Orlando Magic: Al Harrington Getting The Short End Of The Stick
By Chris Lee
Al Harrington is getting the short end of the stick sitting on the end of the bench for the Orlando Magic. Photo Credit: NBA.com
The Orlando Magic are in rebuilding mode with key veteran power forward Al Harrington sitting on the bench.
Harrington has missed the majority of the season due to a staph infection in his right knee after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in May 2012. The versatile 6’9″ forward made his triumphant Magic debut on Feb. 26 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Harrington scored nine points, with seven coming in the fourth quarter to help the Magic get the 98-84 victory.
However, despite the success in the first game, Harrington has been seldom used by Magic coach Jacque Vaughn. Harrington has only played in 10 games for the Magic and is averaging 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. The last time Harrington saw playing time was a six-minute stretch on March 15 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last season, Harrington was major part of the success in Denver, averaging 14.2 points per game.
The reasons for the nonexistent playing time have to deal with his injury and the future the Magic are looking toward.
Since returning from injury, Harrington has lacked the explosion that he is known for on offense. While still capable of knocking down the occasional 3-point shot, Harrington has looked slow on the court, which to be sure the cumbersome knee brace does not help. The lack of explosion is especially evident on the defensive end of the court, where Harrington has been slow on rotations. Harrington has never been a particularly good defender, but if his offensive game is struggling, then he become a liability on the court instead of an asset.
The other reason for his lack of playing time is due the future of the Magic. Orlando has young talent on the roster that will only improve by playing in the games. With the frontcourt spots being filled by young players like second-year center Nikola Vucevic, rookie center Kyle O’Quinn, second-year forward Tobias Harris, rookie forward Andrew Nicholson and rookie Maurice Harkless, there are very few spots for Harrington to play. The only place that he could possibly fit is backup small forward, but due to his diminished foot speed that would not be ideal.
Harrington may very well be able to contribute to an NBA team. However, it seems unlikely that he will contribute much to the Magic. It will be interesting next season to see what Orlando does with Glen Davis. Davis is another veteran power forward who was having a good season before having to undergo season-ending left foot surgery on Jan. 31. Since Davis will be coming off an injury, most teams will be hesitant to take Davis back through trade. If that is the case then it will be interesting to see if Davis will get similar playing time to Harrington.
The youth movement could be in full effect or it just might be that Vaughn does not believe Harrington is healthy enough to contribute on both sides of the court.