Orlando Magic shooting guard Terrence Ross could emerge as a popular target ahead of the 2023 NBA trade deadline in February.

Ross expressed interest in a trade after last season, saying the team's front office was "well aware" of his desire to join a team in better position to contend.

"We're definitely in different spots," Ross told reporters in April. "I feel like I'm a part of that old regime, and they're going in a different direction. I don't know what they've got in store for me. It's hard to say. They don't really let me know too much about what they're doing. I'm kind of here just along for the ride."

An offseason trade never arrived, but he'll probably land back on the trade block over the next few months with Orlando fading out of contention.

Ross has proved himself a mostly effective role player across 11-plus NBA seasons. His career started as a first-round pick of the Toronto Raptors in 2012, and the University of Washington product was traded to the Magic in 2017, where he's spent the past five years.

The 31-year-old is a capable scorer, averaging 11.2 points and 1.8 threes across 687 games, but his impact in other areas is limited. He's averaged 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in his career.

One concern that emerged in recent seasons is his defense. He rated a minus-3.4 in FiveThirtyEight's defensive Raptor last season, which was far below his mark in previous years and basically washed out any effectiveness he's enjoyed at the offensive end. It's a troublesome trend that's continued in the early stages this season (minus-0.9).

Ross never performed that poor defensively in prior years, so it's possible the issues are related to Orlando's teamwide struggles (5-14 record) and he'll bounce back to more average performance levels following a trade.