Ever since the departure of what may be the franchise’s best player ever in Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic have gone through a bit of a rebuilding phase. They have made the playoffs as a lower seed a couple of times but have not been true contenders or threats since 2012.
Through that the Magic have made a lot of good draft picks, trades and signings to help the roster. They have traded for Evan Fournier and Markelle Fultz, and even more recently they drafted Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero.
Those were all great additions to the team that panned out well. But not every move has been like this. The Magic are not perfect and have definitely struck out a couple of times. They have taken big chances on some players in the draft, free agency, and through trades that have not panned out in the way they wanted.
There is a reason the Magic have been rebuilding for about 10 years.
The last decade of Orlando Magic basketball has often been frustrating as the team had talented players but could not put it all together. That is seen in some of the players the team has had to start.
The Magic have put together some solid teams in this process but have never been able to get past mediocrity. They have had some significant performers like Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Aaron Gordon and Victor Oladipo. But they have never been able to put together a complete roster.
Nikola Vucevic had a season where he averaged 20.8 points per game, 12.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.0 steal per game. Victor Oladipo had a season of 17.9 points per game, 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. And Arron Afflalo had a season of 18.2 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists per game.
These are all stellar seasons that were borderline all-star seasons. But they did not have enough help to have team success and make a playoff push.
These young talents and gems that they find are often surrounded by failed role players, and chances taken on young or new talent that did not pan out.
The team in this era has only had a winning record once, has had a high of 42 wins, finished last in their division six times and has made the playoffs twice, losing in the first round both times. This has been due to incomplete rosters, and players just not living up to expectations.
There have been some great players, some decent players, and some absolute misses during this long rebuilding process. Let’s take a look at who were the biggest misses and flops that were once in the starting lineup for your Orlando Magic.
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s rebuild era
Channing Frye (2015-16)
80 starts, 6.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 39.4% 3FG%
In 2014, the Orlando Magic had just come off their second year in a row finishing last in their division. However, their rookie shooting guard Victor Oladipo had just had a promising season as well as other young stars Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic. Arron Afflalo also had just come off a career year.
Hoping to move in the right direction the Magic wanted to add a veteran big who could also contribute. They decided to sign Channing Frye to a multi-year contract worth over $20 million, which at the time was a lot of money.
Frye was coming off averaging 11.1 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game on 43.2/37.0/82.1 shooting splits. They were hoping the 30-year-old could serve this type of production and a stretch 4 to space the floor for Oladipo and Afflalo.
Unfortunately, hope does not equal points or wins as Frye’s career took a big drop off and never recovered. That next season he averaged 7.3 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 39.2/39.3/88.6 shooting splits. The Magic also won only two more games.
He got worse in all statistical categories besides assists, and although he was better from three and from the free throw line, 39.2 percent from the field, especially from a big is atrocious. He was exclusively a three-point shooter and did not give the Magic the spacing they needed.
The next season was only worse and his numbers dropped again. After 44 games into his second season, he was traded away to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Frye would later admit that he checked out pretty quickly during his time in Orlando with a coaching staff and an organization that really had no direction and too many young players.
Normally when a player is signed for multiple years he is expected to play out his contract and contribute. Frye did not meet the expectations of playing his last few good years on the Magic.
Frye scored double digits 29 times in 119 games, and never even had a month on the Magic where he averaged double digits. He had 44 games with the Magic where he scored three or fewer points including 11 games with no points.
Frye was never supposed to be a superstar but he was supposed to be a key starter and role player who contributed to turning this young team around. He never achieved this on the Magic.
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s rebuild era
Wes Iwundu (2018-20)
46 starts, 4.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.0 APG
Being a second-round pick is normally thought of with some negative connotation. There are not a ton of expectations. But being the third pick in the second round still normally brings the expectations of contributing eventually.
In 2017 that is what the Orlando Magic were hoping when they drafted a 13.0 points per game and 6.5 rebound per game small forward from Kansas State.
The Magic were coming off another losing season, but Evan Fournier was emerging as an elite scorer and the team was reshuffling its frontcourt after the failed Serge Ibaka experiment. The Magic decided to sign promising young talent Johnathon Simmons from the San Antonio Spurs, and they drafted defensive stud Jonathan Isaac in the first round and Wes Iwundu in the second.
The Magic had a lot of young talent and were hoping to move back toward playoff contention. They had some scorers and thought they hit on two defensive studs in the draft. Unfortunately, Iwundu was never that and never got it going offensively.
Iwundu always had a below-average defensive rating, and in his best season with the Magic, he averaged 5.8 points per game. His shooting splits in Orlando were 41.8/31.9/78.9. Iwundu was a jack of all trades. Average at everything, but excelled at nothing.
He was not a playmaker, he was an undersized small forward so he was not a great rebounder, and he was a below-average shooter and below-average at the rim. He never really came into his own and never showed the promise he showed at Kansas St.
In 182 games he had 20 games with double digits, and he never had a month where he averaged more than 8.0 points per game. His stats also dropped in the two playoff series he was a part of. Hard to imagine him being even worse on a bigger stage.
In the playoffs, he averaged 4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
He was also drafted in front of Dillon Brooks, Isaiah Hartenstien and Thomas Bryant. All league veterans who recently got new contracts while Iwundu is out of the league.
After Iwundu’s rookie contract was up the Magic decided that he was not going to reach his potential and they decided to not resign him.
Iwundu did not have as many expectations as Channing Frye did but was certainly worse and was given tons of opportunity.
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s rebuild era
Maurice Harkless (2013-15)
104 starts, 6.8 PPG , 3.5 RPG, 1.1 SPG
Maurice Harkless is another draft pick who did not make it through his rookie contract. The only difference is he was the 15th pick in the draft. Not only was he the 15th pick but he was part of one of the biggest trades in Magic history.
He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers but traded to the Orlando Magic before the season started in a four-team trade that included sending Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers and Jason Richardson to the 76ers. These were big shoes to fill for the 19-year-old rookie, but the Magic had confidence in the promise he had as a young player.
Harkless was a 15.5 point-per-game scorer in college and averaged 8.6 rebounds per game. Those are fantastic stats coming out of St. Johns.
The Magic immediately threw Harkless in the. fire and he started 59 games his rookie season, the most he would start in a season for the Magic. Yet, even young coach Jacque Vaughn did not trust him fully, often sticking him in the corner where he was not an effective shooter and the ball never rotated toward him.
In his rookie year, he averaged 8.2 points per game and 4.4 rebounds, the most he would average in both categories for the Magic. He had shooting splits of 46.1/27.4/57.0 on the Magic that season. He never fulfilled his defensive potential for the Magic, at least.
Harkless just did not fit into the Magic offense. He was a small forward who could not space the floor, he was a poor free throw shooter despite only going to the line once per game, and was subpar around the rim. Defensively he was good at getting steals and that was about it.
He is most remembered on the Magic for scoring 28 points in a six-point loss to the Houston Rockets, and that game was on a random Monday in April so it is hard to believe anyone really remembers that.
Harkless went from starting 59 games rookie year to 4.0 in his last year on the Magic. It is very rare to see a third-year player who was a first-round pick get less playing time after a few years of experience.
After three disappointing years for the Magic, Harkless was traded for two future second-round picks, so in the long run basically nothing. The Magic took a former first-rounder who was a main trade piece for two of the best players in the team’s history and wanted to get rid of him so bad that they just moved on from him for whatever they could get.
Harkless did not follow in the footsteps of the players traded away to get him, and he did not even follow in the footsteps of a good first-round pick. He was an absolute miss.
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s rebuild era
Dewayne Dedmon (2014-16)
41 starts, 4.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG
Dewayne Dedmon was an undrafted rookie who was cut twice during his rookie year before signing for the rest of the season with the Orlando Magic and then eventually signing for two more years.
Dedmon never got more than 14 minutes per game on the Magic and had no expectations. But he may be the worst player to even start at least 40 games with the Magic.
Dedmon scored double digits 10 times in 133 games with the Magic and had a high of 18 points. The highest points per game he averaged for a month was 6.2 and he did that twice. He was a pretty good rebounder and shot blocker and that was it.
He had no shooting ability and no post moves, he only scored off of put-backs and lobs, and he was an average defender and a below-average rim protector. Despite his reputation as a shot blocker, he never averaged a block per game on the Magic.
He was an elite fouler, and he was a body to put in the game if Nikola Vucevic was tired or injured. He had one game where he led the Magic in points and rebounds and that was about the only accolade he had in his time with the Magic if that is even considered an accolade.
He also tallied up three double-doubles in his time with the Magic and had a high of 16 rebounds with the Magic. He had a game with six blocks and was a career 54.3/0/66.2 shooting splits on the Magic.
He had a plus/minus of -111 in his time on the Magic and it just seemed like nothing went right when he was on the court. He gave a lot of heart and hustle and was a good rebounder but the rest of his game was never developed.
After his glorious three years with the Magic, he went to the G-League before eventually getting called up by the San Antonio Spurs. It was probably a tough decision to decide to let him go but the Magic had to make a business decision.
How he got 41 starts is still a mystery and would today be considered tanking. Dedmon did not crush any Magic fans’ heart and was never a major piece for the Magic.
5 worst starters of the Orlando Magic’s rebuild era
Mario Hezonja (2016-18)
41 starts, 6.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.3 APG
In 2015, the Orlando Magic drafted the Barcelona sharpshooter Mario Heoznja with the fifth overall pick in the draft. This may go down as one of the biggest busts in Magic draft history and maybe NBA history.
Despite being a sharpshooter overseas he had career shooting splits with the Magic of 41.8/33.2/83.7. He never shot better than 35 percent from three with the Magic and was decent around the rim. He was not a playmaker and a liability on defense.
Hezonja had 20 games with at least 15 points in 219 games and 79 games with 3 or less including 28 games with 0. Yes, you read that right. He had more games with 0 points than 15 or more.
He never averaged 10 points per game in a season and was never the scorer he was supposed to be. His shot creation was poor, he could not get to the free throw line and he was just plain and simple not hitting shots.
He did not make up for it on the other end of the court either. The team only won more than 30 games his rookie year as Hezonja struggled to break into Scott Skiles’ rotation.
Hezonja often says the coaching change from Scott Skiles to Frank Vogel hurt his development. That might be true, but Hezonja struggled to make improvements on his own.
The team got worse as his time in Orlando went on. In his time with the Magic, he totaled 1,517 total points, 277 assists and 603 rebounds. That is 80 more points, eight more assists and 106 rebounds more than Paolo Banchero got in just his rookie year.
Hezonja totaled a -497 plus/minus on the Magic and was only a top 10 scorer on the Magic his last year where he was the seventh-highest scorer at 9.6 points per game.
Hezonja is most remembered for having a game-winning block on LeBron James when he was on the New York Knicks, so that just shows all his great moments with the Orlando Magic. He also had two double-doubles on the Magic so maybe that is his legacy on the Magic.
After his three years with the Magic, they declined his fourth-year player option and let him walk. He eventually signed with the Portland Trail Blazers and is now out of the league.
Hezonja was awful and was a bust of a 5th pick. He was a highly scouted player who never put anything together and he was the biggest disappointment on this list.