This will be the first piece
on the blog that discusses a team is NOT in the current NBA playoffs. I grew up
watching Tracy McGrady ball out in Orlando, and saw Dwight Howard grow into the
media machine he is today. Orlando has also been a silent player in the NBA
carousel, which is why I’m gonna give my two cents.
Let’s start with the
negatives. The Orlando Magic owe Al Harrington $14.7 million over the next two
years. Al Harrington, the once ferocious three point shooting forward, played
only 10 games this season with an average of 5.1 PPG and shot 27% from downtown
(not the same guy who three years ago averaged 17.7 PPG and shot 34% from
downtown…while on the Knicks). So in a nutshell the Magic are stuck in salary
cap hell until 2015 with the atrocious contract of Al Harrington is removed
from the books. Not to mention the amnestied contract of Gilbert Arenas ($20.8
this year, and $22.3 next) is simply an embarrassment. Paying that amount of
money, although it’s not part of the cap, is absurd for a gun-wielding player
who’s not even on the roster anymore. It’s almost as bad as Amare’s contract,
but this isn’t about the Knicks, it’s about the Magic.
The next terrible contract
is the $13 million over the next two years to the Big Baby, Glen Davis. Davis
has proved himself to be somewhat valuable off the bench, as he has become a
more vocal leader in Orlando and continues to play aggressively. I don’t hate
this contract; I just think that this money could be better spent elsewhere,
say, towards luring Paul Millsap towards Orlando. It wouldn’t cover the amount
Millsap is expecting, but if the proper moves were made, this idea is not as
far fetched as it sounds.
Now, I am done hassling
Orlando about contract mistakes. Only because this is a team that shows great
promise in years to come. I wanted to talk about the Magic because of four key
players who will hopefully put together good basketball next season. They are
Mo Harkless, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, and Arron Afflalo. These players
are 20, 22, 20, and 27 years old respectively. Other than Afflalo, the three
aforementioned players are set to make a total of $5.4 million, and they’re on
the books for the next three years. Orlando is slowly developing a core nucleus
in which they can build a strong team around. They are just a few short
ingredients away from a playoff spot. And, when I say short ingredients, I’m
talking about an all-purpose point guard.
Once all the bad contract
money is wiped clean from their budget, the Magic will look to make a serious
play at a facilitator. Michigan point guard Trey Burke looks like an excellent
compliment to these guys, who are lacking a scorer and facilitator to take the
reigns for 48 minutes. Afflalo cannot be the primary scorer on a winning team,
and neither can Harris. Both put up 17 PPG at best this season (Afflalo clocked
out at 16.5 while Harris was around 17.3 PPG). This team needs a 18 point, 10
assist man who is not named Jameer Nelson. I’m afraid his ship has sailed along
with Harrington’s and Hedo Turkoglu (I apologize for not trashing him earlier,
the man is a black hole sucking in piles of money while providing nothing in
return). Nelson should stay, maybe help the first unit settle in and find their
shots throughout the season, but once Mo, Harris, and a rookie to be named
later get solid footing in this league, Nelson’s off to coaching (or moving to
a title contender before his tenure is up).
The Orlando Magic won 20
games last season. I expect them to win 26 this season, and that’s without
making any offseason moves yet. Give it time, NBA, the other team in Florida
will creep up the ranks.
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