2018 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Arron Afflalo

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SACRAMENTO, CA – JANUARY 15: Arron Afflalo #40 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 15, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Arron Afflalo was beaming about his return to the Orlando Magic over the summer. As the season begins, Afflalo has to continue his shift into a role player.

It was hard not to feel the warmth coming off Arron Afflalo as he walked back to the Amway Center for the first time in three years.

Sure, it was understandable that Afflalo had warm memories of his two-year run with the Orlando Magic but to be beaming like he had? To be saying hello to old friends? To fill his Instagram account with love letter after love letter to Orlando and his new team?

This seemed like, at least to Afflalo, a great match for him. A place where he felt comfortable and felt like he could succeed. Even on a minimum contract after several decent years.

It is not that Afflalo fell off the face of the earth or seemed on the verge of complete deterioration. He still had a place in the NBA. He signed a veteran’s minimum contract to be in Orlando, specifically it would seem.

The homecoming story and his public affection for Orlando and the Magic are still nice elements to his story. But everything will change once he takes the court. And ultimately what will make this reunion successful or not is what he does on the floor.

Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

Afflalo will not be the star he was his first run in Orlando. He was miscast in that role the first time and he probably cannot sustain that level anymore. His role will undoubtedly be different this time around. There is no getting around it.

This time around, the Magic will ask him to play a more supporting role. They will ask him to help spread the floor off the bench and serve as a leader in the locker room. The typical things young teams ask of veterans.

Afflalo still has something to contribute. Even as he struggled to find his place in different locations since leaving Orlando, he still produced. It is not clear why those situations did not work — it may have been a combination of team dynamics, a hunger for a more consistent role and going into unstable situations like with the New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings. There is always a chance this happy homecoming does not work out either.

Afflalo is probably not willing to think about that possibility. He seems committed to whatever the franchise needs from him right now. Afflalo was a professional in his first stint with the Magic and is not going to back down himself. He still has something to say for this team on the court.

With Afflalo, he has to make good on the second half of his homecoming story — he has to perform and deliver for the Magic.