Stephen

Zimmerman Jr.

Zimmerman will likely join their G-League roster instead of remaining with the team during the season. He hasn’t played in the NBA since 2016 and hasn’t been on a roster since 2017, when he was with the pre-LeBron James Lakers.

With Nikola Vucevic, Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo on the roster, Zimmerman will spend most of his rookie season picking up DNP-CDs.

Another pure center prospect with 59 percent of his shots during his sophomore season coming within three feet. The UNLV prospect was a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school due to his size as a seven-footer, and he showed some athleticism with a 35-inch max vertical at the combine. Zimmerman will give the Magic some depth behind Nikola Vucevic, but he’s unlikely to make a big impact during his rookie season.

In a corresponding move, Arinze Onuaku will be inactive on Tuesday. Frank Vogel will alternate Zimmerman and Onuaku game to game.

In a corresponding move, Arinze Onuaku will be deactivated. However, Bismack Biyombo will return from his one-game suspension tonight, so it is unlikely Zimmerman sees the floor, unless Biyombo, Nikola Vucevic and/or Serge Ibaka get into serious foul trouble.

That is not a good sign for Bismack Biyombo (shoulder) and Nikola Vucevic (back) for tonight. Zimmerman actually blew up in the D-League on Friday with 20 points, 12 boards and two blocks. He’s been awesome all year at Erie with averages of 21.8 points, 15.8 boards, 1.8 steals and 1.5 block -- yes, that’s nice. He may get in the rotation and was a block machine in Summer League, but it would take a little slice of crazy to roll him out there for DFS. That would change if Vogel gets wild and starts him.

Bismack Biyombo (shoulder) will be in the starting lineup, however, giving the Magic some size to combat Dwight Howard and the Hawks. Rookie center Stephen Zimmerman may pick up some minutes off the bench in Vuc’s absence, but the Magic are likely to rely heavily on small lineups tonight.

He won’t be in the rotation unless the Magic fall out of playoff contention.

With the Magic struggling, we may see a lot more of the rookie after the All-Star break, but he’s not worth stashing in most leagues.

Zimmerman got a handful of minutes in relief of Bismack Biyombo, but that’s only because Nik Vucevic (Achilles) was out again tonight. Suffice to say, the rookie has a lot to prove before appearing on the standard-league radar.