HOOPSAHOLIC

Remember that NBA Finals when a Dwight Howard led Magic team played Kobe Bryant and the Lakers back in 2009? Well if you do congrats, because I barely do.. I was still in high school, and that’s how long it’s been since the Magic have truly been relevant. In fact, there is no one left on the Magic roster from that 2009 team. Jameer Nelson was the last dude from that team that stuck around, but he bounced this summer for the Dallas Mavericks. 

When I first looked at the Magic roster for this upcoming season, two words immediately came to mind: “ew” and “gross”.. Then after looking at it again, I kind of laughed to myself because there’s no buttering this one up, the Magic are going to be awful this season. They’ve literally invited eight new people to their training camp that weren’t on the team last year. Head coach Jacque Vaughn will have his hands full this season as he tries to make lemonade with no lemons. 

The Magic have added two veterans in Ben Gordon and Channing Fry through free agency, and both should be productive players for the Magic. But adding two guys that are on the down hill slope of their prime (if they ever had one) won’t necessarily translate to more Magic wins. They also added Evan Fournier from the Nuggets. I liked his game when he was coming into the league a few years ago, but he’s yet to show the finesse scoring that was so highly touted when he came over from Europe. Fournier did have a stellar game against Portland last season, so maybe he's making strides (video to the right). Orlando is an extremely young team, which gives them promise in the future… but in an epically distant, far away kind of future. 

I’ll start by talking about the player I really like on this team, who was actually acquired via the draft, and that’s point guard Elfrid Payton Jr. Not many hoop fans know exactly who he is, because people rarely got to watch him play since he played college ball at Louisiana Lafayette. Let me go ahead and let all of you know now, that this dude will be a star in this league. Don’t believe me? That’s fine… but no one thought a kid (actually a man) they'd never heard of out of Weber State named Damien Lillard was going to be good for the Blazers either. Even though it’s not often, there are occasional hidden gems that pop out of small colleges just like Lillard and now Payton Jr. He is a dynamic point guard and an aggressive defender that really pushes the tempo on offense. Even though it won’t be next season, his game will translate well with the other young, athletic players the Magic have in Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon. 

I love Oladipo’s game, I really do. My only question is: Will ever be able to turn into the “go to guy” on any team? He averaged 13 points on only 12 shots a game, but his outside shooting really needs to get better. In order to be an elite scorer in this league, he will have to be able to light it up away from the rim. He’s already a great all around player, averaging four rebounds and four assists as a rookie. He was also apart of the Team USA select squad this summer that played against the USA roster that competed in the FIBA World Cup. It can only benefit a young player to play against some of his best peers in an environment filled with distinguished coaches such as Coach K and Jim Boeheim. 

Nikola Vucevic will also be another Magic player that will have a lot of production. He's probably the best player/piece the Magic received in the deal for Dwight Howard. Vucevic is virtually a guaranteed double double every game with 14 points a clip to go along with eleven rebounds. He needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end, though. Last season he only averaged two free throws a game, if Vucevic can get that number up, he could be recognized as a prolific scorer to go along with his stout rebounding. 

I also believe Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless will have a decent season. Both are under the age of 22, so like I said before, this team has tons of promise moving forward. Also, If rookie Aaron Gordon can figure out how to score anything but a layup, then maybe the Magic will surprise me. I think Gordon’s game will take a couple of years to develop into what the Magic want. He can dunk it from the free throw line, but he can’t even make a free throw SMH!