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Terrence Ross Ruled Ineligible to Play Wednesday

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
Feb. 15, 2017

ORLANDO – While the Orlando Magic are certainly excited about the potential of Terrence Ross, they must wait another week to see the highly athletic shooting guard/small forward in action on the court.

Orlando acquired Ross in a trade on Tuesday morning and sent power forward Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors. Ross arrived in Orlando on Tuesday night, passed his physical Wednesday morning and then watched the team’s shoot-around session at the Amway Center. However, Ross was unable to play on Wednesday night because Ibaka had yet to pass his physical with the Raptors.

The Raptors held a news conference on Wednesday for Ibaka, however the power forward was not cleared by the team and the NBA league office. He was not in uniform for Toronto on Wednesday against Charlotte.

With the NBA about to break for the NBA All-Star Game, Ross must wait until Feb. 23 to make his Orlando debut before Magic fans. That is assuming, of course, that Ibaka is eventually cleared and the trade isn’t voided.

Coach Frank Vogel had planned to use Ross, 26, on Wednesday against the Spurs in his first game with the Magic. While Ross has spent most of his five-year career backing up all-star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan in Toronto, he has at times been a starter. Vogel said he hasn’t decided how he will use the 6-foot-7, 206-pound Ross.

Whatever role that he plays as a starter or a reserve, Ross should bring some much-needed shooting and athleticism to a Magic roster that was previously top-heavy with big men. He has averaged 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 54 games, while scoring in double digits 27 times and accounting for 20-or-more points five times, including a season-best 25 points on Dec. 12 in Milwaukee.

Ross is shooting a career-best 44.1 percent from the floor while knocking down 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. With the Raptors this season, he made at least one 3-pointer in 42 games and he drilled at least three threes in a game 16 times.

``With (Evan) Fournier, (Mario) Hezonja, Ross, Gordon and Jeff Green, you’ve got five guys right there who can play the wing position in a spread lineup,’’ Vogel said. ``And the fact that he’s a career 38 percent 3-point shooter, he’s really going to help us.

``I think there’s a chance that we could use him as a starter with Aaron Gordon at the (power forward position),’’ Vogel added later. ``There’s a chance we can use him as a bench scorer and we’ll probably look at both options.’’

A.G. ON THE MOVE?: With Ibaka gone, there should be more minutes available at power forward and theoretically that could lead to Aaron Gordon returning to his natural position at power forward. Gordon played there his first two seasons in the NBA, but he shifted over to small forward this season because of the log jam along the frontline.

Playing mostly on the perimeter instead of being used as a low-post threat, Gordon has struggled to consistently knock down long-range shots. He hit just 42.9 percent of his field goals and only 29.5 percent of his 3-point tries as foes have often backed off him or gone under screens and dared him to shoot.

However, Gordon has had enormous success on the defensive end while guarding mostly perimeter players. Vogel has used him on the likes of James Harden, Chris Paul, Paul George, Damian Lillard and DeRozan and he’s had success in frustrating them with his rare combination of length and strength.

Gordon’s prowess as a wing defender gives Vogel pause in wanting to change his position in midseason.

``That’s the one thing that’s kind of holding me back from moving him back to a full-time power forward – the success that he’s had there (at small forward) and the benefits we gain as a team in having him guard the other team’s best perimeter player,’’ Vogel said. ``We don’t want to lose that in trying to shift his position, so we’re going to keep him in that (small forward) role indefinitely so to speak, while at the same sliding him over to power forward some. So he’s going to see a blend of both.’’

GREEN’S ADVICE: Magic forward Jeff Green knows the whirlwind of emotions and chaotic scheduling that Ross is going through right now. After all, he’s been traded three times in the middle of a season, going from Oklahoma City to Boston, Boston to Memphis and Memphis to the Los Angeles Clippers.

While most sports fans look at pro athletes as pawns that can easily be traded from team to team, Green stressed that they are real people with families and lives that are dramatically disrupted when a trade comes in the middle of a season.

``You have a matter of hours to pack up everything and head to a new city and try to figure out how to get settled. It’s a tough adjustment,’’ Green said.

Green, who is in his ninth NBA season, said he will do everything in his power to try and held Ross ease the transition to a new team and a new city.

``When you welcome someone to a good environment, a good atmosphere and you get around people who are willing to help, that makes it easier,’’ Green said. ``With T-Ross being new and coming here, we’re going to do whatever it takes to make him feel comfortable and help with his adjustment and get him anything that he needs because it is a quick turnaround. Luckily he has the all-star break coming up and he’ll have some time to settle in, but as of today we want to make sure he’s well taken care of so that he can focus on the game (of basketball) and not have to focus on other things that go on behind the scenes.’’

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