Orlando 1st round pick, Daniel Orton, has struggled to say the least through his two summer league games so far. Orton was the 29th pick in this year's draft and was the fifth Kentucky player to be taken in the first round. In his only year at Kentucky, Orton never started a game and only averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Taken as a project player, the Magic felt like they can work on Orton to become a serviceable big man in the future. So far, it has not turned out the way they had expected.
In his first game on Monday versus the Pacers, Orton shot a miserable 1-for-8 from the field and finished the game with a lowly 3 points. He also commited a game-high 5 fouls in the Magic's loss. Not to mention, 4 of those fouls came in the first half (all were offensive fouls, too). He got in a scuffle with Pacers' forward Josh McRoberts, and both of them were ejected from the game with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Orton only played in a little over 13 minutes in his summer league debut. After the game, Orton wrote on his Twitter account, saying "terrible day in summer league today." He got off to a bad start, but he wouldn't do much better in Tuesday's game.
But, the Magic's summer league Head Coach, Patrick Ewing, has been crucial on Orton and his performances in his first 2 games. Ewing said, following Tuesday's loss, "He has to pick up his energy, in my opinion. He has to act like he wants the ball down there. He's a big man. He has a big body. You've got to demand the ball, demand it with your presence, demand it with your mouth. If the guys are missing him, then say something to them. We need for him to dominate."
Through Orlando's first two games, Orton has only made 1 of his 14 shot attempts. Dwight Howard has told Orton that he needs to relax during the game and follow through with his shots. Orton has seemed flat in both of the games, and he is apparently out of shape as well.
With performances like this, Orton will never be able to make it in the NBA. He's not even playing against the best players in the NBA - most of the players in the summer league are players trying to fill a roster spot on a team. Since Orton was taken in the 1st round, he has a guaranteed contract so he automatically fills a spot on the Magic. He doesn't deserve to have a roster spot if he plays like this throughout the rest of the summer league.
I have been highly critical of Orton, and so far, it seems like I'm right. He really has to step his game up if he wants to be considered a good player. Hopefully, for the Magic, he does because they could use help at the power forward or center position.
"A lot of people say I need time to develop, and I do," Orton said. "I'm not going to lie about that. I do need time to develop. But I don't think it's going to take as much time as most people think it will. I hope not, to tell you the truth. I know I put in the work. I put in a lot of hard work and a lot of time. So, hopefully, I can have a quicker turnaround than most people think."
Yes, Daniel, you do need time to develop. Hopefully, it doesn't take too long.
NOTE: Wednesday Update - Orton played in a little over 17 minutes and did not attempt any shots. He went 4-6 from the free throw line and finished with those 4 points. He also got 1 assist and 0 rebounds. Oh, and he had 4 more fouls.
Here's the video of Orton being ejected:
