Orlando Magic: 3 Players That Disappointed This Season

In many ways, the 2018-19 season was kind of a breakout year for the Magic. They had finished as the second worst team in the East when the previous season drew to a close, holding a miserable 25-57(win-loss) record next to their name.

Understandably so, nobody expected them to make any waves in the Eastern Confernce when their campaign kicked off in 2018. However, much to the shock of many and the delight of fans in Orlando, the Magic grinded out an impressive 42-40 record and finished 7th on the East standings.

"I feel like we learned how to win, and that was one of the things that had been lacking here – a culture, a know-how and a standard," said Aron Gordon when asked about the team's progress and finishing the regular season on a 22-9(win-loss) run.

Despite losing to the Raptors 4-1 in the first round, they had done enough to build upon for the coming year.

"I think we exceeded expectations (this past season), and that’s good, but it’s all about winning playoff series,’’ Gordon added. "It’s not the end – we’ll take a month off and then it’s right back to work."

Gordon averaged 16 points and 7.4 rebounds while Vucevic led the scoring with 20.8 points per game, good enough to bag him his first ever All-Star appearance. While the franchise found a couple of diamonds in the rough, there are some yet to break out of their shells and play to their fullest potential.

Let's take a look at the three most disappointing performers from Orlando's magnificent outing this past regular season.

#1 Evan Fournier

Fournier failed to make defenses pay as he would have liked.

In his fifth straight year with the Magic franchise, the French shooting forward- for the first time - averaged fewer points per game than his previous year. He averaged 15.1 points per game which is fairly decent in today's NBA. But there was one glaring anomaly that surfaced as the season progressed and eventually came to a warp.

On a team devoid of quality shooting, Fournier failed miserably in his role of knocking down 3-pointers at a consistent pace and spacing the floor. His primary remit of shooting the ball was as ordinary as it could've been.

Evan shot a career-low 34% from beyond the arc on almost six 3-point attempts per game and also recorded his lowest conversion from the field in five years.

Safe to say, he feel woefully short of the long-range shooting expecations his team had from him.

#2 Mohamed Bamba

Mo Bamba was the 6th overall pick in 2018.

The coaching staff knew he was far from a complete NBA-ready player in many ways and so they tried hard to manage his minutes and maximise his potential throughout the year. Clearly not fit to play starters role yet, Bamba averaged over 16 minutes per game before suffering a leg fracture in January which kept him out for the remainder of the season.

He did not make an immediate impact on the defensive end and the Magic had their worst net rating with Bamba on the court at -15.2 points per 100 possessions. Moreover, Orlando gave up 108.3 points per 100 possessions when Mo was on the floor for them.

As expected, his injury came as a turning point for the team as they made a final dash for the postseason. On the brighter side, the fact that Mo got his taste of the league might prove to be helpful in the longrun.

In the 47 games he played this season, Bamba finished with averages of 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.

#3 Jonathan Isaac

Jonathan Isaac was picked 6th overall by the Magic in 2017.

Coming off an injury prone rookie year due to a right ankle sprain in December of 2017, Isaac's sophomore year was where he got to play 75 games in total and experience the NBA and everything it stands for.

Sadly, his 2018-19 season saw unimpressive averages like 9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

He started 64 of his 75 games with the team this year and had a prominent role to play in Coach Clifford's defensive schemes.

Many believe that he is yet to reach his ceiling and that he's coming into his own with every passing game in a Magic jersey.

In his first rendezvous with the playoff atmosphere, Isaac averaged 6.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1 block per game. which could've been much better considering he played over 27 minutes per game.