Fansided

NBA Power Rankings: The Regular Season Begins

By Gerald Bourguet

Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) prepares to shoot over Cleveland Cavaliers forwards LeBron James (23) and Kevin Love (0) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) prepares to shoot over Cleveland Cavaliers forwards LeBron James (23) and Kevin Love (0) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 31
Next
NBA
Oct 17, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) points and talks with forward Kyle O’Quinn (2) during the second half against the Detroit Pistons at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 99-87. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Previous: . Orlando Magic. 29. team. 38. If the Magic are still here in 3-5 years, we’ll be able to say their rebuilding experiment post-Dwight Howard completely and utterly failed. Orlando has an extremely young core, they just re-signed Nikola Vucevic to a nice extension and they have a dark horse Rookie of the Year candidate in Elfrid Payton. A lot of people are already predicting Aaron Gordon to be a draft bust, but at the very least he projects to be a tough defender, hard working hustle guy and uber-athletic finisher of alley-oops. <p> </p> <p>Unfortunately, as much as the Magic’s young core is teeming with potential, this year is going to be another trial by fire. Victor Oladipo is out for a month after undergoing surgery to repair a facial fracture (um, OW) and Channing Frye is unlikely to play in Orlando’s season opener tonight. Tobias Harris will stuff the stat sheet and the Magic have a promising future, but something tells me Orlando won’t start to see it until Jacque Vaughn is replaced with someone more qualified for the job. But at least Kyle O’Quinn’s beard game is on point!</p>. --

Home/Atlanta Hawks