Orlando Magic Summer League studs signing elsewhere
The Orlando Magic won the Orlando Summer League earlier this month. But several of the key players are signing elsewhere for training camp.
The Orlando Magic were not expected to get a lot out of Summer League this year.
They traded away their first round draft pick in the Victor Oladipo trade and last year’s first round pick was in Italy to help Croatia qualify for the Olympics. The team was certainly a bit short handed and lacking sizzle.
And the Magic themselves were looking to get older and bring in veterans. More young players, the kind that typically show up in Summer League, were not on the menu.
The Magic were looking to mine for some quality and keep some solid players in their system. But it was not a huge priority.
Orlando had a talented group of players on its two Summer League teams. There was something to mine of course. This was another asset resource the Magic could use to bolster their lineup and add some depth. Even if it would be someone off the bench or in the D-League with the Erie BayHawks.
The players who played the best for the Magic at Summer League, particularly for the Orlando Magic White team that won the Summer League, are getting gobbled up and not by the Magic.
There is limited roster space. Orlando was not going to get everyone it wants. As things stand, the Magic have 13 guaranteed contracts. Teams are allowed to carry 15 during the season. They can have a few more in the preseason for guys trying to crack the roster (or get a nice guarantee before spending the season in Erie).
It is unclear exactly who else Orlando might add to its roster for training camp — even as an extra body or to fill needs at small forward and possibly power forward. And some of the intriguing names from Summer League are going away.
The latest was Argentine and George Washington forward Patricio Garino. Garino signed a deal with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Garino posted 12.0 points per game and shot a 51.9 percent effective field goal percentage. He was really strong at defense, where he made his name at George Washington.
Certainly Garino — none of these players — are going to change things for the Magic or any team. But they could add quality depth. Garino certainly would have fit the Magic’s versatile defensive mindset.
The same could be said for Treveon Graham and Okaro White. Those two players played well for the Magic White team too and are now headed to play elsewhere.
Graham averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game and shot 55.8 percent from the floor. He signed a training camp invite with the Charlotte Hornets. He could spend another year with their D-League team in Greensboro. Graham is more of a tweener 3/4 very similar to Aaron Gordon and Jeff Green (more similar to Green than to Gordon). The Magic have plenty of those.
Okaro White also fit into that category. He averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game for the Magic’s Blue Team in Summer League. He stood out in small spurts but did not make a big impression with the Magic.
He certainly did with the Miami Heat though. White signed with the Heat after averaging 8.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game on a worse shooting percentage with the Heat in Las Vegas.
The Magic of course have dumped other players off their Summer League team too. Devyn Marble was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for C.J. Wilcox before Marble’s guarantee date came up. The Clippers cut him before his contract became guaranteed.
Tyler Harvey, who struggled in Summer League this year with Orlando, signed with a team in Italy.
Orlando will bring in some players for training camp. The team has to fill out its D-League roster, and it surely would like some players who can potentially make the main roster. Someone who could be familiar.
The options are becoming limited off the team’s Summer League roster. Nick Johnson could be worth a flyer. But he has been in the league for three years now and has struggled to find a clear fit as a point guard in the league. He really is a shooting guard at the end of the day, but an undersized one at that who has some struggles to shoot consistently.
Veteran stalwarts Justin Dentmon and Arinze Onuaku were critical to the Magic White team winning the Orlando Summer League. But they are about as good as they are going to be and center and point guard are not areas where the Magic need even more depth.
They could pull out Kevin Murphy still. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 11.2 points per game but shot just 42.2 percent from the floor and 3 for 16 from beyond the arc in Summer League. He could be someone good to bring into camp and leave in Erie to see if he can develop.
It is very unclear who from last year’s Erie BayHawks roster will be back or will be kept around. Harvey is gone. Keith Appling is running into legal troubles. Jordan Sibert was a non-factor with the Magic’s Summer League team. Nnanna Egwu was also a non factor in the Magic’s Summer League rotation.
Many of the team’s top players have moved on.
The Magic are going to have to mine some to fill out this roster. And they may have to mine some to add that last bit of depth and little spark to bring to the main roster.
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These are end-of-the-bench players. They will not make a huge impact. But Orlando seems to have passed on some guys who still could have NBA talent and be worth keeping around to develop.