Rob Hennigan is a talented guy. On the court, he capped off his high school years with a Massachusetts state championship in 2000, and then followed it up with a college career that saw him become the all-time leading scorer at Emerson College. Once his playing days had ended, Hennigan and his infallible resume were immediately scooped up by the front office of the San Antonio Spurs. After spending four years and winning two championships with the most successful NBA organization of the 21st century, Hennigan then accepted a position with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008. In his four years there, Hennigan was part of the brain trust that plucked Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden from the draft circuit and turned the Thunder into a perennial power. On the heels of these eight years of success, the then 30-year-old agreed to become the general manager of the Orlando Magic in June of 2012. Since then, the youngest GM in NBA history has orchestrated a 100 percent turnover of the Magic roster, and in doing so has turned an aging group of unhappy players into one of the most interesting teams in the Eastern Conference.
The team Hennigan took over in 2012 was a mess. Otis Smith had left him a roster of duct-tape-type players haphazardly stuck around Dwight Howard in an attempt to keep the disgruntled center from fleeing for a large market. Rather than, as Smith had done, doing everything possible to keep Howard happy, Hennigan decided to cut ties with the face of the franchise two months into his first gig as a GM. In a trade widely considered to be a money saving effort by Hennigan, Orlando sent Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team trade that included the Magic unloading the contracts of Jason Richardson, Earl Clark, and Chris Duhon while acquiring Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, three first and two second round picks, and four other players that Hennigan would eventually turn into Evan Fournier and Roy Devyn Marble. Looking in retrospect, negotiating under the rock of Dwight Howard forcing his way out of Orlando, Hennigan turned the nasty situation into $35 million in contract savings, two first round picks yet to be used, and what has amounted to thus far in 2014, 71 points, 29 rebounds, and 13 assists per game.
In no way has Hennigan slowed down since pulling off this blockbuster either. Six months after the Dwight Howard fiasco, Hennigan sent Ish Smith, J.J. Redick, and Gustavo Ayon to the Milwaukee Bucks in a deadline deal that brought back Tobias Harris and Doron Lamb. Where the Bucks no longer have any of those three on their roster, Tobias Harris has blossomed into one of the premier young stretch fours in the game, currently averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds per night. Then, in his first full offseason as a GM, Hennigan cut ties with the remaining six players left over from the patchwork roster he had inherited and replaced them with key draft picks and free agent signings like Channing Frye, Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon and Luke Ridnour. Thus, working with Dwight Howard and a collection of players baring a striking resemblance to the NBA unemployment line, Rob Hennigan in two years has formed an exciting team with the flexibility of the NBA’s 6th smallest payroll and 7th youngest roster.
Although the Magic record isn’t necessarily flattering (6-9), there’s some serious room for optimism. The team is second in the league in 3 point shooting and turnover differential, and is in the top half of the NBA in opponent field goal percentage, rebounding, assists, and offensive efficiency. In addition, the team is being led by one of the youngest cores in the East. Vucevic has become a sure-fire all-star pouring in 19 and 12 a night, while youngsters Harris and Fournier have both increased their production to over 17 points per game. Factoring in veterans Channing Frye and Luke Ridnor, and considering Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon will soon fully recover from injury, it’s not a stretch to imagine this Magic team being a factor in the weak Eastern Conference. Not bad for Hennigan’s 3rd year on the job, as this basketball wunderkind appears to be the driving force behind yet another success story.
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Main Photo by Fernando Medina/Orlando Magic
