Orlando Magic Top 30: The Most Under-Appreciated Player in Orlando Magic History

History has a way of forgetting how players contributed and what they did. We look back at the most under-appreciated players in Orlando Magic history.

It is easy to get excited about the good part of Orlando Magic history.

Watching Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway flying down the lane and imposing their will on the league at a young age. The threat of Tracy McGrady scoring 50 points at any moment. Dwight Howard’s dominance on both ends and his ability to close down the paint.

There are the players that are easy to remember too. The teams that resonated with Magic fans long after they broke up or even in spite of sometimes poor results.

The story of the Magic flows easily through these players. From the superstars like Shaquille O’Neal, Anfernee Hardaway, Tracy McGrady and Dwight Howard to the fan favorites like Scott Skiles, Dennis Scott, Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw and Hedo Turkoglu. It is impossible not to speak about these names in the course of Magic history.

But even those players have lost something to history. And if they have lost something to history, who else has lost something to history?

History probably does not even remember these players accurately — such as Bo Outlaw leading the league in defensive box plus-minus twice in a Magic uniform (1998 and 2000). Subsequent play has perhaps caused plenty to forget just how dominant Howard was in a Magic uniform.

Or perhaps a player was with the team for such a short time or with the wrong team that they are almost completely forgotten to history.

That is what we hope to do with our list this year. In previous iterations, we have ranked the top teams in Magic history and the top players. We have also ranked the most popular players in Magic history.

This year we wanted to search for the most under-appreciated players in Magic history.

What does under-appreciated mean? All the things described above and really whatever you want it to mean. It can be interpreted in different ways and the question was meant to be fairly open-ended.

We had members of the Orlando Magic Daily staff submit their lists of the most under-appreciated players in team history. We then asked Magic fans on Twitter and on the Magic Subreddit for their nominations.

Finally, we ran a series of polls pitting players against each other and asking for their reasons for their vote to come up with our final list of the top 30 most under-appreciated players in Magic history.

30. Anthony Johnson (2000, 2009-10)

The 2010 Orlando Magic were a close-knit group. Their pregame ritual was a loose exhibition of the team’s athleticism and joy.

They were a title-contending team but thumbed their noses at the rest of the league by daring to have fun while doing it. Nobody wanted to believe they would be able to win the whole thing.

With roughly 10 minutes before the buzzer would ring to signal the end of warmups, the team would gather together at the free throw circle for what would get termed “The Magic Show.”

Slowly but surely each player would get introduced in a way. There was Jason Williams. And Vince Carter. And Dwight Howard. They would all split up from there and put on a dunk exhibition — some more hilarious than others and some downright crazy athletic for the ease they did them (see Howard, Dwight and Carter, Vince).

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At the center of all this was a nondescript player. Someone who averaged only 4.2 points per game and played fewer than 15 minutes per game. But he was still a key piece to the Magic’s contending puzzle at that time.

It was Anthony Johnson. The 34/35-year-old veteran backup point guard who went by several nicknames — “Grandpa” for his age, as Howard called him, or “No Neck” for well, his head sort of rested on his shoulders.

Anthony Johnson was not going to be any long-term answer for the team. After Jameer Nelson’s injury in 2009, the Magic tried to use him as the starting point guard to pretty disastrous results.

But what Johnson gave the team was consistency off the bench. He was someone who always kept the team level.

That was always how he played too. Never spectacular or anything, but always solid and consistent. The Magic were a better team for having him on there — both on and off the court.

And while other players from those title-contending teams rightly get their due, it was Johnson who often got forgotten.

29. Marcin Gortat (2008-11)

Perhaps the most famous moment for Marcin Gortat was not something that happened on the court. Most of the famous moments that endeared him to Orlando Magic fans happened off the court.

They happened on local TV/Web show that featured Magic sideline reporter Dante Marchitelli and public relations official George Galante. In the Magic’s heyday, they were the comic relief to what always seemed like serious business, displaying the wild personalities on this team.

One of them was undoubtedly Marcin Gortat.

He could only help but laugh as the duo rose his Summer League jersey to the rafters of their small studio. And as they kept it there throughout the course of the show.

Or when they had Gortat stand in as a ticket sales representative, urging people to eschew watching Dwight Howard to come see him take on the Charlotte Bobcats. Or displaying his dunking skills, if only that mascot had not moved.

Gortat was a player who pulled himself up from obscurity to become a fan favorite. He was a second-round pick who spent several years in Summer League quietly impressing the team. He made the roster and had to fight for his opportunity behind a perpetually healthy Howard.

He finally carved out his role as Howard’s backup. But there was no chance he would ever start. When he hit free agency in the summer of 2009, the Orlando Magic deftly matched the Dallas Mavericks’ offer sheet to retain him, keeping a high-level backup for Howard.

Unfortunately for Gortat, when he did get the chance to start with the Phoenix Suns after a trade in December 2010, he never really proved himself more than a replacement-level starter.

Gortat has been solid since leaving Orlando both for the Phoenix Suns and the Washington Wizards. But never spectacular. He sets strong screens and can block shots. He has played well into his 30s, something nobody probably anticipated when the Magic first acquired him.

There is something noble about the reserves on a championship team though. That is what endeared him to Magic fans.

What they probably forgot was how Gortat stepped up to score 11 points and grab 15 rebounds in a 25-point Game 6 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. It was perhaps the best game of his Magic tenure and the one that established him as a bona fide NBA player with starter potential.

Gortat always made the most of his time. Both on and off the court.

28. Darko Milicic (2006-07)

This should be a familiar refrain for Orlando Magic fans.

A promising young player is drafted high with the weight of expectations heaped upon them on a franchise that is ready to compete for something real. That player is unable to reach those expectations immediately and patience grows thin.

That young player, perhaps not quite mature to handle all the pressure that comes with being on a competitive team while still developing their skills, perhaps makes some bad decisions or lashes out in the wrong way.

Eventually, they get shipped out for cents on the dollar. And the Magic are the team waiting to take the chance on them.

Like Markelle Fultz, the first overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, Darko Milicic struggled to fit in on an established team as a rookie and to catch up to the NBA game. Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in the vaunted 2003 draft, quickly got relegated to “Human Victory Cigar” on the eventual 2004 champion Detroit Pistons.

In fact, a player so many were convinced was the future of the NBA never really got a chance to play for the Pistons. He averaged only 5.8 minutes per game in 96 total games across three seasons.

That is not all the circumstance of having a championship team ahead of him. Larry Brown put him in the dog house and made life hard on the rookie. It was the wrong environment for a player like Milicic to establish his habits as a pro. He would admit as much when he told ESPN that basketball was not fun for him in Detroit.

Orlando Magic

Orlando represented a second chance for him. This was a young team, starting to make its push for the playoffs behind another young big in Dwight Howard, that could afford to give Darko Milicic his time on the court.

Whatever limited success Milicic had on the court, it came in a Magic uniform.

Across two seasons in Orlando, Milicic averaged 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. He played in 23.1 minutes per game. He served as Howard’s primary backup, but he also shared the floor creating a devastating twin-tower lineup.

In those minutes, Milicic displayed a lot of what made him an intriguing prospect. He blocked shots at a high rate — his 5.9 percent block rate in his lone full season in Orlando in 2007 surpassed Howard that season — and could step out and hit jumpers at a consistent rate.

He was not a player who should have been drafted second overall. But as a reclamation project, Milicic was clearly a rotation-level player. Orlando had found a gem.

In the end, his ghosts caught up to him. Those bad habits — especially away from the court — made Orlando hesitant to sign him. The Memphis Grizzlies gave him a three-year, $21-million deal. Orlando opted to spend its money that offseason on Rashard Lewis. And Milicic’s career petered out.

For a moment though, it looked like Milicic would be more than the butt of a few draft jokes. He looked like he was going to make something out of his career in Orlando.

27. Jason Richardson (2011-12)

Jason Richardson was in a bad position.

The Orlando Magic were crumbling and desperate to make something happen. Their relationship with Vince Carter had seemingly deteriorated. The relationship with Dwight Howard was starting to fray and unravel.

Worst of all, the Magic still wanted to win the title. They traded away about everything of value they had to reshape their team in one day. They brought back Hedo Turkoglu and acquired Gilbert Arenas.

They also got Jason Richardson.

His biggest claim to fame in his career to that point were a few appearances at the Slam Dunk Contest and some dunks in-game to raise eyebrows. Richardson was a solid player who could shoot from the outside and fly through the air. But he was far too often miscast as the lead scorer.

Outside of his contributions to the We Believe Golden State Warriors, he hardly made a dent. And he would not make a dent in the Magic’s ultimate fall as they tried to catch up to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat and maintain their star player.

That was not Richardson’s fault at all. He was dropped onto a sinking ship and asked to keep it afloat.

He certainly did his best. Richardson averaged 12.8 points per game in a Magic uniform. He was not the replacement for Carter the Magic really needed. Neither was Turkoglu.

But Richardson provided plenty of great moments. There was the game he dropped in nine 3-pointers in a come-from-behind win over the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. Or the 17 points he scored, including the game-winning basket, in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers in the 2012 Playoffs.

Richardson created plenty of moments and had plenty of highlights that will likely go forgotten throughout Magic history.

Richardson was someone who the Magic asked a lot to keep their team afloat. He was never the one to do it. But he still put an imprint on the franchise.

26. Reggie Theus (1990)

When the Orlando Magic arrived in town, the team was the main attraction. The idea of the city having a NBA team and being a pro sports town was novel. The city treated everyone on the team like stars.

The Magic’s record that first year — 18-64 — was nothing special even though the team got off to a surprisingly strong start. Expansion teams rarely have the depth to last very long in the course of the season. And the team did not have any stars.

That expansion Magic team was led in scoring by Terry Catledge (keep reading for more on him) at 19.4 points per game. But the undoubted first “star” for the Magic was Reggie Theus.

Reggie Theus averaged 18.9 points per game and dished out 5.4 assists per game. Even though the two-time All-Star was on the tail end of his career, he was still very productive. And still pretty well known — he would go on after his playing career ended to star in the TV show Hang Time.

But his play was a lot more than the aesthetics, which are easier to remember from that time in team history. Theus was one of the first big point guards and was someone who commanded attention by stepping on the floor.

That made the young expansion Magic exciting. Theus was a key part of that equation for the team.

25. Juwan Howard (2004)

The Orlando Magic had grand visions when they signed veteran forward Juwan Howard to a five-year, $29.5 million deal. He was a mobile floor-spacing center (playing up from power forward) that they could pair with another somewhat mobile big in Drew Gooden and space the floor for Tracy McGrady.

After taking the top-seeded Detroit Pistons to seven games — in a series the Orlando Magic should have won after taking a 3-1 series lead — the Magic thought they could make a move and take a leap. They still had Grant Hill waiting in the wings if he could ever get healthy.

To call the move a disaster would be putting it lightly.

The Magic in 2004 bottomed out at 21-61. McGrady put up insane individual numbers but defenses focused on him and made his life difficult. He would ask for a trade at the end of the season.

The rest of the roster never came together. Tyronn Lue struggled to handle starting point guard duties after being the primary reserve for the Los Angeles Lakers title runs. There were no other guards or wings worth mentioning outside of McGrady. And the proposed duo of Juwan Howard and Drew Gooden flamed out completely.

Michigan Wolverines

The two never meshed and Gooden bristled at playing center, coming off the bench and even playing some small forward. He too would be gone by the end of the year.

Through it all though, there was something to admire in Howard. It was not his fault the team flamed out — except for perhaps the idea of playing him at center in the first place which after not working forced the team to turn back to Andrew DeClercq.

Howard still put in consistent work every night for a team that clearly was in chaos and limping to the end of the season.

In Howard’s lone year with the Orlando Magic (he was traded with McGrady to the Houston Rockets in the offseason), he averaged 17.0 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. When other players were shutting down because the season did not matter after a franchise-record 19-game losing streak following a season-opening win, he played 81 games.

Howard may not have been much of a defensive ace. But he could score. And he was always reliable for that. There is something you have to respect for consistency.

He may not have been able to accomplish what the Magic hoped when they signed him. But he was at least the violinist playing until the ship finally sank.

24. Scott Skiles (1990-1994)

The last image of Scott Skiles with the Orlando Magic became fevered tweets that buzzed across phones in the morning of a June day.

The team’s management was looking to build off a solid, but still disappointing 35-win season and had devoted its attention to the NBA Draft Combine and finding the next piece to their puzzle. A puzzle that was still taking shape.

Skiles was not there. Unknown to everyone at the time, his fight with management and to some extent ownership was already cracking through the surface.

There was supposedly a summit between general manager Rob Hennigan and the head coach to try and repair the relationship. That was seemingly the Hail Mary from team CEO Alex Martins to keep this thing afloat.

Skiles had a reputation for being hard-nosed and a bit stubborn in his ways. It might be fair to say that the same approach and discipline that made his teams overachieve is also what ultimately drives them mad.

When Orlando hired Skiles to be the head coach, the assumption was that he would give the team that sense of order it needed and then it could move on to the coach to really foster the contender Martins promised.

Of course, Skiles drove his team wild in just one year.

FanSided

A 19-13 start gave way to a two-win January and another lost season. Orlando improved by 10 wins — a solid improvement. But still felt the sting of disappointment. Other reports suggested he struggled to connect with an incredibly young roster and had to be talked into finishing out the year.

That is when Skiles did the unthinkable. He suddenly resigned after one year. Hennigan had to leave the Combine in Chicago and return to Orlando to deal with the fallout and begin searching for a new coach.

Skiles disappeared into the sunset. The lasting image for this former Magic legend was one of him quitting on his team. Or abandoning his team.

For a generation of fans, Skiles will be the guy that bailed off a ship that was already leaking. Or perhaps as the only person who saw the iceberg the franchise was steering into — or perhaps already failed to avoid.

What few talk about now when Skiles’ name comes up is that he was one of the most accomplished players in Magic history.

That hard-headedness gave the team a needed edge in its early days. His grit and hard work endeared him to fans making him one of the most popular players in franchise history. . . until the decision to resign in 2016.

In a Magic uniform, Skiles won the league’s Most Improved Player Award in 1991, set the NBA record for assists in a single game after dishing out 30 against the Denver Nuggets in December 1990 and even dared to take on Shaquille O’Neal in a fistfight to get the rookie to focus and take the game seriously (good luck with that one).

Skiles’ decision to depart Orlando as a coach will sully his final Magic legacy. And that will make his playing days all the more under-appreciated.

Skiles was the exact kind of player fans want to cheer for — selfless and feisty. He never took any guff from anybody.

23. Tobias Harris (2013-16)

There have been several iconic game-winning baskets in the Orlando Magic’s 30-year history. None may be crazier than what happened Feb. 7, 2014.

The Magic were trailing by one point when the shot clock wound down and Kevin Durant got an open jumper. He missed it and there was a mad scramble for the rebound. Victor Oladipo was able to tip it ahead to himself and start a fast break as the clock wound to its end.

Victor Oladipo found Maurice Harkless under the basket. He wanted nothing to do with it even with little time on the clock. He shoveled the ball to Tobias Harris running down the center of the lane. He took it and rose in one motion for a dunk, thundering it home as the buzzer sounded.

It was an insane finish and one that lives on in the annals of Magic history. Tobias Harris will always have a place in Magic history for that moment.

But even on that team, Harris often got lost with the other promising young players on the team. Even though he was then and still is now one of the more promising young players and scorers in the league.

Harris was a scorer through and through with the Magic — scoring 15.6 points and grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game across four seasons.

But he was often relegated to the end of the discussion when it came to the team’s rebuild. The focus was still primarily on the players the team drafted in Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon and even Elfrid Payton. Harris was always the odd man out.

There was some frustration it seemed that Harris was not the clear go-to scorer his playstyle seemed to suggest. And there were always those questions of how he integrated with the group.

Orlando invested in Harris, signing him to a four-year deal after his rookie contract concluded. But then they seemingly changed course just as quickly.

Coach Scott Skiles clearly bristled with Tobias Harris’ playing style in the same way he did with Harris’ rookie year with the Milwaukee Bucks. And when the team was looking desperately to get back into the playoff race, Harris was the unfortunate casualty in a trade that was hard to justify at the time and is still hard to justify.

Harris got lost in the shuffle int he team’s never-ending rebuild. He was seemingly lost in the shuffle among the young guys the Magic already had.

With Harris shining with the LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers last year, he may be remembered as “Oh yeah, he did play for the Orlando Magic.”

22. Evan Fournier (2015-Present)

Evan Fournier would admit to himself and to the media, he did not have the season he hoped for in 2019.

The team thrived and Evan Fournier’s game grew in some unexpected ways. He was a better defender and playmaker than he had ever been in his career to that point. There was no doubt he improved on what were previously weaknesses seemingly holding him back.

But Fournier is on the floor for his shooting. For a team that lacked a lot of shooting, Fournier was the team’s best shooting. And he could never find his rhythm in 2019, shooting a career-low 34.0 percent in the regular season and even worse 23.5 percent in the playoffs.

Fournier would acknowledge this is not good enough. He seemed as frustrated as anyone that he could not right the ship.

For fans, it was seemingly another thing to put on the ledger against Fournier. With Nikola Vucevic becoming an All-Star, Evan Fournier quickly became the scapegoat.

He was the player the Magic seemingly chose over Victor Oladipo in the summer of 2016, receiving a four-year deal at $17 million per year the same summer the team dealt the soon-to-be All-Star. He was a player who was consistent and put up solid scoring numbers but was not an All-Star. Fournier was seemingly always the odd man out.

And now he is the weak link. The guy who seemingly does not fit the Magic’s future plans and was the weak link in the lineup. At least for the moment.

That all might still be true. Fournier’s future with the team is still a bit of a mystery. He has a lot of work to do to make good on a frustrating 2019 season.

But Fournier has been more solid than fans probably want to admit. In his five seasons with the Magic, he has averaged 15.5 points per game with a 52.3 percent effective field goal percentage. He has been a more-than-solid 36.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Fournier is not a standout player, but he is more solid than the prevailing narratives about his play would suggest. He is certainly consistent enough to believe he will bounce back this coming season and be a benefit for the Magic as they look to take the next step.

Fournier is someone who should get more of his due.

21. Steve Francis (2005-06)

It is hard to be the player acquired in a rebuilding trade. Giving away one of the four best players in a franchise’s history leaves big shoes behind.

Perhaps having the top pick in the draft — and someone who would join that Mount Rushmore shortly — softened that blow. Perhaps having no expectations or even being nominally competitive made the player who came in OK. Maybe he is just a player lost to history.

Steve Francis’ two-season run with the Orlando Magic was rocky, to say the least. He battled with coach Brian Hill in his second year and openly pouted when the team traded his friend Cuttino Mobley only three months into his first season.

Steve Francis was not the team captain that general manager Jon Weisbrod envisioned. His whole notion of trying to build a tough-minded hockey-style team with Francis as its tough-minded score-first point guard was . . . not a good idea. Francis was not a great team leader.

Even in his first season, he was moody and got suspended for refusing to re-enter a game late. He even kicked a cameraman.

It is fair to want to forget Francis’ time with the Magic. It is largely forgotten.

But it is fair to recognize Francis was actually pretty good in Orlando. He ranks higher on a lot of all-time Magic lists than people probably want to admit.

Houston Rockets

He averaged 19.4 points per game and 6.5 assists per game in his two seasons with the Magic. In 2005, his first year with the team, he joined an exclusive club of players to average at least 20 points per game with the team when he hit 21.3 points per game.

Francis made an incredible first impression too. In his first game with the team, he hit a buzzer-beating layup to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks. And followed that up with a game-winning jumper to defeat the New Orleans Hornets. He was defiant and seemed to show the Magic were not going to go away.

Indeed, if Francis was able to propel the Magic into the playoff conversation in 2005, he would have been an All-Star without a doubt. His first year with the Magic was an All-Star-caliber year. The Magic have had plenty of those, but his individual season in 2005 was one of the best years everyone forgets.

It was ultimately doomed to fail. Francis played on raw emotion and the Magic never accounted for that. It was clear they needed to move on from him quickly to create a better locker room environment for Dwight Howard to mature.

That has left Francis somewhat forgotten to history.

20. D.J. Augustin (2017-Present)

D.J. Augustin cemented himself in Orlando Magic history in one indelible moment.

He stared down Kyle Lowry and got a pick from Nikola Vucevic, the team’s All-Star center. Augustin came across it and caught the soon-to-be defending champion Toronto Raptors in a moment of indecision.

Kyle Lowry could not get around the Nikola Vucevic screen but Marc Gasol was slow to react, too hesitant to leave Vucevic.

Augustin has been an opportunist throughout his career. Sometimes deemed too small to be an effective point guard and seemingly passed around teams throughout his entire career. Most would say he was nothing more than a backup. His career had trended in a weird way — a good year, followed by a bad year. Augustin never found a home.

But here was his chance. Here was the opening to become a legend, forever beloved in a place. A place that had finally believed in him enough to trust him with a team to lead.

Augustin’s Game 1 3-pointer to give the Magic their first playoff win in seven years is one of those moments Magic fans will never forget. It will get replayed over and over again on the Amway Center video board.

And yet. . . Augustin is still seemingly a placeholder. Someone whom fans probably think the team should move off of. The shiny new toy is sitting on the bench — full of potential and mystery.

Never mind, Augustin just turned in one of the best seasons by a Magic point guard in its history — granted, it is not a long history of solid point guards. He put up 11.7 points per game and 5.3 assists per game, his best season in five years. That followed up another solid year when he took over the starting point guard role midseason.

Augustin is just a solid veteran point guard now. Someone the Magic trust. Someone they are perfectly fine with as a starter.

Never mind that everyone always seems to be thinking about what comes next. Augustin is pretty good for now.

19. Dwight Howard (2005-12)

Time has not been kind to Dwight Howard.

His time since leaving the Orlando Magic has not been a good reflection of his carer. The back injury he suffered in his final year with Orlando followed him to Los Angeles. He had one strong season with the Houston Rockets where he looked like the dominant force that anchored the team.

But since then, he has gone from team to team looking for a home. He has been accused of poisoning locker rooms, unable to fit in when the world did not revolve around him. The fact is he was not that player anymore. He was not able to play at that high level anymore.

It is frankly a bit sad that Howard is having to scratch his way into the league on essentially a summer contract with the Los Angeles Lakers — his second stint with the team. The Lakers have put some heavy restrictions on him and seemingly made it clear that he is gone if he steps out of line in any way.

Howard’s career has taken a seemingly dark turn as his athleticism left him but his belief in his stardom has struggled to follow suit.

Orlando should be a place where Howard is welcomed and remembered well. He might well be the best player in franchise history. He anchored a team that is among the most popular groups in team history. Howard took the Magic closer to a championship than any player before him.

Yet, his exit was extremely messy. Fans will accept him back one day, but that day is not here yet. And the pain of his botched exit plan overshadows everything. It has set the narrative for the last half of his career.

It makes everyone forget just how dominant he was. Howard was one of the best players in the league, unquestionably. He was a defensive force who could lock down the paint on his own, turning a team with sub-par defenders into one of the best defensive teams of the past decade.

Howard played with a joy that was as fun as it was dominant.

His three straight Defensive Player of the Year Awards and his play with the Magic in 2009 and 2010 especially will get him into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot. it is easy to forget about all this because he has fallen so hard.

18. Cuttino Mobley (2005)

If you blinked, you might have missed Cuttino Mobley’s time with the Orlando Magic. It really did not last too long — just 23 games after the Orlando Magic acquired him from the Houston Rockets in the Tracy McGrady trade.

Cuttino Mobley is probably more remembered for being Steve Francis’ sidekick. And his departure was the cause for Francis’ decline with the team. Not to mention what an utter disaster Doug Christie ended up being.

So Mobley goes down in history more for not being with the Magic or being absent from the Magic and the effects that absence had on the team.

There was no certainty the Magic would have made the playoffs in 2005 when Mobley was traded. The bigger factor in that season was Grant Hill’s sports hernia late in the season and Hedo Turkoglu’s broken arm shortly after that. The Magic were still on track to make the playoffs.

But Mobley’s precious few months in Orlando should not get forgotten.

He averaged 16.0 points per game and shot 46.4 percent from beyond the arc. He was a great player ad helped the Magic stay in the playoff race with a rookie in Dwight Howard at center and an offseason removed from trading a soon-to-be Hall of Fame player.

The reasons for trading Mobley are still a bit murky.

The Magic needed to improve their defense for sure and Doug Christie was still considered one of the best defenders in the league. But he was nowhere near the shooter Mobley was and it was clear very early on that Christie had no interest in being with the Magic at all.

Appreciation for Mobley is muted because his time with the team was so short. It should not get forgotten.

17. Darrell Armstrong (1995-2003)

It is hard to think that Darrell Armstrong is underappreciated. He remains one of the most popular players in franchise history. Mentioning his name will undoubtedly engender warm feelings.

It is to the point that fans outside of Orlando probably do not understand how beloved Armstrong really is for those who watched him.

It would not be the most surprising thing if the Magic one day decided to start selling No. 10 jerseys with Armstrong’s name in the team shop. And it is only a matter of time before he gets a call to join the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame.

But Armstrong is a player easy to forget if you did not watch him. As there come new generations of fans who did not see Armstrong play, he will be a curiosity. A player older fans tell stories about but nobody really gets.

It is easy to remember the floor burns — like the nasty one he got diving on the floor against the Chicago Bulls to set up a critical layup. It is easy to remember the steals — like the one he had against the Philadelphia 76ers that he took for a game-winning layup. It is easy to remember just the will and energy Armstrong had every time he stepped on the floor.

And it is easy to remember the baggy beige suits he wore when he got introduced to the league during the Magic’s 1995 run to the NBA Finals (the team signed him late that season).

But what most probably do not remember is that he was a pretty darn good player. Something much more than an energy player. The Sixth Man of the Year and Most Improved Player Award trophies he got in 1999 would attest to that.

He averaged 11.7 points and 5.1 assists per game in his time with the Magic, topping off at 16.2 points per game in 2000 and 7.0 assists per game in 2001. He made his mark putting the defensive clamps on Tim Hardaway in the 1997 Playoffs. And the rest was history.

The only reason Armstrong would make this list is to make sure everyone remembers just how good he was for the Magic. And make sure he remains one of the most popular players in Magic history.

16. Rafer Alston (2009)

The Orlando Magic were desperate as the trade deadline neared in February 2009.

Jameer Nelson was a week removed from a season-ending shoulder injury. Anthony Johnson was struggling to take over the starting point guard role defensively. The recently acquired Tyronn Lue was not providing much support either.

If Orlando was going to make noise in the playoffs, they needed a point guard who could create and hit 3-pointers. More than that, they needed someone who could defend too and spearhead the team’s top-rated defense.

Otis Smith can take criticism as a general manager in several respects. He made a lot of mistakes. But he certainly was bold. He was not afraid to roll the dice and make a big move when he had to.

There was no doubt one of his most important moves was to acquire Rafer Alston at the deadline. that move very likely saved the season.

The debate in Magic fan circles continues about how the Magic ultimately used Rafer Alston in the Finals. For the record, he averaged 10.6 points per game and 3.0 assists per game in 29.5 minutes per game while shooting 15.8 percent from beyond the arc in the NBA Finals. Certainly, Stan Van Gundy misjudged how healthy Jameer Nelson was when he returned for that Finals series.

It was not like Alston was playing well either.

But despite that, Alston was as key as any player to that 2009 Finals run. Magic fans know it and have probably outsized his role on that team’s success. Almost to the point that he is underappreciated for what he actually did.

He stabilized the team. He gave them a steady hand to turn the ball over to Hedo Turkoglu and run the offense. In the playoffs, the team often went how Alston’s shooting went.

More importantly, he gave them an edge. He was not going to take any guff from anyone. Slapping Eddie House‘s headband off his head in Game 1 was a statement that the physical Boston Celtics were not going to push the Orlando Magic around.

They certainly did not and Orlando went into Boston for Game 7 and took the series. Orlando needed that boost.

So Alston is both over appreciated and underappreciated.

15. Tony Battie (2005-09)

Tony Battie likely will not be remembered as a key member of the 2009 NBA Finals team. By that time he was out of the rotation, passed over by Marcin Gortat and his ascendance into the rotation.

For a while though, Tony Battie was as influential and important as any player on the roster. He was a grinder who did the dirty work and never complained about shots. He just defended and stayed in the ear of a young rookie in Dwight Howard.

Of course, his bigger claim to fame within the course of Magic history is what happened when got injured in 2007.

Before that 2008 season, Battie was defending Howard as he often did in practice and tore his rotator cuff. Without much depth at power forward, the team was forced to use Rashard Lewis at power forward. That proved to be a game-changing decision and transformed the Magic into one of the best teams in the league.

Battie was the kind of player and person who did not complain. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the team. And he just was a workhorse, getting rebounds and defending over scoring. Although he could step out and hit jumpers pretty well for a player of his size.

Battie’s biggest contribution came behind the scenes too. He was instrumental in helping Howard develop and giving him a solid veteran to lean on.

As much as Howard was probably personally upset the team traded Courtney Lee to the New Jersey Nets in the Vince Carter trade, it was losing Tony Battie that probably hurt him just as much. Although Howard had become a star already by that point and maybe did not need a veteran in his ear.

Battie did not contribute much statistically. But it is undoubted his importance to this team and this franchise in becoming the championship-contending team they would become.

14. Vince Carter (2010-11)

Before Vince Carter was a beloved veteran full of nostalgia — mostly for his time with the Toronto Raptors — he was a player without a resume. He had the highlights and his part in the culture, but he did not have a championship to go with it. In fact, he had never really come close.

The closest was with the Orlando Magic in 2010. And he had his opportunity to rewrite his legacy at the free-throw line in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics. This was the closest he had been to a title and the exact reason why the Magic broke up their 2009 Finals team to acquire him. They needed the perimeter scoring for moments like these.

Carter got to the foul line with the Magic down two. He carried the team through Game 1 in a loss. He had the chance to be the hero in Game 2.

As often happens in Magic history, he missed both free throws. Jameer Nelson swooped in for the rebound but could not get the putback. Boston pulled ahead and the series was all but over with Orlando down 2-0 heading to Boston.

Carter was never the same after that game. It marked the end of his stardom. He seemed content to blend into the background and would eventually accept a role as a reserve and veteran for the rest of his career.

And that moment probably colors how many fans view Carter and his brief time with the Magic. He was the big piece the Magic brought in after breaking up the beloved 2009 Finals team. In the biggest moment, he failed to deliver and then shriveled after.

Carter was not the superstar the Magic hoped for when they acquired him. But to characterize him as bad is incorrect too. And that seemed to become the narrative, especially since the Magic fell short of a return to the Finals with perhaps their best team in franchise history.

Carter averaged 16.6 points per game in that 2010 season. He had his big moments too, scoring 48 points in a nationally televised game against the New Orleans Hornets. That was the most any Magic player has scored since Tracy McGrady.

Carter had his moments in a Magic uniform even if he could not ultimately deliver.

13. Grant Hill (2001-07)

It is easy to forget just how good Grant Hill was when the Orlando Magic pursued him in free agency in the summer of 2000.

The numbers he put up with the Detroit Pistons were rivaling Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. He was on a Hall of Fame pace for his NBA career alone (his time with the Detroit Pistons and Duke Blue Devils assured he would get in).

During the 2000 Playoffs, Hill was clearly playing in pain from an ankle issue. But his determination to play and lead his team in the playoffs, even in a losing effort, is baked into his DNA.

So he arrived in Orlando on crutches. That would come to define his tenure with the Magic. He played in only 47 games in his first four years with the team. He would appear in only 21 games in 2006 after a relatively healthy 2005 season.

Fans revolted against him for his inability to play and how his max contract hamstrung the Magic during the Tracy McGrady era. It was easy to criticize the player because his work behind the scenes goes unnoticed.

Not to mention, Hill nearly died of a staph infection while recovering from one of his surgeries. He was plenty determined to play and give himself for the team. His body would not cooperate.

It is also easy to forget just how good Hill still was in a Magic uniform. He averaged 16.4 points per game with a 50.2 percent effective field goal percentage. Those are solid numbers for a guy who was not a 3-point shooter at all.

His presence on the team made the Magic a lot better. Especially after McGrady left.

Hill was solid and efficient in getting the Magic back to the playoffs in 2007 too, his final year with the team.

Ultimately, Hill’s tenure with Orlando was disappointing because he could not get healthy and realize his full potential. But he was far from bad when he did play. And he still contributed a lot to the team when he did.

12. Pat Garrity (2000-08)

When the Orlando Magic celebrated their 25th anniversary, they decided to bring back several of their former great players and legends. Anfernee Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal and  Tracy McGrady were among the luminaries to return to the Amway Center.

There were a few odd names.

As Pat Garrity explained it when he met with the media, when the Magic called to ask him if he would be interested in returning to get honored at center court, he asked, “Are you sure you have the right number?”

Pat Garrity was not exactly a superstar in Orlando. He was never really even the sixth man. He had longevity with the team but did not stand out.

Except that he was one of the first real stretch-4s in the league. He kept providing a huge benefit to the Magic by pushing some of the dominant power forwards of the day away from the basket, freeing up McGrady to drive to the basket and score.

That is a lot for a guy who averaged only 7.4 points per game in his nine seasons in Orlando.

Garrity had his big moments and big scoring games. More than you might remember too. There was a game-winning basket against the Washington Wizards thrown in there and plenty of other big shots along the way.

He is one of the best role players in Magic history — not just merely for his longevity. And yet, he is someone that probably even Magic fans will have forgotten.

11. Hedo Turkoglu (2005-09, 2011-13)

Hedo Turkoglu remains incredibly popular in Orlando. He is the hero of several games in the 2009 NBA Finals. And it was his departure that most Magic fans lament as the end of their title run.

That may not be entirely the case. Turkoglu did return to the team only two years later and he was nowhere near the player he was in that 2009 Finals run. There was always that tinge of nostalgia.

When we ran fan polling to find the most underappreciated player, Turkoglu won several days of polling, kind of defeating the point that he was underappreciated in any way. In Orlando, he is certainly appreciated for everything he did. His second stint with the Magic is completely forgotten.

So his placement on this list is about another aspect of being under-appreciated. It is about national perception.

Turkoglu probably gets remembered more for eating pizza and saying “Ball” repeatedly in a postgame interview as he struggled to find the right fit outside of Orlando. He is more of an oddball than anything else.

What national fans probably do not appreciate about Turkoglu was that he was one of the first of the new wave of point forwards. Really the first sort of point forward to reach the NBA Finals since Scottie Pippen.

Not that Turkoglu was as good as Pippen or that Pippen actually played point guard within the triangle offense.

Turkoglu was a key component of an offense that truly transformed the NBA. There were few teams running a 4-out offense in 2009. Turkoglu, operating as a point guard essentially helped unlock the best version of every player.

He could dish to Rashard Lewis in the corner, drive to the basket and finish over most small forwards or lob to Dwight Howard. And then he could kick out to Jameer Nelson to restart everything again if needed.

Turkoglu was veyr good in Orlando during the team’s title run. Much better than people realize. And perhaps only Magic fans truly appreciate that.

10. Mickael Pietrus (2009-11)

There were so many memorable players and moments from that 2009 Finals run, that it is easy to let a few players slip through the cracks.

Jameer Nelson’s All-Star season quickly disappeared from view with his injury as the playoff run took over the full-season narrative. Courtney Lee gets remembered for what could have been after the Magic traded him in the offseason.

Mickael Pietrus is probably long forgotten among that group. Even though he remains a fairly popular player more for his antics and personality off the court, Mickael Pietrus was a pretty good player.

In the 2009 season, Pietrus averaged 9.4 points per game and shot 35.9 percent from beyond the arc. He upped those averages in the playoffs to 10.5 points and 38.5 percent on 3-pointers. Pietrus had a penchant for stepping up in big games. He loved the spotlight and showed up it seemed for all of the big games.

In the Magic’s only Finals win in franchise history, Pietrus scored 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting including a big basket late to secure the win. We ignore the probable traveling.

None seemed bigger than the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals. He got the primary defensive role on LeBron James that series. He made it as tough as he could for James who still put up an incredible series.

It was Pietrus’ personality that endeared him to fans. But it was his play that made him important in Magic history. And that kind of gets lost in the shuffle a bit.

9. Terry Catledge (1990-93)

Quick quiz.

Who was the leading scorer for the inaugural Orlando Magic team?

That answer should be obvious because of the header on this slide. It was indeed Terry Catledge.

The fact that this is a piece of trivia that would stump a lot of Magic fans is saying something. And is kind of exactly what this list is about.

Reggie Theus was the guy who brought some star power to the team. Nick Anderson was a rookie who was not quite ready to become the scorer in the post. Catledge ended up taking the mantle on this spunky expansion team.

Catledge finished the year with 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. That is just a solid season no matter the circumstances.

But even history would forget Catledge.

The memorable moments for that team fell to Otis Smith’s game-winning baskets against the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. And he would eventually become the team’s general manager.

Fans would likely remember players like Scott Skiles and Nick Anderson, who became mainstays on the team’s rise to title contention, over a player like Terry Catledge.

It was not even that Catledge played only one year, he was with the Magic for several years. He averaged 14.8 and 14.6 points per game in his two other seasons in Orlando. He was a productive player, albeit still a bit of a tweener in a league that was not friendly to positional tweeners.

Catledge was a solid player. Someone who took advantage of the opportunity on an expansion team. He got phased out as the team began really building its future. Injuries slowed him too. But he should not get forgotten to history.

8. Nick Anderson (1990-99)

Like Pat Garrity in an earlier slide, you will not be able to find an Orlando Magic fan who does not love Nick Anderson.

To Magic fans, he is the original player — the first guy the Magic could truly call their own. He is the man who stole the ball from Michael Jordan and became the team’s first 50-point scorer.

He is still a big presence in the community and with the team as a community ambassador. It was a sad thing when he was not part of the organization — an Orlando Sentinel article that came out a few years after he retired saying he was living in Atlanta hoping the Magic would give him something to do.

He has certainly done plenty to keep everyone in front of mind since he took on that role. He is still beloved among Magic fans.

Anderson has gotten plenty of appreciation in that sense. He was the first player inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame, a must since he was the original player and for the longest time its longest-tenured player.

Yet, it still does not seem like it is enough.

It has been nearly 20 years since the Magic traded him to end its connection with the 1995 Finals team officially. There is a whole generation of fans who may not know Anderson much outside of the highlight videos before games and NBA 2K.

Or worse, they may really only know him as the hero in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals as equally as they know him as the guy who missed four free throws in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals.

True Magic fans know Anderson did that. There is no erasing it. But it does not change how they view him. That moment does not define him for the Magic franchise.

It still feels like Anderson is forgotten for how good he was — an ace defender and one of the original low-post guards.

It feels more and more as time moves away from Anderson’s playing career, there should be some kind of recognition for his time and service with the team. The Hall of Fame is a nice touch. But it is so far removed from where fans can engage with it.

If the Magic do start retiring jerseys, it really feels like Anderson’s No. 25 should be up in the rafters in the main arena bowl so everyone can understand how important he was to the franchise.

There may never be a way to properly appreciate Anderson.

7. Rony Seikaly (1997-98)

One of the funnier lines that came from the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary This Magic Moment was predictably given by Richie Adubato.

In the documentary’s third act, the Orlando Magic have lost Shaquille O’Neal and are trying to publicly move on, saying things like Anfernee Hardaway is pretty good on his own. The team could find a new center and hand the keys to their young guard.

They needed to find a serviceable center at least. And they found one.

Only one problem, as Adubato related. He is so good looking, teammates will resent him for that.

So goes the tale of Rony Seikaly. I can attest he made the ladies swoon (my mom loved the Rony Seikaly head on a stick night at the O-Rena).

Seikaly, of course, is married to a supermodel and is a world-renowned D.J. So. . .  who is the real Hall of Famer?

The list of centers the Magic tried between Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard is a long one full of odd players who never panned out — much respect to Andrew DeClercq, Steven Hunter, Patrick Ewing and Shawn Kemp for trying. Seikaly is probably the best of that bunch.

He averaged 16.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in his two seasons with the team. Those numbers are more than solid and would rank him near the top of the Magic’s scoring list. He was a lot better than everyone remembers him.

Consider also that his sprained ankle in Game 3 of the 1997 Playoffs likely unleashed Hardaway to go on his scoring barrage. But a healthy Seikaly could have helped the Magic score the upset in the decisive Game 5.

Magic fans would learn that finding a replacement center for a Hall of Famer like O’Neal is extremely difficult. Sometimes you have to appreciate someone who is serviceable.

Seikaly was more than serviceable. Even if nobody seems to remember just how good he was for the team.

6. Horace Grant (1995-99, 2002-03)

The Orlando Magic went far out of their way to sign Horace Grant. They gave up players and draft picks to get nothing in return and clear up cap room. it was one of the first times this strategy was used in the league.

In the summer of 1994, they understood they were on the precipice of something special with Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway making the playoffs for the first time. They needed a steady hand to help this young team through the playoff battles to come.

The former All-Star in Horace Grant was that answer. His arrival is credited with giving the team that veteran to show them how to prepare and make it through the playoffs.

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He must have been really happy to see the team come from behind to win Game 6 against the Chicago Bulls. He knew it was not a good idea for the young team to lift him on their shoulders after the series. He did it anyway and waved a towel to celebrate beating his former team and what at the time felt like a passing of the baton.

Horace Grant’s injury in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals — along with Nick Anderson and Brian Shaw — helped the Bulls bury the Magic in a four-game sweep. That series should have been much closer if not for those critical injuries.

Grant’s tenure with the Magic is often talked about only in terms of the intangibles he brought to the team. There is rarely focus on what he actually did on the court.

He was not an All-Star like he was during Jordan’s 1994 sabbatical. He still averaged 12.1 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game in his first five-year run with the team. He was a solid defender and a good enough shooter to space the floor.

He made everything work.

5. Jameer Nelson (2005-14)

It is hard for a player to hang with a team for a decade and not feel appreciation from the fans. Jameer Nelson was among the most popular players in team history when he finally departed the team. He was beloved for sticking around when Dwight Howard jumped ship.

Never mind that for much of his tenure in Orlando, fans seemed eager to move off him. There might have even been a current of fans who believed trading him was inevitable and blamed Otis Smith for his loyalty to Jameer Nelson not to go after a star point guard as accumulating stars began to escalate.

Even in Nelson’s best year, he seemed overlooked.

The 2009 season was both Nelson’s triumph and his bane. He was a clear-cut All-Star, averaging 16.7 points per game on a 58.0 percent effective field goal percentage. Teams could not stop him from creating his own shot, getting into the paint or hitting open 3-pointers. Using a secondary ball-handler in Hedo Turkoglu helped give Jameer Nelson space to shoot.

But he never played in that All-Star Game thanks to a shoulder injury. And his return became as controversial.

Nelson did try to play in the 2009 Finals. It was clear he was not right and his averages reflected that — 3.8 points per game and a 37.0 percent effective field goal percentage. He probably should not have been playing the end of those games.

That decision to come back has colored at least some of Nelson’s legacy. He is not as beloved as perhaps he should be — although, he is still plenty loved in Orlando. It made a lot of people forget just how good he was in 2009.

That season was a huge spike, but Nelson was reliable and dependable throughout his career too. He was much more than that season. He was a solid scorer and shooter for the team for a long time. He was the right leader for many years too.

4. Arron Afflalo (2013-14, 2018)

When the Orlando Magic were seeking a veteran to complete their roster in the summer of 2017, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman turned to a player he was familiar with. It was someone Magic fans were familiar with too.

What followed was a bit of surprising love from both the fan base and player. Arron Afflalo spent his entire year seemingly professing his love for Orlando and his appreciation for the franchise. At a time when the Magic were seemingly at their lowest, having someone who truly wanted to be in Orlando was meaningful.

Arron Afflalo did not do much that final year. He struggled to get into the rotation and his trademark mid-range game was phasing out of style and losing some of its luster. Afflalo was not the same player he was.

But what is often forgotten was how good Afflalo was in a Magic uniform, albeit on some decidedly bad teams. He was a picture of consistency in a time when the Magic had a lot of uncertainty.

In his first two-year stint with the Magic, he averaged 17.4 points per game and shot a 50.2 percent effective field goal percentage. He was nearly an All-Star in 2014, averaging more than 18 points per game.

If the Magic were competitive at all, he probably would have made the showcase game.

The Magic in those days lacked consistency as they tried to piece together all the young players they were accumulating and trying to figure out how they all fit together. Asking Afflalo to be the team’s leading scorer and a top offensive option was always too big for him. He was not really that kind of a player.

That was always the issue with those early teams.

But there is something to appreciate about a player who does his job every day and puts up consistent numbers even in a bad or less-than-ideal situation. Afflalo was that guy.

The fans and the player got to share some appreciation during that make-good year in 2018.

3. Rashard Lewis (2008-11)

Whenever a player signs a max contract, they immediately face pressure.

That contract marker comes with the expectation that the player will be an All-Star and the central focus for whatever team they will play with. Failing to meet those expectations can be a severe impediment to team growth.

The Magic know firsthand what happens when a max-level player fails to live up to those expectations and how difficult it becomes to build a team — especially with another max player.

Hoops Habit

For the longest time, Rashard Lewis’ narrative was that the Magic overpaid for him. They bid against themselves in a desperate attempt to add someone of prominence to the team after their first playoff berth and set the table for Dwight Howard’s prime.

Lewis was never a flashy player, even with the Seattle SuperSonics. He could put up big scoring games and was big for a small forward, but he was never an All-Star or anything more than a seeming oddity.

Then there was the reported promise the Magic made to him when he arrived in Orlando. He did not want to play power forward. His game was more perimeter-oriented and he wanted to post up smaller players.

The Magic agreed to that promise. It was only when Tony Battie tore his rotator cuff that Stan Van Gundy asked him to slide over to power forward alongside Hedo Turkoglu.

As the story goes, Lewis agreed without blinking. If that is what was best for the team, that is what was best for the team. And that is how much of Lewis’ time with the Magic went after that.

It was that selflessness that defined his time with the Magic as much as his big shots — Game 1 and 4 in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals come to mind most. He was exactly who the Magic needed to help set their culture and lift the team into contention. Orlando may not have had a better signing (Horace Grant is probably in that conversation).

Lewis averaged a fairly pedestrian 16.3 points per game in Orlando. That is not exactly screaming max player. He shot 39.9 percent from beyond the arc in those four seasons. That helped transform the Magic especially when he moved to the 4.

But it was Lewis’ all-around game — his solid passing, his post-game, his defense — that made him so valuable. He was versatile in almost every sense of the word. And he would do whatever his team needed him to do.

That is all you can ask for. Orlando got what it paid for.

2. Bo Outlaw (1998-2002, 2007-08)

Like Nick Anderson, bringing Bo Outlaw back to be a community ambassador was a no-brainer. He is beloved by the team for his hustle and his personality. He has an infectious smile and he brightens up every room.

He played that way too.

An undersized 6-foot-8 power forward with no jump shot whatsoever, he earned a place in the NBA on pure determination, grit and floor burns. He and Darrell Armstrong tag-teamed to headline the most beloved team in Magic history.

That is the part everyone remembers. The main story with Outlaw is about that pure hustle that no one could encapsulate in numbers. And that is a big part of his game.

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Outlaw averaged only 6.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in six seasons with the Magic. That is hardly anything that seems worth remembering or including in a franchise’s best all-time players.

But there is more to Outlaw’s game that numbers are only just starting to represent.

According to Basketball-Reference, Outlaw led the league three times in defensive box plus-minus. Twice he did that with the Magic.

With all the rebounds and steals he accumulated throughout his career, he made an impact on the box score. And to be the top of the list in the league as a defender in any kind of metric is astounding. Especially for someone who was not an offensive player at all.

In an era that valued defense over everything else, Outlaw stood out statistically at least.

That was not the case in the narratives of the time. Outlaw was considered a grinder and a nice player. But hardly a best defensive player. He did not make the all-defensive team or anything.

Maybe he should have. Maybe even then he was under-appreciated for all that he did. Certainly today he should get recognition for being more than simply a hustle player.

1. Nikola Vucevic (2013-Present)

Nikola Vucevic is our pick as the most under-appreciated player in Orlando Magic history. His selection as such is probably going to cause hand-wringing and debate. That is what lists are supposed to do. And surely there will be criticism that there is recency bias here.

Perhaps there is.

But mention Vucevic in any debate about who is among the best players in Magic history, and there will surely be those who throw their hands up in disgust. Vucevic creates a split reaction among Magic fans.

That is not just this year — which gave his supporters perhaps a little bit more ammunition in the debate. That has been the case for several years now.

So here are the facts: Vucevic has averaged 16.8 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per game in his seven years with the team. He has averaged a double-double in each of those seven seasons. He is among the exclusive club of eight players to be an All-Star while representing the Magic.

And yet, there still seems to be a disconnect as to his place within franchise history and his value to the team. Even when he has been chugging along and producing consistently, there is a vehement response that now is the time to trade him.

Even bringing him back after breaking the Magic’s playoff hex and reaching the All-Star Game came under heated debate. There was a firm camp that did not want to see him back at all.

What the future holds for Vucevic is still completely unknown. There is plenty of reason to believe he is not the best guy for what the Magic ultimately want to do and who they want to be.

But it is also clear that Vucevic has been a hard-working, consistent player for this franchise. Even when he was not given the keys, he produced for the team. And he was absolutely vital to the team reaching the playoffs again. He will remain critical in the years to come.

Who is to say how history will view Vucevic at the end of the day? Perhaps things will turn and fans will be able to put his game in perspective better.

For now, it seems the split on Vucevic and what his legacy with the team is will leave him under-appreciated for what he has actually done. And he deserves plenty of praise for the commitment he has shown to this team.

What do you think? Agree with our list? Who was under-appreciated on our list of the most under-appreciated players in Magic history? Let us know in the comments below and continue the conversation on Twitter @OMagicDaily.