Top-Five 2015 Free Agents Orlando Magic Should Pursue
Again, Draymond Green has been a big focus here at OMD in an earlier piece on the former Michigan State Spartan.
Suffice it to say that those who were familiar with his NCAA career, the success he has enjoyed as a starting power forward is not surprising. Green took and made tough shots his entire career under Tom Izzo, and he emerged a very smart, NBA-ready talent.
He is the type of guy who can put up 20 points without teams really even noticing it, but when he gets hot he is a prime target for double teams. The Magic have good talent in Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic, but teams do not often decide to double on Magic players.
Vucevic faces up quickly in such situations and throws it back out. Green tends to pummel it baseline and make great plays. His acumen for exploiting holes and gaps in the defense is hard to find in the NBA. And though his statistics are somewhat humble, it is important to remember he is on a very stacked team that features the highest scoring backcourt in the Association.
The question with Green is always one of commitment and salary: What is he really worth?
The answers have ranged from $10 million to “max-deal,” but it is difficult to say whether any team giving him max dollars could be satisfied.
It is not to say Green’s upside is any way low, but rather that he may not be the guy to carry a team in need of a No. 1 option. If he is getting max money, he needs to step up to a much higher level of raw production, unfortunately, because his talents alone won’t measure statistically necessarily.
Next: Tyson Chandler