NBA Rumors: Magic should trade Arron Afflalo to Hornets
The Orlando Magic have won just 43 combined games over the last season, but have set themselves up well for the future, which is about as much as anyone could possibly hope for after trading Dwight Howard away.
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The Magic have a few, nice, young players like forwards Tobias Harris and Maurice Harkless, center Nikola Vucevic and the number two overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, guard Victor Oladipo. They should be able to add a couple of more pieces this offseason with the fourth-overall and 12th-overall picks.
To clear room for these young players to play, the Magic may need to get rid of their veteran guards, Jameer Nelson, who has a partially guaranteed contract next season, and Arron Afflalo, who they would have to trade.
A report has surfaced that the Charlotte Hornets, in dire need of scoring, could be interested in trading their ninth-overall pick to the Magic for Afflalo. Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders believes the Magic should ship Afflalo to Charlotte if they can land the ninth-overall pick.
"Yeah, I’d take that, mostly because I don’t think Afflalo is destined to be an Orlando lifer. If they end up with Exum or Smart to pair up Oladipo, they’re not going to want to take minutes away from those guys by keeping Afflalo around. Earning another lottery pick to maybe steal away a guy like Julius Randle or Aaron Gordon at #9 would definitely help with the rebuilding process."
Afflalo, who is reportedly open to being dealt to a playoff team, was excellent for the Magic this year and had the best season of his career. He averaged 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 45.9% from the field, 42.7% from beyond the arc and 81.5% from the free throw line.