Glen Davis played 5:42 of Wednesday's game against the Cavaliers. He missed all four of his shots and was removed unceremoniously. The Magic later reported he had a sore hamstring and he would not return.
That would be the curtain call of Glen Davis in a Magic uniform. A frustratingly inefficient game with so much to be desired from him on both ends of the floor.
Having not found a landing spot for him via trade, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the Magic and Glen Davis began talking of a buyout of the final two years and $13 million of his four-year deal signed at one time to appease Dwight Howard. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports the buyout is complete and Davis will become a free agent pending union approval of the buyout. Judging by how quickly it happened after the trade deadline passed, it seems certain that Davis has played his last game in a Magic uniform.
Davis certainly had his moments in a Magic uniform. He was a character at the very least.
When he joined the team, he had to get comfortable in his role coming off the bench, backing up Dwight Howard at center and playing alongside Ryan Anderson. He certainly agreed to a sign-and-trade to Orlando thinking he would be starting at power forward. That did not happen and his frustration was apparent early on in his tenure.
By the time of Dwight Howard's injury and the 2012 Playoffs, Davis became one of the critical players for the Magic. He was a bundle of effort and energy and played the defense of someone much taller than his 6-foot-9 height. True, Roy Hibbert worked him in that Playoff series, but Davis averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in that postseason.
When Howard was traded, Davis became a sort of co-captain and a team leader. He was a guy who had to set an example in the locker room and on the floor. He played hard in helping the Magic out to a 12-13 start that came crumbling down after he separated his shoulder.
Injuries characterized the rest of his time in Orlando.
{youtube}dkK2JA0JNlU{/youtube}
Davis was certainly peculiar in the way he acted. There were random hijinx throughout his time — including pulling his pants down during one game. He got into an argument with Stan Van Gundy and was suspended after he flung the door into the locker room open and damaged part of the wall in the new arena.
He was fined earlier this year for throwing a keyboard at a local hotel after discovering he could not get a room.
Like off the court, the bad often outweighed the good.
Despite his strong effort, Davis fell in love with his mid-range jumper and was constantly and consistently looking for his own shot. And, because of his height and what he was asked to do, he was not necessarily capable of doing that.
In all, Davis averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 140 games with the Magic over three seasons. He posted a 44.2 percente ffective field goal percentage and a 47.8 percent true shooting percentage. According to Basketball-Reference, his PER with the Magic was a mediocre 14.0.
His play fell off this year and it was becoming increasingly clear that Davis was standing in the way of some of the young players' growth. With no chance of trading him now, the Magic have opted to part ways and eat the salary to give Andrew Nicholson, Tobias Harris and Kyle O'Quinn a chance to get more run.
There will be no more Thanksgiving turkey legs as Glen Davis prepares to move on and probably contribute to a contending team somewhere.