The aftermath of losing a star player, even when executed well, never looks pretty. The Orlando Magic did pretty well by trading Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago, all things considered, but entering the summer of 2014, winning remains elusive.
Magic continue their slow, steady rebuilding process
The Magic continue on their slow rebuilding process, and with two top draft picks, this offseason could be an opportunity to take another major leap forward.
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It’s been a nice reminder of just how hard it can be to build a great basketball team from scratch.
The Magic, when Howard departed, were a win-now team built around a star who no longer existed. Two years later, they’re one of the youngest rosters in the league, full of fresh, intriguing names who could eventually contribute to the franchise’s turnaround.
That's probably not happening soon, though, and maybe not at all unless Orlando hits on its two picks in the upcoming draft. While the Magic have some nice players in place, Tobias Harris, Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic probably aren't enough to make real noise in the Eastern Conference.
A pair of lottery picks this year could change that, which makes the draft particularly important. If the Magic hit on these selections and get some improvement from their other players next season, another top-5 pick might not be coming any time soon.
The assets
Picks: Nos. 4 and 12
Free Agents: E’Twaun Moore (UFA)
Cap space: $17.3 million
Depth chart
PG: Jameer Nelson, Ronnie Price, Doron Lamb
SG: Arron Afflalo, Victor Oladipo, E'Twaun Moore (UFA)
SF: Tobias Harris, Maurice Harkless
PF: Andrew Nicholson, Kyle O'Quinn
C: Nikola Vucevic, Jason Maxiell, Dewayne Dedmon
Team needs
With young players in place at every position, the next step for Orlando is acquiring some additional offensive punch. Young players such as Oladipo and Harkless could develop into high-level perimeter defenders, and Vucevic is already one of the league’s elite rebounders, but the Magic were one of the worst offensive teams in the NBA last season.
Adding some better scorers to the mix would obviously be the best way to address this issue, especially on the perimeter. Other than Arron Afflalo, the Magic’s guards were miserable offensively last season, with Jameer Nelson shooting below 40 percent and Oladipo piling up turnovers at an unacceptable rate. Not wasting possessions was a consistent issue for Orlando last season, and having better ball-handlers to initiate the offense would certainly help there.
Targets
Unless Jabari Parker somehow falls to the No. 4 pick, the Magic will likely need to be creative with their top pick this year. That could mean taking a risk on Australian point guard Dante Exum, a relative unknown, but one of the most intriguing foreign prospects in recent memory. Of course, Exum could also be off the board as well.
It could also mean taking Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart, who was rumored to be one of the team’s targets last year before he pulled out of the draft. While Smart may be a slight reach that high in this year’s class, he’s a quality prospect who would quickly push Nelson for playing time.
Smart isn’t a dominant offensive player like Parker, though, and may not be precisely what Orlando wants. If there’s no perfect fit, it’s always possible Kansas big man Joel Embiid falls due to his injury issues. At No. 4 overall, there’s a ton of risk involved, but he’s the kind of player who could continue the tradition of elite Magic big men started by Shaq and Howard. Indiana’s Noah Vonleh is also an option.
The targets at No. 12 will be impacted by who gets selected at No. 4. The Magic could use another big man or athletic wing, and sharpshooters such as Doug McDermott and Nik Stauskas seem like possibilities.
The Magic may also opt to trade Afflalo to collect other assets. If so, several contenders will surely be interested.
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