Orlando Magic must improve development of young players

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Apr 8, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) dunks during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Miami Heat 112-109. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Retention

Let’s start with how many of these players are still with the team.

Of the six players mentioned above, only three remain. Andrew Nicholson and Victor Oladipo are gone. And Domantas Sabonis never arrived.

The Magic acquired Maurice Harkless from the Philadelphia 76ers before his rookie year as part of the Dwight Howard trade. He was unceremoniously traded for a second round pick the Magic would never receive. He now starts for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Digging even further, the Magic acquired a young Tobias Harris, saw him blossom, signed him to a new deal and then traded him for expiring contracts. He may be a Sixth Man of the Year candidate for the Playoff-bound Detroit Pistons.

You could argue Mario Hezonja still has not arrived. He averaged 17.9 minutes per game last year and 12.9 this season (and that is increasing in the the past few weeks).

Even Aaron Gordon has only just begun to break into full minutes. This, in itself, is not a good start, especially considering their highest pick and most talented player, in Oladipo, was traded away for a player who did not even last the full year with the team. That was part of the gamble the magic made in trading Oladipo away.

It is also not a great look that Oladipo will likely be in the playoffs this year. Domantas Sabonis is a rotation player with him. Further, Dario Saric may be a late pick for Rookie of the Year (he has averages of 20.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in the last 30 days, all while shooting 47.0 percent from the field).

And while the Magic did not draft Dewayne Dedmon, they did have him from his first season to this current one. Instead of keeping his qualifying offer and the right to match, they rescinded the offer and let him go unrestricted. He has found success with the San Antonio Spurs.

Orlando had a lot of promising young players for sure. It would have been nearly impossible to keep all of them. And together, they were not producing quite the results the Magic envisioned. But through poor development, mismanagement of assets and bad timing, the Magic have lost a lot of potential.

When looking at the whole picture, it seems a lot more has leaked from the Magic’s bucket than has been poured in.