We Magic fans are in a period of limbo: the Magic have been eliminated from the playoffs, yet the draft and free agency are still a month away. As such, I thought I'd now would be as good a time as ever to submit individual grades for each Magic player. I've decided to split the players into three different groups: Top of the Class, or the players who had above-average seasons; Middle of the Road, or the players who did about as well as expected; and Better Luck Next Year, or players who either underperformed or did not play frequently enough to be evaluated fairly .
Today's post concerns the Top of the Class. I welcome your comments and criticisms.
| Trevor Ariza, Forward | #1 |
 | Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Field Goal % | GRADE |
|---|
| 8.9 | 4.4 | .539 | B |
| Last season's move to acquire Trevor from the Knicks in exchange for Steve Francis is paying off. His numbers aren't astounding, but Trevor is almost as important to this team as Dwight is. Case in point: The Magic went 5-15 after Ariza injured his knee against Golden State in January, derailing the team's season. I want to give him higher marks, but his pitiful postseason play (2.8 ppg, .313 FG%) won't allow me to. |
| Carlos Arroyo, Guard | #30 |
 | Points Per Game | Assists Per Game | Field Goal % | GRADE |
|---|
| 7.7 | 2.8 | .425 | B - |
| Despite what Brian Hill thinks, Carlos Arroyo is a quality point guard. He was dropped out of the rotation in mid-April after a string of games in which he shot just .388 from the field. Poor shooting aside, Carlos is a purer point guard than starter Jameer Nelson is, as he averages 7.4 assists per 48 minutes -- 0.6 more than Nelson -- and commits fewer turnovers. The Magic committed more turnovers than any other team this season, and Arroyo's efficiency could correct that. I'd like to see him compete for the starting job next season. |
| Keyon Dooling, Guard | #5 |
 | Points Per Game | Assists Per Game | Field Goal % | GRADE |
|---|
| 7.9 | 1.7 | .410 | B |
| Make no mistake -- Keyon Dooling needs work on the offensive end. In a loss at Dallas on March 3rd, Dooling turned in the worst offensive performance of any Magic player this season, making none of his seven shots. Why did he get high marks from me? Well, you can't spell 'Dooling' without 'D'. Data from 82games.com show that Keyon held opposing point guards to a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of just 11.5, which is 3.5 below the league average. He gets added commendation for his versatility, as he can play either guard position. If he improves his shot, he should challenge Carlos Arroyo and Jameer Nelson for the staring point guard job. |
| Grant Hill, Guard | #33 |
 | Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Field Goal % | GRADE |
|---|
| 14.4 | 3.6 | .518 | B + |
| It's been a rough seven years for Grant Hill. He's had numerous surgeries on his troublesome left ankle and, consequently, has played in just 200 of a possible 592 games since he's been with the Magic. This year was his best with the team, as he managed to play into April for the first time. He also keyed the Magic's playoff run, averaging 15.9 points per game on .596 shooting from the field in that month. I wonder how well this team would have played if Hill had not missed 17 games with various injuries. His contract expires this off-season. It'd be a shame to see him go, because veteran leadership is hard to come by. |
| Dwight Howard, Center | #12 |
 | Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Field Goal % | GRADE |
|---|
| 17.6 | 12.3 | .603 | A |
| Making the All-Star team at midseason and the All-NBA third team at season’s end were great milestones for Howard, who asserted himself as a star in just his third pro season. Proof that Dwight’s future is blindingly bright: the month of February, in which he shot 70.7% from the field and averaged 22.8 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Proof that Dwight is still a work-in-progress: dreadful free throw shooting (.586%) and ballhandling (3.87 turnovers per game). |
| Darko Milicic, Forward | #31 |
 | Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Blocks Per Game | GRADE |
|---|
| 8.0 | 5.5 | 1.8 | B |
| It was nice to see Darko's hook shot improve from "line-drive thrown into the rim hapazardly" to "softly released ball arcing beautifully into the hoop." It was also disconcerting to see the big fella get down on himself early in games, then play halfheartedly through the rest of them, as though missing his first few shots caused the death of a cat somewhere. However, a down-in-the-dumps Darko Milicic is still better than any Tony Battie, and there's no reason why Darko shouldn't start next year... unless he signs with another team in the offseason. |
Next in the series: Middle of the Road.
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