The Orlando Magic have not had a wealth of talent pass through the center position over its 26-year span in the NBA. To be sure, there are only three major talents, one of which is here right now — but where does Nikola Vucevic rank all-time?
The Orlando Magic have had only two centers make the NBA All-Star team. Nikola Vucevic fell short of his quest for a 20-10 season, while also being snubbed of selection for the NBA All-Star team in 2015. The Magic have had some other talents come through the organization.
Vucevic signed a long-term extension prior to the 2014-15 season and is currently the best player on the Magic roster. But he is not without his shortcomings. Defensively, Vucevic is not much of a rim protector, nor is he a threat on weak-side rotations. Teams attacked the rim this year.
Offensively, he has an array of moves, soft touch and good instincts, but the Magic too often were caught playing from behind on ‘D’ just to flounder offensively if Vucevic and Victor Oladipo were both off at the same time. He’s a very good player, but dominant can be a stretch. He’s a future All-Star, but likely not a future superstar.
So, where does all of that leave current center Nikola Vucevic in the annals of Magic centers when it is all taken into account?
Next: The FIRST dominant LSU Magic big man
10. Stanley Roberts
Stanley Roberts played a big role in the 13-game turnaround that the Orlando Magic orchestrated from its first to its second NBA season, and the big man from LSU had a great season with Orlando before being shipped off to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Roberts struggled with his weight his entire career, but had played his way into very good game shape and was making dominant plays, drawing double teams and looking like a legitimate NBA center for the much improved Magic. Roberts commanded occasional double teams and began to give Magic fans a glimpse of what it might be like if the team had a dominant 5-man.
Roberts wasn’t fluid, fast, nor a work of immense beauty in the post—but he was good—teams had to get the ball out of Roberts’ hands. He had 17 straight games with 10 or more points, while scoring over 20 points five times. No Magic center had displayed such play in the post prior to Roberts, as the likes of Dave Corzine, Greg Kite and Marc Acres all failed to attract any defensive attention when they caught the ball.
In 55 games his rookie season, he averaged 10.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor. Roberts would maintain those figures in his second season as a Clipper but his career declined thereafter and he played just 11 games past age 27.
His start with Orlando was a lot brighter than the path that ultimately resulted, but that is where this show begins.
Next: The only player-coach in Magic history
9. Tree Rollins
Tree Rollins has the distinction of being the only player-coach in Orlando Magic history, and really he did little more than provide spot minutes behind Shaquille O’Neal during the team’s glory years. But Rollins was a unique presence because he really was what his name said he was, a 7-foot-1 “Tree.”
When O’Neal hit the bench, the Magic could counter with another legitimate giant off the bench who could provide resistance against prevalent big men in the 90s.
Rollins was not a big-stat guy. In his 17 NBA seasons, he averaged just 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. But Rollins at one point led the NBA in blocks with 4.3 per game and was true serviceable center during a tough physical era.
Tree Rollins may get a bit of a sentimental nod at No. 9 over a number of other serviceable Magic centers (e.g., Michael Doleac or John Amaechi), but he was a unique player whose legend mostly persisted because he was durable and good—not because he was dominant. But when you take a 7’1″ 300 pound man child off the court, why not replace him with a Tree?
Next: The blue collar worker
8. Greg Kite
destroyed his knee in the inaugural season. Kite would remain a member of the team after Shaquille O’Neal joined the fold after having started 44 games in the 1992 season.
Kite was rugged and tough, and now owns a construction firm in the Orlando area. He was not skilled, but he went to work every game, hustled and became a fan favorite of sorts.
His baseline brawl with Rony Seikaly in the 1992 season ranks as a great moment in Magic-Heat all-time rivalry. Kite played a bench sitting role with the Boston Celtics’ legendary 80s teams before joining the Magic, but the BYU product carved out an effective NBA career on the basis of grit alone. He was part of the hard working culture that persisted with floor general Scott Skiles embodying the early Magic’s efforts. What Kite lacked in skills, he made up for in determination, and as cliche as that may sound, that was enough to keep early Magic fans content to see the team trying to win every night.
Next: The other Hall of Famer in Magic history
Patrick Ewing was truly just a shadow of the dominant force he was with the New York Knicks during his year in Orlando, but he was still Patrick Ewing. That, alone, counts for something.
The Magic got Ewing on his last NBA stop for 65 games in the 2002 season and he averaged six points and four rebounds per game, which was all done in just 13 minutes a night (less than half of what he played the previous season for the Seattle Supersonics, while starting 79 games).
Ewing eventually just kind of hit the wall, and it was a bit strange to see it happen in pinstripes rather than Knicks blue and orange. But Hakeem Olajuwon wandered to Toronto. Sometimes these legends finish in strange places, and having Ewing in Orlando was a nice touch, which later led to his assistant coaching job with the team.
Ewing is a first ballot Hall of Famer and made the NBA’s Top-50 at its 50th Anniversary, and when people reflect on his career, the memories will be relived in Madison Square Garden, not the Orlando Arena. But he made his pitstop in Orlando and while the casual NBA fan may not have tucked that anywhere into the memory bank, Magic fans were appreciative to have ol’ Pat around for a short stint before he hung it up.
Next: I don't need a hammer, I need a Polish hammer.
Marcin “The Polish Hammer” Gortat only started to get his chance in Orlando. Gortat is now thriving for the Washington Wizards in the 2015 NBA playoffs, but at one time he toiled behind Dwight Howard.
Gortat eventually became part of a deal that sent him to Phoenix along with Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and a 2011 first round pick for Earl Clark, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu.
Gortat never really had his chance to truly shine with Orlando. But in the time he did relieve Howard, we could see the Magic had a bona fide starter in the wings.
Gortat finished No. 3 in the NBA in field goal percentage this season and ranks No. 14 among all-time active players in field goal percentage. He also finished ninth in the league in blocked shots last season.
With Orlando, Gortat averaged 14.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per-36 in the 2010 season, illustrating the potential he would have once given starter’s minutes. Gortat is an above-average athlete and he has good defensive instincts. The Polish Hammer is one of the better pick and roll defenders in the league, and he rolls well on offense too. He’s carved out a nice career since leaving Orlando, and it only hurts a little because it seems the return on his trade should have been a lot higher. There had been rumors that he may even be good enough to bring back a high lottery pick in a trade, but that ultimately never came to fruition (indicating it was likely not based in fact).
Next: From Villain to Comrade
5. Rony Seikaly
The initially most reviled center of the Miami Heat became the replacement center once Shaquille O’Neal bolted for Los Angeles.
Rony Seikaly was a very agile and gifted center who helped the Magic stay relevant.
Seikaly spent about a season and a half with Orlando, starting 96 games with the team. Seikaly averaged 15 points and 7.6 rebonds per game in 1998 as the Magic forged a 41-win season under Chuck Daly.
Seikaly was not quite what he was in Miami, but he was still an exceptionally skilled center, using his agility, speed and just smarts to outwit bigger centers. He was no Shaq by any means, he would not suck defenders in, but he was a very solid player in those first years without O’Neal. Seikaly was gutsy but did most of his damage with his lithe frame and good footwork. It’s a bit strange to think that a declining Seikaly could rank No. 5 all-time, but the Magic haven’t had the pleasure of anchoring many true franchise talents at the 5-spot.
Next: A future gem slipped through the cracks
4. Ben Wallace
in a sign and trade with the Pistons.
Wallace had played a big role in helping the Magic overachieve his one season in Orlando and a sign of his popularity can be remembered in the Orlando Sentinel’s keeping track of the team’s record with his “fro” or “corn row” hairstyles.
Wallace, of course, went on to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards while leading the Detroit Pistons to a championship. His first major impactful season came in Central Florida though.
And he is better than most of the centers that have come through this way, though a strong similarity between incumbent big man Dewayne Dedmon and Wallace is inspiring. Wallace was a bit shorter than Dedmon at 6’9″, but the similarities in their style are what lend the comparison as true. Both work exceptionally hard and make their calling card defensively.
Dedmon is not yet on the level of a prime Big Ben, but the model is there: If Dewayne continues to work on keeping his fouling under control while crashing the boards just as hard, he could be the diamond in the rough that Wallace was coming as a free agent from the Washington Wizards. Big Ben was only in Orlando for a season, but it was a very good season in terms of his per-minute impacts and what he would later become.
Next: The franchise talent; trade-salvaged
3. Nikola Vucevic
Nikola Vucevic averaged 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game this season and is indisputably bested by only two Magic centers in history.
But maybe bestowing only praise on Vucevic is misguided here: How can he become better than the top two centers in Magic history? Is there any way Vucevic can become that kind of talent?
First off, Vucevic needs to work more with his establishment of low post position. He needs to command the ball on the block, and be decisive. He has already shown he can step out to hit the jumper. He has shown he can function well both popping on pick and rolls and in rolling to the basket.
But he has not become a dominant force on the block, nor does he pass well out of double teams always.
Vucevic did better about making quick decisions passing when doubles came, but the Magic also did not do him any favors with floor spacing, nor with hitting the shots his passing provided them.
Accordingly, Vucevic finished with two assists per game and two turnovers per game. In time, those figures will rise with a more proficient Magic offense, but in the meantime he needs to work on playing his size.
Vucevic is uniquely gifted with very soft touch, and if he establishes lower position he is going to get better looks — it is that simple, actually.
Can he become better than these last two guys? It is pretty doubtful, but he certainly shoots the basketball better than both, for whatever that is worth.
Next: Rebuild reasons begin with you...
2. Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard took the Orlando Magic to just its second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, but he also held the franchise hostage with his contract and bad attitude for more than a season. The two are not quite reconciled yet.
Howard won the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award three times and became just the second franchise center in team history, but right now the wounds he left in his exit are too fresh.
The team is still rebuilding from Howard’s departure and has won just 68 games in three seasons since Howard took off to his questionable fate in Los Angeles.
It is really not the time to loft praise on Howard, and this slide just suffices to say he was here, he was very good and maybe many years from now it will seem less noxious to meditate on the disappointments of the 2009 NBA Finals, at that. Howard spent the bulk of his career in Orlando, and Stan Van Gundy said the only thing keeping him from being a Hall of Famer was his short body of work.
Since Howard has gone on to decline since leaving Orlando, this may render him more of a fringe HOF-type talent, rather than the lock that the No. 1 player in this slideshow was, before he even suited up for his first NBA game.
Next: The most dominant talent to come through Orlando
1. Shaquille O’Neal
Shaquille O’Neal took the Orlando Magic from being an emerging expansion franchise to a global brand. It is that simple.
Globally, there are still Magic fans whose patronage is the result of Shaq, and Anfernee Hardaway.
The 1992 draft was deemed a Sweepstakes for Shaq, and the Magic had that lucky ping pong ball deliver the man-child from LSU.
While it did only result in four dominant seasons and one Finals trip, the fact Shaq’s career was born in Orlando at all can still be a marvel in franchise history, aside from the fact his championships were all won elsewhere.
With Orlando, O’Neal was fractions of a point shy of leading the league in scoring (losing to David Robinson on the final day of the season), he tore down two basketball goals, made NBA on NBC Sunday’s a feast for the eyes of kids throughout the nation. The Magic had become the league’s chic pick and most popular team.
And No. 32 was the thing that set the wheels in motion, the linchpin in bringing Penny Hardaway, Horace Grant and his goggles; and Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott knocking down triples unchecked by the dozen.
Shaquille O’Neal was inducted into the Magic Hall of Fame in April, and at this point is the only first ballot Hall of Famer to have spent productive seasons in Orlando (with all due respect to Mark Price, Patrick Ewing and Dominique Wilkins!). The Magic’s glory days are tied to Penny and Shaq, and there’s not really any pretense that the Howard years were anything close to it in terms of appeal, money, fame and respect.
O’Neal is still friends with Magic owner Rich DeVos, but he cited his ownership involvement with the Sacramento Kings as a blockade from him having any role with the Magic organization.