Orlando Magic: Thoughts On Jodie Meeks?

The Orlando Magic have acquired a second new name in Jodie Meeks. Here’s why he can be a surprise hit with his new team.

After the surprising move to bring in Serge Ibaka, the Orlando Magic have followed that trade up with the more low key addition of Jodie Meeks. The 28-year-old shooting guard comes across from the Detroit Pistons, a team the Magic dealt Tobias Harris to midway through last season.

Now, while the move to bring in Meeks won’t register much around the league, it could turn out to be a better move than it looks like on the surface. The Magic did part with a second round draft pick to get him, but as mentioned before, the goal should be to move away from the draft anyway.

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Adding veterans must surely be the target now, and we’ve already seen this with the move to get Ibaka, sending Victor Oladipo the other way in the process. Meeks has never really stuck anywhere, this being his fifth team since he was drafted in the second round in 2009.

Perhaps he can finally find a home in Orlando, on a team where he’ll be able to really contribute. Or else, and this is looking more likely at this moment in time, he’s a one-year stop gap at the position until the team can find a medium to long-term replacement for Oladipo.

Really though, there are no drawbacks that I can see. The Magic parted with a second round pick to get him, not a steep price to pay. They also need to move away from the draft and towards veteran players now too, something we have seen with the Ibaka trade.

Before last week’s draft, the Magic had picked 17 players in the last decade through the draft, with three of those picks coming in the top five. Still though, they had never selected an All-Star.

Clearly then, it was time for a shake up of strategy, as the old way of doing things was not bringing about the kind of success this team needs to take the organization to the next level. Meeks looks like a small get, but considering he didn’t cost much to bring in, it’s a smart move.

Another key issue is that Meeks is entering the final year of his contract. He might end up being a one-year rental, but it’s also quite likely that’s all they need him to be. Returning to what they gave up to get him for a year, that second round pick, it seems a fair trade too.

The Pistons may have been getting rid of him in a salary dump move (he’s being paid $6.5 million next season) but with the salary cap rising the way it has, that’s a contract the Magic can take on and still be active this summer.

So the Magic can play him next season, and then depending on how he fits, can sign him to a fair deal the following summer, or let him walk and explore other options. Given that Meeks is in his contract year, you can bet he’ll play to the best of his abilities as well.

Which is the other key positive that’s being overlooked here as well. Meeks never started a game for the Pistons, so he’s used to coming off the bench. Evan Fournier was Orlando’s best player at the start of last season, and though he tailed off, he’s a much improved player.

So perhaps in the longer term, Meeks can eventually come off the bench and add a scoring touch? The only concern with that however, is that Meeks has never been much of a factor for whatever team he’s playing for when he hasn’t started.

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When he did, however, he was surprisingly good, you’ve just likely forgotten how impressive he was. During the 2013-14 season, Meeks played in 77 games for the Los Angeles Lakers, starting 70.

You have to remember, this was a poor Lakers team and Kobe Bryant was suffering through long-term injury. There wasn’t much to cheer about at Staples Center then, yet Meeks averaged 15 points a game and shot a very impressive 46 percent from three point range.

His 1.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game, while small, were both career highs as well. He’s not much more than a scorer, but when given the chance (he averaged 33 minutes a game that year) he can do just that.

With Ibaka, Nikola Vucevic and possibly Aaron Gordon all sharing the court at the same time next year, that will create problems in the paint for less imposing front lines. Having Meeks spotting up around them is a nice proposition, whether it be as a starter or off the bench.

Personally I wouldn’t mind seeing him start the season. He’s been brought in, why not give him a chance to see what he can do? It’s important for the Magic to start next season well and push for a playoff spot, and the experience Meeks has could certainly help.

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Whether as a starter or off the bench, acquiring Jodie Meeks was the kind of low-risk, moderate-reward move that the Orlando Magic need to make. It’s important to get better players as well, but when you combine the move to bring Serge Ibaka to the team as well, it’s been a positive start to the summer.