The growth of Orlando Magic youth

There are multiple ways to become a championship-level contender in the NBA. Some team’s choose to do it mostly through the draft, like the Oklahoma City Thunder or Indiana Pacers, while others try to hit home runs in free agency and trades, like the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers. The Orlando Magic are choosing to go with the former, almost strictly building through the draft while making smart and logical moves in free agency and via trades.

The Magic front office, led by the young and brilliant Rob Hennigan, has been working diligently over the last few years to build a solid foundation for the future. They have that now, and could make a big splash in this year’s NBA Draft with two lottery picks in their possession. They’ve got the hard part of the rebuild out of the way, but next year will be a telling one for them. Do they turn into the Thunder or more like the Sacramento Kings?

The last two years have been bumpy, but the team saw some gradual improvement this season from a handful of their players. By season’s end, almost all of Orlando’s young players had seen their hard work pay off in their play on the court. So, in what ways did these guys improve? What kind of impact did their improvements make on the team, as well as their playing time?

[tps_title]Victor Oladipo[/tps_title]

The Magic’s prize possession from last year’s draft, Oladipo enjoyed a very solid rookie season. He was thrust into learning the point guard position after predominantly playing off the ball while at Indiana University. As expected, the freak athlete had some issues with his ball-handling and turnovers at times, but also showed improvement throughout the season.

His numbers overall may not jump off the page at you, but Oladipo was steady for the entirety of his rookie season. Seemingly each month, Oladipo saw his assists go up, capping off at 4.9 and 4.8 in February and March, respectively. While the dimes dipped down to 3.1 in April, much of that can be attributed to his minutes being closely monitored by Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn.

Oladipo had his struggles on the offensive end, shooting just 41.9 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from three, but showed he could be a lockdown type on the defensive side of the ball. He has some nice go-to moves on offense, including a pull-up jumper from the elbow, but will need to work on finishing around the rim, most notably with his left hand during the offseason.

The rookie was asked how he would grade himself on his rookie season, to which he replied, “I think I did okay, like a D+ or something. No, I don’t know; I think I did alright for myself. Again, there’s a lot of room for growth and a lot of room for improvement, so just going to attack this summer with an attitude to get better and I’m looking forward to do that.”

Needless to say, through his ups and downs, Oladipo had a solid rookie season and will undoubtedly continue to work hard in the offseason and get better. Plus, that’s the only way he can become one of the greatest in the league, right?

[tps_title]Doron Lamb[/tps_title]

Despite getting inconsistent minutes for much of the season, sharp shooter Doron Lamb made the most of his time this season. He fell behind the eight ball early, thanks to a bad high ankle sprain, but continued to work and found his way back into the rotation by the end of the season. Coach Vaughn praised Lamb for his work ethic on multiple occasions, and gushed about his ability to “always be ready.”

Lamb knows that he has a long way to go in this league, but he can lean on one attribute to keep him on rosters for now: his shooting. After a solid game against the Cleveland Cavaliers late in the season, Lamb told reporters what he must work on, “My ball handling. My defense. I think everything really, just need to get everything better for next year.”

After playing in 28 games before the NBA All-Star break, averaging a mere 2.8 points, on 41.2 percent from the field and 34.1 from three, Lamb saw his scoring and three-point shooting numbers increase. In 25 All-Star games after the break, Lamb put up 4.5 points while shooting 44.9 percent from three. Unfortunately for Lamb, he saw his overall field goal percentage dip to 38.0 percent. He saw some nice performances down the stretch, but will need to continue to improve his consistency across the board.

Lamb has a ways to go in his development, but he showed that he really took a step forward this season. He proved he’s a more than capable defender, both on and off the ball, and can be a deadly three-point shooter when he’s feeling it. Next year will be a big one for him, and many eyes will be on him in his contract year with the Magic.

[tps_title]Maurice Harkless[/tps_title]

After a solid first month of the season, second-year wing Maurice Harkless hit a wall. He struggled with his shot, and at times struggled to even get on the court for more than a few minutes a game. People began to wonder what was wrong with the St. John’s product.

Then, he flipped a switch and things began to turn the corner. During a west coast road trip in early January, Harkless had a couple of very nice games, which really seemed to give him the confidence that was needed going forward. Harkless really began to get things going, growing from each performance and continually improving on both ends.

After the All-Star break, Harkless saw his numbers go up almost across the board, with only his free-throw shooting taking a slight dip from the season’s first half. He showed more confidence in his shot, helping him to improve his three-point field goal percentage nearly 11 points from his rookie season. He also showed a more aggressive and confident side with the ball in his hands, driving and finishing around the rim with more ease and confidence.

Harkless has said he’ll be participating in the FIBA World Cup of Basketball for Puerto Rico, which will undoubtedly help the athletic wing in his development. He’s still got to find some consistency in his shot and scoring ability, but when he does, Harkless will be a key cog in the machine for Orlando.

[tps_title]Tobias Harris[/tps_title]

Harris is one of the more interesting young pieces the Magic have. He’s versatile in that he can play either forward position, and can do a multitude of things on the court. However, there are also still a lot of unanswered questions regarding Harris going forward.

Harris fell behind some early in the year due to a high ankle sprain, which he suffered in the preseason. He missed 21 of the team’s first 22 games, and later in the year admitted he was still playing through some pain in the ankle. Despite the injury, Harris showed the same hard work and scoring ability that the team saw after acquiring him mid-season from the Milwaukee Bucks last year.

Harris split time between starting and coming off the bench this season, excelling in whichever situation he was put in. During the team’s exit interviews, Harris was asked what he would like to see his role as next season, to which he had this to say, “It doesn’t matter. I’m the type of player, you know I’ve showed it this year, whatever role you want me at I’m going to excel at it. I’m not going to pout. I’m just gonna come out to work everyday and do what I can for my teammates everyday. I just think the biggest thing for me is winning and getting into a position where we can win games; whatever role that may be for me, I know I’ll be part of it and I’ll just excel at it.”

The former Tennessee Volunteer continued to find ways to score the ball at a reasonably high rate, while rebounding the ball exceptionally well also. He’s a nightmare for power forwards to guard, but has trouble on the defensive end against both forward positions. He’s going to be up for a contract extension soon, so the team will need to make a decision regarding Harris relatively quickly.

[tps_title]Kyle O’Quinn[tps_title]

The friendly bearded giant made arguably the biggest step of any of the Magic’s young players this season. After struggling to get playing time early in the season, O’Quinn found his way back into the rotation, and in a big way. He continued to work hard and grow his game on both ends, eventually finding his way into the starting lineup by season’s end.

O’Quinn isn’t he biggest threat on the offensive end, but possesses an innate ability in passing the ball, finding cutting teammates with ease. He also showed consistency with his mid-range jumper, and an ability to go and bang down low with anyone. While his true shooting and effective field goal percentages went down, O’Quinn’s PER jumped from 15.8 his rookie season, to 16.5 this year.

The biggest growth for O’Quinn was on the defensive end. According to SynergySports, the Norfolk State grad gave up the fourth fewest points per possession guarding the roll man in pick and rolls, giving up just 0.64 points per possession. Furthermore, O’Quinn finished 82 in the league overall, giving up a mere 0.82 points per possession.

O’Quinn also ranks highly on NBA.com’s SportsVU defensive impact. Of players who finished the season with 70 or more blocks, O’Quinn ranks eighth in opponent field goal percentage at the rim, allowing opponents to shoot just 46.2 percent this season. That ranks him above some of the league’s best defensive big men, including Joakim Noah, Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis and DeAndre Jordan, just to name several.

The former second round pick was asked how much pride he takes in his improvement from year one to year two – “I take a lot in it. I mean, I go in the gym everyday to, you know, get to the highest level of what my position and opportunity may bring, so I would try to take advantage of it, so I’m happy with what I’ve done. But, like coach said, I want more. That comes with continuing to work and as a team just winning games and really really showing what our hard work has done.”

Needless to say, O’Quinn’s jump is a pleasant one for the growing Magic team. He’s still got room to grow and needs to become more cognizant of not committing some silly fouls, but that will come with time. For now, Orlando will enjoy the steal they got and help him to continue to grow into an even better player.

[tps_title]Nikola Vucevic[/tps_title]

After a breakout-type year his first season in Orlando, Vucevic continued to impress, despite battling a multitude of injuries throughout the season. The third-year big from USC played in only 57 games, 20 fewer than his inaugural season, due to two ankle sprains, a concussion and a sore Achilles late in the season. While the injuries seemingly continued to come one after another, Vucevic was able to perform exceptionally well when he was on the court.

Vucevic showed off a new and improved post game, to go along with an already consistent mid-range jumper. He also continued to rebound the ball at an exceptionally high rate, grabbing 11 rebounds per game and notching 36 double-doubles, which was good enough for a tie for 13th most in the league. His defense also took a step in the right direction, as the team struggled mightily not only rebounding, but defending inside in the games Vucevic didn’t play in.

While he still has a long way to go before he’s a real defensive force, he’s got a decent foundation to continue to build on. To his credit, Vucevic knows this, as is evident when he was asked what he wanted to work on this offseason. Here’s what he had to say about the topic, “Overall work on stuff related to that; that’s going to be my main focus and my post game, something that I’ve gotten better at this year, but I think I can still improve. Just work a lot and improve my game overall, can always get better. Watch all of my games from this year to see what I was doing well, what I wasn’t. Work on that stuff, talk to the coaching staff, see what they want me to work on and set up a good program for the summer.”

Vucevic, like Harris, is going to be up for a contract extension soon, but recently told reporters that he’d like to stay in Orlando. “I’d love to stay in Orlando. I like it here a lot, I like the team, I like what we’ve got going here, I like the coaches, I like everything. I’d love to stay here, but I guess we should talk about that when the time comes. Can’t really talk about that now.” It’s safe to say that he’s going to continue to improve and have a great career, whether that be in Orlando or elsewhere.

[tps_title]Andrew Nicholson [/tps_title]

Finally, the one Magic young player who really took a step backwards this season. After a strong rookie campaign, Nicholson regressed on both ends of the floor for the most part. What was the main cause for this? What didn’t work for him this season?

While he grew his offensive game, adding a corner three-pointer to his arsenal, he seemed to rely too much on it early in the season. There would be stretches when he was on the court that we would just stand in the corner offensively, waiting for the pass, not moving, not setting screens, just waiting. He showed off some of the most refined footwork in the post last season, yet seemingly refused to go down there.

He started the year with some nice games, but began to struggle and saw his minutes take a huge hit, playing sparingly in many games in December through February. Some of this can be attributed to the return of Harris and the emergence of O’Quinn, but some also rests on Nicholson and his inconsistencies, not only offensively, but also rebounding the ball and defensively.

He was never a great defensive player his rookie season, but really regressed even more this year. He would miss assignments, get beat regularly by his opponent, and sometimes just appear to not really try. That, along with only grabbing five or more rebounds in 21 games this season, hurt Nicholson.

He finished the season with some strong games, finishing in double figures in the team’s final three contests. He showed more willingness to go down in the post and shot off his post moves, rather than rely on his jumper like he had for much of the year. Nicholson’s strong finish could carry over into the offseason and into next season, but it’s clear that Nicholson still has work to do to be a consistent player in this league.

Outside of Nicholson, it was a very good year for the Magic’s young players and their progression. This will be a big summer for all of them, and if they can continue to grow and improve, the Magic could be looking at a big jump in the standings next year.

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