The Orlando Magic brought Arron Afflalo back in with much fanfare and excitement from Afflalo. Instead, it felt like Afflalo was playing on his last legs.
When Arron Afflalo arrived at the Amway Center in August, there was not a happier person in Orlando. This was home.
Afflalo had a winding road through the NBA since the Orlando Magic traded him to the Denver Nuggets. He was never going to get the role he had with those rebuilding Magic teams. His usage rate was dropping and his role was becoming more carefully defined. He was not the star anymore.
The Nuggets struggled to use him. The Portland Trail Blazers could not get much out of him for his Playoff push. The New York Knicks featured him more heavily. And the Sacramento Kings came to rely on his 3-point shooting.
No one would call his tenure with any of those teams successful. And all those teams struggled in some way.
But his scoring was slowly decreasing. Afflalo would have to become a different player.
The Magic signed him in the summer not so much as a nostalgia act. They hoped he had a little bit left in the tank. Someone who would be solid and provide some outside shooting. Afflalo’s real role was to be a good locker room presence and someone who just put in his work.
Those expectations hung in the background. Afflalo was just beaming to be back and be somewhere he seemed wanted.
His whole summer was just a love letter to Orlando. And throughout the season, Afflalo continued to endear himself to fans and to profess how much being back in Orlando meant to him. Things just did not work out on the floor.
Afflalo at 32 years old definitely is starting to slow down. His play throughout the 2018 season certainly suggested that slow down has come. It hit like a bag of rocks.
| G | MP | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | TOV | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 12.9 | .401 | .386 | .485 | .846 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 3.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/21/2018.
Afflalo’s scoring average dropped from 8.4 points per game in 2017 to 3.4 points per game. He shot just 40.1 percent from the floor — although his 38.6 percent 3-point shooting remains fairly solid.
Afflalo was on a minimum contract, but the team still had to hope he could provide spot minutes for the team — especially as Wesley Iwundu grew and groomed behind him.
But even when Afflalo got time on the court, he struggled to perform. He was not even doing the simple things that teams have come to rely on him — namely making shots, even that patented turnaround mid-range shot. There were moments where he looked like that player again, but they were few.
It is unfair to say, but Afflalo looked old at times. Just unable to reach back into the reserves and become that player once again.
He struggled to find a rhythm all year. Part of that is because he was far out of the rotation. Then again, he never did anything to show that he should be playing more. Other than general veteran reliability. That lost currency as the season went on.
After the year ended, Afflalo admitted he had to change a bit of his approach this offseason. Afflalo is always in impeccable shape, this was no issue of durability. But he seemed to suggest he was feeling the effects of Father Time. He simply could not do the things he used to do.
Whether Afflalo can change his training and change his approach to salvage his career remains to be seen. It will be a difficult thing to do.
This year provided few moments for Afflalo to look back on fondly.
His most memorable moment was, unfortunately, a fight he got into with Minnesota Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica. In some respects, it was good to see someone on the team have that kind of fire. In another, that is just not how any player should react to anything on the court. Nor is it good that is the biggest takeaway from his season.
Afflalo’s best game was in the Magic’s last game of the season against the Washington Wizards. He scored 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting in 17 minutes. That was not the most minutes he played all season, but they were by far the most effective.
It was closer to what Afflalo used to look like in his first run with the Magic. It was a happy end to the difficult season for him.
Those moments were very few for him. But he seemed fairly content with where he was.
He was happy to be in the Magic locker room and accepted his role. He did not provide any disruption and stood as a solid veteran for the team. But he was not going to contribute to the team.
As nice and heartwarming as the story was for Afflalo to come “home” and be back in that Magic locker room, that was about the only positive takeaway from his season. On a minimum contract, Afflalo was seemingly on his last legs. It is highly unlikely the Magic bring him back — unless Jeff Weltman and John Hammond have a front office role ready for him.
When he arrived in Orlando, he knew his role was more of a secondary one. The Magic were not bringing him in asking to be what he was those first two years in Orlando — no Sapphire Afflalo MyTeam cards — they wanted him to be a good presence in the locker room and put in work, leading by example and as a sounding board.
If those were his expectations, then he might very well be considered a success this season. But, his on-court play obviously left a lot to be desired.
The Magic hoped to get a little bit more out of him for sure. They did not envision his career had taken this deep a dive off the cliff. They were hoping to squeeze out one more effective year out of him.
Afflalo did not have that to give it appears. He put in his work and did all he could for the team. He was doing what he could do. But his effectiveness just was not there anymore.
You could see early in the year especially Frank Vogel put some inherent trust in him. But Afflalo was not able to hold his spot long. Even with injuries piling up.
Next: 2017-18 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Elfrid Payton
Afflalo will have to change a lot of his preparation this summer to keep his NBA career going. But this seemed like the end of the line for him.