The Orlando Magic have had a fairly quiet offseason so far and it appears they don't intend to make much noise. The biggest move made was signing restricted free agent Tobias Harris to a deal. The Magic have a very young core of players that have a ton of potential, and seem to want to let them grow together in the hopes that their chemistry will lead to an improved win total. One minor move the Magic have reportedly made is signing guard Keith Appling to a two-year deal, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
Appling played for the Magic's summer league team and was very impressive in five games, averaging 15.6 points per game. This performance led to the deal, which is reportedly for two years and is partially guaranteed. Last season, Appling went to training camp with the Los Angeles Lakers but was cut towards the end.
Appling was a highly touted recruit out of high school (ranked 34th overall nationally), and played all four years at Michigan State. He was never really the best player on Michigan State's team, but he was a leader and someone Coach Tom Izzo looked to in tough situations. Appling averaged 10.6 points and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43 percent from the field and 33 percent from three.
He was not a dominating college player by any means and, because of that, went undrafted and spent last season in the D-League. His numbers there were nothing to write home about (10.5 points per game, 40 percent from the field, 19 percent from three), but the Magic must see something they like in the former Spartan to give him at least some guaranteed money.
The plan is for the Magic to reportedly cut Appling late in training camp so they can designate him to their D-League affiliate, unless, of course, he impresses them enough in camp to make the team. Odds are Appling will spend most, if not all, of 2015-16 in the D-League, and he likely needs it. If you are struggling to put up good numbers in the D-League, then you most likely won't be much help to a team at the NBA level.
