His signing with the Orlando Magic this summer may have taken a longer time to come into fruition, but Marrreese Speights has no complains about it. Even if that was the case, the 6-foot-10 big man even admitted that his dream has now come true.
Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Speights grew up cheering for the Magic. He shared how he truly felt about signing with his new team, via Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, and also talked about what his family thinks about it as well.
“Playing for the Magic has always been a dream of mine,” Speights told HoopsHype. “The arena is an hour and 20 minutes from my house in St. Pete. I grew up watching them; I became a big fan of them as a kid and that’s when I fell in love with the game. I’ve always wanted to play for the Magic. This is a dream come true.
“All of my family in Florida are going crazy and they have the city buzzing. I’ve never felt like this before in all my years playing in the NBA, so it’s going to be good. My family is so excited and my wife’s family is so excited. I have a lot of family in North Florida – people from Gainesville to Lake City to Jacksonville to Live Oak to Marianna – who never had a chance to come to one of my NBA games before, so they’re really excited to come see me play in person.”
The Florida product is a nine-year NBA veteran that has played for five different franchises. He won a title with the Golden State Warriors in 2015 and has appeared in 653 regular season and 60 playoff games in his career. He has averages of 7.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Speights is one of the more versatile big men in the NBA today. His ability to shoot from distance, even extending beyond the arc, will stretch the defense and give Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon more room to operate inside the paint. His experience will also be a huge addition to the young Magic core, and could be what they need to make it to the playoffs next season.
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