Orlando Magic’s guard Arron Afflalo has become the Magic’s go-to guy on the perimeter since being apart of the highly-touted trade which sent him and forward Al Harrrington to the Magic for Andre Iguodala as part of the four team trade that revolved around Dwight Howard being shipped to the Lakers. Afflalo’s growth as a go-to scorer from a valuable rotation player, he says, started in Denver. It’s the reason why when he discusses the trade or his time in Denver, Afflalo remains nothing but grateful.

“My first year here I got to do a lot of watching, from a scorer’s standpoint,” Afflalo said. “Also got to build my defensive reputation because back then I really could put a lot of effort in, which is why I was able to excel defensively, just because of the energy level that I had. But as I progressed through the years transitioning into more of a scorer, more of a complete player, a large part of that process happened here from year one to three for me. I’m just trying to take it all and apply it to my first year in a Magic uniform. I think the combination of it all will transfer into some good things for me in the future.”

Entering tonight’s game against the Nuggets, Afflalo leads Orlando in scoring at a career-high 17.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting.

via Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post