Orlando Magic: Youth Gives Glimpse Into Future At Summer League

The NBA Summer League: a semi-organized platform where fans of lottery teams get nonsensically optimistic, or alternatively, unjustifiably pessimistic, about their franchise’s handful of recent lottery picks.

Of course, every year, the same story unfolds — player A dominates the competition he faces in Las Vegas or Orlando (add Salt Lake City back to mix this year after its seven-year hiatus), only to look completely lost when the regular season starts a mere four months later.

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While the John Walls and the Damian Lillards of the world were able to leverage their fine Summer League play into tangible success when the real games started, the Anthony Randolphs (a.k.a. the infamous “Magic” Randolph) and the Glen Rice Jrs serve as living cautions as to why putting too much weight into the said performances can lead to an anticlimactic disappointment when they fail to earn material playing time over NBA journeymen once the month of November commences.

On the other hand, some rookies and sophomores struggle to adapt to the chaotic nature of the Summer League; only to surprise their respective fanbases with their heady and scrappy play once they start playing alongside and against NBA-caliber players (see Elfrid Payton last season).

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With that being said, we — the NBA universe — can’t help but build an irrational amount of hype off of such meaningless mid-July matches. Without giving any regards to past history, year-after-year we fall in love with the flavor of the summer and prognosticate super-stardom for our favorite prospect.

For the Orlando Magic, a team filled with lottery talent, the Summer League is the perfect avenue to showcase their battalion of young guns’ progress and the subtle improvements they have made since the beginning of April.

The Core

Quietly, general manager Rob Hennigan has constructed one of the most talent-laden young cores in the association. Their entire roster is permeated with ultra-gifted players between the ages of 19-25.

Offensively, the team is currently led by their 24-year-old, stat-stuffing center, Nikola Vucevic. In fact, the near 7-footer by way of USC averaged just a smidge less than the 20-and-10 threshold — the yardstick by which every elite offensive big is measured by — this past season.

The Magic also agreed to terms to re-sign their versatile hybrid forward, Tobias Harris, to the tune of a reported four-year, $64 million contract last week. Harris is a natural volume scorer equipped with the classic skill set of a conventional small forward.

While neither Vucevic and Harris will ever be mistaken as defensive stalwarts as they currently stand, the Orlando brass hopes that by surrounding them with three perimeter hounds — most notably, Payton, Victor Oladipo, and Aaron Gordon — it will mask some of the aforementioned duo’s defensive deficiencies.

Speaking of Oladipo, the 6-foot-4 combo guard made material strides from year one to year two. Playing primarily at the 2-guard slot — as opposed to being force-fed point guard minutes like in his inaugural season — the former Indiana Hoosier showed flashes of brilliance last year as a secondary ball-handler and the team’s chief offensive weapon on the perimeter.

As for their pair of 2014 lottery selections in Payton and Gordon, the two had somewhat contrasting seasons in terms of success.

More specifically, Payton, after experiencing an uneventful Summer League in Orlando last year, bounced back to have an outstanding rookie campaign. The gangly 6-foot-4 floor general was especially efficacious on the defensive end, effectively utilizing his elite length at the point guard position, inherent pestering nature, and relentless ball pressure to harass opposing ballhandlers and made their lives a living hell.

Sure enough, even as a 20-year-old rook, Payton managed to finish eighth among starting point guards in ESPN’s DRPM (Defensive Real Plus/Minus) stat.

And while Elf’s jumper was predictably an unmitigated disaster in year one, he was still able to create ample scoring opportunities through his penetration and kick game. By the time the season ended, Payton was appropriately named to the first team All-Rookie squad by the NBA.

Meanwhile, Gordon’s NBA welcoming was marred by injuries and inconsistent play. Explicitly, the 19-year-old forward suffered a fractured foot just 11 games into last season and only appeared in 47 games in total.

Before his unfortunate setback, however, Gordon was playing quite well. In particular, he was as advertised defensively — using his elite physical tools and athleticism to play a conservative brand of man D while giving the Magic the ability to switch one-through-four.

On the other end, the chiseled 6-foot-9 athletic marvel displayed an unexpected penchant for nailing open 3s. During the month of November, Gordon converted on approximately 60 percent of his 3-point attempts, per NBA.com; all of which came when he was wide open, with no defender within four feet of him.

After returning from his injury, though, Gordon was a shell of his early season self.

It certainly didn’t help that his spot-up shooting had deserted him as he shot just 14.3 percent from beyond the arc during the month of March. When combined with his rudimentary ball-in-hand creation skills, the former Arizona Wildcat became a complete offensive liability as the 2014-15 season wound down.

The Progression

As the Orlando Summer League began over the weekend, Magic fans were anxious to see what tweaks and refinemenst Gordon and Payton have made to their respective games.

Additionally, they — along with every other NBA Draft aficionado — were eager to get their first look at Orlando’s first-round selection in this past June’s draft in Mario Hezonja, while playing in a poorly simulated NBA setting.

In many ways, Gordon and Payton swapped roles over the limited sample of games the Magic “Blue” Summer League team played over the past week. For AG, he has been — by all accounts — the best player in Orlando over three games.

Gordon has been simply electrifying, showing off his newly-acquired arsenal of dribble-drive moves, in conjunction with his anticipated repertoire of high-wire acts. While Gordon routinely exhibited his surprisingly advanced handle for a man of his stature — particularly, in the open court — during his high school days, his jump-shooting had always been a major flaw in his game.

For such reasons, diehard fans of the Magic and his agent are collectively jumping for joy over his Summer League performance. Most notably, he has  unveiled his much-improved ball-in-hand game; whether dribbling hard left, before stepping back and sinking a contested 18-footer, or driving right, whipping the behind his back and stopping dime for a pull-up J.

More importantly, everything he’s doing on the offensive end is based on natural instincts, as oppose to a mechanical set of predetermined moves.

When you combine his refinements with his jaw-dropping athletic prowess, the Magic could be experiencing a top-tier two-way star unfurling right before their very eyes.

Will Gordon be able to carry over his ball-in-hand skills to an NBA regular season game? Or will he wilt and lose his confidence the first time somebody strips his dribble? We will have to wait and see.

Payton, on the other hand, has seemed disinterested for the most part.

He has shown flashes of made him the best point guard of his draft class last season — specifically, snaking the pick-and-roll, before splitting the screener completely for an uncontested one-handed throw-down — but he has yet to demonstrate an increased fervor for hitting open shots, an aspect that continues to be the most glaring impediment in his game.

As for Hezonja, the brash 20 year-old wing has been everything he was made out to be, and more. Before the draft, I thought the Croatian sensation was the third-best prospect of the 2015 NBA Draft; and thus far in Summer League, he has lived up to the hype.

The first thing you notice about the Dubrovnik, Croatia, native is his size. There have been reports that Hezonja is a full 6’8″ barefoot, which would make him a “legit” 6’9″ in shoes — the preferred method of measuring one’s height in the NBA. And from the naked eye, the reports seem to have its merits, as he looks as tall as Gordon — who measured 6’9″ in shoes last year as an 18 year-old.

The second thing that immediately catches your attention is his stroke. He may not have shot a sterling percentage through his first two games as an NBA pro, but his footwork, mechanics, and release are simply a thing of beauty. Particularly, the way he steps into his shot and his effortless, cat-quick release is truly Klay Thompson-esque.

In addition, even without the aid of an advanced handle, Hezonja is able to invade the paint consistently, thanks in large to his explosive first-step. And if anyone still had doubts regarding his athleticism, Super Mario put such concerns to rest in the form of a one-handed tomahawk cram in traffic.

In watching Hezonja, you can also tell the young rookie has been playing professionally for years. The ball never sticks with Mario; he either drives, shoots, or swings the ball in a pinch.

His floor game is also much more advanced than advertised, as Hezonja has given us a glimpse of his ability to probe defenses, look over the opposing D, and deliver pinpoint passes to his cutters and spot-up shooters.

He is also not the unbashful gunner — or the “Euro J.R. Smith” — he is made out to be; Hezonja, conversely, is a cerebral player who won’t hesitate to make the extra pass.

It is not hard to imagine, with a tightened handle, Mario can serve as a secondary or tertiary ballhandler for the Magic down the line.

What’s Ahead

As we look forward to next season, one thing is for certain: the Orlando Magic will enjoy an embarrassment of young talent and the luxury of roster depth.

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But with their infusion of depth comes with the inevitable concern of whether the Magic can find enough playing time for their youth. Undoubtedly, Payton will be penciled in as the team’s starting point guard when opening night tips off; but what role with Hezonja and Gordon play in the Magic’s newly-hired head coach Scott Skiles‘ system?

As of now, Orlando’s starting frontcourt will most likely feature Tobias Harris at the three, veteran stretch big-man, Channing Frye, at the four, and Nik Vucevic at the five. Their reserve unit will be anchored by backup center, Dewayne Dedmon, a 7-foot rim protector capable of playing of alongside Vucevic at the 4.

The Magic also agreed to terms with Jason Smith this past week; thereby, giving the team another stretch big to spread the floor.

This leaves Gordon and Hezonja sharing the backup 3 minutes, with Aaron occupying the scrap reserve playing time left behind from Frye, Dedmon, and Smith at the 4, and likewise, Mario fighting for the leftover backup shooting guard minutes with Evan Fournier.

Nonetheless, the Magic will have the versatility to go small and overwhelm the opposition with their collective athleticism, or go big without compromising the integrity of modern day floor spacing.

Next season can’t come soon enough.

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