Quietly and surprisingly, the Orlando Magic had a very solid offseason, one that put them into position to improve this season and set up a foundation for the future at the same time. Some of the moves they made were questionable (Ben Gordon), but for the most part, the Magic have something brewing.
Being in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, a youth movement is easier to pull off for Orlando. The conference as a whole is not great, and you’re almost certain to finish at least ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers in the standings, so the Magic have some time to put together the pieces to their bigger picture puzzle.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Orlando’s moves this season came during the 2014 NBA Draft, where they held two picks in the lottery. With their fourth overall pick, the Magic nabbed Aaron Gordon out of Arizona. Gordon spent last season as a center piece for a Wildcats team that spent most of the college season known as the best team in the country.
Gordon brings a number of things to Orlando, but the most immediate aspect of his game is defense. A lanky 6’9″ power forward, Gordon uses his body very well and has the footwork to match. He’s got great leaping ability, which helps him put on highlight reel dunk shows as well as block shots and he’s quick enough to keep up with perimeter-oriented forwards. He’s drawn comparisons to Blake Griffin early in his career, but those aren’t very well thought out comparisons. He’s Aaron Gordon, and he’s headed to Orlando.
Then Orlando had another pick to use, and surprised many when they selected Dario Saric, the man who won’t be in the NBA for at least two years. Those fears were quickly put to rest as they sent the rights to Saric to Tankadelphia for the rights to Elfrid Payton, who was taken with the 10th overall selection.
Payton’s an interesting case coming out of Louisiana-Lafeyette. A rather unknown player for a long time, he emerged onto the scene this past year, taking the Ragin’ Cajuns to the NCAA Tournament in 2014. Rather than return to school, he saw what his draft stock had become and decided to bolt for the NBA.
At first, nobody was sure what to make of him. An exciting, sound defender, Payton is a point guard that doesn’t shoot the ball particularly well, but he has a nose for the rim. He’s in your face and all over the place, but he wasn’t expected to be a lottery pick. That was the case, anyway. In the final few weeks before the draft, Payton’s stock skyrocketed to the point that many thought he could become a top five selection.
With the selections of Gordon and Payton, the Magic now have two above average defenders on the roster that have an opportunity to make Orlando a dangerous team in the future. Not only that, but with the 2013 selection of Victor Oladipo, the Magic are going with a youth movement now to make them better in the future.
Think of this as the Oklahoma City approach, where they built through the draft, allowed the players to grow together and, eventually, took the NBA by storm. The Thunder are now one of the best, most consistent teams in the league, and they didn’t force the issue. They took their bumps along the way, made some playoff appearances, lost early and just kept building. OKC didn’t go out of their way to make a huge splash in free agency or on the trade market, rather, they made smaller moves to build around those young, emerging stars.
Of course, it’s a bit early to say that Orlando is on their way to doing the same thing, but the blueprint is there. However, Orlando’s young three of Oladipo, Gordon and Payton aren’t offensively gifted yet. Their emphasis is defense. It’s a different way to go about things, but good defense can create good offense and help them get out in the open floor, situations all three players thrive in.
Gordon and Payton may be thrown into the fire immediately, but the Magic also have the luxury of letting them learn from veterans they have brought in this offseason.
Luke Ridnour, the savvy veteran that he is, has a good track record with mentoring young point guards, so he can play a big role in the development of Payton. Orlando also brought in Channing Frye, which does further crowd the power forward front for the team, but gives them options. With Gordon still working on his offensive killer instinct and Frye being a very solid stretch-4, the mixture should do well in terms of learning on the go. There are worse players to bring in as mentors to rookies.
As of right now, Orlando is Oladipo’s team, something we weren’t sure we’d be able to say of the second-year player last season. He showed great promise as the leader of the Magic and grew as a player. It’s his show, but Gordon and Payton are soon to follow his lead.
Playing in the Eastern Conference helps, but Orlando has a chance to do something similar to the Thunder: build through the draft and let the growth happen naturally. All of it begins with the rookie seasons of Gordon and Payton, but it should be fun to see where these guys end up in the next few years.