Orlando Magic Agree To Sign D.J. Augustin To 4-Year Deal

The Orlando Magic have agreed to terms with veteran point guard D.J. Augustin. Now what?

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the Orlando Magic and free agent guard D.J. Augustin have agreed on a four-year deal. ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported the deal reuniting the veteran guard with his old head coach in Indiana, Frank Vogel, is worth $29 million.

Augustin spent last season as a member of both the Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as the Denver Nuggets. Over the course of the 2015-16 campaign, Augustin averaged 7.5 points and 3.2 assists per game, while shooting 42.3 percent overall from the floor.

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Augustin has bounced around quite a bit over the course of his career, as he will enter his ninth season in the NBA on his eighth different team. He will likely slide into the backup role behind young point guard Elfrid Payton, with a chance to become the one of the team’s first players off the bench. Augustin has shown an ability in the past to start as well, as 170 of his 573 NBA appearances to date have been in a starting role.

It’s a turbulent time for the Magic with plenty of roster moves taking place over the last couple of weeks. The team traded away former No. 2 pick Victor Oladipo, forward Ersan Ilyasova, as well as the draft rights to forward Domantas Sabonis to the Thunder, in exchange for veteran power forward Serge Ibaka. While Ibaka seemed to be a solid get for the Magic, it did not come without risk, as he is entering the final year of a four-year, $48 million extension that he signed at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.

Pairing Ibaka with another young solid frontcourt piece in Nikola Vucevic projects to give the Magic one of the better low-post duos in the Eastern Conference. With the team armed with cap space and a now emerging core in Payton, Vucevic, and the newly-acquired Ibaka, the jury was out as to what the direction of the team would be in free agency when negotiations opened at midnight on Friday.

Now, with Augustin becoming the first shoe to drop, the Magic will likely turn to adding some help on the wing. According to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, the front office has shown interest in free agent journeyman, Jeff Green.

A potential acquisition of Green would provide the Magic some needed athleticism on the perimeter, but would not offer much in the way of shooting, which continues to be an obvious area of need for the team this summer.

Green only shot 31.5 percent from beyond the arc last season, so while he would improve the roster, more would be needed to put the Magic in position to be competitive next season. While the team has reportedly reached out to the representatives of veteran shooting guard Jamal Crawford, there has been no indication that either side is close on a potential deal.

In Crawford, the Magic would land the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, who averaged 14.2 points per game on a shade over 40 percent shooting with the Clippers last season. Crawford has shown the ability to impact the game as both a starter and as a role player off the bench, and would be an effective player for Frank Vogel if the sides were ever able to gain traction on a potential contract.

According to The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, the Magic have also agreed to re-sign restricted free agent Evan Fournier to a five-year, $85 million deal that represents a significant bargain for Orlando.

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So, while there are many different directions the Magic can still go in free agency, the Augustin signing likely pushes the team towards the wing market. The market for wings on the perimeter is still materializing, so it may take some time before we find out who the options will truly be for Frank Vogel and the Magic as they move forward in free agency.