The trade of J.J. Redick, Gustavo Ayón and Ish Smith has had a cascade effect on the entire Orlando Magic roster, but perhaps it has impacted Maurice Harkless most of all.
Redick’s absence means Arron Afflalo will spend more time at shooting guard instead of shifting out of position to small forward.
And with Afflalo playing at small forward less often, that almost certainly will result in more minutes for Harkless, especially down the stretches of games.
“J.J. played a major role, and a lot of his minutes will probably come my way now,” Harkless said. “I just have to just take advantage of that and step up.”
From the beginning of this season, even when the team started with a 12-13 record, the Magic have tried to accelerate the development of the team’s youngest players — players such as Harkless and his fellow rookies, power forward Andrew Nicholson, center/power forward Kyle O’Quinn and wing DeQuan Jones.
— Reported by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel
