Orlando Summer League Roster

[AtTheDriveIn]

Roster Link

 

^ That's the link to the breakdown that the Orlando Magic site has for their entire SL roster.

 

There's a few players on there that are good, quality players who can fill out the rest of the bench for us. Firstly, Van Gundy said that he was looking for a young, third-string point guard whom could be called upon at times to run the team for short stretches. There's two guys on our SL team that fit that roster:

 

Levance Fields - Pittsburgh

Jeremy Pargo - Gonzaga

 

I'll be the first to admit, the Gonzaga team doesn't get much airtime here in Australia, so the games I was able to catch, there was limited thoughts I could really take away from it. However, Fields is someone who impressed me with his leadership at Pitt this past season. As with all the Pitt players from last season, Fields is a pretty strong player, especially for his 5'10" frame. Unfortunately, today, we played a little bit of Pargo, who in the few minutes he played, looked a little bit flustered, but we also played Brian Chase who carried the team exceptionally well offensively, but seemed to get burned a little too hard by Westbrook on the defensive end, which resulted in 4 personal fouls. Though all of these guys probably deserve a second look somewhere, I don't think any have the qualities that the Magic are looking for. If one had to make out Training Camp roster, I'd personally prefer it to be Fields for what he can bring, but right now, Chase might have the edge because he's a little more experienced than the other point guards.

 

Moving onto the Forward rotation that the Magic have brought with them, and I can honestly say that I was 1) impressed with how they all played today and 2) think they all have a chance to make an NBA roster somewhere. The three players that made up the rotation today were:

 

Ryan Anderson - previously of the New Jersey Nets

Jeremy Richardson - Part of the Magic Finals team

Richard Hendrix - last seen with the Golden State Warriors

 

Beginning with Anderson, he's already got himself a guaranteed contract with the Orlando Magic for the upcoming season, so there isn't much to worry about for him. He scored 21 points today, shot 2/7 from three point range, but showed that he can played a little bit of the three spot due to his surprisingly good athleticism. He still looks a little bit stiff defensively, though, so it might be something that he's going to be looking to improve on this season. Reports were that the Magic weren't going to do the trade for Vince Carter unless Anderson was being sent to them, so the Magic are obviously very high on him. His PER rating was good enough to be ranked in the top 10 within the rookie batch last season. Though PER isn't actually efficient with players who play major minutes, the per minute production that Anderson showed is good. I'm hoping he can build a little bit on it, and perhaps become a starter for us at the Power Forward spot next season if we don't get any other 4's in.

 

The other two guys, Richardson and Hendrix are both phenomenal athletes. Richardson didn't get to show himself to the world last season playing with the Magic, and it likely wont change next season, but his talent is definitely on the NBA level. With Atlanta a few seasons ago, he did a surprisingly good job as the back-up for Joe Johnson, scoring about 5 points per game. Today, he scored 18 and grabbed 11 rebounds. I am honestly hoping that we keep Richardson around, if for nothing else than for that extra scoring punch if we ever decide we need it. Hendrix, on the other hand, is such a good player in the low-post. He's a little undersized, but he's got a wide body and he's super athletic. I was a little shocked when I saw that he was waived from the Golden State Warriors. He scored 10 points today, grabbed 4 rebounds, and blocked a shot. I'm almost sure that some team out there is looking for a player who can do a little scoring, and a lot of defending. Certainly has NBA potential.

 

 

That's my thoughts, if anyone has their own, feel free to post.

 

By the way, the Magic lost 88-77 today to the OKC Thunder. Was an entertaining game, Thunder have a promising team, I must admit.

[Teletopez]

Ryan Anderson put on quite a show today with 32 points. He almost broke the record for most points in a Summer League game (34 points, Travis Diener). He was doing it all, dominated inside, dominated outside, was strong off the glass. He's putting a smile on Magic fans' faces.

[Multi-Billionaire]

Ryan Anderson is nice... a Rashard Lewis lite I think... and would be a very good backup to him. He crashes the boards too... very good acquisition by Magic in the trade.

[AtTheDriveIn]

He's putting a smile on Magic fans' faces.

 

He sure is.

 

I'm really happy with his acquisition. Even when they traded for Carter, I was more happy that we got a good, young power forward who's got potential than just Vince Carter by himself. Today's game was great; he was stroking it from mid-range and from the three point line. He was a little more under control this game, and wasn't throwing up erratic shots. His basketball IQ seems to be fairly high. David Thorpe of ESPN twittered that he expects Anderson to compete for minutes right away.

[AtTheDriveIn]

Richard Hendrix had a very strong game today for us versus the New Jersey/Philadelphia combined team. He finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds with 5 offensive boards and forced Speights into some really tough situations on defense. This is the kind of game I'd expect him to bring the court every time he plays. Wonderful competitor and quite athletic. He ran up and down the court without problem with our guards today.

 

 

On the PG situation, it doesn't appear as though any of the PG's we brought it will have a shot at making the team. All of have below average in their showings. Russell Robinson and Mo Ager have been running the point a lot more than any of our true 1 guards, and neither are true floor generals, or even close to it. The back-back-up PG is a position that Van Gundy wanted to fill, but it doesn't appear that they'll get anything out of the Summer League roster.