The Orlando Magic have made two sudden moves that seemingly came out of nowhere.
The first move found Orlando trading two of their happier vets who had a positive lockerroom presence in F Jonathan Isaac and SF Khris Middleton. In addition to the wily veterans, Orlando traded their '34 2nd Rd Pick as well as other considerations to the Washington Wizards in exchange for PF's Deyonta Davis, Chris Silva, and the Atlanta Hawks '34 1st Rd Pick.
While Isaac and Middleton were in the practice facility saying their goodbyes, a few moments later the Magic announced an additional move.
It was a very hard move to make as those guys were a very good presence to be around day in and day out. They never complained, they just went out there and did their job to the best of their abilities.
Even when their role shifted, Khris in particular never said a word. He just went out there and played but the truth was we weren't doing them any favors at this stage of their careers and we looked into moving them to a team who can contend. We spoke with a team or two and Washington was the team who sees them making a huge difference in making a push as teams are now settling into the season. In exchange we got a future 1st, a tough PF in Davis and managed to have some additional capspace for what lies ahead for us this offseason should things work out that way.
We wish them both the best in Washington.
Orlando then sent hot shooting GF Desmond Bane, disgruntled PF Alperen Sengun, and the '32 Sixers 1st Rd Pick to Cleveland in exchange for FC Santi Aldama.
When asked what Nash meant by "it may affect some guys who are happy" and was he referring to Scottie Barnes, Nash stated, 'he was a selection by the old regime so we are gauging whether he fits the new culture and so far he has been fantastic!"
That move was based on two things, one being lockerroom presence as Alperen had expressed his dissatisfaction in his role once we had gotten Scottie in the Draft. He just wasn't used to having to compete for his time the way he had to and it started wearing on him.
He's a good kid and if I were in his shoes I'd have been upset as well so I get it. We noted Cleveland has another player from Turkey which may help with his transition in Cleveland. Bane was just someone we had to move in the deal which was a shame as he was happy in his role and performed quite well for us. But that's the business.
The second was we looked at Santi as a guy with a very nice skill set who can play well next to Mark Williams and Walker Kessler. We also look for him to press Scottie for the starting PF role or playing Scottie at the 3. Who knows.
We just know we are in a "Moving & Acquisition Phase" and there's still some unhappy guys here so we're seeing what changes do we need to continue to make to ensure we are setup very nicely for the interim as well as the future.
Again... Want to be here. We want guys who want to be here and it may affect some guys who are happy or satisfied but we also have a franchise to rebuild and it's been too long since there's been a semblance of success here. We'll continue to do the best we can to accomplish that goal.
It seems unclear however more moves seem to be on the way.
Go Magic!
