The Orlando Magic hoped Jodie Meeks would help provide the team some much-needed shooting. He did. But injuries kept him from reaching his full impact.
Jodie Meeks arrived in Orlando in a trade with the Detroit Pistons just before Summer League began. He spent his time that first week of July working out on the Orlando Magic’s practice court eager to begin the season.
He missed all but three games in the 2016 season with a broken bone in his foot. Meeks believed he was fully healthy and ready to contribute. And the Magic knew they would need his contributions.
Orlando was preparing at that point to build an interesting roster that would need shooting. Even before signing Bismack Biyombo, the Magic knew they would need shooting. Meeks was possibly the best shooter on the team and would play a big role for Orlando off the bench.
Then the progress halted. Some discomfort led to a visit to the doctor. The trainers noticed something wrong with Meeks and his surgically repaired foot. He would need another procedure to repair the injury.
Meeks missed the first 20 games of the season. The Magic’s offense suffered without consistent perimeter shooting. Meeks’ return seemingly came too late, despite its obvious impacts.
Fast forward to January and Meeks again suffered bad luck. While reaching in for a steal against the New Orleans Pelicans, Meeks dislocated his thumb and would miss another 27 games before making a comeback for the final dozen or so games of the season.
In all, Meeks played 36 games in the 2017 season. He was unable to stay on the court long enough to make a true impact.
When he did play, Meeks’ 3-point shooting was deadly. He helped boost the Magic and give the team space. Some of Orlando’s best offensive performances came because Meeks was on the floor and because he was making shots. His absence was critical.
As his former coach Stan Van Gundy noted before the Magic’s final game against the Pistons, Meeks just has not been able to stay healthy his last few seasons. That has been the only thing holding him back.
He is clearly a player who can contribute and make a big impact. For a Magic team desperate for shooting, they certainly could have used him.
The Good and the Bad
| G | MP | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36 | 20.5 | .402 | .409 | .512 | .878 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 9.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2017.
Jodie Meeks was probably the best shooter for the Orlando Magic all season.
For the year, he averaged 9.1 points per game and made 40.9 percent of his 3-point shots. That was the best 3-point shooting mark among regular players (sorry Marcus Georges-Hunt). He was the only regular rotation player to break 40 percent on 3-pointers.
That is saying something for a team that shot 32.8 percent from beyond the arc, 29th in the league. The Magic offense just worked better with Meeks on the floor.
The Magic had a 104.9 offensive rating with Jodie Meeks on the floor, the fourth-best mark on the team trailing Anthony Brown, Aaron Gordon and Terrence Ross. The team had a 100.4 offensive rating with Meeks off the floor.
It was clear Meeks had a positive effect on the Magic’s offense.
And the way the Magic used Meeks was completely different from any other player. The Magic would run pet plays to get Meeks open looks, giving him the ability to run off screens and just let it fly. Meeks is not someone to put the ball on the floor very often.
Every team had to account for Meeks and bend toward him to protect against his shot.
He was the Magic’s bench flamethrower, a guy who could explode for a big game at any moment and get irrationally hot. Every team needs that.
And the Magic really needed that.
The unfortunate reality for the team was Meeks was unable to stay on the floor. His offseason foot surgery knocked him out of the first 20-plus games. He missed nearly 30 games in the middle of the season after dislocating his thumb.
Orlando needed more than 36 games out of Meeks to get his full effectiveness. It was not anyone’s fault. But it hurt the team’s outcome this season.
Meeks is a sharpshooter.
But on the court, at least, if he was not making shots, he was not going to give the team much else. That is a role every team seemingly needs to have. The reality with Meeks is it can sometimes be feast or famine. And Meeks is going to believe he is hot even when he is not. That is the shooter’s mentality.
In the end, that was something the Magic needed more of. Meeks was a big benefit for the Magic all year long when he was able to play.
Best Game of 2017
Dec. 13 @ Atlanta Hawks
20 points, 7/10 FGs, 4/6 3FGs
Jodie Meeks had played in only six games when the Magic rolled into Atlanta to take on the Atlanta Hawks. Their defense was beginning to fall apart but the offense was coming around. And Meeks was making a big impact in that offensive turnaround (yes, scoring 100 points was considered a turnaround back then).
Meeks already had one breakout game, scoring 18 in the shootout with the Washington Wizards. This would be another one. And it came in Meeks’ hometown of Atlanta.
Meeks dropped 20 points, including four 3-pointers as the Magic won running away in their best offensive performance of the season. Orlando tallied 36 assists in the game, a season high.
Meeks was the beneficiary of a lot of those assists.
This was a game where Meeks introduced himself to the Magic in full. They saw how quickly he could get his shot off and how much he could damage defenses by his presence alone.
Leave him some space coming around a screen and he will bury a 3-pointer quickly. Shade too much in his favor and the team was going to give up another look elsewhere. This was the effect Meeks would have for the Magic the rest of the season.
And it worked to its absolute best in this meeting in Atlanta.
2018 Outlook
When the Magic acquired Jodie Meeks in the summer, it was a low-risk move. Orlando gave up a 2019 second round pick for Meeks in his contract year. The thought was if he played well, he would help the team make the Playoffs and earn another contract. If he did not, they could let him go into free agency without losing very much.
It would seem even that basic plan got thrown for a loop thanks to Meeks’ injuries. Neither injury this year was related and neither seem long lasting. Yet, this is now two consecutive seasons where Meeks has missed the majority of the year.
That has to be under consideration for the Magic as they decide what to do with Meeks this offseason.
The question remains about price and how much Meeks is worth to the team.
Last year, Meeks’ contract was $7.5 million for the final year of the deal. Will that price tag go up in the new reality for the salary cap? How much higher are the Magic willing to go?
Whether Meeks comes back or not may wholly depend on how the new general manager feels about him, the price tag that he asks for and the makeup of the roster otherwise. Meeks’ free agency will not be a priority for the team in other words.
While a flamethrower off the bench is important and should keep Meeks in the Magic’s plans, that is no guarantee they will bring him back or even keep him with a consistent bench role. That really depends on how the rest of the offseason goes and just what the roster’s needs become.
Meeks played well enough in the minutes he played to earn consideration at a contract renewal. At what cost or for what role is the big question the Magic are left answering. And some of it may be how much they are willing to risk on his health long term.
Final Grade
Jodie Meeks came to Orlando with one job to do: make shots.
That is why Jodie Meeks is in the NBA, after all. The team needed him to help them space the floor since they lacked a lot of the outside shooting that is a hallmark of NBA offenses these days.
When Meeks was healthy and able to play, that is precisely what he did. It is hard to say that while Meeks was on the court, he did not do exactly what the Magic asked him to do.
The injuries were random and not recurring. He had offseason foot surgery after he believed he was OK following a broken foot. Meeks came back and looked no worse for the wear. He made the Magic offense better.
When he dislocated his thumb going for a steal it was random, plain and simple. And the Magic hurt without him. Not until they made the Serge Ibaka trade and added more floor spacing.
Orlando may never know what would have happened if the team had Meeks for the first quarter of the season. Maybe his shooting would have helped get some more wins and keep the defense engaged throughout the dog days of the season.
By the time Meeks arrived, the defense was already on its way to collapsing. His offensive boost only covered the problems for a little while.
Next: 2016-17 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Elfrid Payton
Meeks did what the team asked him to do all year. And he filled his role. Orlando just needed him to be healthy.