Magic Buy Out Terrence Ross After No Trade; R.J. Hampton Next?
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic is saying goodbye to the two longest-tenured players for the franchise, trading Mo Bamba to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday and buying out Terrence Ross on Saturday.
The Magic is in a unique position firmly planted in the middle of the lottery teams in the league. The team holds a .411 win percentage, which is three games back of the play-in tournament and 8.5 games ahead of the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons, who are in contention for the league's worst record.
The team is in no man's land, which explains their reason to be a seller instead of a buyer for this year's trade deadline.
With Bamba and Ross gone, R.J. Hampton and Gary Harris are the only players without a guaranteed contract for next season currently on the roster ... assuming Patrick Beverley is also bought out.
Harris missed Thursday's game with right adductor soreness, but he's expected to return to the starting lineup soon. However, Hampton has fallen out of the rotation completely.
Hampton, 22, is averaging 5.7 points per game while playing primarily in garbage time situations. Should he be bought out, it's hard to see him joining a contender and receiving considerable playing time. He might end up deciding that riding out the rest of the season with the Magic could be in his best interest.
However, Hampton has promise. In his last G League game with Lakeland, Hampton scored 30 points. He's averaging 22.7 points per game in his tenure with Lakeland, proving that he has a lot of talent. The question is whether or not that talent will be recognized on an NBA level with the Magic or a different team.
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