2017-18 fantasy basketball preview: Orlando Magic

Over the coming weeks, we at FanSided will do a team-by-team breakdown of each NBA franchise’s fantasy prospects for the 2017-18 season. Let’s continue today with the Orlando Magic.

The Orlando Magic won’t be a League Pass fixture in 2017-18, but fantasy basketball owners shouldn’t completely ignore them on draft day.

After splurging on Bismack Biyombo last summer, the Magic stood relatively pat this offseason, which makes it relatively easy to project each player’s fantasy outlook. They selected Jonathan Isaac with the No. 6 overall pick during the 2017 NBA draft, but the rangy forward doesn’t figure to be much of a fantasy factor as a rookie. Second-round pick Wesley Iwundu likely won’t crack the regular rotation, either.

Orlando did add a few veterans, too, in Jonathan Simmons, Marreese Speights and Shelvin Mack. Simmons should bring energy off the bench, but he’ll need to benefit from injuries knocking out other rotation members to be fantasy-relevant. The same goes for Mack, who will split backup point guard minutes with D.J. Augustin. Speights may provide impressive per-minute production, but he’ll have to contend with Biyombo and Nikola Vucevic for frontcourt minutes.

Which Magic players should fantasy owners target with early-, mid- and late-round picks, and who should be left on the waiver wire? Let’s take a look.

Early-round picks

Nikola Vucevic, C: Biyombo’s arrival last season seemed to signal the beginning of the end for Vucevic’s time in Orlando, but the USC product staved off his challenger and remained in the starting lineup for 55 of his 75 appearances. Despite setting five-year lows in minutes per game (28.8), free-throw percentage (66.9 percent) and field-goal percentage (46.8 percent), Vucevic still finished as the 48th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues after averaging 14.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks. If he bounces back closer to his career norms in terms of shooting percentage, a top-40 finish isn’t out of the question, although he doesn’t provide the blocks you’d hope for from a top-tier center.

Mid-round picks

Elfrid Payton, PG: Payton fell into the doghouse of new head coach Frank Vogel early in the season, but a post-All-Star-break surge speaks to his upside heading into the 2017-18 season. Over his final 24 games, Payton went off for 13.5 points on 50.8 percent shooting, 8.4 assists, 7.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 30.1 minutes, finishing as the 49th-ranked player on a per-game basis over that span. Augustin and Mack loom as potential replacements if Payton runs afoul of Vogel again, but with him heading into a contract year, it’s imperative for the Magic to suss out whether he’s their long-term point guard of the future. As such, Payton is worth a look in the sixth or seventh round of 10-team leagues, although he won’t help you much with three-pointers.

Aaron Gordon, PF: Can Orlando let Gordon play at his natural position (power forward) for more than 20 games at a time? Asking for a legion of frustrated fantasy owners. The Magic inexplicably shifted Gordon down to small forward for much of the 2016-17 campaign, where he unsurprisingly struggled, but after they shipped Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors at the trade deadline, the Arizona product flourished. Over his final 24 outings, Gordon erupted for 16.4 points on 50.3 percent shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.9 3-pointers and 0.7 blocks in 31.2 minutes, ranking 41st on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues over that span. With Gordon projected to begin the 2017-18 season as Orlando’s starting 4, he’s poised to smash his early ESPN.com average draft position of 107.0. Give him a look in the eighth or ninth round.

Late-round picks

Terrence Ross, SG: After Orlando shipped Ibaka to the Raptors for him, Ross immediately slid into the Magic’s starting lineup and thrived. Over those 24 games, he put up 12.5 points on 43.1 percent shooting, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 triples, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 31.2 minutes, finishing as the 88th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues. Simmons and Afflalo lurk as minor threats to Ross’ playing time on the wing, but the Magic need his 3-point proficiency alongside non-shooters in Gordon and Payton. He’s somehow going undrafted in early ESPN.com leagues, but he’s worth a look in the 11th or 12th round.

Evan Fournier, SG: In the first season of his new five-year, $85 million contract, Fournier took a concerning step back in terms of efficiency. Though he set new career highs in points (17.2), rebounds (3.1) and assists (3.0), he shot just 43.9 percent overall, 35.6 percent from 3-point range and 80.5 percent from the charity stripe, all of which were marked declines from the year prior. As such, he finished the year as the 126th-ranked player on a per-game basis in nine-category leagues, more than 50 spots lower than where he ranked the previous season (74th). With Ross, Afflalo and Simmons all lurking as competition on the wing — not to mention Mario Hezonja, the No. 5 pick of the 2015 NBA draft — he’ll have a tough time living up to his early ESPN.com average draft position of 89.1.

Waiver-wire fodder

Shelvin Mack, PG

D.J. Augustin, PG

Arron Afflalo, SG

Jonathon Simmons, SG

Wesley Iwundu, SG

Jonathan Isaac, SF

Mario Hezonja, SF

Damjan Rudez, SF

Marreese Speights, PF

Bismack Biyombo, C

Next: The 10 greatest mustaches in NBA history

Sleepers/Busts

Sleeper: Aaron Gordon

Bust: Evan Fournier

Other team breakdowns

All average draft position info via FantasyPros. All rankings via Basketball Monster are based on nine-category leagues.

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