The Orlando Magic have been, shall we say, inconsistent over the past 25 years. Orlando had back-to-back 59-win seasons including a trip to the NBA Finals in the 2008-09 season. Not long after, the Magic endured six consecutive losing years.
Which players gave the Magic an extra boost in the era from 2000-25? RotoWire set to find out by compiling this list of top five players (two guards, a center and two forwards).
Orlando Magic All-Time Starting Lineup Since 2000
Our Orlando Magic All Quarter Century team won't be found at NBA betting sites because it's exclusive to RotoWire. The players here were not chosen by any single metric – we used a combination of statistics, awards and intangibles.
Jameer Nelson (2004 to 2014)
Nelson, the point guard out of Saint Joseph's, played 14 seasons in the NBA but he is most identified with the 10 years he spent with the Magic. He is the franchise's all-time leader in assists (3,501) and is second in games played with the Magic (651) behind Nick Anderson (692). Nelson helped guide Orlando to the playoffs six times during his tenure. A shoulder injury sidelined him in the second half of the 2008-09 season and the first three rounds of the playoffs. He returned for the Finals but only averaged 18 minutes and 3.8 points per game as the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the Magic in five games to take the title.
Tracy McGrady (2000 to 2004)
T-Mac spent just four seasons in Orlando, but they were the best ones of his 15-year career. The guard led Orlando to the playoffs in three of his four seasons and won two scoring titles, including the 2002-03 season when McGrady averaged a franchise-record 32.1 points a game. McGrady owns four of the top seven seasons in franchise history for scoring average and his 16.1 Win Shares (per the Basketball Reference website) in 2002-03 were second best ever in a season for an Orlando player.
Hedo Turkoglu (2004 to 2009 and 2010 to 2013)
Turkoglu is fifth on the all-time franchise list for 3-point field goals made (794) and attempted (2,095) after his eight seasons in Orlando over two stints. The small forward was named the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2007-08, when he set career highs for average points (19.5), rebounds (5.7) and assists (5.0) per game. The native of Istanbul, Turkey, is No. 10 on the Magic's all-time WS list with 39.6 and he averaged 15.8 ppg during the Magic's run to the NBA Finals in 2009.
Rashard Lewis (2007 to 2010)
The forward spent much more time with the former Seattle SuperSonics (nine seasons) than the Magic (four) but Lewis was a very steady performer for Orlando and was named to the All-Star team in 2008-09. He was second in rebounding and scoring for the team during that 2009 Finals run, behind the next player on our list, by averaging 19.0 ppg and 6.4 rpg in 24 postseason games. See our list of NBA betting apps for RotoWire's guidance going into next season.
Dwight Howard (2004 to 2012)
The Magic made Howard the No. 1 overall pick of the 2004 Draft, straight out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, and the center delivered some great years in Central Florida. Howard's list of honors compiled while he wore a Magic uniform is quite long: Three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, five times in the top 10 of Most Valuable Player voting (including a runnerup finish in the 2010-11 season) and six All-Star nods. He led Orlando in scoring (20.3 ppg) and rebounding (15.3 rpg) during that 2009 playoff run. The center is also the franchise's all-time Win Shares leader with 87.5 in just eight seasons, though he spent less than half of his 18-year career with the Magic.
