Orlando Magic executive Jeff Weltman
Gordon, Hezonja among looming free-agent moves
previews free agency and discusses top draft pick Mo Bamba with Magic beat writer Josh Robbins.
Important decisions loom for the Orlando Magic.
Free agency will begin at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sunday, and the team has holes to fill, especially at point guard.
Meanwhile, the team’s own free agents will include Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja.
Gordon will be a restricted free agent. Although Gordon can sign an offer sheet from another team, the Magic will have the right to match any offer sheet. Or the Magic can simply re-sign Gordon if they and Gordon reach a deal.
Hezonja will be an unrestricted free agent.
The Orlando Sentinel caught up with Jeff Weltman, the team’s president of basketball operations, and asked him about the upcoming freeagency period. Weltman also fielded questions about the team’s first-round draft pick, center Mohamed Bamba from the University of Texas.
Here’s a transcript of that conversation. Orlando Sentinel: How will you approach free agency? Jeff Weltman: “Obviously, we’ve begun our free-agent prep as we kind of dovetail in from the draft. But now that we know what our roster looks like post-draft, we’ll kind of hunker down this week and start to refine our wish list and where we think we can be effective and
where we think we can get into conversations — and not just through free agency but also trades.”
OS: How much money do you think you’ll have available?
Weltman: “We’ll have the full mid-level at our disposal.“
OS: That doesn’t seem to give you a lot of wiggle room to be extremely ambitious.
Weltman: “I think there are dozen or so teams that are facing the tax this year. The league is very compressed financially this summer. We’re certainly not in an elite flexibility position, but I don’t think we’re at the other end of the spectrum, either. We’re probably somewhere in the middle.”
OS: How do you plan to approach Aaron Gordon’s pending restricted free agency?
Weltman: “We’ve worked hard to establish a relationship with Aaron and learn him and he learn us. And, obviously, a big part of this is just having relationships with his representatives and just having discussions with him as we move forward and start to see if there’s a middle ground that we can reach and strike a deal. And we’re hopeful that we can do that.”
OS: A perception is that the Magic cannot afford to lose Aaron and not have anyone to show for the years that preceded your arrival. Is that accurate?
Weltman: “I don’t think of it in those terms. I just [ask], “Is it a good match for the player? Is it a good match for the team, both on the court and organizationally?” And if so, you can find a way to make things work. That’s generally what happens, and I believe that those things line up well in this situation. And we just hope for the best.”
OS: Do you have to recruit Aaron all over again? I say “all over again,” but the truth is he
wasn’t recruited in the first place. He was drafted.
Weltman: “No. I think Aaron knows how we feel about him from just the relationship that we’ve had with him since being here. And, obviously, part of that will be rolled into the negotiation. When you say “recruiting,” that kind of implies learning the city, learning the organization, trying to show him who you are. Obviously, that’s already in place. So I don’t think so.”
OS: How about the team’s approach with Mario Hezonja?
Weltman: “Mario’s an unrestricted free agent, and again, we have to assess our roster and look at our needs and our financial outlook. Unrestricted, Mario can go wherever he wants to go. So Mario has to do the same as he surveys his own landscape. We’ll talk to his guys and we’ll see if there’s a meeting of the minds there. I don’t really know yet.”
OS: What could a frontcourt of Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba ultimately become?
Weltman: “I think it has a really exciting potential. It kind of captures the imagination when you think about what those guys can grow into growing up together at both ends of the floor. But obviously there’s a lot of work
that will have to go into that before we have that conversation.” OS: What if Jonathan Isaac and Mo Bamba become capable 3-point shooters?
Weltman: “I expect them to. I think that they’ve both shown early in their careers that they will be able to be effective 3-point shooters — and more. They’ll be vertical spacers. They’ll be rollers. They’re going to have IQ, hands and feet. It’s kind of exciting what the potential of that group can be.”
OS: Specifically, now that it’s more important in the NBA to have players who can switch, who can stay on the court when other teams go small, what do you see there?
Weltman: “I don’t think that any of those guys are guys that you can small-ball off the court. I don’t think you can smallball any of those guys into a situation where the matchup will chase them away. They’ll be able to move their feet. They’ll be able to switch. And they’ll cause all kinds of trouble at the other end of the floor in time.”