Orlando Magic still out of the spotlight with award snubs

The Orlando Magic did not get any recognition on awards night despite some clear-cut contenders for awards. They still seek the league’s attention.

When Aaron Gordon met the media at exit interviews after the Orlando Magic’s playoff series with the Toronto Raptors ended, he was asked if he was closer to his goal of winning Defensive Player of the Year.

That was a goal he boldly stated for himself during his introductory press conference after the rookie. It had become a renewed call under coach Steve Clifford. A goal for the young player’s development and place on the team.

Aaron Gordon had re-established some of his defensive reputation. He was a good defender still working to get to that elite level. The 23-year-old still has room to grow in all facets of his game. But the 2019 season was a step in the right direction. A launching point for an offseason of work.

Gordon’s answer went in a different direction though.

He said the thing keeping him from being in the conversation for an all-defensive team was something much simpler. The Magic were not on TV enough to get in front of the voters.

Gordon had a solid defensive season, posting a career-best +1.2 defensive box plus-minus and 3.3 defensive win shares. But he is not a Defensive Player of the Year candidate quite yet.

The three finalists posted mostly better numbers in those inexact categories — Giannis Antetokounmpo (+5.0 DBPM and 5.5 defensive win shares), Paul George (+0.7 DBPM and 4.9 defensive win shares) and Rudy Gobert (a league-best +5.1 DBPM and 5.7 defensive win shares). Aaron Gordon finished just outside the top-20 in defensive win shares, according to Basketball-Reference, behind Nikola Vucevic, who was sixth.

Statistics on the defensive end are fairly hard to pin down. So these are inexact. The Defensive Player of the Year Award — and the All-Defense teams — are about reputation as much as anything. Gordon needs a lot more than just being on TV.

But reputation for a national voting base can get built on exposure. And for two members of the team that had real shots at winning their award, the Magic simply did not have that. And the list of award finalists reflect that.

Orlando was not part of the national conversation — not until it was too late and discarded just as quickly — and so the team did not get its just rewards.

The Magic on national TV just once during the regular season (votes are due at the end of the regular season). No matter how much Doris Burke tried to put the team over in that game, the Magic were anonymous to the rest of the league.

That should not have mattered in some more hard-and-fast award decisions where numbers do tell a lot of the story.

But for Terrence Ross in his bid to win Sixth Man of the Year and Steve Clifford in his bid to win Coach of the Year, they might have run into the same problems that Aaron Gordon proposed.

The Magic were not on TV and the voters never got a chance to see them. And without an all-out marketing blitz from the Magic’s PR staff, they would have to seek out the team and all they did.

Terrence Ross and Steve Clifford were not among the top-three vote getters for their respective rewards. There may not be arguments for them to win, but hey certainly have arguments to be among the finalists honored at the NBA Awards Show at the end of the year.

Clifford was the architect of the biggest turnaround in the NBA this year. The Magic went from 25 wins to 42 wins and the playoffs with largely the same roster. Clifford had a direct effect on the team making the playoffs.

The three finalists for Coach of the Year are all more than deserving — Mike Budenholzer led the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the league, Mike Malone led a surprising run from the Denver Nuggets and Doc Rivers rallied a LA Clippers in constant change to a playoff berth.

There are a lot of good coaches in the league and it is impossible to recognize them all. Those three are worthy of the award. But so is Clifford. He should still find himself with a few votes and hopefully not too far outside that top three.

Ross should too. If anyone should be upset about being overlooked it is Ross.

Ross finished his career season averaging 15.1 points per game and shooting a 53.4 percent effective field goal percentage. He did not start a single game. But his impact changed the game for the Magic. He was often a barometer for how the team was playing. He created plenty of memorable moments.

But Ross was not a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year. He trailed the LA Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell (16.6 points, 6.5 rebounds per game), the Indiana Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis (14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds per game) and the (likely winner) LA Clippers’ Lou Williams (20.0 points per game, 47.1 percent effective field goal percentage).

He should be right outside the top three when the final voting comes out. But it is hard to figure out how he at least did not get the finalist nod.

It would seem like if Ross got in front of more voters on a national audience, he might get a little more buzz. All three of those finalists deserve to be in the conversation. This is not a knock on them.

But the Clippers were on television throughout the season as a team in a big market. The Pacers too had their share of national TV games to feature Victor Oladipo and build off their surprise playoff run last year.

The Magic had none of that. They were irrelevant to the league the last six years — bereft of a big star to draw eyeballs or the winning pedigree that creates interest. And it is that reputation the Magic had to begin building this year.

This is still part of the project the Magic have to undertake.

This past season was about restoring legitimacy in the organization. A playoff berth certainly does that. The expectations inside the Amway Center are different now. Making the playoffs is a real and achievable goal. They have proven that.

Orlando should get some reward for this. The team does not have a superstar player, but the league should give the team at least a few appearances on national television for making the playoffs.

Now comes the next part. Building on that success and making the rest of the league notice the team. Making the rest of the world notice the team.

The Magic established a base last year. Now they have to build upon it.

So next time they can get recognized as they deserve when awards season pops up.