10 greatest Magic players in franchise history, ranked

Centers are crucial pieces of Magic history, and two will appear much higher on this list. However, you can’t discount what Nikola Vucevic did, almost by himself, while in Orlando.

The Montenegrin big man was the No. 16 overall pick in 2011 by the Philadelphia 76ers and came to Orlando in the Dwight Howard trade, ending a successful but frustrating era in team history. And while he only led the team to the playoffs once, he was still the best player on the team for nearly a decade.

With the Magic, Vucevic averaged 17.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and made an All-Star team in 2019 averaging 20.8 points and 12.2 rebounds. Vooch will also go down in team history as the player who brought back the picks that allowed the franchise to build the exciting young team it has in 2023.

5. Nick Anderson

The enduring memory of Nick Anderson in the Magic pinstripes is missing free throws. He missed four consecutive shots from the charity stripe at the end of Game 1 in the 1995 NBA Finals to lose to the Houston Rockets. After that, his free-throw shooting went down the toilet and irreparably damaged his career.

Still, Anderson was part of some of the best Orlando teams ever, which is why he is among the top-5 best Magic players of all time.

The 6-foot-6 wing shot 36.3% from 3-point range during his Magic career (and nearly 70% from the line before that fateful night. He also averaged 15.4 points, 1.5 steals, 2.8 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game. Anderson was a great running mate for Shaq and Penny, and the team wouldn’t have had the success it did without him.

4. Tracy McGrady

Tracy McGrady became a Hall of Fame player with the Orlando Magic. After signing as a free agent from the Toronto Raptors. During his first season in Florida, T-Mac filled up the stat sheet, averaging 25.6 points, 5.3 assists, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game on the way to his first All-Star selection and the Most Improved Player Award.

In 2003 and 2004, McGrady took his game to the next level, winning back-to-back NBA scoring titles, averaging 32.1 and 28.0 points per game.

Ultimately, McGrady could never make it work in the playoffs, which was the story of his entire career. He made the postseason in three of his four years in Orlando but never made it out of the first round. Still, during the regular season, he was one of the best players in the NBA, making him top-4 on this greatest Magic players in history list.

3. Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway

Like Grant Hill after him, Penny Hardaway could have been an all-time great if not for injuries that robbed him of his explosiveness. Even so, for his first few years in the league, he was on track for a Hall of Fame career.

During the summer before his NBA draft year, Hardaway starred in the movie Blue Chips with Magic star Shaquille O’Neal. The two formed a bond, and on draft night, the organization decided to trade the best player in college basketball, Chris Webber, for Hardaway. The Magic thought that the dynamic guard was a better fit, personally and professionally, with their star big man.

For the first few years, this looked like a rousing success. Hardaway and O’Neal became the most exciting young force in the NBA, making it to the NBA Finals in Penny’s second season.

Unfortunately, all Orlando fans know how the rest of the story goes. Hardaway got hurt, Shaq left, and the rest is sad Magic history.

The numbers don’t lie, though, and Hardaway was fantastic early in his career. He made four All-Star appearances and three All-NBA teams. And when it was all said and done, he went for 19.0 points, 6.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game in his career with the Magic.

2. Dwight Howard

With a little distance from the ugly and embarrassing end to his Orlando tenure, fans can now look back with a little more fondness on the Dwight Howard era.

The No. 1 pick of the 2004 NBA Draft got the franchise back on track after Shaquille O’Neal left a little less than a decade earlier. Howard provided six playoff appearances for the team and led them to the 2009 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Coming out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, Howard was a gifted and explosive player who dominated on sheer athleticism, not necessarily technical basketball skills. Make no mistake, though, he did dominate.

Howard averaged 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game with Orlando. He also led the league in rebounding four times (and three times consecutively from 2007-10), field-goal percentage once, and blocked shots twice.

And with all due respect to Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Jameer Nelson — one of whom is in the top 10 of the Magic player rankings, and the others are just on the outside — if the team put some better players around him, Howard could have been a champion. Nevertheless, he’s the franchises all-time leader in points, rebounds, and blocked shots.

1. Shaquille O’Neal

No surprise here. Shaquille O’Neal is one of the best players in NBA history, which makes him the best player in Magic history.

What’s important to remember here, though, is that Magic Shaq isn’t giant, dominating Lakers Shaq or the big, plodding Heat Shaq. Magic Shaq was something basketball fans had never seen before and may never see again.

When O’Neal was young, coming out of LSU, he was lean and athletic. He could lead the fast break and dunk so hard the whole basket collapsed. And while his time in Orlando only brought one Finals appearance, Shaq put up his best numbers in his short four years there.

After it was all said and done, O’Neal averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. Those numbers are all better than his averages with any other team in his 19-year pro career. He also made four All-Star teams, three All-NBA squads, the Rookie of the Year Award, and a scoring title. That’s why Shaq is No. 1 on the list of the greatest Magic players of all time.