Top 10 Magic Players of All-Time

[Xatticus]

I’ve noticed none of us have put Rony Seikaly on our lists. Myself included. I am thoroughly disappointed in myself. Seikaly was awesome in the 15 or 16 months he played here.

He played 121 games for Orlando and was generally overrated for what he provided. I think people are really overrating players that didn't spend a lot of time in Orlando.

I'm not a fan of Dwight Howard. I really wanted him gone after all the crap he pulled, but he is the obvious number one for this list. Anderson, Armstrong, and Jameer are really underrated on these lists as well. These were good players that spent a long time in Orlando. I loved Outlaw as well, but we salary dumped him after four years.

We paid $120M for 3 seasons of Rashard Lewis. He made one All Star appearance for us (so did Jameer). He spent three years apologizing for his decline in numbers and the size of his contract before we dumped him for an even worse contract. Rashard seems like a really good human being, but his impact for us just wasn't that significant, especially when compared to the cost. Yes... we got to the finals in his All Star season with us, but Howard was the standard-bearer for that squad.

McGrady played three years here before quitting on the team in his final year and forcing his way out of town. We topped out at 44 wins during his tenure. I get that it elicits a sense of pride for the franchise when people see our own players in commercials or on sportscenter, but compare the McGrady years to the season that preceded his arrival. His stardom far outshined his actual contributions.

The end of Hardaway's tenure was really unfortunate. He was a really good player that disproportionately took the blame for Brian Hill's ouster.

If I'm going to use this thread for a shout-out to an underappreciated player in our organization's history, I will mention Donald Royal. I'm sure there are a fair number of fans around here that have never even heard of him, but he was our starting SF on that 1994/95 Finals team. His role shrunk when the playoffs started, but the guy was absolutely fearless in attacking the basket. He spent four years with Orlando, of which half of that he seemed to be lying in a heap under the basket after getting clobbered on his way to the rim. His FTr was obscene. He just sort of disappeared after getting diagnosed with cancer.

My quick and dirty list:
1. Howard
2. Anderson
3. O'Neal
4. McGrady
5. Hardaway
6. Armstrong
7. Nelson
8. Turkoglu
9. Grant
10. Vucevic

[PrimeThyme]

Dwight Howard is the best Magic player of All-time. I really don't think it's even that close once you factor in things like longevity/achievements which in my opinion is crucial when considering the top players to ever play for your franchise. Shaq is the best player, but Dwight gets the clear edge over him as the All-time player for our franchise when those things are factored in imo.

[Drygon]

1) Shaq 2) TMac 3) Dwight 4) Penny

Part of this might be the frustration of Dwight. Defensively he was a monster. Offensively he was frustrating to watch. I think it was the way his weight was distributed with less in his behind than someone like Shaq who could just move people. You couldn’t ever isolate Dwight & have him score. He was effectively only really in the pick & roll. Though he was completely unaware of this & demanded more post ups. One of the most under appreciated traits in athletics at all levels is self evaluation. Dwight was terrible at it & yet insistent that he knew better. It's a really destructive combination for any person on any team. When it's your best player, it puts you in a tough place. It's that friction which I believe broke up that team.

Initially, I put Penny before Dwight but reversed it for longevity. Penny was brilliant, but it was shortlived due to injury. T-Mac was just better. You could argue that Dwight had more All-NBA, but that is because the center position was so weak during his prime.