Orlando Magic: Welcome back, Terrence Ross

After an injury-plagued 2017-18 campaign, Terrence Ross has been a revelation off the bench for the Orlando Magic and a true leader for this young team.

Yes, it’s only been 15 games. However, Terrence Ross has been making a killing for the Orlando Magic in a sixth man role. Given his relative seniority at the ripe age of 27, he’s become a leader of this young Magic bunch. Currently, Ross is averaging career highs in points (13.9) and assists per game (2.0).

He has been the best presence off the bench for a Magic squad that has surprised some in the NBA media circles by being a near .500 team thus far, currently in second place in the Southeast Division.

Ross stunned the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night with a late contested 3 over Joel Embiid to put the Magic up 3 with 8.7 seconds left. He finished with 15 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.

With his 21 points against the Washington Wizards Monday night and 22 points the night before against the New York Knicks, Ross was the leading scorer for Orlando in back-to-back games. The Magic have also won five out of their last seven.

These wins, however, might not have come if it weren’t for Ross stepping up and becoming a leader for this young Orlando squad.

A tweet from NBA.com’s John Denton on Nov. 8 cemented Ross’ place as the elder statesman of the second unit and someone that this young team can look to:

This came after the Magic held a double-digit lead against the Detroit Pistons on Nov. 7, but ended up losing by seven.

It’s a story written into the ground over this last decade of Magic basketball — chemistry, identity and leadership seem to be sorely lacking in Orlando. The team has consistently been in the top 10 in youngest teams in the league. While Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier are young veterans and have been steady presences within the franchise, they are both still under 28 and have never been a part of a true winning team. This is where Ross comes in.

Ross has clocked 31 playoff games, the most on the roster. These trips came from a string of playoff runs with the Toronto Raptors from 2014-16, where Ross was a solid contributor averaging 6.1 points a game. His Raptors career was inconsistent but not without some highs (perhaps the most unlikely 50-point game ever) and Ross was seen as an energizer both as a starter early on and off the bench in later years.

Ross has never gotten a chance to make his mark in Orlando. As a part of the midseason Serge Ibaka trade in 2016-17, he only played 24 games last season due to a left knee injury. In these 24 games, he was averaging near career-lows in field goal and 3-point percentage, as well as his worst scoring average since his rookie season.

In those 24 games, however, he started 20. Perhaps a change of pace for him this season has been a bonus, as he is still averaging solid minutes (25.6 a game) but is torching team’s second units with his unique 3-and-D capabilities.

It’s a welcome sight for Magic fans, who had high expectations of this Orlando bench unit, but have been let down so far. With guys like Ross, Jonathon Simmons, Jerian Grant and Mohamed Bamba, the Magic’s bench could have been a huge position. So far, it’s kind of been a different story.

The Magic are currently 18th in bench points per game at 37.1 a game. This means Ross is scoring 37 percent of these points himself. The bench is 27th in plus/minus, but the one positive offensively has been Terrence Ross, who is shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

Ross is one of those players you forget about, then he drops an efficient 25 on your team and you’re like “Oh yeah, that guy.” Well, he has consistently been that guy for Orlando this season (just ask the Sixers).

On a team that is anemic offensively, he’s been a shining light. He is one of the better bench players in the NBA this season and is seeing his scoring average rise with every flick of the wrist. Now, let’s hope that the rest of the second unit can rally around him and grab some more surprise wins this season.