Terrence Ross topped the “he wasn’t traded?” list back at the February deadline, but Orlando stuck by its demands of a first-round pick for the veteran wing and no team was willing to pay that price.
Now, heading into the offseason, Ross is not publicly demanding a trade, but he walked right up to that line and leaned over it with comments reported by Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinal, saying he and the Magic are on different timelines.“We’re definitely in different spots,” Ross said. “I feel like I’m a part of that old regime, and they’re going in a different direction. I don’t know what they’ve got in store for me. It’s hard to say. They don’t really let me know too much about what they’re doing so. I’m kind of here just along for the ride.”
When asked if he planned on having conversations with the Magic’s front office about wanting to be traded, Ross responded: “They know that. They’re well aware of that, so there’s no point. They’re going to do what they want to do regardless.”
That statement should have come with a shrug emoji. Ross is clearly frustrated with Magic management. Ross has one year, $11.5 million left on his contract, slightly above mid-level exception money. That’s a very tradable contract. Of course, his contract was very tradable at the deadline, too.
Orlando is leaning into youth with its guards and wings — Cole Anthony, Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs, RJ Hampton, Franz Wagner — and while Ross can provide an example and veteran leadership, he’s correct that he is in a different place. A two-way wing is a position of need around the league and some team should step up around the draft with an offer the Magic will take. Ross wants that, but as for Orlando’s front office... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
