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Orlando Magic Daily Roundtable: Early Draft thoughts

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Mar 13, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) dunks the ball over Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) dunks the ball over Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs
May 22, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry (30) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs small forward Davis Bertans (42) and Dewayne Dedmon (3) during the second half in game four of the Western conference finals of the NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

Have the Playoffs been too boring or inevitable? Is this is a problem for the NBA?

Doyle: Call me a terrible NBA fan, but I have not watched much of the NBA Playoffs. The conference finals have been a joke and most of the playoffs have been uncompetitive. It may sound harsh, but I am really disappointed by it. I love basketball and it stinks that I am turning to baseball in May. This is a major problem for the sport. Many of the casual fans are not tuning in until the Finals start because it has become so obvious and boring. Cleveland Cavaliers–Golden State Warriors was everyone’s prediction since Kevin Durant signed with Golden State. I do not know what the course of action is, but I do not see this problem going away anytime soon.

Palmer: This year that was definitely the case. We all called the Finals last June and it has gone just as expected. There was some intrigue around the San Antonio Spurs-Golden State Warriors series. But Zaza Pachulia put a quick end to that. I would say the lack of parity has not hurt the NBA yet but in the coming years it could become very concerning. The idea of the Cavaliers and Warriors dueling without much competition for the next 3-5 years is kind of boring and sickening to me.

Rossman-Reich: Yes and no. Certainly, a boring Playoffs frustrates everyone. I remember being in a creative writing class (yes, I was that guy in high school) and the first thing our teacher told us was to make sure your ending is good. If your ending is bad, you will disappoint and frustrate your audience. A bad ending — or unsatisfying ending — ruins an entire story. So to have such an amazing NBA regular season and then follow it up with a poor Playoffs? Yeah, I understand why fans are so frustrated and upset at the moment. The ending is everything. If Golden State and Cleveland (or the Boston Celtics) goes seven games like last year, none of that will matter. TV ratings certainly are not hurting. I am not even sold this lack of parity is a problem either. Everyone waxes poetically about the Celtics-Lakers series of the 1980s. The league had a much bigger parity problem then. Here is hoping the Finals this year deliver.

Scricca: The overwhelming dominance of the Cavaliers and Warriors sucks… until the Finals. Not to mention, the playoffs have actually done well in TV ratings. So I do not think it is a big problem for the league and I do not think anything should be done about it. This is just another era in the league’s history that will be remembered for the unparalleled dominance of one or two teams, just like all the classic decades: the 1960s (Celtics), 1980s (Celtics and Lakers) and 1990s (Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls). Plus, did we all forget about how awesome this regular season was? Anyone who tells you the feats of Russell Westbrook or James Harden should be enjoyed any less just because his team was never a Finals contender is a killjoy. These parity issues have undoubtedly made most of the playoff series leading up the Finals very boring and non-competitive, but it did not affect my enjoyment of the regular season, I think it will pay off in a great Finals matchup, and I think it will eventually ebb when these teams start to decline and others continue to rise.

Next: Jeff Weltman arrives to Orlando ready to listen, lead

Flynn: The Cavaliers and Warriors series have certainly lacked drama, but all of the other series were entertaining. The Washington Wizards-Boston Celtics series and even the Bulls-Celtics series were very entertaining and had their fair share of drama. The Utah Jazz eliminating the LA Clippers raised a lot of interesting questions for the Clippers’ future and James Harden laying an egg in Game Six against the Spurs created some intrigue with who Harden is as a player. Did we all expect to see Warriors vs Cavaliers in the Finals? Yes. But, looking at each series there is plenty to take away from the Playoffs this year.