Orlando Magic: Complete 2017 offseason grades
By Luke Duffy
The Puzzling Big Man Signing
There are two ways you can look at the signing of Marreese Speights to the team on a one-year deal: The positive and the negative.
Getting the pessimistic outlook out of the way first, and Speights has started 75 games in his entire career. He has never really excelled with any team he’s played for, save for as a valuable role player for the Golden State Warriors, a historically deep team.
He has career averages of 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. It’s hard to know if this piece is genuine or only highlights further the kind of career Speights has had to this point. On top of all that, the team have committed $30 million this season alone to their two centers, Biyombo and Vucevic.
So where does Speights fit into this, and why?
Well if you you’re looking at this particular glass as half full, you can argue that the 30-year-old, who is thrilled to be with the Magic, will be helping this team more off the court than on it.
Signed for the veteran’s minimum, he is a cheap alternative to the bigs already on the team, and one who can space the floor like nobody else on the roster.
He has won a championship with the Warriors, and if the team decides to cash in on Vucevic through a trade, he would be an adequate placeholder until next summer.
There’s lots to like about having a guy like that on your team at the veteran minimum. But is he ultimately going to take minutes and a rotational spot from guys like Iwundu?
Grade: C