Final Grade
It would be unfair to give Terrence Ross a final grade this season. He just missed so much of it and injuries kept him from getting any kind of rhythm. Ross might as well have missed the entire season. And so he does not have a full body of work to go from.
The first 20 or so games that he played were frustrating because it never felt like his production matched the impact he was making on the court for the team. He was someone everyone always cheered for.
Ross did a lot of the little things when he was in the game. He was in the right spot defensively and never seemingly complained about having that background role to help the rest of the team improve.
Ross was playing some solid defense and helping keep the boat steady. It felt like the Magic were about to right the ship or maybe things would not turn out as bad as they did. It felt like Ross was the kind of player who may not have been able to stop the team from taking on water, but would have been able to slow things down.
The Magic were facing a ton of injuries, but Ross’ injury seemed like the one that tipped the Magic from frustrating season to disastrous season. It all just seemed to fall apart.
That still does not take away from the fact Ross was having his individual struggles. His 3-point shooting reputation might have still given the desired effect, but Ross was just plain not producing. He was not making shots and was not producing at the level the team needed either.
Ross’ voluntarily demotion to the bench was not crazy. He recognized he was not performing either.
Would Ross have figured out how to right the ship and gotten out of his shooting slump? No one will ever know. The injuries took away any opportunity to judge him fairly.
That goes for everyone around the league too.
Next: 2018 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Mario Hezonja
Ross is still a valuable player to the Magic. He just has to prove himself all over again.