2017 Orlando Magic Free Agency Preview: The Centers

Joel Anthony, San Antonio Spurs

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/30/2017.

Joel Anthony is not a sexy name at all. Look at those statistics from last year. He was largely used off the bench as a good worker in practice and rarely played. Anthony is just one of those players that just has an in with the Pat Riley/Stan Van Gundy tree and just finds some place to play.

That is essentially what the Magic are looking for if they are looking to add a third center to the main roster. Just a body to use in practice. It is going to be hard to find him minutes.

That is clearly something Anthony does not mind. At this stage of his career, he is tagging along for the ride and contributing where he can.

At his peak, Anthony was a good defender and shot blocker. He was just never someone who could do much in meaningful minutes. He was always coming off the bench to be a disruptor for bench units.

And that is all anyone can ask him to do. Anthony will take the minimum to sign somewhere, it would seem.

But an older player is probably not the best use for the Magic at this roster spot at the end of the bench. The team could probably use a veteran as a guiding hand. But not for very long. And it is hard to find a veteran who would be interested in filling this role at the minimum.

Anthony is the kind of player the Magic might pursue. But he is not likely the player who would fill this role at center for the Magic.