By John Denton

April 29, 2015

ORLANDO – While the Orlando Magic were hoping to make some significant strides in the standings during the 2014-15 season, it’s the individual strides among the gaggle of young players on the roster that might ultimately prove to be more long lasting in the years ahead.

Without question, the Magic (25-57) showed flashes of greatness this past season – both as a team and among their individual players. Seeing the growth and potential of players such as Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris, Elfrid Payton, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon gives the Magic tremendous hope that brighter days are ahead for a franchise out of the playoffs the past three seasons.

Without a doubt, developing more defensive toughness, becoming more consistent and learning how to close out tight games is still a work in progress for a Magic team that had the NBA’s fourth-youngest roster. Cultivating those things will be the job of a new head coach – be that an entirely new leader or interim coach James Borrego, who admirably guided the Magic over the final 30 games of the season after Jacque Vaughn was fired on Feb. 5. Orlando made some significant gains under Borrego – as evidenced by late-season victories against Chicago and Milwaukee – and he is expected to be considered for the full-time coaching gig going forward.

Orlando is also expected to add to its talent base in the June 25 NBA Draft. The Magic have secured the fifth-best odds at getting the top overall pick. The draft order will be determined in the May 19 NBA Draft Lottery, a process in which the Magic have an 8.8 percent chance of winning. They have a 9.7 percent shot at the No. 2 pick and a 10.7 percent chance at No. 3.

The Magic have won the NBA’s top overall pick three times in their 26-year history, ending up with franchise fixtures Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway and Dwight Howard.

Looking back on the 2014-15 season, we here at OrlandoMagic.com are going to spend the next three weeks breaking down each of the players currently on the Magic roster. We’ll look at their stats, highs and lows from the season, a favorite moment and analyze their role for the future.

So without further ado, here is today’s Magic player capsule:

NAME: Victor Oladipo

JERSEY NUMBER: 5

HEIGHT, WEIGHT: 6-4, 210

POSITION: Guard

NBA SEASONS: 2

AGE: 22 (23 on Monday)

2014-15 SEASON STATS: 72 games, 17.9 ppg., 4.2 rpg., 4.1 apg., 1.67 spg., 43.6 percent FG, 33.9 percent 3FG percent, 81.9 FT percent.

2014-15 SEASON HIGHS: 38 points (March 4 vs. Suns); 13 rebounds (Feb. 25 vs. Heat); 10 assists (March 10 vs. Kings); 5 steals (March 6 vs. Kings); 3 blocks (March 10 at Pacers); 44 minutes (April 15 at Nets).

BEST MOMENT: In a March 6 home game against Sacramento – a 119-114 Magic victory – Oladipo demolished the Kings to the tune of 32 points, 10 assists and five steals. That night, he made 14 of 24 shots, drilled two of three 3-pointers and connected on both of his free throw attempts. But his best play of the night came in the final minute when he drove hard into the lane and found teammate Tobias Harris in the right corner for a 3-pointer that proved to be the game’s winning points. Honorable mention: Oladipo had the tying bucket and a late 3-pointer in an April 4 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks and he followed it up four nights later with the game-winning, last-second layup against the Chicago Bulls.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Oladipo was the co-winner of the 2015 Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment award along with teammate Tobias Harris, and for good reason. Throughout the past season, Oladipo took part in 25 community events – 19 on an individual basis and six while along with his teammates. That participation led to Oladipo having interactions with Magic fans on 94 occasions. Last July, he worked with young athletes at the Magic Youth Basketball Camp. In October, Oladipo sorted items at a local Mustard Seed as part of the Hoops for Troops NBA Cares service project and then he conducted a meet-and-greet with soldiers in November. Oladipo also donated his winnings from the NBA Slam Dunk Contest to cancer centers in Orlando (Florida Hospital), Indiana and Washington, D.C.

FUTURE ROLE WITH THE MAGIC: Oladipo was forced to overcome a challenging start – he sprained his knee and fractured a bone in his face in training camp – but he made huge strides as a scorer and playmaker for the Magic. The addition of Payton allowed Oladipo to play more shooting guard and that led to him boosting his scoring average by 4.1 points per game. He had 26 games where he scored at least 20 points and he notched at least 30 points five times. That made Oladipo more of a focus on opposing scouting reports and he made the adjustments by finding open teammates when defenses collapsed on him. The play design of giving Oladipo the ball in the middle of the floor and having Tobias Harris on his right hand led to several late-game baskets for the Magic this season and it showed off the dynamic guard’s ability to make plays for himself and others. Oladipo did boost his overall shooting percentage (from 41.9 to 43.6 percent) and the from the 3-point line (from 32.7 to 33.9 percent) by working tirelessly on his shot over the summer. Now, the Magic need him to make another jump in terms of becoming a reliable shooter from the perimeter. With Payton being a tremendous drive-and-kick point guard, Oladipo has to be able to make teams pay with 3-point shots when they collapse. Also, if Oladipo can continue to improve his jump shot, it will make him even more lethal off the bounce. He is already looked to as a leader on the team, and he’ll need to be even more of a driving force for the Magic in the years to come.

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