The 5 worst Orlando Magic trades of the last 10 years

By Luke Duffy | Mar 14, 2023

PHOENIX, AZ - DECEMBER 09: (R-L) Nikola Vucevic #9, Evan Fournier #10, Elfrid Payton #4 and Victor Oladipo #5 of the Orlando Magic walk to the bench during a break in the final moments of the NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena on December 9, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns defeated the Magic 107-104. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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CLEVELAND, OH – NOVEMBER 24: Maurice Harkless of the Orlando Magic drives down the court. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

5. The Meh-rice Harkless deal

A fairly underwhelming place to start, but these kinds of nothing deals were exactly the problem at the height of the Orlando Magic being a complete afterthought.

Maurice Harkless was a decent rotation player in the NBA. There was nothing spectacular about him, but to play 201 games for the organization is not nothing.

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So to give him up for a second-round pick with relatively heavy protections was just weird. Surely there was a better deal out there than this?

Harkless went on to play even more games for the Portland Trail Blazers (274), and also appeared in 33 postseason contests, including their run to the Western Conference Finals in 2019.

This deal came at a time when the Magic were giving away OK players like Shabazz Napier, Kyle O’Quinn and Moe Harkless for absolutely nothing at all.

The logic was likely that a second reboot was coming for the roster, and we know that it did.

But the inability to turn a rotation player like Harkless, as well as the others named here, into anything that could help them in the long term was criminal. Front office ineptitude at its finest.