Terrence Ross is the big mystery for the Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are surely weighing their assets as they look ahead to this offseason. Terrence Ross might be the hardest to judge.

Terrence Ross was essentially a ghost the entire season. Although, completely not his fault.

He was a big part of the team’s fast start last year, providing some solid defense and the threat of shooting, but his stats were not impressive. By the end of November, he sensed the team slipping and asked coach Frank Vogel to take him out of the starting lineup, hoping that would respark the team’s offense.

A few games later, he landed awkwardly underneath the basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder and suffered a major knee injury — a sprained MCL and a fracture of his tibial plateau.

Ross was out for most of the rest of the season. He inched closer at the All-Star Break but suffered a set back when he bruised that injured knee playing pick-up after a team practice. He would not return until the very end of the season, making what was essentially a cameo.

For Ross, it was a lost season.

His final stats? Before his injury, he averaged 9.0 points per game and shot just 40.7 percent from the floor and a paltry 32.9 percent from beyond the arc. His defense was strong — he always knew where to be on the floor in help side — but his shot just seemed off. It was a frustrating start, but he was ultimately a part of why the team got off to such an encouraging start.

He returned to play in two of the final three games of the season, scoring 11 total points on 4-for-14 shooting (28.6 percent) and 2-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc in nearly 24.5 minutes. He clearly had some rust to knock off and the Orlando Magic gave him a chance to get back into a game to get his legs back under him.

"“It was good just to get my feet wet before the end of the season,” Ross said after the team’s final game against the Washington Wizards. “Let’s me know where I’m at. It was a good feeling.”"

Last summer after his successful run with the Orlando Magic following his trade from the Toronto Raptors, it seemed like Ross was living in the gym. Always active on social media, Ross shared plenty of updates on his shooting goals and progress throughout the summer.

It felt like he was in for a big season last year. Of course, he never got the chance to show it thanks to the injury. It seemed like Ross was recovering from his slow start. His stats never had a chance to correct.

His loss obviously hurt the team’s depth. Regardless of his shooting percentages last year, Ross is one of the better shooters on a team without a ton of shooting — he is a career 37.1 percent 3-point shooter. And that will help him retain plenty of his value on this roster or in the trade market.

Ross has remained a hard worker. He has been in the Amway Center and at least some reports suggest he is back to full health.

That will only add to the intrigue around Ross this offseason and heading into next season.

He seems like a player who would fit perfectly into the Magic and Steve Clifford’s expected vision. He is a capable defender and good shooter. That is something the Magic are short on.

But his expiring contract will also make him valuable. He will make $10.5 million this year. That is a contract that could help the Magic return another high-priced player. At the very least, it could be an easy expiring to get a significant rotation player in return.

Of course, he has hardly proved to anyone outside the Magic’s facility that he is fully healthy. His name will likely be involved in trade discussions throughout the summer and into the trade deadline.

Then again, Orlando could very well keep him through the entire season. He still has value to them. And if he is truly healthy, he is someone the Magic want on the floor.

This is a big part of the puzzle and mystery of the Magic heading into next season (at least, at this point). There are a lot of players who missed significant time and never got into rhythm. That goes from Jonathan Isaac‘s strange rookie season to even Aaron Gordon never regaining his rhythm after a concussion kept him out for a few weeks.

Ross remains one of the big mysteries too. He never got a chance to get his season started.

Teams around the league have  pretty good idea of what he can do. They can always bet he will match those levels once again. Just like the Magic could end up deciding he can reach that and help the team out.

No one will really know what Ross looks like until he takes the floor for the first time this season.

Next: Orlando Magic Daily Podcast: Meet Steve Clifford

And his progress could turn into an incredible trade asset or on-court asset for the Magic this coming season.