The Orlando Magic have gained some respect as a playoff team in 2019. But as the new season begins, do not expect NBA 2K20 to show them respect.
The creators of the NBA 2K series released the top 20 players and their ratings on Monday as they begin to build hype for the latest edition of the game. Anthony Davis will grace the cover and his Los Angeles Lakers teammate LeBron James narrowly edged out Kawhi Leonard for the top spot.
As the NBA 2K League season winds down and the last trickles of content for NBA 2K19 wind down — still saving up for that Diamond Rashard Lewis in MyTeam — attention is quickly turning to the new season.
Who would not want to with the way the league changed. Half the intrigue of Monday’s live stream was to see how the video game would rate the new teams and duos that formed throughout this crazy offseason.
NBA 2K, at the very least, provided the first simulated looks of these players in their new jerseys.
It is all to whet the appetite for a NBA season in 2020 that every fan does not seem like they can wait for.
Something will be different about this year’s version too. It will feature the first playoff team for the Orlando Magic since NBA 2K12, the last year Dwight Howard was on the team. Back then, the Magic got plenty of respect from the video game’s formula because Howard was one of the best players in the league.
This year’s version of the Magic? No one has a real feel for what this team will look like.
The team was a surprise playoff entrant last year. So NBA 2K19 does not accurately reflect how good the team would be.
Nikola Vucevic was underrated at an 80 rating (he finished this year as an 88 according to the Web site 2KRatings.com). The game defaulted Mohamed Bamba (a 76 to start the season) as the starting center.
That was a little bit of disrespect. In MyTeam, in fact, Shelvin Mack was still listed on the Magic roster.
Orlando will certainly demand a little more attention. And if the Magic’s play did not force it, Terrence Ross will.
@Ronnie2K what do i gotta do to get my rating up 🤔🤷🏾♂️ i legit have been 75 overall since 2k12. Lol and i need a updated pic. Cuz ya never update my baby face from my rookie year 🙈
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) July 14, 2019
Orlando is not exactly the team anyone will choose to play as when NBA 2K20 comes out. The team lacks a true superstar player — Nikola Vucevic is an All-Star and he will probably surpass Aaron Gordon as the best player on the team for the new version of the game.
The early power rankings and projections have the Magic gaining some more respect, but still a team fighting to make the playoffs. They usually end up in the high teens and no lower than 20 or 21. In the Eastern Conference, that still puts the team in the playoff hunt.
Orlando is going to have to fight to make the postseason once again. Where they start and how NBA 2K projects them? That is going to be one of the big questions for the team and its battle for respect nationally.
Those ratings should begin to trickle out in the next few weeks. The ratings for the game are clearly finalized ahead of the game’s September release.
Ahead of the first batch of ratings reveals, I took a stab at projecting the Magic’s ratings. Here are my best guesses:
One more to add...
— Orlando Magic Daily (@OMagicDaily) July 15, 2019
Fultz - 73#NBA2K20
My ratings definitely sparked some debate among Magic fans. But I feel like they will be relatively close.
Vucevic, as I noted, finished last year as an 88. But I suspect they will adjust him down some. An 86 makes him a sapphire (blue) card in MyTeam, which is the norm for returning NBA All-Stars. That seems like a given that he will be at least an 86 in the new version of the game.
Other than that, Orlando is obviously lacking some star power. It will be interesting to see where the game places Aaron Gordon.
He finished last season as an 80, dropping down one from his starting spot, and rarely moving throughout the whole season. It would be hard seeing him return as the same rating so a slight bump up to anticipate improvement from a 23-year-old seems warranted.
The Magic featured a plethora of players in the high 70s and it will be interesting again to see where the game places them.
Evan Fournier started the year as a 79 and finished as a 77. He should end up getting rated somewhere between the two — that would be 78.
Terrence Ross finished the season at 77 after starting the year as a 73. He topped off at 78 and so it would make sense for him to start the year at 78 or 79.
Mohamed Bamba will be the most interesting case.
The game started him at a robust 77 and he finished the year at the same level despite his injury. Most of us who watched him play probably would not rate him that highly. But the name recognition and high draft pick gave him some benefit of the doubt as the game projected his ratings.
He should drop down into the mid-70s for this version of the game. Unless the hype is very real. The game, after all, did feature Sheck Wes’ “Mo Bamba” on the soundtrack. They had to pump him up some.
The Markelle Fultz question will be an interesting one too. He finished the season at 74, dropping from 76. He could take another little drop to start this season but he should still be a fun player to try out. Especially as the season goes on.
This is all to say, the Magic will still have to earn their respect on the court. The playoff appearance bought Orlando plenty of credibility around the league. But the Magic will still have to build up its reputation on the court.
The next version of NBA 2K is not going to give it to them. So do not expect the Magic to be ready to take on the world when you buy the game this fall.