Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Andrew Nicholson

Andrew Nicholson had a lot of promise a few years ago, but has failed to cash in. This season was a disappointing one for Nicholson, one he could not afford

Andrew Nicholson was coming off a very disappointing, up-and-down season in 2014. The down really outweighed any positive and Nicholson needed to come into the 2015 season trying to prove his spot all over again.

Did he do that?

That is hard to say as Nicholson picked up where he left off — buried on the bench. And he never really got his chance back into the rotation until late in the season. There were very few chances for Nicholson to play in meaningful minutes. By the time he found himself back in the rotation, the Magic were just looking for anything positive.

Nicholson did have some good games. And did take advantage of that opportunity when it was given to him.

The end of the season showed Nicholson can still make contributions and still use his array of post moves to counter balance his still-improving jumper. Nicholson still has some basketball in him.

Nicholson though spent almost all of his third season on the bench, unable to get that chance. It had to be incredibly frustrating. And with Channing Frye struggling as he did, it was incredibly frustrating not to see Nicholson get his chance.

The Magic invested a lot in him obviously with a first round pick and seemed unable to find a good use for him in the end.

Nicholson’s end-of-the-season run brought some optimism that he can contribute again off the bench. His scoring is still there and his jumper makes him versatile option offensively. It is just getting everything together and improving on defense as Nicholson enters a critical point in his basketball career.

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