Orlando Magic: 3 X-factors ready to seize their opportunity

1. Cole Anthony

Rookie Cole Anthony looked really good coming off the bench in the early goings for the Magic. He is young, hungry and clearly has a chip on his shoulder having fallen to 15th in the draft. This worked really well as an energy guy off the bench who could back up Fultz, the more tenacious player of the two.

Mistakes were always going to be made, but in a limited role like that, and next to Terrence Ross and Khem Birch, there was energy and balance on both ends of the court. Say what you want about Anthony, he is going to be an accomplished offensive player for a long time in the league, and already has that certain spark that most Magic players are lacking in that area.

With Fultz gone, Anthony is clearly the main beneficiary. Now he’s not competing with Fultz for the starting job, and it may be that he does so well that by the time Fultz returns, the two will play in the backcourt together (kind of like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum). With the Magic probably going to come to a point where they are ok with losing, that suits Anthony as well.

He can make all of the mistakes that he wants (and early on as a starter, there have been plenty) while trying to improve. Also worth keeping an eye on will be how Anthony and Vucevic work together, particularly in pick and roll situations. Vucevic is so skilled that essentially any point guard can play well off of him.

D.J. Augustin had a lot of success, and the passing range of Fultz was something Vucevic was already enjoying and annoyed not to have out there since he went down. For Anthony to learn on the job next to a big man like that at the peak of his powers will be excellent for his development. Especially as Vucevic steps out to the 3-point line and Anthony drives to the basket.

The season was never meant to go this way for Anthony, or the Orlando Magic as a whole, but he now has an opportunity to play big minutes and hopefully, as time goes on, do all he can to replace the production of Fultz. Even if he will most certainly be doing it in a different way.