When the Orlando Magic take to the floor Friday night against the New York Knicks, they won't do so with familiar faces in unfamiliar places.
Despite talk that there was interest by teams headed to the playoffs or looking to make a run at them about acquiring Arron Afflalo, Jameer Nelson or Glen Davis, the NBA trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon without Magic general manager Rob Hennigan making any moves.
Afflalo is having the best season of his seven-year career, while Nelson is the franchise's all-time leader in assists and trails only Nick Anderson in games played with 634. Speculation about Davis being on the move heightened Wednesday night after he sat out the final three-plus quarters of the Magic's 101-93 loss at Cleveland with what was described as a sore Achilles' tendon.
All three players are making at least $6.4 million this season and are under contract through at least 2014-15, although Nelson's remaining year is at his option.
Hennigan told an Orlando sports-talk radio station Thursday afternoon that the Magic "did a lot more listening than actually exploring" but was tight-lipped about which other teams or players were involved in trade discussions with him.
"I'm not going to comment specifically on which teams had certain types of interest and to what extent," he said. "But I can certainly say with confidence that all of our players have value around the league, based on the calls we've received over the last few weeks."
A year ago, in Hennigan's first season as general manager, the Magic were involved in one of the few deadline deals of note when they sent J.J. Redick and two other players to the Milwaukee Bucks. Among the three players they got in return was forward Tobias Harris, who is the Magic's second-leading scorer behind Afflalo with a 13.9-point average.
Hennigan wouldn't rule out the possibility of a trade over the summer, when the Magic have two first-round draft picks -- their own and the lesser of the two of the Knicks and the Denver Nuggets.
"We explored some things and certainly looked at different ways to possibly improve the team," he said. "But it just didn't manifest itself today. And we're certainly OK with that, and we move forward."
You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.
