Over the next few weeks Orlando Magic Daily will be taking a look at the things that went right and wrong this season as Orlando ended its season with a disappointing first-round loss to Indiana.
The Magic did not make the splash many expected in the shortened offseason. Orlando had some work to do to appease Dwight Howard, so the thought would go, this summer and there hardly seemed to be a splashy move in sight.
The biggest offseason acquisition was a sign and trade of power forwards. Orlando sent Brandon Bass to Boston for Glen Davis. Davis got a four-year deal for $24 million. He was allegedly on the list of players Dwight Howard had requested the Magic to go after in trades and add to the team. This was the move for this team.
Fans were admittedly skeptical.
It was not just that Davis was “the enemy” for so long. One of the admittedly funny issues that had to be resolved when Davis came over was the reconciliation between Davis and the fan he bumped into during the 2009 Finals. That family still owns seats right near the Magic bench. That was a non-issue, of course, but it shows the emotion that had to be overcome when Davis officially donned Magic blue.
Those defending the deal only saw it as a step to the side, not a step forward. Bass was a much better shooter and seemed to pair up with Dwight Howard a lot better than Davis would. The differences defensively and with his leadership seemed negligible or intangible at that point.
Things got off to a poor start too.
Davis averaged 7.3 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. More alarmingly, Davis was shooting 36.1 percent from the floor. His shot was noticeably flat and he was a liability offensively. Davis was not delivering on the Magic’s faith in him.
Davis admitted that he was trying a little too hard to match Bass’ production in Boston. Bass came right into the starting lineup for the Celtics and made an impact. Davis wanted to do the same. The only problem was he was playing behind Ryan Anderson, the league’s Most Improved Player and someone who proved to be a better fit for the offense.
“I know the beginning of the year was kind of rocky for me,” Davis said at exit interviews. “A lot of people didn’t know what was going on, how I was going. A lot of stuff happened that I had no control over. When I finally settled down and began to do the things that I love to do — and that is play the game of basketball at a high level — I feel like I did a pretty good job coming in and filling the void that was there with Dwight leaving.”
It was a tough year for Davis and he said he was frustrated by his lack of playing time and his smaller role with the team. Things did not turn around until he accepted his role and began to do what he does best — play with energy and enthusiasm and provide a defensive rock in the paint.
This became even more evident when Dwight Howard went out.
Davis’ numbers remained virtually the same into February and March after his slow start. But his field goal percentage began to slowly creep up. With Howard out in April, Davis began to really flourish. He averaged 16.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. He shot 50.3 percent from the floor, a dramatic increase from his middling shooting from the beginning of the year.
With this responsibility, Davis flourished. He stepped up his game even more in the Playoffs with 19.0 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game.
More than that though, Davis became an emotional leader for the team. It was Davis who coined the rallying cry, “We All We Got,” and energized his team with over-the-top efforts in the Playoffs. Davis was key to all those crazed second quarter comebacks and you could see by the way Davis was struggling to get up and down the floor how much the effort meant to him and his teammates.
By the end, he had endeared himself to Magic fans. He had won them over. And the Magic would have tanked without him in the lineup for sure. No offense to Brandon Bass.
Davis said his goal this offseason is to build his conditioning so he can play 40 minutes per game. That is a big goal. And Davis said he intends on starting next year.
“That was one of the reasons I went through my funk because I thought I should be a starter,” Davis said. “When I finally got over that, I started playing better. Then at the same time, you pray and God delivered for me the opportunity to play big minutes and I showed the world what I can do.
“Yeah, I want to start. But at the end of the day, I can’t leave it for no chance. I’ve got to be the best player that I can be, so when it comes down to pick the starters, there can be no question. I don’t want no question, nothing in nobody’s mind to make them feel like I shouldn’t be starting. And that’s my approach to the whole summer.”
As Otis Smith described it, having two guys who want to and expect to start is a good problem to have. He certainly likes that Davis has the ambition to play the majority of the minutes next season.
Yes, Orlando still has three more season with Davis. There remains some trepidation about the length of that contract.
For the first year, Davis proved his worth. He won over the skeptical fans enough and became the team’s emotional leader. There were not many surprises in this forgettable season, but this one certainly qualified as a pleasant one.
What Went Right: We All We Got
What Went Wrong: Dwight Drama