Orlando Magic: Revisiting the decade that was the 2010s

2014-15

Looking at where the Magic went from this decade onwards, 2014-15 was perhaps the most influential season in their prolonged rebuild. During the offseason they traded for Evan Fournier, sending Afflalo to the Denver Nuggets in return. A young and up and coming scorer, this was seen as a good move in pairing him with the other young guys on the roster.

The Magic drafted Aaron Gordon with the fourth pick, which was mostly met with approval. They made a mistake, however, in trading for point guard Elfrid Payton, when they had already used their 10th pick on Dario Saric.

The Magic did need a point guard with Nelson and Afflalo no longer around, but it would become apparent quickly that the woeful shooting of Payton was going to hold him back from being the starter that they needed on a long-term basis.

This would in turn force Oladipo to take up more of the ball-handling duties, which while he has become brilliant at doing with the Indiana Pacers, was not a good fit at the time.

The additions of Ben Gordon and Willie Green were missteps as the kind of veterans who could lead this young group. But Channing Frye quickly became a fan favorite and somebody who could chip in on the court with his ability to stretch the floor.

Tobias Harris continued to improve, but with Luke Ridnour appearing in 47 games off the bench, and Devyn Marble (acquired in the Fournier trade) starting seven games, it was clear their depth at point guard was a big problem.

The Magic finished 25-57, and Vaughn was relieved of his duties after 52 games. Assistant coach James Borrego took over for the remainder of the season but did little to give the front office hope that he could be the long-term answer himself.

Still, a core of Vucevic, Fournier, Harris, Oladipo and Gordon was something, and it would be interesting to see how far they could have gone if they had been allowed to stick together.