The Magic had five rookies in 2012-13, and they all look to have bright futures with the team.  19-year old small forward Moe Harkless was the most impressive rookie, in my opinion.  He played in 76 games (59 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 26.0 minutes, 8.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  He only had 1 double-double for the Magic last year, but he had 29 games in which he scored at least 10 points.  He also had 29 games with at least five rebounds, 10 games with at least 3 steals and 5 games with at least 3 blocked shots….which shows what kind of big time potential he has.  23-year old power forward Andrew Nicholson was also solid as a rookie.  He played in 75 games (28 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 16.7 minutes, 7.8 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He had 2 double-doubles for the Magic in 2012-13.  Nicholson had 28 games with at least 10 points and 22 games with at least 5 rebounds last night, which is pretty impressive.  23-year old center Kyle O’Quinn played in 57 games (5 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 11.2 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  O’Quinn had 2 double-doubles for the Magic last year.  O’Quinn had 7 games with 10 or more points and 17 games with at least five rebounds, which is very impressive given his limited minutes in 2012-13.  22-year old small forward DeQuan Jones also played well off the bench for the Magic last year.  He played in 63 games (17 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 12.7 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He scored at least 10 points in a game four times last year.  21-year old shooting guard Doron Lamb played in 24 games (0 starts) for the Magic last year after coming over in the J.J. Redick deal with the Bucks and he averaged 12.4 minutes, 3.2 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Lamb played in 47 games (0 starts) overall last year for the Bucks and Magic in which he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.0 rebound and 0.7 assists per game.  Nicholson, Harkless, O’Quinn, Jones and Lamb are the first wave of the rebuilding of the Magic in the post-Dwight Howard era and they have a lot of potential.

23-year old center Kyle O’Quinn has really stepped up lately for the Magic.  In his last seven games, O’Quinn is averaging 10.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  He has now played in 50 games (4 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 10.7 minutes, 4.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  O’Quinn is shooting a very impressive 54.3% from the floor so far this year and 70% from the free throw line.  O’Quinn looks like a steal for the Magic in the second round of the 2012 NBA Draft.

The Orlando Magic are getting really solid work out of their rookies lately.  19-year old small forward Moe Harkless has played in 52 games (35 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 21.2 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  He played in 13 games (all starts) for the Magic in February and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 11.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  23-year old power forward Andrew Nicholson has played in 55 games (21 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 16.9 minutes, 8.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He is shooting 52.8% from the floor and 77.5% from the free throw line so far this year.  Nicholson played in 13 games (12 starts) in February for the Magic and he averaged 25.4 minutes, 11.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  22-year old small forward DeQuan Jones has played in 41 games (13 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  22-year old center Kyle O’Quinn has played in 37 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 8.1 minutes, 3.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  21-year old shooting guard Doron Lamb just came over to the Magic recently in the J.J. Redick deal.  Lamb has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far and he is averaging 9.7 minutes, 1.7 points and 1.0 rebound per game.  Lamb has now played in 26 games (0 starts) overall this year with the Magic and Bucks and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 3.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Lamb is only shooting 33.0% from the floor, 23.5% from three point range and 57.9% from the free throw line so far this year.

23-year old rookie power forward Andrew Nicholson is off to a good start so far this month for the Magic.  He has played in 4 games (3 starts) for the Magic so far in February and he is averaging 24.3 minutes, 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Nicholson has now played in 46 games (12 starts) overall this year for the Magic and he is averaging 15.1 minutes, 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He has been a really efficient shooter so far this year, hitting 53% from the floor and 80% from the free throw line.  Nicholson is going to get his chance to shine for the Magic with Glen Davis out for a while due to a broken foot.

22-year old center Nikola Vucevic has been selected to play in the Rising Stars Game.  He has played in 45 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 32.4 minutes, 11.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  Vucevic has proven to be an outstanding part of the Dwight Howard deal of last summer.  He has now played in 96 games (60 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 23.6 minutes, 8.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  Vucevic has a huge upside for the Magic as he is developing into one of the best centers in the entire NBA.

When the Magic made the big deal with the Lakers last summer for Dwight Howard, they wanted to stay competitive like the Nuggets did when they dealt Carmelo Anthony, but it just hasn’t worked out that way as they are now 14-28 on the year.  That could lead the Magic towards dealing veterans at the trade deadline and going really young.  If that is the case, look for the Magic’s quartet of rookies to start playing more.  19-year old small forward Maurice Harkless has played in 36 games (20 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He is shooting 49.6% from the floor so far this year, but he is also only making 43.5% of his free throws and that just won’t cut it.  23-year old power forward Andrew Nicholson could move into the starting lineup if the Magic deal Glen Davis next month.  He has played in 40 games (9 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 14.6 minutes, 7.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Nicholson is shooting 52.8% from the floor and 80.4% from the free throw line so far this year, which is pretty impressive.  22-year old small forward DeQuan Jones has played in 29 games (13 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 12.0 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  22-year old center Kyle O’Quinn played in 23 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 5.3 minutes, 1.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  This quartet could have a huge bump in P.T. in the near future.

The Magic have been playing pretty well overall so far this year, which has limited the P.T. of the rookies.  19-year old small forward Moe Harkless has been starting since Hedo Turkoglu broke his hand.  He has played in 25 games (18 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 17.6 minutes, 4.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He is shooting 45.7% from the floor but only 43.5% from the free throw line so far this year.  Harkless must be a little nervous at the free throw line and the Magic hope he will snap out of it soon.  23-year old power forward Andrew Nicholson has been impressive too so far this year.  He has played in 27 games (1 start) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 14.2 minutes, 7.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Nicholson is shooting 52.3% from the floor and 83.3% from the free throw line, which is pretty darn impressive.   22-year old small forward DeQuan Jones is having a hard time shooting the ball as a rookie as he is only hitting 36.4% of his shots from the floor.  Jones has played in 16 games (3 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 7.6 minutes, 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  22-year old center Kyle O’Quinn has also shown potential in his limited minutes.  O’Quinn has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 5.5 minutes, 2.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.

19-year old SF/SG Moe Harkless and 22-year old power forward Andrew Nicholson are playing pretty well for the Orlando Magic so far his year.  Harkless has played in 10 games (3 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 16.5 minutes, 4.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Harkless is shooting a very impressive 52.6% from the floor so far this year, but he is struggling at the free throw line so far this year, where is a only 4 of 13 (30.8%).  Nicholson has played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 13.2 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Nicholson is shooting 53.1% from the floor and 81.8% from the free throw line as Glen “Big Baby” Davis’ backup so far which is impressive.  22-year old forward DeQuan Jones has played in 5 games (3 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 4.2 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game on only 38.1% shooting from the floor.  22-year old center Kyle O’Quinn also hasn’t played much for the Magic so far this year.  O’Quinn has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 5.8 minutes, 1.0 point, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  I don’t see Jones or O’Quinn getting more P.T. in the near future.

Rookie small forward Moe Harkless is out until sometime in November for the Orlando Magic due to a groin injury.  The Magic will likely try to get at least 30 minutes a night out of Hedo Turkoglu with the rest of the minutes going to Quentin Richardson at small forward until Harkless is ready to return to action.  The veterans should be able to handle small forward until Harkless is ready to return to action.

The rookies of the Magic didn’t get much P.T. in 2011-12.  21-year old PF/C Daniel Orton showed some promise late in the regular season for the Magic.  He played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 11.7 minutes, 2.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Orton shot 56.7% from the floor but only 44% from the free throw line last year for the Magic.  He has a nice upside.  24-year old shooting guard DeAndre Liggins played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 6.8 minutes, 1.9 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  He shot 48% from the floor but only 47.4% from the free throw line.  22-year old power forward Justin Harper played in 14 games (0 starts) for the Magic last year and he averaged 6.0 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  He only shot 29% from the floor last year.