The Orlando Magic were not well represented in All-Star voting this year. That was expected. But where they finished, that was a bit odd.
The NBA’s All-Star starters were announced last week, with the NBA using a new formula featuring a mix of the traditional fan voting with votes from the media and players adding a bulwark against fan irregularities. The rest of the All-Star team, voted on by the coaches, will be announced Thursday.
The voting for players was an interesting concept for sure. It would be interesting to see if they would be swayed by the narratives and oddities of an All-Star vote much like the fans. Indeed, it certainly seems like they did.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr already decried players making a “mockery” of their All-Star votes. And while the final result in the starting lineup was without relative controversy — do not worry, Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry both would have made the team.
As expected, the Orlando Magic will likely not have an All Star. Certainly, the team would not have a starter. It is tough for a team with a nondescript roster and a poor record to get much traction.
Still, the Magic did get a few votes — 20 or so — from the players. And the results were. . . odd.
The well-traveled D.J. Augustin led the Magic in the player voting with four votes from the players. Mario Hezonja ended up with three votes. Both of those were more than the two Evan Fournier got. Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka each had three. Jeff Green and Nikola Vucevic each had two. Elfrid Payton and Damjan Rudez got a single vote.
Trevor Booker, Michael Beasley, Jahlil Okafor, Sergio Rodriguez and Malcolm Brogdon received more votes than any Magic player in their categories.
The voting results were indeed as odd from the players as they were from the fans.
The fans were not a whole lot better.
Serge Ibaka led the Magic in the frontcourt with 29,123 votes, good for 23rd. Aaron Gordon trailed him in 29th with 22,774 votes. But they also trailed such luminaries as Ersan Ilyasova (he was 12th, ahead of Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond), Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye.
Bismack Biyombo was 55th with 7,804 votes. Nikola Vucevic was 58th with 7,208 votes. Jeff Green finished 97th with 1,860 votes. And Serge Ibaka was Even Stephen Zimmerman racked up 767 votes.
In the backcourt, the Magic fared far worse.
Evan Fournier led the team with just 8,882 votes. He was 36th, trailing Jordan McRae, Kay Felder and DeAndre Liggins. And those are just the Cleveland Cavaliers reserves ahead of him. Norman Powell, Malcolm Brogdon and the still-injured Jeremy Lin were also voted ahead of Fournier.
D.J. Augustin still scored more votes than Elfrid Payton with 4,831 (48th) compared to Payton’s 4,651 (50th). Mario Hezonja received 1,950 votes from the fans (69th). Jodie Meeks got 1,412 votes and C.J. Watson picked up 369 votes to round out the Magic backcourt voting.
The Magic were not expected to get a ton of All-Star votes, of course. They are a nondescript team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. That is not a formula to get a lot of votes. Maybe Magic fans needed to organize an All-Star campaign more — my bad, guys. Then again, the Magic never really had a singular player to rally around for an All-Star bid.
These voting totals are a reflection of the Magic’s poor record and small market.
As expected, the Magic did not receive any votes from the media vote.
Orlando certainly is not worthy of having an All Star this year. There is not a single player playing at that high of a level. And the team’s record does not lend to someone getting a team reward.
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The question for the Magic is how do they develop the roster to find that star or build into a winning team. These poor All-Star showings are a reflection of that.