It’s funny how things work in professional sports sometimes, particularly for the teams that would be classed as not very good right now. This is the category the Orlando Magic have found themselves in for the last three years after franchise center Dwight Howard left them to join the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time, it was a nightmare scenario that reopened old wounds of the time Shaquille O’Neal did the very same thing. But life goes on, and the Magic went back to the drawing board diligently.
They sank to the bottom, drafted relatively well and (only recently) hired a head coach in Scott Skiles that they hope can lead them to a winning record once more in the NBA. Yet despite all of this, all the hard work and youthful talent acquired, the Magic hardly registered in league interest. Three plus years of doing the right thing, and truthfully nobody really cared. The team failed to crack 30 wins during any of those seasons, and it showed in fan interest.
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But then, finally, the corner was turned. The Orlando Magic, a team on the up but still flying well under the radar, made some league wide noise by offering Paul Millsap of the Atlanta Hawks a maximum contract deal of four years and $80 million. If reports are to be believed, Millsap turned down meetings with the Indiana Pacers (a team with a legit star in Paul George), New York Knicks (a huge market) and the Dallas Mavericks (always capable of putting together winning rosters quickly).
This is huge for a number of reasons. Firstly, and quite honestly, I wasn’t expecting something like this so soon. In my mind, I felt this team would make some more modest moves this offseason, before really going after a notable player next summer. I have spoken in the past about the team possibly signing the likes of a LaMarcus Aldridge, but that was more in hope than expectancy.
We’ve become so used to telling ourselves that building a winning nucleus from within is the way to become successful, somewhere along the way we forgot how important (And let’s be honest, fun) it is to either be linked with big names or go after them.
Millsap is 30, he is a forward and he’s a former All-Star. Has he peaked as a player? Optimistically you would say no, that he is currently living through his peak right now. You take a look at his stats, and that would seem to back that claim up as well. The Orlando Magic, attracting the attention of an All-Star.
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If you’re more of a negative thinker, you’re saying to yourself that $80 million is a lot of dollars for a guy who has played nine years in this league and is has clocked over twenty thousand minutes (Regular season and postseason combined). You might think that Millsap sees this as the perfect place to settle. Considerable money with modest expectations (a playoff spot) in return.
Me personally, I fall more on the side of optimism for a couple of key reasons. It might sound strange to say, but the Magic are about to become one of the up and coming teams you want to be a part of in this league. A borderline All-Star center (Nikola Vucevic), a guard on the verge of a major breakout (Victor Oladipo) and some intriguing young talent (Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton). Not to mention the European star who could become an explosive scorer in this league (Mario Hezonja).
This team was crying out for a star player to come in and take them to the next level, and Millsap can be that guy. The Atlanta Hawks, one of the real success stories of last year (depending on what you classify as success in this league, but in my mind they were) look to have seen their best days as DeMarre Carroll is headed to the Toronto Raptors.
The future of that franchise is unclear, and committing to that for the remainder of his main money making years in the NBA could result in large numbers being put up on an average team. Is that really how you want to go out of this league? In Orlando however, while there are no guarantees, the future is bright. There are no long-term ugly contracts to drag around, and the team is young with no injury concerns. Coming into that situation and being the man from day one surely carries considerable appeal.
The Orlando Magic is slowly building.
— 🗞️ (@4000yay) July 1, 2015
Leaving the West and coming to the East was what Paul Millsap needed to break thru
Looking at it from a realist’s point of view for a moment, it’s hard to see the Hawks letting Millsap go without a fight. As mentioned above, they’ve lost Carroll, such a key player for them last year, and must surely be reeling from that hit alone. They’ll do all they can to keep hold of him, and potentially make promises Orlando just can’t compete with at this moment in time.
But you know what? Even if this all comes to nothing, and Millsap is only sending flirtatious glances towards Florida, the fact the Magic were in the mix to get an All-Star is beyond encouraging. It’s that first move needed to let people know times are changing. No longer will youth and lottery picks be the accepted norm, they’re saying they want more and they are going to try and get it.
Should this move become a reality, it would also bring with it a ton of questions (Does Aaron Gordon still see big minutes? Channing Frye? No second chance for Maurice Harkless) but it would also bring with it a great sense of joy. As for wondering if that’s too much money for a guy like Millsap. The cap is about to rise and rise big time, we are experiencing a unique situation in the NBA and the Magic should absolutely throw a lot of cash his way.
As of this moment, it is nothing more than online chatter, we may not know anything concrete for a few days yet. But the free agency period has only just begun, and already the Magic are being aggressive. That’s the big picture scenario to take away from this news, and it’s fantastic. It’s come sooner than I thought too, and I couldn’t be happier.
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