The Orlando Magic are banking on 27-year old Jameer Nelson to be healthy this season. Nelson played in 42 games for the Magic last season and he averaged 31.2 minutes, 16.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. With Nelson playing the best basketball of his career last season the Magic are expecting big things from him this season. 34-year old Anthony Johnson will be back this season for the Magic. He played in 80 games for the Magic last season and he averaged 18.5 minutes, 5.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Johnson did the dirty work last season for the Magic playing very physical defense from the point guard position. 33-year old Jason “White Chocolate” Williams ended his one year retirement to play for the Magic this season. He has played in 679 games in his NBA career and he has averaged 31.2 minutes, 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. If Nelson were to get injured this season Williams would back him up.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B

The Orlando Magic have invited 24-year old shooting guard Morris Almond and 29-year old forward Linton Johnson to training camp. Almond was a first round draft pick for the Utah Jazz just a couple of years ago. He played in 25 games (1 start) for the Jazz last season and he averaged 10.2 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Almond has now played in 34 games (1 start) in his NBA career and he has averaged 8.6 minutes, 3.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Almond has the reputation at least coming out of college of being a offensive minded player. The Magic will give him a shot to win a job on the bench for this season. Linton Johnson played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Bulls and Bobcats last season and he averaged 5.5 minutes, 0.9 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. Johnson has now played in 151 games (27 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 14.0 minutes, 3.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The frontcourt is loaded with quality depth so Johnson will likely need a injury to two to make the Magic’s roster.

The Orlando Magic will be better than they were last season, mark my words. Will that be enough to win the NBA Title? Only time will tell on that one. The Magic knew that they were going to lose Hedo Turkoglu so they essentially traded him to the Raptors for nothing. But, the trade that brought Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson from the Nets for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee more than replaced the firepower that Turkoglu took with him. The Magic then matched a huge offer for C/F Marcin Gortat so that they could keep him in town. That was a good move despite the fact that he wants to start. The Magic signed PF Brandon Bass away from the Mavericks as a free agent and he will likely share time with Gortat at power forward. Matt Barnes was signed to add some firepower to the bench. Jason Williams and Adonal Foyle were also signed as free agents but they will have to earn any minutes they get.

FRONT OFFICE GRADE SO FAR THIS OFF-SEASON: A