Orlando Magic’s offseason puts trust in current roster

The trades of Maurice Harkless and Kyle O’Quinn were less about losing these players. O’Quinn got a four-year deal, which few teams were willing to match. He got long-term security the Magic were not likely going to give.

The trades of these two solid (and popular) young players was more about the Magic’s inability to develop them and inability to integrate them into the team. Or more or less giving up on these young talents.

Giving up is kind of harsh. They had an opportunity and lost it in the coaching staff’s estimation.

It seemed unfair Maurice Harkless could not get off the bench throughout the season after the improvement he showed in his first two years. In games where Harkless played more than 20 minutes last year, Harkless averaged 7.4 points per game and shot a 47.8 percent effective field goal percentage.

Harkless buried himself on the bench in a lot of ways. His play was not great, but he never got a fair chance in 2015.

And so getting virtually nothing in return for him feels empty. Very empty.

Kyle O’Quinn also got an opportunity. He slowly lost it for whatever reason. Some of it was Dewayne Dedmon pushing him out. Dedmon did many of the things O’Quinn was supposedly good at, specifically on the defensive end. That made him expendable. And he could easily get priced out for the Magic.

So their Magic careers were not perfect. Far from it. They were slowly phased out. Which is awful to see for a pair of young players. Especially on a young team.

They just did not find favor. And so they are out. On to bigger and better things, probably. That is the worst of it. Magic fans are going to hate how they were treated and how they develop outside Orlando.

Next: Final Grade