Rubio Reminds Orlando Magic Fans Disaster of Fran Vazquez
On Monday night, the Magic hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves who brought with them their star Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. In the 2005 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic had the 11th pick and chose Spanish center Fran Vazquez. That pick was made six and a half years ago and, although the Magic still retain the rights to him, Vazquez has yet to appear in a Magic uniform.
Going into the 2005 NBA Draft, the Magic were looking for a big man to put alongside Dwight Howard who they had drafted first overall the previous year. With the 11th pick they decided to draft Vazquez who was then playing for Unicaja Malaga in the Spanish ACB League. The Magic passed over players such as Sean May and Danny Granger to make that selection. Originally, Vazquez indicated that he had no desire to return to Europe and would join the Magic that season. However, to the surprise of the Magic, the 22-year old decided to return to Europe and has never entered the NBA.
The 2005 draft came during a series of years in which the Magic built the 2009 Eastern Conference champions. Players such as Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Courtney Lee were signed as free agents and drafted. Vazquez was expected to be a part of that group. Together Howard and Vazquez were going to be Orlando’s version of the “twin towers” as seen in San Antonio with Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
The Magic have gone on to do quite well without Vazquez. They made the playoffs in 2007 as the eighth seed and have made the playoffs every year since. In 2009 the Magic made it to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995. In 2010, they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals making it only the second time in franchise history that the Magic made it that far two consecutive years.
While the Magic have done fine without Vazquez, Orlando fans still wonder what could’ve been if he had come into the NBA. Or what could’ve been if the Magic had chosen an American like Danny Granger. The Magic did learn their lesson as the next year, again with the 11th pick, the Magic chose guard J.J. Redick out of Duke. Redick has become a key player for the Magic in the past few years. While the mistake of drafting Fran Vazquez didn’t destroy the Magic, it taught them an important lesson. Be very, very careful when drafting foreign players because they are very unpredictable.
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