Ersan Ilyasova, Brandon Jennings trade has only opened up opportunity

It has been three weeks since the Tobias for Ersan/Brandon trade. How have the Magic been performing with these two new additions? Good? Bad?

It has been three weeks since the Orlando Magic made the biggest trade of the 2016 NBA trade deadline, trading Tobias Harris, a young scoring wing, whom they had just re-signed in the offseason for 4 years, $64 million to the Detroit Pistons for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova. The move was seen with some skepticism over its immediate on-court impact and viewed more for what it could do during the offseason, clearing cap space for the Magic.

Jennings, the 26-year-old point guard, suffered an Achilles injury that kept him out for most of last season and halfway into this season. Before going down, he was a superb player, averaging 15.6 points and 6.6 assists, and looked to be much improved over the player he was when Milwaukee drafted him.

Ilyasova, the 28-year-old power forward, has been a reliable stretch player for his career. With a career average of 37 percent from beyond the arc, he is a vast improvement over Channing Frye, who has since been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Tobias Harris trade has also opened up more playing time for the younger players, such as Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja. In addition to that potential cap room this summer.

The trade was sold as providing better balance between the starters and the reserves. It would keep the team in the Playoffs.

So the question needs to be asked now:

How has the trade impacted the team? Was trading Harris a good move? There has is only a sample size of three weeks, but there is enough to tell the impact.

For some odd reason, it is not uncommon to see recently traded players overachieve in their first game on a new team. Such was the case with Jennings and Ilyasova, who contributed a combined 34 points off the bench in their debut versus the Dallas Mavericks coming out of the All-Star Break. Since then, their numbers have been quite shaky, especially with Brandon Jennings.

Recently, Jennings had an offensive showing of 20 points off the bench against the Golden State Warriors, and Tuesday, against the Los Angeles Lakers, he had zero to show for in only four minutes of action.

Since being traded, Jennings has averaged 7.5 points and 3.3 assists in 16.5 minutes per game of action. That is not bad, considering his per-36-minute numbers. He averages 16.5 points and 7.0 assists per 36 minutes.

With his inconsistency though, it is hard to tell which Jennings will show up each night. At the very least, he is a big improvement over Shabazz Napier, who only seems to be getting garbage minutes after the trade.

Ersan Ilyasova, has overall been a much better addition thus far.

He leads the league in charges taken, and continues to pile them up as a member of the Magic. Offensively, and defensively, he has been a much better contributor than a lot of the backups the team has had in recent years.

Ilyasova relies primarily on his shooting, but is not afraid to go inside. He has also collected a number of and-one’s that look like he just tosses the ball into the basket.

Defensively, he collects a lot of charges, and a lot of blocking fouls. He can hold his own as far as defense is concerned, but will not lock down any premier scorer he guards.

At this point it is hard to point the finger exactly on what benefit adding Jennings and Ilyasova have given based solely on their play. Their play has been uneven at best and they have not moved the needle one way or the other.

The best thing, by far, that has happened because of the trade, is the emergence of Aaron Gordon. Averaging 12.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, since the trade. He arguably has been Orlando’s best player during this stretch, and has done his numbers graciously ever since getting the starting gig in January.

This is all without ever having a play designed for him.

He had a 20-point, 16-rebound game against the Golden State Warriors, which is no easy feat. As he continues to develop his offensive repertoire, there is no doubt Gordon is becoming a superstar in the making.

Would he have accomplished this without the Tobias Harris trade? Likely, but Orlando wanted to give him more playing time as he climbs the ladder to stardom.

Ever since the dunk contest, Aaron Gordon has been getting a lot of national attention, and everything he does on the court is being watched, including this windmill dunk Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Mario Hezonja, another player hoping to find more success after receiving more playing time, has fallen under the same boat as Jennings, the boat of inconsistency.

Granted, Hezonja and Jennings have received some wacky minutes, playing more than 20 in one game, then getting less than 10 minutes the next game. Although, Hezonja has dropped a career-high 21 points in his start against the Chicago Bulls, while Evan Fournier was out with an injury.

Record wise, the Magic have suffered from more of the same regardless of the trade. The new players have not improved the team’s fortunes, but it is still unclear if keeping Tobias Harris would have turned things around either.

Collectively these players have contributed in more ways, and seeing as the Harris trade has also freed up a lot of cap room for the Magic during the summer, it was definitely a win-win for both teams.

Jennings still needs to return to his true form. Hezonja should continue to develop, and gain more confidence as the game slows down for him with each passing day. Aaron Gordon, poised to breakout as the season comes to a close, and onto next.

Everything with this trade is a work in progress. the Magic’s problems were going to be fixed by the players remaining on the roster with the contributions of those who were traded. Instead, the team appears to be continuing on as it was before.

Next: Addressing defense begins in the backcourt

The trade has had little on-court impact.