Orlando Magic Retrospective: How Does Current Team Compare To 90-91 Magic?

The Orlando Magic entered the NBA in 1989-90. Expansion franchises typically follow a different model, composing the team of a mix of discarded veterans, promising reserves and young talents. But it is not too different from a rebuild, and the 1990-91 Magic team won 31 games in its second year in the Association. Can that be replicated with this year’s team?

The Orlando Magic began the season 5-21 in the 1990-91 season, and the Magic are in better position this season at 10-19 on the same date, Dec. 20.

The 1991 squad, coached by former color commentator Matt Guokas, was riding a six-game losing streak that eventually extended to eight. But late in the season, that team got firing. Following the All-Star break, Scott Skiles, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott began to show the league the Magic could be a serious threat in the upcoming seasons.

And this Magic team is no different. While the components are arranged far differently, the potential of this year’s squad rivals the second-year Magic, and could even far exceed it.

The Frontcourt

The Magic in the early 90s featured Greg Kite and Marc Acres at center. Both were what some would call “stiffs.” Kite was tough, but had the dexterity of Aaron Gray. Marc Acres would fail to make the D-League in today’s era.

Compare that to the immense talents of Nikola Vucevic and you will get a good laugh. Acres once tried to pull a chase-down block on Michael Jordan before stopping feet short and questioning his temporary insanity.

Vucevic is too smart for that nonsense, all jokes in game aside. Moreover, Acres, a former Oral Roberts bust supreme, had immense trouble hitting layups and frequently dropped easy passes. The center position was not the strength of those early Magic teams.  Kyle O’Quinn and Dwayne Dedmon are almost unarguably both better starters than Kite, who now owns a construction company in the Orlando area; eventually having found his true calling.

Terry Catledge was a discarded talent that thrived on a team bereft of post talent. He got his shot blocked consistently and was basically a super-charged Andrew Nicholson with far greater acumen at getting position around the hoop.

Averaging 14 points and seven rebounds hardly blow one away, but “Catman” had posted nearly 20 points per game already the previous season but was beginning to decline—eventually to have his jersey number and position as a featured post player usurped by the franchise talent of Shaquille O’Neal.

It’s always important to keep in mind that expansion teams fill the rosters out with discarded veterans and Catledge found a niche in Orlando scoring the ball on a team searching for an identity.  He would not average anywhere near 20 points per game in ordinary scenarios.  The Magic have a core at the 4/5 positions now whose talent far exceeds that of the ’90 Magic.

The Backcourt

Scott Skiles, Anderson and Dennis “3-D” Scott were exceptional talents. And the Magic do not really have a perimeter that can equal that at this point.

For all Evan Fournier has proven to be, he will have a long ways to go before he matches Anderson’s talent as an inside/outside threat as a 2-guard. He will never rebound like Nick. Dennis is one of the best marksmen in NBA history. The Magic have no such players.

The best at this point may be that Victor Oladipo evolves into the multifaceted guard that “Nick the Quick” once was.  When Anderson came into the Association, he was much like Vic is now:  He slashed, got to the line, but severely lacked a jumper.  By the time the Magic reached the Finals in 1995, Anderson was a veritable gunner and often camped out on the arc for Shaq kick-outs.

Oladipo needs to put the ‘shooting’ in shooting guard and become a dependable spot up shooter.  Until Fornier and Oladipo develop, the guard rotation can’t touch the ’90 squad.  Elfrid Payton has worlds to bridge before he enters the realm of Skiles, too.  Skiles still holds the NBA record for most assists in a game (31), and averaged 9.3 assists per game in 1992-93 after adding Diesel to the fold.

Even prior to that, Skiles had posted 17 points and 8 dimes per game in the 90-91 season while knocking down 40 percent of his triples.  While his coaching career may not have been the grand slam some suspected it would be, Skiles carved out a great career in Orlando after being selected in the expansion draft.

The former captain eventually, too, was replaced by Penny Hardaway—but the Magic are hoping the young Payton is the final answer at floor general.  Payton comes to the Magic as a rookie, whereas Skiles had already lingered in obscurity for three seasons in Indiana.  The experience Payton is earning this early in his career will help his ascent towards becoming the player Hennigan felt he would be when the Magic traded up to obtain the No. 10 overall selection.

What Will Define this Magic team?

It may be that the best comparisons for this year’s Magic team run deep to the annals of the past, whether Hennigan intended that to be the case or not.  Defense and “Heart and Hustle,” the motto of those Darrell Armstrong-led teams in the late 90s/early ’00s, are hallmarks of winning franchises in any era.

The early squads in 1990 may not have featured that motto of the later-decade teams, but sometimes the present is a different alloy than the components that formed previous models.

That may be why Hennigan has imprinted this young squad with a defensive identity and some key cogs whose best attributes include defense and rebounding.  This Magic team has a ways to go, but it is becoming the type of surrounding roster merely in need of one major scorer and franchise defining star.

In 1992, it was Shaquille O’Neal via the draft.  In 2000, it was Tracy McGrady in free agency (along with Grant Hill; the Magic whiffed on Tim Duncan).   Following McGrady, the Magic entered the golden years of the Dwight Howard era, another No. 1 draft selection.

But what will be the final major wheel in this machine?

Odds are, the Magic most assuredly will not seize a No. 1 pick in upcoming drafts, and that makes that method of rebuilding untenable.

The Magic could easily exceed 31 wins in this year’s weak Eastern Conference. That would put the team on pace with a squad that was on its way toward ascending as a threat in a much easier conference than that team played in (the Magic were in the Midwest Division in the Western Conference that season, for whatever reason).  It would all but preclude any chances of drafting in upper half of the lottery, and that’s fine with free agents being a more than viable way to obtain the final piece(s).

This year, the focus will be on continuing to develop chemistry while winning as many games as possible. There is no tank in this team, and there was not in the early Magic squads. It is a comparison many may have been slow to draw, but looking at the way things unravel, it is a very reasonable one.

The teams are comprised of far different pieces, but the end result if this year’s effort may be a squad that is a legitimate playoff threat just three or four seasons after a complete overhaul.

That does not happen every time in a rebuild, far needless to say.