Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 6: More Tournament thoughts
From Hurley Whitaker
"The best, most complete wins I’ve seen the Magic put together this year have been back to back against Chicago and Houston and recently against the Blazers. What do these games have in common? No Tobias Harris. Toby is pretty good. He’s got that Jamal Crawford, 3-seconds-left, bad-shot-making skill. But he’s relatively one dimensional. Very good (occasionally great) scorer, average on the boards, average on D, sub-par as a playmaker. Aaron Gordon isn’t ready for prime time yet, but he’s going to be real soon. When that happens, where do you put Harris? I think his future, nay, his DESTINY, is as the best 6th man in the league. He’s not qualified to be the primary scorer in a starting line-up, and he’s overqualified to come off the bench. So you Ginobili the guy and have him burn 2nd units to the ground! Rotate Dedmon in for Vuc to compensate defensively and let him loose for 25-28 minutes a game. He could use the minutes reduction anyway: he has trouble staying on the court and it’s usually the kind of injuries that rest and rehab prevent. So, I guess my question is: do we draft Stanley Johnson or Justice Winslow?"
I think your analysis of Tobias Harris is pretty astute, and thus the consternation and confusion about what is going to happen to Tobias Harris this summer.
Harris has always been a guy who scores (efficiently or not) and he needs the ball in his hands to be effective. His other skills have gotten better (particularly, his on-ball defense) but it is by no means anywhere near an elite level. Certainly not for the amount he sometimes receives the ball.
Although, in fairness, Harris is a fearless player and is not afraid of taking a bad shot in a big moment. He finds a way.
Whether that makes him part of the future of this team, it might depend on the price. And, yes, it might depend on his role with the team.
The sixth man role would be perfect for Harris. Whether he accepts that role…
Let us leave that for the summer when the Magic figure out whether they will re-sign him or not.
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So to your question: this year’s draft will give the Magic an opportunity to look at a few small forwards. Winslow and Johnson are the two main ones. Hybrid forward Mario Hezonja from Regal Barcelona is another one to keep an eye on too.
For the purposes of this question, let’s limit ourselves to the American players.
The Magic really need a shooter at this position. Winslow shot 41.7 percent from beyond the arc this season while Johnson came in at 37.1 percent. Shooting, though, is something you can learn.
But both are pretty solid defenders too. All things being equal, Winslow seems like the more NBA-ready prospect. That is where I lean.
Plus, I am partial to lefties.
Next: Will Tobias Harris and Kyle O'Quinn stay