On Thursday, the Magic finally decided it was time to tear it all down. Orlando has spent the last five years attempting to build a competitive team from the core of Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Fournier. However, the team is extremely injured this season and has lost 11 of their last 13 entering the NBA trade deadline. With Gordon requesting a trade, and rumors of trades surrounding the team, the writing was on the wall. A firesale was on the way.
Orlando delivered by trading all three players before 1 p.m. Vucevic went to Chicago, Fournier to Boston, and Gordon to Denver. For many in Orlando, this must have felt chaotic, but for one Magic player, it was just an opportunity to have some fun on the internet. Terrence Ross kept basketball fans entertained as he live-tweeted his responses to the Magic’s deals as they happened.
First Vucevic went and Ross had some emojis in response. He also told a fan that he had a feeling of what was coming next.
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
Means they might unload the truck lol
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
Soon after, Fournier was sent off and Ross started to feel the pressure. Could he be next?
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
As rumors began heating up for an Aaron Gordon deal, Ross started to sweat with concern about what could happen to his teammate.
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
After Gordon, and Gary Clark, were sent away it became clear to Ross. With most of the Magic core traded or injured he was all that remained.
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
This is one of the sadder parts of the NBA trade deadline. While it’s exciting to think about what everyone is going to do in a new location it’s also a breakup of a team that has been together for quite some time. Friendships and locker rooms are torn apart for the future. While everyone knows it’s a business, it can still hurt the people who are actually involved. Of course, sometimes the best way to deal with it all is just to laugh.
Lol if you don’t laugh, you cry
— Terrence Ross (@TerrenceRoss) March 25, 2021
Ross has been around the NBA long enough to know how it works. You can’t control it so the only thing you can do is laugh, tweet through it, and enjoy the fireworks.