1. Gordon Is Orlando’s Best Player
The Orlando Magic are in the midst of a painful rebuild that’s now extending into its seventh season. While it’s understandable to experience a decline once a superstar player leaves a franchise, the fanbase expects to see progress each season. Unfortunately for Magic fans, the team has failed to recapture the winning culture it experienced a decade ago.
Since the departure of Dwight Howard, Orlando has a combined record of 157-335. They’ve won more than 30 games only once, when the team went 35-47 in 2015-16.
Gordon is the best player on the current roster, and the team should be focused on building around his skillset. Sure, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic are gifted offensively. However, both have reached their ceiling in terms of potential, and Vucevic’s offensive numbers have declined each season since 2014-15.
Magic fans have become accustomed to losing players entering their prime. Shaquille O’Neal left the city in the 90s to achieve greatness with the Lakers, though his departure could be blamed on management and the fanbase. Victor Oladipo was traded during the summer of 2016, and experienced the best year of his career last season in Indiana.
The next two seasons are critical to the immediate future of the franchise. As mentioned earlier, they’ll have plenty of cap space next summer to sign players that fit Clifford’s system. If management botches these decisions like they have in the past, the city could lose another franchise player and endure a rebuild that will commence into the next decade.
