NBA Power Rankings: 2014-15 Eastern Conference Forecast
By Shane Young
14. Orlando Magic — 21-61
The enhancement of the Eastern Conference forces a few things.
One, it ensures that people will limit the discussions on realigning the league. All of last season, you had pundits believing there should be methods of breaking up the conferences. This, of course, arose due to the Western Conference throwing East units around like rag-dolls.
The horrible discrepancy in wins across the conferences also had something to do with it.
Last season, the West’ 15 teams combined for 674 victories, which ended up being 118 more than the East’s 556. From top to bottom, there was no comparison.
Flash forward to 2014-15, and matters have somewhat shifted. While the bottom of the East has remained relatively the same, the upper-echelon has been bolstered. Cleveland immediately shifts from a non-playoff team to one that’s aiming for full homecourt advantage. Chicago seems finished with their inability to score 75 points.
As the other East squads rounding out the playoffs increased their arsenal, it only indicates teams near the bottom will feel the pounding.
Orlando has the undeveloped potential to grow into a force … four years from now. There’s that word I despise. “Potential.” It’s the most over-used vocable when describing young talents in the world of sports, but it happens to be the most accurate term to use.
Victor Oladipo will have the power to play his more effective position, which is the two-guard. Next to Elfrid Payton, Oladipo and the Orlando backcourt enters the season with the most raw skill. They just need the on-court trial and error to figure out how they’ll work together.
Holding onto your past is a tough decision for NBA front offices to make, and Rob Hennigan made sure they didn’t make the mistake of keeping Jameer Nelson on board. Nelson is a stronger, more intelligent point guard than anyone Orlando had on the roster, but he’s nearing 33 years old and doesn’t fit the franchise’s common goal of rebuilding. That, and he’s unreliable in terms of staying durable for a whole season’s grind. For cutting him and letting him sink into free agency, bravo.
In the frontcourt, a tragedy occurred on June 26 of this offseason. Aaron Gordon was chosen ridiculously early by Orlando, as they used their No. 4 pick on a 6-9 power forward that’s stuck in a tough zone. If head coach Jacque Vaughn wants to experiment with Gordon at the small forward slot during his rookie season, he’ll quickly find his shooting touch to be non-apparent and deceitful.
From what we’ve noticed during his freshman season at Arizona, Gordon has no jumper outside the paint. If it falls, it even surprises him. From the charity stripe, Gordon was only 42.2 percent effective on 4.7 attempts per game. That type of unreliability and being incapable of stretching the court only equals danger, unless he’s been working on his shot mechanics.
Julius Randle was the better option to take, and they’ll face that reality once it’s clear how aggressive the Lakers’ brute is.
Orlando can also add the signing of Ben Gordon to their list of disappointments. In no way, from his production in Charlotte and only 19 games of action last season, was Gordon worth $9 million for two years. Luke Ridnour is a guard signing everyone can concur with, but they’ll lose the scoring load Arron Afflalo brought every single night.
Outside of Channing Frye coming along to open up the driving lanes, Orlando should be most excited about their two studs at small forward, Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris. One of them (Harkless) transformed from a perimeter liability to a threat you don’t want your man to lose sight of. The other (Harris) bludgeons opposing forwards in the paint and collects more rebounds than expected, while also being a top scorer for the team last season. Primarily off the bench, Harris obtained a career-high in Defensive Rebounding Percentage at 20.6 percent, which is an estimated percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the court.
For the Magic, all next season has turned into is a universe of experiments. They have question marks at every slot, and management wants answers right away. It’s time to utilize the depth — which is young all around — and determine what parts of their core are “untouchable.”
All of the roster’s assets, besides Gordon, could be turned into desirable trades if things go awry. Projected at 21 wins, nothing is getting better right out of the gates. So, consider it a growing pain type of season.