It has been an interesting six months for the Orlando Magic. In August of last year, the team traded center Dwight Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers for a wing snack from Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken off of Centinela Avenue in Inglewood.
Now the Magic have sent guard J.J. Redick away to the Milwaukee Bucks for Tobias Harris, Doran Lamb and Beno Udrih.
See what I mean?
But just because their names aren’t recognizable to the masses doesn’t mean they won’t fit into what Magic general manager Rob Hennigan is trying to do with the team.
Redick is a free agent after the season, and considering he wants almost $10 million per year, the Magic were smart to trade him away before he walked.
As news broke around the city and the NBA of Redick’s departure, the Magic made Hennigan available to the media to talk about the deal. Since his inception as the team’s general manager, he’s made a few moves that have fans scratching their heads.
The moves haven’t been popular and the team’s record doesn’t show progress. The Magic have lost 41 games this season and have won just three games since the start of 2013. Fans lose patience fast, and now that Redick is officially off the roster, they’ll want an explanation as to why the team’s most popular player is now playing in Milwaukee.
“I understand the emotional shockwave that you feel when someone you root for gets traded. Our job is to remove that emotion and focus on decisions that are in the best interest of the organization. You have to be strategic, thoughtful and wise…,” said Hennigan.
Hennigan will need time to implement his plan for the Magic, but in the interim, fans should remain idle and trust his moves.
He seems to have an eye toward the future as he has cleared cap space and loaded the team up with young talent. Some of those pieces may not be there in the near future and he’ll probably use some of them for trade bait, but it all seems to be part of something larger for Orlando.
Trading a player like Redick away had to be tough for Hennigan, but since we know that he can make the tough choices without allowing emotion to cloud his process, the Magic are in good hands.
Keep rooting for the Magic, continue to fill the seats at the Amway, and trust in the front office to know that there is a plan to bring the Magic back to one of the NBA’s best teams.
