Serge Ibaka leads 4 Orlando Magic players ESPN's NBA Rank

ESPN’s list sings a different tune than Sports Illustrated’s preseason top 100. Will any of the Magic’s players outplay their current rank? Will any underachieve?

ESPN released Nos. 51-100 of their annual NBA Rank series Thursday. And a handful of Magic players made the cut.

Serge Ibaka, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic all made the list at Nos. 71, 72, 75 and 78 respectively.

ESPN also ranked Elfrid Payton at No. 108, Bismack Biyombo at No. 111, Mario Hezonja at No. 183 and Jeff Green at No. 189 in previous installments.

In Sports Illustrated’s preseason top 100, Serge Ibaka was also the highest-ranked Magic player. But Sports Illustrated’s list placed at him at 42 – nearly 30 spots higher than ESPN did.

It is still very early in the season, but it is understandable because of his somewhat disappointing start. To regain top-50 standing, Ibaka will need to pick his defense and rim protection back up and score from outside more efficiently.

Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon, ranked Nos. 95 and 99 by Sports Illustrated and now Nos. 72 and 75 by ESPN, have clearly been proving themselves to national writers.

Obviously, their importance to the Magic cannot be understated.

Gordon’s defense at the 3 has been one of the biggest (and few) bright spots for the team’s overall defense so far. For the Magic to keep pace with their opponents on the offensive end, Fournier’s role as one of the team’s few established scorers is pivotal.

Although Fournier is not running on all cylinders quite yet, his 29-point performance against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday (on 10-for-15 shooting) is an example of what he can do for the Magic that few other players on the roster can.

Against the Philadelphia 76ers and the Kings, Fournier shot a combined 6 of 13 from beyond the arc. Things are clearly starting to come together for him after shooting just 25 percent on 3-pointers in his first three games.

At this rate, it would not be too surprising to find Gordon and/or Fournier ranked higher than Serge Ibaka by season’s end.

Nikola Vucevic, ranked No. 75 in Sports Illustrated’s list, has produced at the level most probably would have expected – versatile scoring, solid rebounding and less-than-stellar defense.

An ideal scenario for Vucevic going forward would be for him to shoot from outside at a higher clip and volume.

If Ibaka cannot consistently score from outside, Vucevic is the only big Frank Vogel really can expect to offer spacing. That will allow Vogel the inside-out game he hinted at over the summer, where Gordon and other Magic scorers can drive it inside or post up smaller opponents.

Finding these four sandwiched right in the middle of the 51-100 list is not a surprise. But if the Magic are to end up in playoff contention, at least one of them will have to step up and likely find themselves a few spots higher when all is said and done.