How every NBA trade deadline deal affects the Orlando Magic – Late Edition
How every NBA trade deadline deal affects the Orlando Magic
Where is the shooting?
At the top of every Orlando Magic fans’ wish list for this trade deadline was for the team to find some shooting. Everyone had their eyes set on LA Clippers guard Luke Kennard or Toronto Raptors forward Gary Trent Jr. Just anyone who could consistently put the ball in the hoop.
That deal did not emerge for this Magic team. There was actually not a lot of shooting passed around.
The Toronto Raptors, the team everyone thought would be in the market to deal shooters like Gary Trent Jr. or Fred VanVleet, opted to stand pat believing they could still compete in the Eastern Conference with the landscape suddenly changed with the Brooklyn Nets’ reformation.
The Detroit Pistons traded Sadiq Bey, see the James Wiseman trade above. He may have had some issues that made him more available and led to a disappointing season. But they ended up not moving veteran Bojan Bogdanovic.
In the end, not many shooters got moved. Teams are holding onto their shooters. They are just so rare in the league. And that is why the Magic are hunting for them.
Who knows if the Magic were actually interested in Kennard or whether a serious offer — involving Mo Bamba or Terrence Ross — was ever pitched.
The LA Clippers were extremely active at this deadline and seemed to fill all their needs — finding a backup center, finding a backup point guard and dumping some salary to make sure their tax bill was not too heavy.
In the end, the best deal involving shooters had shooters getting traded for each other.
The Los Angeles Clippers are sending Luke Kennard to the Memphis Grizzlies, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 9, 2023
The Grizzlies are sending Danny Green to Houston in the deal, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/umsRiDMGWp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
This should put a bigger focus on how much of a premium shooting is at. The Magic still acted as a salary dumping ground, but they were not going to be able to get a quality player to help push their team forward with the assets they had available and were willing to part with.
The Magic probably would have needed to trade Gary Harris to get a deal like this done. Would that have been worth it? The answer seems to be no. What are these players doing better than Harris right now? So maybe standing pat was the right call.
The clear message though for the team as they look to the trade market in the offseason, free agency and the draft is to continue building some shooting.