Orlando Magic: Diversity Their Biggest Strength

For the last number of years, the Orlando Magic have fielded a team each season that didn’t have much cohesion to it. It’s not that the players were always that bad, even though sometimes they were, it was just that the team was going through a rebuilding phase, and the NBA draft lottery was the key.

This often resulted in largely young and inexperienced players learning to adapt to the league as they went along.

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Occasionally a veteran player was sprinkled in there as well, with familiar names like Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo coming to mind. The point is, this team had neither the skills, experience or diversity to win all manner of different games throughout the course of the regular season.

From three games in four nights to six-game road trips out West, the Magic would show up and try to be competitive, but usually still lose.

Now, while some will argue that the skills and experience are still lacking with this team, one thing they have quietly gone about adding to their identity is a sense of diversity.

As of right now it’s still kind of tough to spot, but when you look at the roster as a whole, from the draft picks to the barely noticeable veterans brought in, you can begin to see the bigger picture, and it is something that will result in them winning the most games in a campaign since Dwight Howard left town.

Beginning with the guards, the Magic have a core four players of Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Shabazz Napier and C.J. Watson. As of right now you can add Tyler Harvey and Evan Fournier to that list as well. Look, if you’re looking at those players together as a whole, a lot of teams wouldn’t be overly frightened.

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Oladipo has the makings of a star sure, but beyond that, every other player there has drawbacks to their game.

Payton can’t shoot, Napier has failed to live up to the considerable hype he received coming out of college so far and Watson is a backup guard at best. On top of that, Fournier can be inconsistent at times. So individually, there’s not too much to scare opponents.

But when you combine their talents however, you start to realize that the Magic have played this one quite smart in assembling a roster that could come together to be better than the sum of it’s parts.

Watson was a 40 percent three-point shooter last season (38 percent for his career), while Napier shot 38 percent from the field in just less than 20 minutes of action with the Miami Heat. Payton led all rookies in assists (a healthy 6.5 per game; Zach LaVine came in second with 3.6) and was 14th among all qualifying players in the league in that category as well.

Payton also showed a sharp sense of awareness on the defensive end, and figures to only improve on that end as well.

So whereas last year the likes of Luke Ridnour were backing up Payton, now there is clearly a diverse skill range waiting on the bench should the game require them. When the Magic are chasing games, which happened a lot last year, defenders sagged off Payton and dared him to shoot.

Sometimes he did this, and more often than not those shots did not go in, leading to the team falling further into a hole.

Should that happen this season, and it will, now the Magic can turn to Watson, the kind of shooters defenders have to respect. His passing range may not be that of Payton’s but as we will see when we look at the forwards, the floor will be spaced enough anyway for Watson to find his teammates.

When Oladipo needs to go to the bench, having a Napier or Fournier there also makes things interesting.

Neither can drive to the rim like Oladipo, or even defend like he can. But again both have spots on the floor they can get to consistently to knock down shots. Sure they’ll give up points on the other end, but they have the skills to at least keep the Magic in those games.

A quick word on Fournier as well. I still feel he can be the wildcard this team needs to see real improvement, there’s sixth man potential in him. The hope is that this season he gets a chance to prove it (although, his +/- stats don’t make for pretty reading, with a lot of negative numbers in there).

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So already we can see that, as a result of internal improvement and smart acquisitions, this team will have more ways to beat opponents. Moving onto the forwards, there is much to like there as well. I’ve spoken before about how this team could go to a small ball formation if the game requires it, and that is certainly true.

However, just because that style of play is trending right now, does not mean the Magic should embrace that and little else.

But in Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon, Tobias Harris and Andrew Nicholson, again there is diversity among their skill sets which is a boost for this team.

Rookie Hezonja comes over from Europe with a ton of hype, and he recently shot 66 percent from the field at the EuroBasket tournament for Croatia (He did only shoot 27 percent from three-point territory however, a number that will have to improve). He will stretch the floor well, which is great news for a guy like Harris.

Although he took a lot of jumpers last season, he also had statistically his best year from three point range (36%) while tying a career high in field goals percentage (46%). But Harris is also extremely good at driving to the basket, and the extra space provided with Hezonja on the floor, and Channing Frye as well, means he should be able to get to the rim more easily.

Both Hezonja and Harris have notable offensive games, with Harris having recently been given a new long term deal after his best season to date last year.

Gordon already looks like more of a two way forward. He’s as likely to pop up with a monster dunk as he is to get back and alter an opponent’s shot on the defensive end (Although he did pull down less rebounds, 3.6, last season than Payton, 4.3). He’s got a great motor and shows up everywhere on the court.

He still has a lot to learn in terms of picking his spots and existing in a flowing offensive scheme that often won’t revolve around him, but his rookie season showed plenty of promise.

Pairing his enthusiasm on both ends of the court with a more offensive minded wing like Harris or Hezonja will likely result in good things for this team. So far so good then, as the thought process behind the picks and moves this team has made are beginning to come together for all to see.

However, one area of concern may be at the center position. Both Frye and Nikola Vucevic are offensive minded bigs, and in some ways that’s great.

Vucevic has All-Star potential, while Frye’s three point shooting abilities can drag his defender away from the painted area for the likes of Payton and Harris to penetrate. Vucevic does not have that range, but he has the footwork and handling to cause all kinds of problems for most opponents night after night.

The issue however, is that neither is a true rim protector. There is always the hope Vucevic can turn into that type of two way player, but as time goes by and no real improvements is made it becomes harder to imagine.

To be fair, Dewayne Dedmon does his best on that end, but the reality is he’s never going to be elite at protecting the rim. Coming up against inside terrors like a DeAndre Jordan, he will struggle. So while the diversity throughout the roster is as good as it’s been in a long time and will result in more wins for this team, the center position still remains an issue.

Perhaps Frye will be traded down the road to create more stability in the big man rotation?

Going into the new season however, there’s much to like on paper. Each player has certain skills that, when put together with the other guys here, equals a competitive and pretty well balanced roster. Better teams will still beat them of course, but they’ll be a tougher out, and now have the weapons to grind out some games they surely would have lost in the past.

It’s one of the less talked about aspects of this improved roster with training camps weeks away from opening.

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