Orlando Magic rumors: Magic could have received more for Arron Afflalo?
On Thursday, the Orlando Magic dealt away their best player, veteran swingman Arron Afflalo. The Magic sent Afflalo to the Denver Nuggets, the team they originally acquired him from, in exchange for swingman Evan Fournier and the 56th-overall pick of the second round in Thursday’s draft, which wound up being former Iowa Hawkeyes’ guard Roy Devyn Marble.
More from NBA
- NBA insider: Cavaliers should consider trading Donovan Mitchell
- NBA rumors: Hawks trade candidate, Sixers miss out, Lakers almost lose Reaves
- NBA insider explains real reason the Grizzlies were done with Dillon Brooks
- Knicks projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
- Rockets projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
The real several eyebrows because the Magic were seemingly very reluctant to deal Afflalo, who was excellent during the 2013-2014 season. He drew interest throughout the season but the Magic refused to deal him.
Bill Ingram of Basketball Insiders believes the Magic could have gotten more for Afflalo.
"Honestly, I was scratching my head, too. They made such a big deal about not trading him at the deadline, but I think when he made it known he wanted out the Magic just made that happen as quickly as possible to avoid the distraction. Still, there were a lot of teams interested and Orlando could almost certainly have gotten more."
The Charlotte Hornets were reportedly offering the 24th-overall pick in Thursday night’s draft (which was used on former Connecticut Huskies’ point guard Shabazz Napier and traded to the Miami Heat) and swingman Gerald Henderson. The Detroit Pistons, who also once had Afflalo, tried to trade for him as well. Several other teams were reportedly interested in Afflalo as well.
Afflalo is coming off of the best season of his career, averaging 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.