Orlando Magic: Victor Oladipo Is The Next Andre Iguodala

When examining the Orlando Magic‘s roster and what direction it is headed, sometimes you can be left feeling a little confused. There’s no doubt this is an up and coming team in the Eastern Conference, only a couple of moves or internal improvements away from being back in the playoffs.

In terms of the makeup of the team and how it all interacts together however, it can be puzzling to see how it is all supposed to come together.

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The Magic have a center in Nikola Vucevic who is undoubtedly one of the best up and coming young bigs in the league. The organization signed him to a four-year extension last season, locking him up long term. While this is all positive stuff for a growing team, Vucevic is still a poor rim protector. Offensively he’s great and play can run through him for long stretches with success.

But on the other end he needs to put in a lot of work to be even close to elite on that end.

Their backcourt features a point guard with no reliable jump shot (Elfrid Payton) and a crazy athletic guy who appears to be able to do it all on the court, but who hasn’t looked quite comfortable being the go to guy on this team yet (Victor Oladipo). They also have one of the best young forwards in the league (Tobias Harris) who needs to be paid this summer.

The only problem there is the money he thinks he’s worth and the money the Magic are prepared to give him could differ considerably.

Other than that, there are intriguing role players (Channing Frye, Evan Fournier) who the team will hope can contribute more next season, not to mention the fifth pick in the upcoming draft. Why do I say all of this? Well, because it’s clear this team still needs some direction, and they are hoping Oladipo, the second pick in the 2013 draft, will be the guy who can steer the ship.

I’ve said this before however, I just don’t think he’s the right guy for that job. A young stud who is only continuing to get better, I’ve always felt his talents would be best served as the second-best player on a team. Defensively he’s capable of competing with opponent’s best players night after night, but he’s not a high volume scorer.

That is to say, he’s capable of scoring, but if he’s your first offensive option, some nights you’re going to run into trouble on that end.

This all screams of a guy who would be best suited playing next to a star and chipping in with 15-20 points a night while defending at a high level. To date, I’d compared his first few seasons in the league to a young Dwyane Wade, only less dominant.

Both have similar offensive games (no consistent three point shot on the floor, even though that never stopped Wade in later years from firing away from beyond the arc) and a high basketball IQ.

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But even at the time that didn’t feel right. Sure there were ways you could compare the two, but Wade was a born leader and had been such a huge presence in Miami with the Heat since day one. Even when the larger than life Shaquille O’Neal joined the organization and they won a championship together, the feeling was that this was Wade’s team.

Remember, there was a time when some people would have taken Wade over LeBron James and when the two joined forces in 2010, Heat fans still saw Wade as the face of the team despite adding the best player in the world. So no, maybe he and Oladipo aren’t so alike after all.

Great as he’s been over the first two years of his career, he’s done so with a quiet confidence on a rebuilding team that casual fans don’t pay any attention to.

Then the other night, I had a light bulb moment. Reading Grantland’s always excellent breakdown of the NBA (In this case Game 4 of the finals) I stumbled upon this quote to describe Andre Iguodala, there most consistent player in this series to date.

Iggy had a massive impact in that game, but if you take a look at his career arc, it sounds like the potential present and future of Oladipo with this Magic team.

"For years, Iguodala has been one of the most unique players in the league, but in some ways, that’s why he was never designed to be the star he was made out to be in Philadelphia. His boundless athleticism and rare offensive skill set made it easy to understand why some would push for him to be a centerpiece, but his destiny was to be exactly what he was for Golden State last night."

Now, if that doesn’t describe a young Oladipo, I’m not sure what does. Particularly the part about Iggy being forced into the star player he was in Philly. Back then, like now, he had great talent. An All-Star, a defensive standout, Iguodala helped the 76ers to the playoffs. Oladipo right now looks to be on course to do the same thing.

A defensive player with All-Star potential, like Iguodala he could probably lead this Magic team back to the postseason in time, but not get very far once there.

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Both have the athleticism and unique offensive skills. Oladipo averaged 33 percent from downtown last year, while in Iguodala’s second year in the league he shot 35 percent (that number is a little misleading though, as in years one, three, four and five of his career he shot in and around 31 percent from three-point territory). Oladipo isn’t known for his three-point shooting, yet.

But he’s already as good as Iguodala was at the same point in his career, and the Golden State man hit some huge treys in the NBA Finals.

If the Magic were smart, they’d look at the similarities between the two and not make the same mistakes Philadelphia did with Iguodala. This is not a knock on the 76ers though, at the time Iguodala was a emerging as a star player and they were right to make him the centerpiece of their team.

But if he’d played next to a high-volume scorer and all around star of that time, somebody who could create their own shot and draw the double team, that Philly team could have gone places.

Quite how they go about getting that offensive standout, however, is an issue for another day. Free agents are still wary about joining a team that looks like it’s brimming with potential on paper, but that is yet to do much of anything since Dwight Howard left the team. What’s clear now, however, is that we finally have a comparable player for Oladipo.

Like Iguodala before him you know he’ll gladly accept that challenge of trying to lead this team places, and he’ll do it in his own unique way. His confidence is growing, he was more vocal on the court in year two, but you feel that’s not totally his style.

It’s true that right now Iguodala is overqualified for his role with his current employers, but he was never meant to be the savior of a franchise either. Just like Victor Oladipo, the guy destined to be an All-Star and a difference maker. Maybe even a Finals MVP just like Iggy? Just not the guy designed to be the first name associated with a team.

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