Neither Jacque Vaughn nor the Orlando Magic believe he has anything specific to prove tonight to the Atlanta Hawks, the team with which the 27-year-old point guard spent last season.

In Vaughn's mind, he has plenty to prove to himself, to the Magic, and to the NBA in general as the preseason begins.

"I keep telling people I'm approaching it as if I'm earning my rookie minutes," he said after the Magic's intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night as their training camp wound down. "That's what I'm trying to do. So I'm diving on the floor. I'm taking charges. I'm doing things that I would do if I was a non-guaranteed player."

"I think he wants to show the league. I think he wants to show us," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "He's only signed for a year."

Despite the short length of the contract the Magic bestowed on him in July, Vaughn has already been designated as the starter at his position, with Darrell Armstrong coming off the bench for the first time since Rivers became head coach in 1999. Vaughn started in only 16 of 82 games with the Hawks after playing behind John Stockton the previous four seasons as a member of the Utah Jazz.

"I would like to say I'm a coachable player," he said. "And I already love playing for Doc. I'm going to do what I'm asked to do. When I have great people around me, that makes my job easy."

"I really like him," Rivers said. "He's a solid point guard. And you put him on a team with better players like us, he can have a great year, a career year."

The former first-round pick out of Kansas, where he finished as the school's all-time leader in assists, has never averaged more than 6.6 points or 4.3 assists a game as a pro. But Vaughn appears to have justified the Magic's faith in him thus far by displaying many of the same attributes that Armstrong has.

"I didn't know he was this tough," Rivers said. "I knew he was a grinder. I just didn't know he was this gritty."

"I like his effort every day," Armstrong added. "He plays hard. He pressures the ball. We make each other better."

Although he was teammates in Utah with Karl Malone, who ranks second on the NBA's career scoring list with 34,707 points, Vaughn seldom got to work with him in game situations unless the durable Stockton was injured. So playing alongside Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill on the Magic is a thrill for Vaughn, even if he often tends to mirror the stoic outward approach of Stockton.

"I might not be smiling on the outside, but I'm definitely smiling on the inside," he said, allowing himself a display of emotion.

Rivers plans to use McGrady and Hill between 20 and 25 minutes in the preseason opener against the Hawks. He said he is not concerned about the health of his two stars as much as he is with the timing of McGrady and Hill together.

The Magic trimmed their roster to 18 players Monday by waiving guard Corey Benjamin and forward Jabari Smith.

Via Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic

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