Welcome to the Orlando Sports Weekly Rundown, I'm David Baumann.
Since there's no Orlando Magic basketball to watch for the sixth straight postseason, let's check in on former Magic players who are enjoying the NBA Playoffs.
Victor Oladipo, G, Indiana Pacers (player for Orlando Magic 2013-16):
Orlando Sports Weekly Rundown: Orlando Magic Players Of The Past
Oladipo, just 25-years-old, has turned into a bonafide star in Indiana. He's taken his game to an entirely new level. He averaged career-highs in every major statistical category in the regular season, including a career-high 23.1 PPG. Now that the playoffs have arrived, he's improved even further in nearly every category as the Pacers have tied the series 2-2 against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Trading Oladipo to Oklahoma City, along with Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova in exchange for a six-month rental of Serge Ibaka will go down as one of the Top 10 WORST trades of all-time. Rob Hennigan should burn in hell a little bit for that trade.
J.J. Redick, G, Philadelphia 76ers (played for Orlando Magic 2006-12):
Redick signed a one-year contract with the upstart Philadelphia 76ers for $23M. He's proven to be the perfect compliment to 76ers budding stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Redick averaged 17.1 points during the regular season, and he's stepped his game up even further early in the postseason. He's averaged 18.4 points through the first four games against the Miami Heat. Philadelphia holds the 3-1 series lead.
Ersan Ilyasova, F/C, Philadelphia 76ers (played for Orlando Magic 2015-16):
Ilyasova, an NBA journeyman, has played for six teams in 10 NBA seasons. He's thoroughly outperformed Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside through the first four games of the 76ers-Heat opening round series. Ilyasova has averaged 12.1 points, 9.0 rebounds. Whiteside, who makes $22M annually, has averaged just 6.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Domantas Sabonis, F/C, Indiana Pacers (never played for Orlando Magic after the Magic drafted him 11th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft):
The Magic drafting Sabonis 11th-overall in 2016 was perhaps the only administrative move I've approved of over the past three years. But the Magic immediately blew it by inexplicably trading him, along with Oladipo and Ilyasova to Oklahoma City. Sabonis had a solid second season in the NBA with the Pacers. He averaged 11 points, 7.7 rebounds. Though he has struggled at times through the first four postseason games. He's averaged just 9.0 points and 4 rebounds in the series against the Cavs.
Serge Ibaka, PF, Toronto Raptors (played for Orlando Magic 2015-16): Serge doesn't even deserve to have an image of himself inserted here. He was a total bust in Orlando. In Toronto, he's doing just fine. He's averaging 10.8 PPG and 9.3 RPG, not far off his career averages.
Ryan Anderson, PF, Houston Rockets (played or Orlando Magic 2009-12): The sharp-shooting Anderson scored 12 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in his only game so far in the postseason. This is his 10th NBA season.
Trevor Ariza, PF, Houston Rockets (played for Orlando Magic 2005-08): Ariza, in his 13th NBA season, is a steady 11 PPG, 5 RPG guy.
Marcin Gortat, C, Washington Wizards (played for Orlando Magic 2007-11): Gortat has started every game at center for the Wizards for the past two seasons. His statistics, however, have been on the decline. He averaged just 8.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, well below his career averages.
David Baumann is a Sports Columnist for 407area.com and can be heard on Tuesdays, 7-9pm on EK Sports, 96.9 The Game FM. He can be seen Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 10:30 pm on Spectrum Sports 360's Face Off Segment on Spectrum News 13, channel 1013.
