Magic retain Onuaku, Rudez for regular season

The Orlando Magic have elected to keep center Arinze Onuaku and forward Damjan Rudez for the regular season.

The decision came Saturday when Orlando announced it had waived guards Ramon Galloway and Nick Johnson. The Magic signed Galloway on Friday with plans to send him to the Erie BayHawks, their affiliate in the NBA D-League.

Onuaku, 29, has 11 games of NBA experience, appearing most recently with the Minnesota Timberwolves for six games in the 2014/15 season. He spent the 2015/16 season playing abroad in Israel and the Philippines. The Syracuse product made four appearances for the Magic in preseason play, averaging 1.8 points and 2.3 rebounds. He joins an extremely crowded Orlando frontcourt which features Nikola Vucevic, Serge Ibaka, and Bismack Biyombo, and is thus unlikely to see significant playing time. Orlando’s retaining Onuaku could also be a sign that it plans on sending second-round Draft choice Stephen Zimmerman to the NBA D-League as well.

Rudez, 30, has played for the Indiana Pacers—under new Magic coach Frank Vogel—and the Timberwolves across his two NBA seasons. The Croatian wing is renowned for his three-point shooting, having connected on 39.1 percent of his treys in his brief NBA career. In preseason play, Rudez shot 55.6 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. Orlando could use a boost in three-point shooting, but given Rudez’s other deficiencies—despite standing 6-foot-10, he averages less than three rebounds per 36 minutes—he figures to be a situational player at best.

The Magic open their season on Wednesday, October 26th against the Miami Heat.