The Orlando Magic have not had a stockpile of talent at the wings in franchise history. And of the talents that make up the top-10, several are role players, niche talents, and guys who really only thrived during their time in blue and white.
The best player at the 3-spot in Magic history is still in the NBA, but he is not with Orlando anymore. In fact, two other talents are also in the postseason still as former Magic players.
It illustrates that the Magic have been able to fill the small forward spot with a lot of useful role players, even if top-end talent has been nearly nonexistent.
Tobias Harris has oscillated between the forward positions, but for the purpose of this slide show he is a small forward (Tracy McGrady is a shooting guard). His career path seems to indicate he will eventually spend the majority of his NBA career as a small forward.
Harris’ offensive talents are not in question, but his defensive liabilities limit his potential to a large degree. Even taking that into account, he still does pretty well in the all-time small forward rankings.
Next: He's not cool; he's frozen
10. Jerry Reynolds
his record-breaking 30th assist.
Reynolds was drafted in the expansion draft after being unprotected by the Seattle Supersonics. He persisted as a member of the Magic until Nov. 22, 1993 when he was waived.
When looking at Reynolds’ per-36 numbers, it seemingly tells the story of a superstar, but it has to be remembered this was a wing player who shot 41.8 percent from the floor in his NBA career. With the Magic he averaged better than 12 points per game in the Magic’s first two seasons in the league.
In the 1990 season, Reynolds scored more than 20 points, 17 times. He scored in double figures in 55 of the 80 games he appeared, and he started in nine of them.
Reynolds may have had his shortcoming as an NBA player, but he had six productive seasons before making one final appearance in the league at age 33, for a mere 19 games as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
“Ice” may have been a lofty nickname given to a guy whose clutch abilities never really matched the “ice water in the veins” appellation from which the nickname arose. But he was a scorer, for better or worse.
Next: The HEART will go on...and on...
9. Monty Wiliams
suffered from an abnormal heart condition, but that did not stop him from having a productive NBA career.
He was drafted No. 24 overall in the 1994 draft by the New York Knicks, and he signed as a free agent with the Magic in the summer of 1999.
Williams was coming off a season in which he was diagnosed with the condition, but remarkably played 75 games that year for the Magic and appeared in all 82 the following season.
With Orlando, Williams did not see mass minutes, but he was a good scorer while he did see time. Even with his minute limitations, he found a way to average 15.6 points and six rebounds per-36 in the 2000 season, and he scored in double figures in 34 games that year, while even seeing 30-plus minutes in three games.
Overall, yes, Williams career was limited by his heart condition, but it was that same heart that willed him to a strong 10-year NBA career. Moreover, the simple “eye test” revealed a player whose ceiling was far higher. His skill set and offensive prowess greatly exceeded what he was able to do in his career.
Next: Guts, grit, and gone.
If Matt Harpring’s game were distilled to one simple ingredient that enabled his success, that word would be “toughness.”
Harpring fought for loose balls, he chased down long rebounds, and with that effort he possessed a nice jumper that induced the Magic to draft him No. 15 overall in 1998.
Harpring played all 50 games in the lockout-shortened rookie season, starting 22 of those contests, while posting eight points and four rebounds per game. He also posted a 103 Offensive rating and a 100 defensive rating for the 1999 Magic.
Much to the dismay of fans, he was traded for a big stiff named Andrew DeClercq the following season as the Magic continued to search for answers at center.
Harpring went on to do big things with the Utah Jazz, posting 17.6 points per game in the 2003 season, and averaging double figures for eight season straight after being traded to Cleveland following his short stay in Orlando.
While it may be hard to wrap the mind around how the Magic gave up on a promising young player like Harpring, each team has its list of guys whose talents were not properly valued in the early junctures of their respective careers. The Magic most certainly could have benefited from his three-point shooting and hustle exhibited during his most productive NBA seasons.
Next: Not a French MJ
Mickael Pietrus was an NBA talent whose ascent never really matched his athleticism nor gifts. At one time he was billed “Air France,” but that obviously never came to fruition given that almost no casual fans know of or remember Pietrus (while even people who have never seen a basketball are aware of who Michale Joradn is obviously).
To be sure, Pietrus had exhibited his potential in Golden State, and he did so with brilliant stretches of play that we were at times privy to in Orlando.
The Magic acquired him at age 26, the point at which he should have entered his prime. Instead, he continued to have middling success, starting 49 games in Orlando over two-plus seasons.
The Magic needed and expected better 3-point shooting from Pietrus, who had knocked down 38 percent in the 2007 season, but in Orlando he shot 36 percent over two seasons, just passable. He averaged about nine points per game, and was continually caught between being a quality reserve or a fringe starter.
Pietrus could look like an all-time great when he got the ball in transition, or when he got hot, but there was not enough of it. There were too many lapses mentally — he always seemed to get up for the big moments but not the mundane moments of the season.
Overall the Magic overpaid for his services, with Pietrus getting $5.3 million per season to produce below-replacement level numbers.
Next: Small forwards need jumpers
6. Trevor Ariza
“Trevor Ariza is a jumpshot away from being an All-Star.”
Do those words sound familiar? It was what Trevor Ariza’s agent said regarding his client when he joined the Orlando Magic. It was not a colossal stretch, but it was a haunting one.
Trevor Ariza spent the first part of his NBA career devoid of any shooting ability — and his career path could have been eerily reminiscent of the player who began this slide show, Jerry Reynolds.
But Ariza did develop a jumper. It just did not happen while he was in Orlando. In fact, it happened the exact next season when the Magic faced their former small forward in the 2009 NBA Finals.
Ariza battered the Magic as a member of the L.A. Lakers, and it became another harrowing reminder of what can happen when teams give up on a guy.
Ariza’s standout season with the Washington Wizards that led to his return to Houston again painted the picture of that fringe All-Star talent the Magic just never saw — never saw in blue and white, anyway.
With the Magic, Ariza shot almost no threes his first season, while improving to a more reliable 33 percent in 2007-08 with the Lakers. Given that Ariza already was good at getting to the basket, becoming a threat from the corner was all he really needed to become an elite role player.
The Houston Rockets even expected more, attempting to make him a No. 1 option type in 2010 with Yao Ming constantly on the shelf, but he floundered, shooting just 39 percent from the floor and averaging 15 points per game in 36 minutes a night.
Ariza is perfectly suited to be a “3-and-D” guy, and with the Wizards in 2014, he found his true calling. Ariza averaged 14.4 points and six rebounds while shooting 40 percent from behind the arc.
Orlando never saw that guy, though he did average about nine points and four boards per game in 2007.
Ariza’s placement here is an indication of what he is now, not necessarily what he was with Orlando. Although, his defensive play and role within the team still warrant him cracking this top-10.
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5. Matt Barnes
“Matt Barnes will Kill you.”
Those profane t-shirts perfectly sum up what Matt Barnes was to the Orlando Magic. While kids could not exactly don them to school, they also could not repeat any of the trash talk Barnes engaged in on the court, so it is just as well.
Barnes may never have been the talent of any of the guys before him on this list, but his high placement is indicative of what he means to championship caliber teams. Given that the L.A. Lakers and now the L.A. Clippers have incorporated Barnes into their contending teams, it is fairly evident that his talents are valued around the league.
Barnes is now getting up in years at age 34, but he spent one of his prime seasons with the Magic, the 2010 season. With Orlando, he started 58 of his 81 appearances while averaging 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 26 minutes a night. He shot 32 percent from 3-point range, which was just good enough to justify chucking him the ball in the corner.
Barnes disappeared in the postseason when the Magic fell to the Boston Celtics that year, hitting just 3 of 13 from the floor in the first two games, as Orlando lost them both. He proceeded to play better in games 3 through 5, but he played 21 scoreless minutes in game 6, and that was a part of what caused his departure.
Even so, Barnes could score when called upon usually. He had three games with 20 or more points, and he had six games with 10 or more rebounds.
He is a role player, but a very vital one. The Magic cannot be said to have failed in the postseason that year on the basis of Barnes having a bad series. The problem ran much deeper than that.
Next: The HOF-er that never was
4. Grant Hill
It may pain some Magic fans to see Grant Hill placed this high in the all-time small forward rankings, but it is more a reflection of how weak the talent has been at the 3-spot in franchise history.
Even with Hill seemingly always injured while in Orlando, he was not a middling role player like the six talents that preceded him in this slide show.
So, try to set aside the disappointment of not having the future legend that he was with the Detroit Pistons. Try to let go of what Hill “should” have been, and just accept that fact that what he was still is far better than what the majority of Magic small forwards have been.
Hill played just four games in the 2001 season after being signed that summer. He followed that up with just 43 games in the two seasons following. Hill then appeared in 67 games (all starts) in the 2005 season, and he looked to be on his way back to stardom.
That season, he averaged nearly 20 points per game while dishing out three assists and grabbing four rebounds per game.
Hill then was hit by the injury bug again, playing just 21 games the next season. In 2007, he recovered to average 15 points and three rebounds per game in 65 appearances. And then he was gone.
In all, Hill spent five years in Orlando and really only exhibited about 120 games of quality ball, but to say that 20 points per game does not land him ahead of the other names to grace this list would be a bit absurd.
Hill’s tenure in Orlando may have been tinged mostly with disappointment, but he was not trying to sit out and get paid — he just had an extraordinary run of bad luck that even included a nearly fatal staph infection.
So, there will be the fans that sit back and act disgusted that Hill was not the Hall-of-Fame caliber talent he was on his way to being in Orlando, but his class and effort in trying to overcome the screws in his ankle, the rods in his leg, and the infections that came . . . that exhibited enough that we can look favorably on the fact Hill tried.
And when he did play, he was still pretty darn good.
Next: Hone the 'J,' become the All-Star
3. Tobias Harris
And here we are, our only current player on the slide show.
It is a little strange that current players have ranked so high on such a bad team, maybe. Victor Oladipo cracked the No. 3 spot, Elfrid Payton the No. 6, and Nikola Vucevic the No. 3 spot. And now Harris at No. 3.
So, if the Magic have four starters in the top all-time at their respective positions, why is the team so bad?
That is just it, the individual talents that currently make up the Magic are very good. It is just not a good team. There is no identity, and players are still trying to establish themselves within what was a changing and chaotic offense.
Despite all this, Tobias Harris has done so.
He has proven himself to be an effective scorer from the wing spot, and he was acquired at the cost of a player who was likely on his way out anyway (J.J. Redick, who did not even re-sign with Milwaukee after costing the team the underused Harris).
Harris has a number of shortcomings. He is an average defender at best. He does not naturally fit at the 3 or the 4 spots, making him a classic “tweener.”
But he is a good scorer, and that was what enabled him to spend just one year at Tennessee before declaring for the draft. He has improved his two seasons in Orlando, too, becoming a better 3-point shooter and more of a small forward. It appears that he will likely spend the bulk of his NBA career at the 3-spot.
Harris posted 17.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season while shooting 36.4 percent from 3-point range. While it would be ideal if he could lift those percentages into the 38-40 percent range, at this point he is more than passable.
Harris scored 20 points or more in 21 games this season, and he had his season high of 34 points in a win over the L.A. Lakers on Feb 6. He shot an outstanding 14 of 18 from the floor that game while playing 45 minutes in a 103-97 win.
Harris has the potential to be a lot like Rudy Gay, which would warrant giving him the expected $12-$14 million this summer.
While he does have his shortcomings defensively, better team defense will help cover a lot of it. When Harris and other Magic perimeter players are beat off the dribble, there is little behind them to cut off their man, change a shot, block a shot and ultimately get a stop.
To put all that blame on Harris having mediocre lateral foot movement is not really fair, because he is ultimately one defender of five that are failing to stop the opposing offense.
What may hurt most is that the best scorers tend to be small forwards, and Harris is not a plus-defender. Balancing that out with a premier defender capable of covering both 3s and 4s might be the way to go. And it may already have happened if Aaron Gordon continues to develop.
In other words, Harris is a great scorer and all his shortcomings can be amended with the right personnel around him.
Next: The best long-distance shooter in Magic lore
2. Dennis Scott
Dennis “3-D” Scott was the first ever small forward lottery pick and just the team’s second first-round pick in franchise history. When Scott was drafted, it was fairly expected he would be mostly a 3-point marksman and gunner. There were even persisting questions as to whether he could defend at the NBA level.
But Scott was never the defensive liability many thought he would be, nor was he the non-athlete detractors billed him to be. He was hardly a high-flyer nor athletic specimen, but he was passable as a pro-athlete and at times it was even easy to forget he was rounded out a lot more like the average Joe than the likes of a LeBron James.
Most importantly, Scott helped change the look of NBA fastbreaks.
Rick Kamla pointed out to Dennis on his fantasy basketball segment on NBATV that Scott was the groundbreaker for teams starting to pull up for threes on fast breaks. Scott paused for a moment, chuckled, and said “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
It was the first time Scott realized it, and maybe that was an understated way of saying his career had a bit of a legendary aura to it.
Scott led the NBA in threes made in the 1996 season with 267 and he shot better than 42 percent from 3-point range in back-to-back seasons (granted, the line was brought in a foot in 1995 and 1996).
Scott’s minutes were tempered during the team’s Finals season, as Donald Royal provided superior defense and pushed Scott to a Sixth Man role. Even so, the next season he started all 82 games and saw 37 minutes a night, averaging 17.5 points per game, his career high.
He experienced little success after leaving Orlando in 1997, but his seven seasons in Orlando were worthy of the No. 4 overall pick tha was spent on him in the 1990 NBA Draft.
While the picture of Orlando Magic history may have been very different with a slightly higher pick (Hall of Famer Gary Payton went second overall), Scott became the perfect role player and role player to fill the equation out with regards to what happened later in franchise history.
It was almost as though he was selected with the knowledge Shaquille O’Neal would come a couple years later. That is a strange notion, but if history were written in forward fashion, it was as though GM Pat Williams already knew the Magic would land a Hall of Fame center in the 1992 draft.
Next: A unique talent that drove the 2009 Finals run
Hedo Turkoglu is one case of Otis Smith having capitalized on talent scouting other franchises.
Turkoglu had started to emerge as part of a talent-saturated group in Sacramento, the same squad that suffered one of the most ignominious defeats in NBA playoff history. He spent on season in San Antonio following his three years in Sacramento, and then he was signed as a free agent in the summer of 2004.
Until reaching Orlando, Turkoglu had really only shown flashes of the talent he was to become. With the Magic he appeared in 67 games in 2005, and he increased his scoring average from nine points per game to 14.
He continued to improve and become a true “point-forward,” helping to augment the shoot-first mentality that Jameer Nelson often exhibited.
Turkoglu gave the Magic a secondary playmaker, and a true wild card given that he was difficult as a matchup for both small forwards and power forwards alike. Turkoglu had his finest season in 2008, when he averaged 19.5 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.
Somehow, he was left off the 2008 All-Star team, in a move that still makes little sense in light of how mediocre Paul Pierce was playing that season. Turk would go on to have another good year in the Magic’s 2009 Finals run and he was instrumental in helping provide the mismatches that resulted in upsetting LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
He is still trucking along in the NBA now at age 35 with the L.A. Clippers, but he has appeared in just 32 minutes this postseason.
Turk is now a shadow of the dynamic talent he was as a 6-foot-10 point forward, and his place as the most unique small forward in Magic history seems fairly safe. It may be debatable as to whether he was truly the best, but the Magic would not have been the amalgam of strange parts it was that enabled its success with Dwight Howard if not for Turkoglu.
Naturally, when he was replaced in essence with Vince Carter, the Magic lost the identity that he helped instill. The Magic were unable to catch lightning in a bottle again.