Orlando Magic: Complete 2017 offseason grades
By Luke Duffy
Return Of The Prodigal Son
In a surprising move, Arron Afflalo then returned to the Magic on a one-year deal, again for the minimum. Without rehashing what has been said about Speights, the reasons for adding Afflalo to this team are similar.
The key difference is that he enjoyed the best stretch of his career to date on this team, before bouncing around three teams and returning. Afflalo can be another leading voice in the locker room, with the added weight of having been on the roster when it was in worse shape before.
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Perhaps he can get through to Payton and Hezonja, and bend their ear with tales of what happened to guys like Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris — once cornerstones of this team.
On the court he’s not going to usurp Terrence Ross from the starting lineup, and Evan Fournier doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere either. So again this looks like a move to motivate the kids, while also padding out the end of their bench.
Previous iterations of this roster have been troubled by a lack of experience off the bench to hold onto leads and close out games. Both Afflalo and Speights can help with this, and Afflalo also shot 41 percent from 3-point range with the Sacramento Kings last season.
That number was an even more impressive 42 percent during his second season with the team, his career year — this despite playing with guys inferior to those he’ll suit up beside next season in the pinstriped blue.
Notice a trend developing yet?
Grade: B