2014-2015 Finish: 19 - 63

Season Highlight

The Emergence of Marcus Smart finaly gave the Magic fans a star player that they could put their hopes on. Magic GM Laddas traded for the yet to be named rookie of the year early in the season. Smart immediately put on his big boy pants and proceeded to go hog wild and easily lead the Magic and all rookies with 25+ points a game. Smart showed an impressive stroke from deep and a pinchent for playmaking. Marcus is clearly going to be an outstanding player and will be a solid building block for the Magic to build around.

Season Lowlight

The 19 - 63 record was a tough pill to swallow especially after the Magic wheeled and dealed their way into drafting Joel Embiid and trading for Chris Bosh. Essentially an ultra-atheltic frontline was pretty much stricken with an ultra-blast of injury kryptonite and apathy. Coupled with injury whoas to Ricky Rubio and a couple of key players the Magic as a team just didn't show enogh competitive spirit.

Best Trade

The Atlanta Hawks send Nazr Mohammed, Chris Bosh, Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Channing Frye, Tyreke Evans, Rudy Gobert and T.J. Warren to the Atlanta Hawks.

The Atlanta Hawks trade -10 GM points.The Orlando Magic receive 10 GM points.

You have to give to get. Getting a superstar player and a top 5 drafted rookie in the same deal let alone from the same team is a great trade. Frye, Evans, Warren and at the tme Gobert were complimentary pieces. Although in hindsight the deal would have been better served by sending Embiid instead of Gobert. But you can't win them all.

Worst Trade

The New York Knicks send James Johnson to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Jae Crowder and Pero Antic to the New York Knicks.

The New York Knicks trade -3 GM points.The Orlando Magic receive 3 GM points.

Not sure if somebody won or lost a bet here. Crowder and a throw in for James Johnson unfortunately doesn't add up otherwise. With the team already in free fall at the time of this trade it would have been possibly a better move to keep th eyoung talent in house as a starter to raise their value for a deal in exchange for a more productive veteran in the offseason.

Other Notable Trades

The LA Lakers send Marco Belinelli and Noah Vonleh to the Milwaukee Bucks. The LA Lakers send Mario Chalmers to the Orlando Magic. The Milwaukee Bucks send Jarrett Jack to the LA Lakers. The Milwaukee Bucks send Dorell Wright to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Gerald Henderson to the LA Lakers. The Orlando Magic send Festus Ezeli to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The LA Lakers send a 2nd-Rounder (LAL) to the Orlando Magic.

Fan favorite Gerald Henderson has once again been evicted from Orlando along with Festus Ezeli in favor of defensive balhandler Mario Chalmers and the father of all streak shooters in Dorell Wright. Not a bad move but didn't impact the teams perfroamce overall.

The Orlando Magic send Udonis Haslem and Ronnie Price to the Toronto Raptors. The Toronto Raptors send Jason Smith to the Orlando Magic.
The Toronto Raptors send a 2nd-Rounder (Tor) to the Orlando Magic.

The Orlando Magic receive 2 GM points. The Toronto Raptors trade -2 GM points.

Haslem isnt the player he once was so there was no harm in taking a flyer on Smith and seeing what he had to offer.

The Boston Celtics send Samuel Dalembert and Thaddeus Young to the Houston Rockets. The Boston Celtics send Ricky Rubio to the Orlando Magic. The Houston Rockets send Nikola Vucevic and Thomas Robinson to the Boston Celtics. The Orlando Magic send Jeff Green to the Houston Rockets.
The Boston Celtics send a 2nd-Rounder (Bos) to the Houston Rockets

This essentially ended up being Jeff Green for Ricky Rubio. Rubio's ball wizardry never fully manifested in Orlando do to injuries and possible mismatch in personell.

The New York Knicks send Luol Deng to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Maurice Harkless to the New York Knicks.

Like their Florida Neighbor (Miami) the Magic likes to bring in players that were once on the team before. Sometimes going with a known quaniity is the simplest route.

Best FA Signing

As with many teams that finish near the bottom of the standings. Free Agent signings left quite a bit to be desired. The Orlando signed a number of minimum Free Agents but they all had little or no impact.

Worst FA Signing

Beno Udrih - 17 games 3pts per and then traded for Pero Antic

Star

Rookie of the year Marcus Smart was both the star and the surprise. Some considered him a D-Wade lite. But Wade didn't average 25 a game until his 3rd season in the league. So there could be some big things ahead for this youngster.

Surprise

See above

Goat

Ricky Rubio, his numbers were actually pretty decent. But only 21 games of play is a total llet down to the team, management and the fans. Word on the street is that his bags are packed.

Draft Report Card

The Magic drafted Richaun Holmes #44 overall. Not a bad prospect but will do the magic a huge favor if he is spening more time in the D-League and letting a player that can help the team win games now take his roster spot.

The Magic had very diffucult 2014/2015 season.With some rumored deals on the table to bring in some established veteran talent they are posied to make s significant improvement over last seasons record. Luol Deng will likely be coupled with an All-Star SG and Smart's continued development can make the Magic a real playoff threat.

Upcoming Free Agents

Will Barton - Not spectaculary. But did manage to peek his head above water and show some promise. Will likely resign or have any offer matched do to his RFA status and could be used in S&T to bring in more established help.

Ricky Rubio - A bonafide ball wizard has essentially been repaced by Marcus Smart. Terms of a S&T are already being negotiated for the restricted free agent

Quincy Acy - Acy will be looking for a new home this season far away from Florida

Kendrick Perkins - The Perkalator isn't what he once was defensively or reboundwise. But could be solid in limited minutes for a contender.

Thomas Robinson - An underrated big man that could end up being the next Gobert.