot for the entire season barring injury and I think he will be a consistent second option on offense behind Dwight. He hit the big shots last season and expect this season to be even better for the little guy. My predicted averages for Jameer are 16 PPG, 7 APG, and 1.5 SPG. [imgl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3705.jpg[/imgl]Darko Milicic Now for the last player on the Magic untouchable list, Darko. I see him having a great year as well since he should get a lot of minutes and more importantly, a chance in the starting lineup. Darko has never been a full time starter before but he showed that he is capable of starting towards the end of last season when he averaged 7.8 PPG and 2.1 BPG in limited minutes. I see him contributing on offense and on the boards but most of all I see him being our best shot blocker. My predicted averages for Darko are 9 PPG, 5 RPG, and 2.5 BPG. [imgl]http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/nba/profiles/players/65x90/3415.jpg[/imgl]Hedo Turkoglu Turkoglu played well last season and was a main offensive threat for us averaging almost 15 PPG. He can hit the three and shot over 40% from behind the arc last season. His three point shooting was very important last season but with J.J. Redick now on our roster, expect his three point attempts to go down. My predicted averages for Hedo are 11 PPG, 3 RPG, and 2 APG. [IMGL]http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2894/jjred9sc.jpg[/IMGL]J.J. Redick J.J. Redick is arguably one of the best shooters of all time so there is no doubt he will put up points next season. At Duke, there were times when he would hit shots five feet behind the NBA three point line and usually with a guy or two in his face. The man can shoot and as a rookie, I see him averaging 10+ PPG and making a run for Rookie of The Year. My predicted stats for J.J. are 11 PPG, 3 APG, and 2 RPG. Now it's your turn. Predict the players' stats for next season.
Dwight: 16 PPG 13 RPG 2 APG 1.5 BPG Jameer: 16 PPG 6.8 APG 3 RPG 1.3 SPG Darko: 8 PPG 4 RPG 2 APG 2.7 BPG Hedo: 13 PPG 3 RPG 3 APG JJ: 12 PPG 1.6 RPG 2.5 APG
Dwight: 22 PPG, 12 RPG, 2 BPG Jameer: 15 PPG, 7 APG, 1 SPG Darko: 7 PPG, 4 RPG, 1 BPG Hedo: 14 PPG, 3 RPG, 3 APG JJ: 12 PPG, 2 RPG, 2 APG
Dwight 17,13,1.5 blocks Jameer 15,7.5, 1.3 steals Darko 8,7, 2.5 blocks Hedo 14,3,3 assists JJ 13,2.5,2.5 assists
Dwight Howard-18 PPG,14 RPG,2.5 APG,2 BPG Jameer Nelson-16 PPG,3 RPG,6.5 APG,2 SPG Darko Milicic-9 PPG,6 RPG,1.5 APG,2.5 BPG Hedo-12 PPG,4 RPG,2 APG J.J.-13 PPG,3 RPG,3 APG GRANT HILL-10 PPG,5 RPG,4.5 APG, 68 games played
Dwight Howard-18 ppg 13 rpg 2 bpg Jameer Nelson-16 ppg 6 apg 4 rpg Hedo Turkoglu-16 ppg, 4 apg, 5 rpg Darko Milicic-10 ppg 7 rpg 2.5 bpg JJ Redick-7 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg in 15-20 mins
Dwight: 18 ppg, 13 rpg, 3 apg, 1.5 bpg Jameer: 16 ppg, 3 rpg, 7 apg, 1.6 spg Darko: 9 ppg, 6 rpg, 2.5 bpg Hedo: 16 ppg, 4 rpg, 3 apg JJ: 12 ppg, 2 rpg, 2 apg
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Swish15:</div><div class="quote_post">Am I the only one who sees Dwight Howard making his first All-Star appearence next season?</div> Yeah right. I think everybody (including myself) is expecting to see Dwight in the 2007 All Star Game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Swish15:</div><div class="quote_post">Am I the only one who sees Dwight Howard making his first All-Star appearence next season?</div> He should have made it last year, so I don't think he will have any trouble making it this year.
^^Its, iffy. he will probably make it though. i see bosh, JO, ahead of him now. I am not sure about anyone else, but there isnt much room.
Dwight Howard: 20 ppg, 12 rpg, 1.5 apg, 2 bpg Jameer: 15 ppg, 3 rpg, 8 apg, 2 spg Darko: 10 ppg, 8 rpg, 2 bpg Hedo: 15 ppg, 5 rpg, 3 apg JJ: 10 ppg, 2 rpg, 4 apg I can see Redick having to adjust big time to playing in the NBA I know he's tough but I think he needs to bulk up a little and he's going to come up against taller Shooting Guards about 80% of the time. Maybe I'm being a little harsh but we'll have to wait and see. I would love to see Dwight in the 2007 All Star game and he's more than capable to make it.
Dwight is more than All-Star Caliber. Period. If he doesn't get hurt (God forbid) I can't see him not getting picked.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">^^Its, iffy. he will probably make it though. i see bosh, JO, ahead of him now. I am not sure about anyone else, but there isnt much room.</div> As long as Rasheed Wallace doesn't get in, then Dwight should be fine. If he has the stats that we are projecting there is no way he gets left out. He had 16 and 12 on 51% shooting last year while Sheed had 16 and 6 on 42% shooting and got snubbed(Dwight was actually .1 higher than Sheed in scoring). Dwight was leading the league in rebounding then and still didn't make the all-star game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">^^with big ben out, sheed may have a great year</div> Without Francis, Dwight may have a great year. I think it's pretty realistic to think that Dwight will improve more than Sheed does this year and I don't think there's any denying that Dwight was better than Sheed last year(at least at the ASB and the stats that I gave in a post up there)
Dwight: 16 PPG, 12 RPG, 2 BPG Jameer: 15 PPG, 6.5 APG, 1 SPG Darko: 7 PPG, 5 RPG, 2 BPG Hedo: 14 PPG, 3 RPG, 3 APG JJ: 10 PPG, 2 RPG, 2 APG
Dwight - 19.8ppg, 13.4rpg, 2.1bpg, .9spg Darko - 11.2, 8.4rpg, 2.3bpg, 1.1spg Hedo - 14.4ppg, 4.2rpg, 2.0apg, 1.0spg Nelson - 17.1ppg, 6.4apg, 3.7rpg, 1.4spg JJ - 9.8ppg, 3.1rpg, 2.0apg, .8spg
