Out of all the players you could blame for the Magic having a tragic 11-22 record, Jonathon Simmons is the one who you should blame the least. I thought the contract he got was kind of an overpay, but he came in and showed that he doesn’t need the Spurs’ system to be successful. Here’s a list of players who deserve more blame, and the reasons why they deserve that blame:
-Elfrid Payton. Has not developed from being a mediocre starter. Some blame goes to the Magic organization for trying to force him to be the point guard of the future when it’s obvious he isn’t.
-Nikola Vucevic. Puts up pretty numbers, but does it while playing no defense. Another case where the Magic showed too much loyalty to him.
-Aaron Gordon. I put his name in here as a joke. He’s the one player on the Magic who probably deserves less blame than Simmons.
-Evan Fournier. Maybe if he wasn’t injured right now the Magic would have won more games. Ever though of that, huh?
-Bismack Biyombo. Overpaid bust, can’t score, theoretically pairs well with Vucevic but not really, had one good stretch of basketball in his life but it was in the playoffs so it’s like another Jerome James situation.
-Terrence Ross. Forgettable. Kind of a bust.
-Mario Hezonja. Also kind of a bust even when you count his recent improved play, hopefully no Croatians read this.
-Arron Afflalo. He seemed to expect some kind of career resurgence here but he’s shooting 32% from the field.
So, there you have it. Jonathon Simmons might be a part of this bad team but he’s not the reason why they’re bad. You can blame the guys above. Don’t forget about the coaching staff and front-office staff either. Let’s just throw the fans in there too. That’s right Magic fans, it’s your fault the team is garbage and has no hope for the future.