NBA Power Rankings Week 7: The revenge of the Los Angeles Lakers

Last Week: Lost to Toronto Raptors 115-102, Lost to Toronto Raptors 123-108, Beat Chicago Bulls 123-119, Lost to Chicago Bulls 118-92

This Week: 2/9 at Portland Trail Blazers, 2/11 at Golden State Warriors, 2/12 at Sacramento Kings

The injuries never stop coming for the Orlando Magic. Aaron Gordon was injured in the game against the Toronto Raptors and has not been in action since. Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Cole Anthony can only do so much. For a team that started off so solidly without Jonathan Isaac, this is an impossible situation to witness unfold.

It may also be the most essential thing that has happened to the franchise since the Dwight Howard trade. A rebuild has been in the works for years and floating in the middle is not helping that. Cole Anthony is clearly a building block for the future and showed out to an extent this week, averaging 15.0 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He is effective and increasingly confident by the game.

Fournier and Vucevic are making the case for themselves as valuable trade chips as the deadline approaches. Fournier is a pending free agent and is scoring well (17.3 points per game this week). Vucevic is a borderline All-Star who will likely miss out on the recognition he deserves because the team is only able to squeak out a win a week. The 24.0 points, 14.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game on shooting splits of .458/.321/.917 he averaged this week would fit anywhere. Moving him would also be smart for the Magic so they can finally find a way to get some minutes for Mo Bamba.