The 2004–05 season was the 16th season of the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). After finishing the previous year with a league-worst 21–61 record, the Magic won the NBA Draft Lottery for the third time in franchise history, and selected high school star

Dwight Howard Dwight David Howard II (born December 8, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Superman" for his athletic prowess, he is an NBA champion, eight-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA Team honoree, five-time All-Defen ...

with the first overall pick in the

2004 NBA draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

. During the offseason, the Magic acquired All-Star guard

Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...

and Cuttino Mobley from the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, and signed free agent Hedo Turkoglu. The team looked to be a playoff contender playing above .500 for the first half of the season. In January, Mobley was traded to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

for Doug Christie. However, head coach Johnny Davis was fired after a 31–33 start, and was replaced with Chris Jent. The Magic finished third in the Southeast Division with a 36–46 record, a 15-game improvement from the previous season.

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

finally played a full season with the Magic averaging 19.7 points per game, while being selected to play in the 2005 NBA All-Star Game, his first All-Star selection since 2000. Howard was selected to the All-Rookie First Team, while

Jameer Nelson Jameer Lamar Nelson Sr. (born February 9, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player who serves as general manager for the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Saint Joseph's Hawks men's ba ...

made the All-Rookie Second Team.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Awards and honors

–

NBA Sportsmanship Award The NBA Sportsmanship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court with ethical behavior, fair play, and integrity." It is directly analogous to the ...

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

– All-Rookie 1st Team *

– All-Rookie 2nd Team

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004-05 Orlando Magic season Orlando Magic seasons 2004 in sports in Florida 2005 in sports in Florida 2004–05 NBA season by team 2004 in Orlando, Florida 2005 in Orlando, Florida