The Orlando Magic aren't your everyday, run-of-the-mill, boring 25-win team - no no, they're actually interesting! Not only did they fire their coach mid-season - they still haven't named a replacement! Just in case you were wondering if they would be better next season. (No, they won't.)
More relevantly for this blog, the roster makeup of the Magic resembles a fantasy strategy affectionately called "Stars and Scrubs", where you pick a few elite players, and then fill out the rest of your roster with a mix of aging veterans and unknown rookies and D-Leaguers. Wait a second...that's exactly what we have going on here too! So, you've been given fair warning: about halfway down this list, you may start to feel a little light-headed. Sit down, drink some water, and power through it.
 |
| James Franco didn't take his time when traveling in The Abyss known as the bottom-half of the Magic roster. And look what it cost him. |
The List:
1. Victor Oladipo - SG 17.9ppg, 4.1apg, 4.2rpg, 1.7spg, 16.0 PER
2014-15 was the Season of Oladipo. Just kidding, he played on a team that won a total of 25 games, and didn't really have expectations of the playoffs all season. But Oladipo grabbed the starting 2-guard spot by the throat and never looked back, and used his increased minutes to raise his points per game, while reducing his turnovers per game. He shot at a better rate from everywhere on the court, and proved that the stat-sheet-stuffing aspect of his game is for real (just look at the steals!). He also proved that he's a great singer, and can jump a little bit. Or maybe those adjectives (adverbs?) should be reversed. Whatever.
2. Nikola Vucevic - C 19.3ppg, 10.9rpg, 1.4 "stocks" per game (steals+blocks), 21.6 PER
Nik Vuc is a double-double machine: his 45 were good enough for 5th in the league, and among those 5 players he averaged the second-most points, behind only DeMarcus Cousins. Vucevic was actually drafted by the Sixers, and was let go after one season (oops), and has come to find a home in Orlando. He's solid on defense - not a stand-out by any means - so his path forward should be clear there. Coolest part of NikVuc's game? 3+ offensive rebounds per game, and he's averaged that for 3 years in a row. That just speaks to his productive work down low, keeping possessions alive.
3. Tobias Harris - SF 17.1ppg, 6.3rpg, 1.0spg, 36% 3FG, 16.8 PER
Tobias Harris is a sneaky-favorite of mine. He seems to do everything on the court, like a not-completely-crazy Josh Smith. Dude is HUGE (6'9'', 235lbs), and he can shoot, has active hands, and can block a shot or two. One aspect of his game that's heading in the wrong direction: as his playing time and experience in the NBA has increased, Harris has started fouling and turning the ball over at increasing rates. Just wait until his hometown fans start booing whenever he lines up to take yet another 3, and then you'll know that he's gone complete Josh Smith. Once that (inevitably) happens, here's hoping he comes to Houston too!
4. Elfrid Payton - PG 8.9ppg, 6.5apg, 4.3rpg, 1.7spg, 13.9 PER
In his rookie season, the Louisiana-Lafayette product played extraordinarily well. He played in every game, started in 63 of them, and was allowed to legally buy alcohol in mid-February. Not a good shooter yet (he drove to the basket 2nd-most on the team behind Oladipo, and shot jumpers at a very low rate), he scored enough to have 12 double-doubles, even turning 2 triple-doubles. He turned the ball over too much (2.5 per game), but made up for it with a 2.6 assist:turnover ratio. In other words, that's a lot of assists coming out of Payton's dazzling handles. The company of this comparison may be too elevated for Payton, but if Elfrid aims more for Jason Kidd, and less for Rajon Rondo, then the sky is the limit for him.
5. Kyle O'Quinn - PF 5.8ppg, 3.9rpg, 0.8bpg, 14.9 PER
O'Quinn is a banger under the basket who tried to stretch his offensive game this season by (unsuccessfully) incorporating a 3-pointer into his arsenal. Not a gifted rebounder, especially for his size, O'Quinn adds enough of a presence in the middle on D to carry his own.
6. Evan Fournier - SG 12.0ppg, 38% 3FG, 12.5 PER
The Frenchman showed flashes of true competence in his first two years in Denver, and when he arrived in Orlando this year he...basically produced at the same rate, only this time with double the minutes. Fournier could be a "3-and-D" guy on a playoff contender, but on this team he slogged through the season and put up stats.
7. Aaron Gordon - PF 5.2ppg, 3.6rpg, 11.5 PER
The Magic's 1st-round draft pick from last year, Gordon (who wears #00, which is...simply Ostertag-ian) sputtered coming out of the gate as he adjusted to the NBA game. A standout during his time at Arizona in college, Gordon has the tools to improve - and if/when he starts progressing, current roadblock O'Quinn stands no chance to hold Gordon back.
8. Channing Frye - PF 7.3ppg, 3.9rpg, 39% 3FG, 9.5 PER
A prototypical "stretch-4", Frye loves to hover around the 3-point line and was the recipient of many kick-out passes from slashing guards Oladipo and Payton. I wish I could say that Frye adds more to the team than his stats line may suggest, but there's not much else there, really.
9. Dewayne Dedmon - C 3.7ppg, 5.0rpg, 0.8bpg, 13.3 PER
Hard-working big man, Dedmon worked his way into lots of minutes and saw a dramatic increase in his mpg and games played. There doesn't seem to be much more improvement there for Dedmon, but you never know - I also thought that DeAndre Jordan would never amount to anything. So pretty much, Dewayne Dedmon - your Defensive Player of the Year 2016!
10. Ben Gordon - SG 6.2ppg, 36% 3FG, 10.7 PER
Ben Gordon used to be amazing. Now the Englishman (isn't that weird?) plays a career-low in minutes, and impacts the game even less with his microwave-ready scoring. Sad, because Gordon used to be a Sportscenter highlight waiting to happen back in the Chicago days.
11. Luke Ridnour - PG 4.0ppg, 2.0apg, 10.0 PER
At one point, Ridnour was a capable backup point guard who could capably fill in while your starter sucked wind and gulped down Red Bull (hidden in those "water" cups) on the sidelines. However, when your starter is an absolute freak of nature mini-Rondo like Payton, the chasm of production widens whenever he's out of the game. Add that to an aging Ridnour (he's now 33), and you see lots of 4-point deficits turning into blowouts midway through the second quarter.
12. Andrew Nicholson - PF 4.9ppg, 2.1rpg, 10.4 PER
Same song, different verse: Nicholson is Orlando's version of the backup big man. Although Nicholson doesn't make as large of a dent in the rebounding portion of the game as most teams get from their backup bigs. Maybe NikVuc is just taking all of them, and Nicholson is left with meager table scraps.
13. Willie Green - SG 5.9ppg, 35% 3FG, 8.0 PER
Gone are the days when Willie Green was sharing a backcourt in the playoffs with Chris Paul. Now 33, Green continues to get minutes in games, but his production has fallen off drastically.
14. Maurice Harkless - SF 3.5ppg, 2.4rpg, 8.4 PER
Kanye is wondering, how could you be Mo Harkless? (Props to NBATV's JE Skeets for that one) Harkless fell off the map this season - cutting his scoring in half from last year, and playing in half as many games. For a player with some considerable potential, here's hoping that he turns things around in the future.
15. Devyn Marble - SF 2.3ppg, 1.9rpg, 5.9 PER
Devyn is really just happy that he qualifies for this list.
No comments:
Post a Comment