Serious question, and I'm keeping the landscape somewhat recent. But here goes. Better acquisition in Magic history. Rafer Alston or Vucevic
— tonic the gindog (@bmmohteraj) February 8, 2015
This question is a really really intriguing one. There is so much going into each of those trades.
To set the table here, let’s refresh our memories. First the Rafer Alston deal:
Remember where the Magic were at here too. Jameer Nelson got hurt Feb. 2 against Dallas and Orlando’s championship drive faced a very uncertain future. Orlando treaded water but a national television disaster in New Orleans right before the trade deadline made it clear Orlando was not winning a title even after acquiring Tyronn Lue as a stop gap to backup Anthony Johnson.
In essence, the Magic had to make this trade to remain contenders.
And remain contenders they did.
Obviously, Orlando was in a very different when the team acquired Nikola Vucevic. Dwight Howard wanted out and the Magic’s options were extremely limited. And they did not like the potential returns of Andrew Bynum and Brook Lopez. So they struck a complicated four-team deal:
The Magic put their money in getting a lot of future assets. A ton of draft picks (used on Romero Osby and Elfrid Payton so far, with the Philadelphia pick sent back to get Payton) and young players in Vucevic and Harkless. Amazingly, most of those players are gone now with Vucevic and Harkless remaining.
Really the deal was about tearing things down to start over. Vucevic turning into a borderline All Star was necessary but very much a huge bonus as well.
These deals were made under such different circumstances. Really, about anything the Magic could have gotten to get out from the Dwight catastrophe was going to be OK. And Orlando was going to be bad for a few years anyway. There was no way around it.
So, I have to take the Alston trade. It really changed the team’s fortunes that season, and in many ways, saved the season. The Alston trade had such a huge impact on that Magic team. Howard was gone anyway, and the Magic were tearing down anyway. Vucevic is a nice piece, but he obviously did not make a title team (not that he could with what was left around him and the growth he still needed).
Then you consider Alston helped the Magic net Ryan Anderson. Double good move.
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