Orlando Magic Free Agency Grades: Jevon Carter

The Orlando Magic were among the teams on Tuesday who had news released regarding their transactions in free agency, and one of the players Orlando will be welcoming back is guard Jevon Carter.

Carter, 30, re-signed with Orlando on a one-year, $3.5 million deal according to ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania. Carter arrived in Orlando in February off the buyout market following the trade deadline, and he became an important veteran presence in the locker room while also earning rotational minutes.

Recently, I provide my thoughts about Carter’s new deal on the Full Court Magic podcast, and why I thought it was a decent signing, but nothing special:

"The Magic also re-signed Jevon Carter. Obviously, Carter was the Magic's buyout market pickup following February's trade deadline. You know, brought a good veteran presence to the locker room, held his team accountable, which I think benefited this group, especially with their backs against the wall in that play-in tournament after the loss to the 76ers. And they just had one chance, you know, and they had to beat the Hornets to get into the playoffs.

And they did convincingly and then, you know, had a strong series against the Detroit Pistons up through game four before Franz Wagner got hurt. And, you know, Carter's one of those players, you know, he's still only 30 years old. And so he brings that good veteran leadership without, you know, being at the tail end of his career. But the problem there is that, you know, he's only six feet tall. He's not much of a facilitator; averages less than one assist. 

And so, when you're a small guard and you can't traditionally play a point guard role and get your teammates involved, your shots have to fall, and that has not been the case for Carter in his initial tenure with the Magic. You know, he, you know, in, I believe he appeared for 23 games with the Chicago Bulls. And in those games, he averaged 41% shooting from three-point range.

And that number fell precipitously to 33.6% when he joined the Magic. Now, obviously, you know, getting used to a new team, things like that. We'll see what he looks like after a full offseason and training camp with this group."

Carter has the type of voice a young team like the Magic need in their locker room, and it's not as if he landed a supremely lucrative contract. Orlando is paying veteran-minimum money for a veteran who checks several good boxes. However, his flaws are noticeable, and if his shot is not falling, he may become unplayable quickly.

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