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NBA Rumors [Update]: Orlando Magic Continue Busy Summer With Six New Additions, Cliff Alexander And Damjan Rudez May Have Best Chance To Make Roster

By Daniel Benjamin
Published on: 22:27 PST, Sep 7, 2016

The Orlando Magic have totally rebuilt their team from top to bottom this offseason.

Orlando continued their remake on Wednesday with Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reporting that the Magic are bringing in six players to training camp. The players that received a camp invite are Nick Johnson, Kevin Murphy, Branden Dawsen, Cliff Alexander, Arinze Onuaka, and Damjan Rudez.

Schmitz says the six players will battle for the final two roster spots on the Magic’s 15-man roster. The six additions give Orlando 19 players heading into camp, with 13 players’ possessing fully guaranteed contracts.

Johnson was a second draft pick of the Houston Rockets in 2014. The six-foot-three combo guard appeared in 28 games for the Rockets during his rookie campaign, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 over 9.4 minutes while shooting 34.7 percent from the field.

Johnson was traded to the Denver Nuggets as part of the trade that brought Ty Lawson to the Rockets in the summer of 2015. After being released by the Nuggets prior to the start of last season, he continued to rehabilitate a back injury that affected him during training camp with the Nuggets, according to the Arizona Daily Star. The 23-year old finished the 2015-16 campaign with the Austin Spurs, producing 10.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 34 games.

Johnson spent this past summer with the Magic’s summer league team. He led the Orlando Blue team in both scoring (14.4) and assists (7.4). Johnson scored in double figures in four of the five games but struggled shooting overall, knocking down just 36.9 percent of his shots from the field though he make 39.1 percent of his three-point shots (9-of-23).

Johnson has the physical tools to contribute in the NBA. The University of Arizona product can get to the basket off the dribble, and excels at finishing through contact. He is a physical defender who has the ability to pressure opposing ball handlers in the backcourt.

Murphy performed well in his five games with the Magic’s White team in the Orlando Summer League. The six-foot-five shooting guard reached double-figures in four of the five games, averaging 11.2 and 4.2 rebounds overall. He did connect on over half of his field goal attempts in three of the games, though he shot 42.2 percent from the field overall. Murphy struggled shooting from beyond the arc, making only 3-of-16 attempts (18.8 percent), and had trouble with fouls on the defensive end.

Murphy has spent the past two years in Japan. He was a second round draft pick of the Utah Jazz in 2012 out of Tennessee Tech. Murphy appeared in 17 games for the Jazz in 2012-13, compiling 15 points — on 7-of-28 shooting — in 52 total minutes.

Dawsen was a second round pick of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2015, and he spent most of last season in the D-League, though he also did appear in six games with the Los Angeles Clippers. The six-foot-six forward had an effective summer league stint this year, averaging 10.0 points — on 62.5 percent shooting — and 6.6 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game. He put up 10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals in 29 D-League contests in 2015-16.

Dawsen is an undersized power forward who is a good rebounder. He can score around the rim but doesn’t shoot well from the perimeter.

Onuaka had a great summer league campaign, going for 14.8 points, along with 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 24.4 minutes per game over five appearances. He produced two double-doubles and tallied double-figures in each of the five games. The 29-year-old also grabbed in an incredible 18 offensive caroms and made 62.5 percent of his shots (30-of-48).

Onuaka played last year in Israel and in the Philippines — where he was named the Best Import of the conference — with 18.7 points and 17.4 rebounds in 17 games. The six-foot-nine undersized center is a quality rebounder with some nice post moves that struggles from the free throw line.

Onuaka has appeared in 11 NBA games over two seasons with three teams, averaging 2.7 points and 2.6 boards a game. He last played in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2014-15, appearing in six contests. The Syracuse University product also played for the New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers in 2013-14.

Rudez has played in the NBA the past two years for the Indiana Pacers and Wolves. The 30-year-old saw a decent amount of playing time in Indiana during his first NBA season in 2014-15, averaging 4.8 points over 15.4 minutes per game in 68 regular-season contests. However, he saw his time on the court dwindle to 8.4 minutes over 33 games this past season after getting traded to Minnesota.

Rudez has career stats of 3.9 points a game while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc. He is mainly a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter who doesn’t do much else on the offensive end. The six-foot-nine forward is a poor rebounder and gets overpowered by stronger big men.

Alexander signed with the Blazers as an undrafted rookie out of Kansas last July, but only saw action in eight games for the club during the 2015-16 season, playing a total of 36 minutes. The six-foot-eight power forward was waived in July before his 2016-17 salary became guaranteed. He also played four games with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D-League.

Alexander is another undersized big. The 20-year-old is very athletic and likes to play above the rim. He is a good weak-side shot-blocker and a good offensive rebounder though he is below average rebounder on the defensive end.

Contract details on the Magic’s new additions aren’t yet known, but the team is over the cap and short-term, minimum-salary deals seem likely. Orlando does still have its $2.89 million room exception available if it needs to offer more than the minimum to secure a player’s services.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Rudez and Alexander are the most intriguing of the six players.

Orlando has an entirely new coaching staff, and seven of its 13 players with fully guaranteed contracts are in their first season with the organization. Frank Vogel takes over the team from Scott Skiles, who walked away after just one season with the franchise. Serge Ibaka is the big name newcomer, but the Magic have also brought in Jeff Green, D.J. Augustin, Bismarck Biyombo, Jodie Meeks, C.J. Wilcox, and Stephen Zimmerman Jr. Orlando also re-signed free agent Evan Fournier.

[Photo by J. Pat Carter/AP Photo]

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