Orlando Magic: Examining the Point Guards for 2013-2014

This is the first installment of a position by position breakdown of the Magic’s roster. Here, we focus on the team’s point guards.

The Orlando Magic enter training camp on Oct. 1 with little roster spots left to fill.

At point guard, the team’s depth will allow coach Jacque Vaughn to experiment with different rotations. Jameer Nelson will be the starter, a former All-Star who will be counted on for his leadership qualities and experience. They also have a younger, more athletic backup who can score in E’Twaun Moore. The 30-year-old Ronnie Price was signed as a free agent to be a role player in case someone goes down to injury. Lastly, the second overall pick in the draft, Victor Oladipo, will even see some minutes as a floor general, a position he has never played in his basketball career.

Here is the breakdown for each player:

Jameer Nelson

Nelson remains the leader of the team in what could be his last season with the franchise. (Flickr.com photo by RMTip21)

In each of the past two seasons, Nelson has missed more than 20 games, so health for the 31-year-old will continue to be an issue. His numbers increased last season to 14.7 points and 7.4 assists per game up from 11.9 and 5.7 in 2011-2012, largely because he took over the role as the leader of the team and was asked to do a little bit of everything. An All-Star in 2009, Nelson has since lost a lot of his lateral quickness due to knee injuries but he can still be an effective starting caliber point guard with the intangibles and toughness he brings to the court every night. This may be his last season with the franchise, as the team has an option with his contract for next year.

E’Twaun Moore

At 6’4”, Moore is a taller point guard who gives the team a scoring threat off the bench. He put up a career-high 18 points three times last season against Philadelphia, Detroit, and Brooklyn. The Magic like his ability to play off the ball as well, which can benefit the lineup when Price or Oladipo are running the point, as both are not considered scorers. He finished the season averaging 7.8 points and 2.7 assists per game, both of which should be improved upon this season with more playing time.

Victor Oladipo

His move to point guard will be more experimental more than anything, but defensively Oladipo can be a dynamic game-changer, and that is where he will help the Magic the most. As a rookie and for the first time playing point guard, there will be growing pains throughout the long season and you can expect a heavy dose of turnovers from him. As long as Oladipo improves and shows some progress as an NBA point guard, that’s ok. GM Rob Hennigan envisions him as a Russell Westbrook type of player, and it could take a few years to get him to make that adjustment.

Ronnie Price

This will be Price’s third team in as many seasons. He played in 39 games last season with Portland behind rising star Damian Lillard and Nolan Smith, averaging just 2.7 points and 1.9 assists a game. Not much is expected of him with the Magic, but he does provide the team with a veteran backup with experience and can step into the rotation if needed.

[slider_pro id=”22″]