Orlando Magic: 5 bench players most likely to become starters
By Luke Duffy
For the first time in a long time the Orlando Magic have some depth. Here are the five players most likely to push for starting roles as the season progresses.
By the time last season came to an end, the Orlando Magic looked like a mess — a fifth year of missing the playoffs, with no clearly defined young star player to build around.
General manager Rob Hennigan was making mistake after mistake, culminating in that now infamous whiteboard photo that did the rounds on social media. The outlook was bleak, with the team having major issues to address both on and off the court.
Fast forward to now, however, and the team had a better offseason than pretty much anybody could have predicted. Hennigan was canned, the team drafted Jonathan Isaac, and they even added some veteran depth in Shelvin Mack, Arron Afflalo, Jonathon Simmons and Marreese Speights.
It is that unexpected depth that should excite fans the most, and make them believe that a return to the playoffs in the weaker Eastern conference is possible this season.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the five role players who will likely begin the season on the bench, but who could force their way onto the starting five throughout the year.