7 players the Orlando Magic gave up on too soon
2. Victor Oladipo
This one only hurts more as time goes on, and untangling the mess that it was before Victor Oladipo’s departure is a tricky one.
Picked second overall in 2013 (the highest selection the Magic would ever have in the post-Dwight Howard rebuild era), Oladipo was seen as a player who could one day be a superstar.
It is unfortunate both that the Magic got their highest pick from that era in a particularly weak draft, and that Oladipo would go on to be the best version of himself elsewhere.
You are kidding yourself if you think you were not happy to see him get traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in that horror show Serge Ibaka deal, but that is not the point of this exercise.
Even with the injuries that would surely have come anyway, the best of Oladipo was close to happening in Orlando until the Magic decided to trade him away.
He did become a multiple-time All-Star, and he did transform into one of the 20 best players in the NBA while with the Indiana Pacers.
He helped another small market in the Pacers become a national story while he was at his peak.
So yes, the Magic gave up on his talents too soon. Getting Ibaka back makes this even worse, but really it is the revisionist history on Oladipo’s time with the Magic that grates.
He wasn’t working out as the number one option, although having the likes of Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja trying to help wasn’t ideal.