5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard era

5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard era

Matt Barnes (2010)

58 starts, 8.8 PPG, 54.6% eFG%, 31.9% 3FG%

Matt Barnes was signed on a two-year deal to bring some perimeter defense and toughness to the Orlando Magic following all the changes in the summer of 2009. The starting lineup was different than the year prior with Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee gone.

Barnes tried to become an enforcer for the Magic team destined to make another deep playoff run. Local t-shirt company Mother Falcon started selling shirts with a mean-mugging Matt Barnes that simply read, “Matt Barnes Will Kill You.” Magic fans loved it.

This is emphasized in Barnes’ most infamous moment in Orlando where he gave a ball fake at Kobe Bryant’s head while taking the ball out of bounds. Bryant did not flinch and Barnes looked foolish for even trying (the video shows a different angle than what we all believed at the time). But it impressed Bryant enough to call him up to join the Los Angeles Lakers the following year.

The defense for Orlando improved that year as they held teams to 95.3 points per game, which was fourth-best in the NBA.

Even though he only averaged 0.7 steals, Barnes had the ability to play tight perimeter defense through a lot of body contact.

This frustrates offensive players when they do not have much space to operate and this fueled Barnes’ game. He was up for the challenge to defend the best opposing wing player night in and night out.

Unfortunately, he did not bring the same shooting prowess that Maurice Evans or Courtney Lee did. But Orlando still finished first in threes taken and threes made that season.

Barnes shot 31.9 percent from three which was the worst percentage on the team since Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat did not attempt a three the entire season.

If his shooting was even at the league average he would have been a much better fit on the roster. Even though his shot was not falling from deep, he made up for it with the second-best two-point field goal percentage on the team behind Howard.

He would take easy shots and let the offense come to him instead of trying to do too much. He shot less than 7.0 shots per contest.

Barnes also helped on the boards averaging 5.5 rebounds per game in the one year he was with Orlando which was second best on the team. That is not bad for a 6-foot-7 forward.

The 14 playoff games that Barnes started in might be the reason he opted out of the final year of his deal with Orlando.

He shot 40 percent from the floor and averaged 6.4 points per game. He scored a point every four minutes he was on the court.

The lack of offense really hurt the team and he saw his minutes decrease throughout the playoffs to give more offense to the team with Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick.

The Barnes experiment was promising but ended up not being what Orlando needed to get back to the NBA Finals.