By John Denton April 21, 2014
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic made great strides during the 2013-14 season, notching several wins against some of the best teams in the NBA and witnessing major improvements by many of their players.
Orlando had a seven-win improvement at the Amway Center this past season while beating Oklahoma City, Indiana, Brooklyn (twice), the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland. Undoubtedly, the high point in the season came in mid-February when Orlando beat OKC at the buzzer and outlasted Indiana in the fourth quarter within a three-day span. At the time, the Thunder and the Pacers were the leaders in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively.
Moments like those showed that the future is bright for a Magic squad loaded with promising young players such as Victor Oladipo, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless and steadied by the veteran leadership of Arron Afflalo and Jameer Nelson.
Orlando is also expected to add to his talent base in the June 26 NBA Draft. Orlando has secured the third-best odds at getting the top overall pick. The draft order will be determined in the May 20 NBA lottery, a process in which the Magic have a 16.6 percent chance of winning. The team with the third-best odds has won the NBA Draft Lottery each of the past two seasons (New Orleans with Anthony Davis and Cleveland with Anthony Bennett) and teams have won the lottery from the third spot eight times in the past 17 years.
The Magic have won the NBA’s top overall pick three times in their 25-year history, ending up with franchise fixtures Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Dwight Howard.
Looking back on the 2013-14 season, we here at OrlandoMagic.com are going to spend the next three weeks breaking down each of the players currently on the Magic roster. We’ll look at their stats, highs and lows from the season, a favorite moment and analyze their role for the future.
So without further ado, here is today’s Magic player capsule:
NAME: Arron Afflalo
JERSEY NUMBER: 4
HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 6-5, 215
POSITION: Shooting guard
NBA SEASONS: 7
AGE: 28
2013-14 SEASON STATS: 73 games, 18.2 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 3.4 apg., 45.9 percent FG, 42.7 percent 3-point FG, 81.5 percent FT.
2013-14 SEASON HIGHS: 43 points (Dec. 4 at 76ers); 13 rebounds (Jan. 19 vs. Celtics); 8 assists (Nov. 3 vs. Nets); 2 steals (Jan. 26 at Hornets); 52 minutes (Dec. 3 at 76ers).
BEST MOMENT: Afflalo carried the Magic throughout the double-overtime loss in Philadelphia on Dec. 3, scoring a career-best 43 points in a career-best 52 minutes. In that game, Afflalo made 14 of 27 shots and five of 11 3-pointers and 10 of 11 free throws. He also hit three clutch free throws in the final seconds of the first OT to force a second OT. Honorable mention: On Nov. 13, Afflalo drilled a career-best eight 3-pointers and scored 36 points in a home defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Afflalo took part in 16 community events during the 2013-14 season, including conducting meet-and-greet events with two children with Down Syndrome and a rare genetic disorder prior to two games in November. Afflalo also worked with the Magic and Pepsi in December to take a group of local children on a shopping spree prior to Christmas.
FUTURE ROLE WITH THE MAGIC: Afflalo is considered a cornerstone piece of the Magic because of his production on the floor, his commitment to winning and his professionalism around the team’s young players. Afflalo raised his scoring average for a seventh straight season, making him just the second player in NBA history to do that. (Derek Harper is the leader with eight straight seasons.) Afflalo averaged career highs in scoring (18.2 ppg.) and assists (3.4 apg.) and got close to doing the same in rebounds (3.6 rpg.) and 3-point shooting (42.7 percent). Afflalo played at an all-star level early in the season (19.4 ppg., 46.3 FG percent and 42.5 3FG percent before the break), but fell off the pace late in the year (15.7 ppg., 44.9 FG percent and 43.2 3FG percent). Afflalo has vowed to work harder on his skills and conditioning so that he can play his best basketball an entire season in the future. Afflalo truly cares about winning and Magic fans can rest well in knowing that Afflalo will continue to improve in the years to come.