Orlando Magic Year in Review: Top 10 games of 2016

March 18, 2016

Victor Oladipo’s time in Orlando may be looked at as one of missed chances and disappointment. He tantalized fans with his talent time and time again, but could never put it together consistently. That was his lot.

And finally, on Draft Night 2016, the Magic traded him. His individual brilliance on occasion was not enough to help the Magic take that next step as a franchise. And patience ran out on him.

It is why games like a mid-March game against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers were so tantalizing.

The Magic lost 109-103, but Oladipo went toe to toe with James and the eventual champions. He scored 45 points, making six of seven 3-pointers in his biggest scoring output of his career. This was everything everyone imagined Oladipo could be.

We wrote at the time:

"Oladipo was the Magic’s everything in their 109-103 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers — a fact that still disappointed Oladipo despite his “lifetime-high” game — scoring and making shots seemingly at will. “It just feels like every time that I shoot it, it is going in,” Oladipo said. “That is what I have been feeling like the last couple of games. Every time I shoot, I feel like it is going in. That is my mentality. I have acquired it in over the months.” It certainly felt that way."

These were the games that made everyone believe in how special Oladipo could be. These were the games that made everyone want to wait him out.

Unfortunately, these games were rare. They were tantalizing and mouth-watering. But ultimately deemed too rare to pin the franchise’s long-term future on Oladipo. The team’s struggles through 2016 proved that too. It seemed to load up completely on Oladipo.

For one night, everything was possible for him and the Magic.