When the Orlando Magic were on the verge of losing their second All NBA center to free agency in less than 20 years, the Magic decided to take matters into their own hands and trade him instead of risking losing him for nothing. Rarely do teams trading away a superstar end up “winning” the deal, but with Dwight Howard and Andre Iguodala bolting their new teams after only a year, that’s exactly what happened with Orlando.
The big prize for Magic was Nikola Vucevic, a young 7-footer with rebounding and scoring skills who had shown a lot of promise in Philadelphia.
Fast forward 2+ years and Vucevic has blossomed into possibly the best true center in the Eastern Conference, leading the Magic in scoring and second in the league in rebounding. He’s also become a nifty passer. If Vucevic doesn’t make the All Star team this year, it would only be due to the Magic’s poor record and certainly not his play.
In fact, against the Raptors in their first meeting, Vucevic hurt them whenever he was on the court with his inside play and ability to hit the outside jumper. In just 33 minutes, before fouling out, Vucevic scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, many of those in traffic.
While Orlando is just a couple of years into their rebuild and still a year or two away from being a playoff team, they aren’t without their talent. Although much of it is young and inexperienced.
Casual NBA fans will probably look at the Magic roster and wonder who the hell these guys are, but players like Tobias Harris, Evan Fournier and Maurice Harkless are young with lots of potential. and anyone who watched the first game saw Dewayne Dedmon, an undrafted 7-footer who has played on three NBA teams in two years, as well as having a stint in the D-League, look like a monster, blocking 4 shots, grabbing 4 rebounds and scoring 6 points in just 16 minutes of play. In fact, in only 9 minutes per game, Dedmon is averaging 1.2 blocks per game.
Plus, the Magic have a few veterans, in Ben Gordon, Luke Ridnour and Channing Frye.
While their record is only 2-5, the Magic are not only a team with promise, but an entertaining one to watch. And a lot of that has to do with rookie Elfrid Payton, who I profiled before the draft. While the two weaknesses he displayed before the draft, shooting and turnovers, have continued in the NBA, he’s the second most important player on this team, behind Vucevic. Despite being a rookie, he’s shown himself to be an absolute pest on defense and has the makings of an excellent floor general.
It’s the other first round pick that is a little more of a puzzle. Aaron Gordon became one of the biggest prizes in the draft with his athleticism, work ethic, high basketball IQ and underrated skills, so when he became the fourth pick in the draft, it wasn’t a huge surprise. Coach Jacque Vaughn doesn’t seem to have figured out quite what to do with Gordon, giving him inconsistent minutes and no identifiable role. He has the makings of a Kenneth Faried-type energy player, but with better defense and a better jumpshot.
Of course, Gordon won’t have much of an impact, yet, and not against the Raptors tonight.
The Raptors are on the other end of the scale than the Magic. They’re currently sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 6-1 record and the biggest point differential in the league. They have a top ten offense AND top ten defense. That’s not to say the Raptors can take the night off, however.
In the last game against Orlando, the Magic stayed with the Raptors until the final few minutes. As mentioned earlier, they had their hands full with Vucevic and despite Valanciunas making more progress this season, Vucevic had his way with Valanciunas in their first game. Jonas needs to faceguard Vucevic when the ball goes up and keep him off the boards at any cost. He also needs to guard him tighter on the perimeter. Vucevic shoots more than 50% from the field outside of 16 feet, where he shoots more than a quarter of his shots. Jonas tends to be tentative when defending that far away from the basket, so that’s something the Raptors are going to have to keep an eye on.
On the other end, the Raptors have to go to Valanciunas in the post to try and draw fouls and get Vucevic out of the game. Vucevic’s defense has improved, and Valanciunas only shot 2-8 from the field, in the last game, but getting Vucevic in foul trouble should be the main goal.
The other thing to look out for is three point shooting. While the Raptors have one of the better defenses in the league, they still struggle to contain opponents’ three point shooting, and Orlando is one of the league’s better three point shooters. A lot of the Raptors’ struggles, in this area, has to do with the help-style defense the Raptors play, collapsing on opponents’ drives to the basket and inside play. If Vucevic comes up big again and causes the Raptors problems, it might leave the Orlando shooters open.
While the Raptors are unbeaten at home and should win again tonight, it could end up being a close game.
THREE BURNING QUESTIONS
What’s Up With Valanciunas?
A lot was expected of Valanciunas this year. Now in his third season, a noticeably stronger Valanciunas had worked hard all summer to take a bigger role this season, especially on offense, but so far his production has dipped over last season and he’s still showing the same tendency to bring the offense to a halt when he’s got the ball in the post. He’s only reached double digits once, in rebounds and he’s actually playing fewer minutes than he did last season.
Expecting a big game against Vucevic is probably asking too much, but we need to see more from him.
What Happened to the Three Point Shooting?
Last year, the Raptors were one of the better three point shooting teams in the league. This year, they are below average and the only Terrence Ross and Patrick Patterson are hitting consistently from beyond the arc. Lowry, a career .349 shooter, is only hitting .269. DeRozan still hasn’t learned to shoot consistently from three. Vasquez is shooting a career low from three and Lou Williams doesn’t seem to have regained his shooting form he had pre-injury.
When Will Aaron Gordon Be Unleashed?
As mentioned above, Gordon hasn’t quite found a consistent role on the Magic, but he’s actually producing very well in limited minutes. If he can gain the trust of Coach Vaughn and get more minutes, Gordon could be one of the more entertaining and impactful players in the East.
BREAKDOWN
STARTERS
The Raptors have more talent. Period. While they don’t have an All NBA talent, they have two potential All Stars, one of the better role players in the game, in Amir Johnson, and a potentially great big man, in Valanciunas. Plus, Ross is showing himself to be a very good three-and-D guy.
The Magic have some good players, but they are young and mistake prone.
Edge: Raptors
BENCH
The Raptors have one of the deepest teams in the league and while Orlando has some talent off the bench, in Ben Gordon, Luke Ridnour and potentially Aaron Gordon, they’re simply no match for the Raptors’ bench.
Edge: Raptors
COACHING
Dwayne Casey may not be one of the best coaches in the league, but he’s one of the better ones. Jacque Vaughn, on the other hand, might be out of a job before the All Star break.
Edge: Raptors
PREDICTION
I don’t think it will be as close as the game in Orlando, but it should be entertaining.
Score: Raptors 110 – Magic 94
