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5 potential free agent targets with ties to Orlando Magic

By Luke Duffy

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 15: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets controls the ball against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on March 15, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. 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 Mark Brown/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 15: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets controls the ball against the Orlando Magic at Amway Center on March 15, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. 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 Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 22: Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson of the Miami Heat celebrate. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA – APRIL 22: Victor Oladipo and Duncan Robinson of the Miami Heat celebrate. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) /

5 potential free agent targets with ties to Orlando Magic

5. Victor Oladipo

The Orlando Magic drafted Victor Oladipo with the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. In the post-Dwight Howard era, this is the highest lottery pick the organization would get before last year’s Lottery win.

More proof, not that it was needed, that luck, or more correctly in this instance bad luck, plays its part when it comes to the lottery.

Oladipo was earmarked early as a franchise savior, but we all know he only hit the All-Star heights that he eventually did once he had been traded. Now 31 years old and with a frankly awful injury history — including a torn patellar tendon that ended his playoff run this year — why would the Magic want to revisit an unhappy time in their past?

Oladipo is here both because the free agency market this summer is so thin. He is a more realistic option than somebody like Russell Westbrook and because it can be hard to find pre-existing links to the organization with most of the other available players.

Oladipo also has a player option at just less than $10 million for next season, before hitting unrestricted free agency. He would be mad not to take that, especially considering his current injury. And yet we all know that even when healthy he is not likely to get many reps for the Heat. In the postseason he would become an afterthought.

If the Magic could offer him something similar, and the promise of a few more years tacked on for good measure, Oladipo would be an ideal shot creator off the bench with minimal expectations and of which little will be asked of him to carry the load in a meaningful way.

To be clear, this is not a path the Magic should be looking to take to begin their summer. But as the options dwindle and the need to secure competent shot-makers continues to be of importance to the team, they could do worse than see if Oladipo would be interested in having a marginally bigger role than the one he currently occupies for the Heat.