Orlando Magic: Blake Griffin & Dreaming Big

The Orlando Magic could do with a boost, and a potentially unsettled Blake Griffin could provide it in a big way.

For the Orlando Magic, times have been tough recently. While they’ve won two straight after beating the Atlanta Hawks in back-to-back games, they’re still outside of the playoff picture looking in. Given how good this team looked at times this season, that’s frustrating. Yes, the Eastern Conference as a whole got better, but this team was meant to show signs of improvement.

They have in bursts, but right now it looks like they’re searching for something to give them a push in the right direction. Funnily enough, they may have gotten a short-term boost with Tobias Harris sitting out those wins over the Hawks, as he missed the games with an injury.

That looked like a kind of addition through subtraction improvement that would surely only last a short period of time.

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But what if Harris was gone permanently? Would people be too upset? As consistent as he’s been this season, and make no mistake he does what this team needs every night, he hasn’t taken the leap many thought he would.

He signed a new four-year deal last summer, but his scoring output dropped (17.1 points per game last year to 13.7 this year), as has his Player Efficiency Rating (16.7 down to 15.6).

He’s still a key player for this team, but with no clear cut star emerging for the Magic, his time is surely now to seize control and become the man here. That hasn’t happened, despite Harris being the highest earner on this team (The $16 million he’s making this season is considerably higher than Vucevic’s $11.25 million). Is it crazy talk then, to consider trading Harris for Blake Griffin?

It seems silly to even type those words. Why would Griffin want to come to a team like the Magic? He’s in Los Angeles, and he’s on a contending team with the Clippers. Only, it wouldn’t be totally his choice would it? See Griffin has been in the press recently for some off the court issues, and in actual fact he’s about to miss more than a month with a broken hand.

He’s still a top-20 player in the NBA when healthy and engaged, but the chances of snagging him may be more realistic now.

He was recently linked with a move to the Denver Nuggets after all. No disrespect to that organization, but they’re not considerably better than the Magic. They’ve got Kenneth Faried (also a power forward) and Emmanuel Mudiay, while Jusuf Nurkic has been quietly tearing it up recently. But really, is Denver a more desirable location than Orlando to play and live in right now?

That trade chatter offers one small glimmer of hope that Griffin could play for the Magic. Another is the fact that the Clippers title window won’t stay open forever, and they need an injection of new blood in order to keep their title hopes alive. They barely clung to DeAndre Jordan last summer, while Chris Paul is now 30 years old.

Their bench woes continue while they also boast the third-highest payroll in the league (more than $93 million this season).

That’s a lot of cash for a team yet to make the conference finals with a big three of Paul, Jordan and Griffin. So maybe they need to freshen things up to also get over the hump in a Western Conference where the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are clearly better than them.

Here’s where it gets interesting–and gives the Magic an edge in any potential movement of the player in the near future.

With Paul in his prime and Jordan a dominant center, the Clippers would still be in win-now mode even with Griffin gone. Other teams would be able to offer certain pieces, but if you look at the above proposed trade, the Clippers would be getting two players who could still help them win now.

What a boost Frye would give their second unit, adding his spacing and three-point shooting to what is currently a bench that shoots 42 percent from the floor (ranks 24th in the league in that category).

As for Harris, well he’s the young and athletic wing this team could really use. He’s younger than Paul Pierce and more level-headed than Lance Stephenson. Defensively he continues to improve, and he’d slide right in as the third or even fourth option on the offensive end.

We’ve seen with the Magic that he’ll do what the team needs him to without taking over (career-high seven rebounds per game this season) and really on a veteran team like the Clippers, that would be a perfect fit.

As for the Magic, well they’d know what they were getting. A top-five talent at his position who would give their playoff hopes, not to mention the ability to attract other top players, a big boost.

Even better, with Griffin out for a while yet, this team would kind of tank the rest of the season, leading to another lottery pick to add to their young core this summer (if they managed to hold onto the pick in the trade that is).

So while it may seem farfetched to suggest this could happen, it’s actually not the craziest idea. As an added bonus, it would likely free up some court time for rookie Mario Hezonja as well. It’s unclear exactly how bad Griffin’s situation is with his current team, and it must be stressed that the Clippers are currently under no obligation to move him.

He’s under contract and he’s playing as well as he ever has when healthy.

From Orlando’s perspective, while it may seem like it’s aiming too high to go after a perennial All-Star, the tide has to turn one day. Why not have a go at luring a talent like Griffin, with the salary cap at an all-time high and both Frye and Harris (who are cousins) playing at a level that would make them easily expendable if Griffin was available.

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We’ve seen glimpses of the now for this Magic team, why not try and do something about it to ensure it’s here to stay?