Orlando Magic: Lack Of Star A Positive?

The Orlando Magic are winning games and getting contributions from everywhere. Do they not need a star player right now?

After a bumpy start to the season, the Orlando Magic find themselves at 6-7, and back in the playoff picture.

They have achieved this by winning three out of their last four, including a notable win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to begin that run.

To watch them play is to see a team getting closer and closer to becoming a potent, cohesive unit each night. In fact, the case could be made that, of all the teams in the league today, none is growing before our eyes the way the Magic are.

With that in mind then, it’s becoming clear that this team still lacks a true star player. That one guy who can bail them out of trouble when a contest is slipping away from them.

In theory that’s a bad thing. This is a star-driven league, and you need big-time players to be taken seriously.

But while the Magic are still waiting for one to emerge from their roster, everybody has tried to meaningfully chip in. It doesn’t work every night, but recently it feels like this brand of team basketball may keep them above water, until they either unearth a star or trade for one.

Consider this. Since the start of the season, the Magic have had six different players lead the team in scoring on any given night.

They’ve only played 13 games so far.

Unexpected contributions are what get contenders through the regular season, but in Orlando it almost feels like a lucky dip in terms of who is going to have the hot hand each night.

This is a positive because it means that any guy can take advantage of their situation, and turn it into points for his team.

In the last three games, the Magic have also had a different player lead the team in assists (D.J. Augustin, Elfrid Payton and Serge Ibaka).

In that same, brief, timeframe, the Los Angeles Clippers have had one player lead the team in assists each night (Chris Paul), the Minnesota Timberwolves have had one (Ricky Rubio) and the Philadelphia 76ers have had two (Sergio Rodriquez and T.J. McConnell).

That’s a small sample size, consisting of a contending team (Clippers), an up-and-coming team (Timberwolves) and a team still rebuilding (76ers). But when combined with the scoring leaders each night, it’s clear there is no one player for the Magic to turn to when their backs are against the wall.

Ibaka has taken some time to settle, but in recent games he has looked like he could be that player for this team.

Really that’s why the Magic traded for him during the offseason, so it’s a positive to see him carry the load more. In their last four games, he’s led the team in scoring twice, assists once and rebounding twice. He also had a season-high 31 points in that win over his former Thunder team.

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While it’s great to see Ibaka embrace that role more, it feels like the Magic have almost stumbled across a Plan B if they are having trouble filling the stat sheet.

In their most recent win, against the Dallas Mavericks, Augustin led the team in scoring (18 points) and assists (six). Augustin is one of the better backup point guards in the league today, but even the Magic wouldn’t have expected him to provide that much off the bench.

Similarly, in back-to-back wins over the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards to start November, no player led the team in any major statistical category in both games.

Against the Kings, Evan Fournier led the team in scoring, Payton in assists and Aaron Gordon in rebounding.

Two nights later when the Wizards came to town, it was Jeff Green (scoring), Augustin (assists) and Bismack Biyombo (rebounds). If you throw in their three most recent wins as well, you can add Ibaka and Nikola Vucevic to the list of players who led the team in one way or another.

This kind of depth is great, and after that terrible 0-3 start, is unexpected in a lot of ways as well. Not every team has the ability to have eight different players potentially lead the team in one area on any given night.

But without that star player, that Plan A, this team can never be more than a first round out in the playoffs, which is why the time to make a notable trade would appear to be on the horizon. The team finally has viable contributors right across the roster.

What they do not have, however, is that big player who can give this team big numbers every night, while guys like Ibaka and Fournier filter in behind him.

Perhaps no move will be made this year, and if that is the case then this team is content with letting the young players they have continue to grow. Even that doesn’t seem like the worst move to make, and it’s part of the reason why this team looks to have finally turned a corner.

The Orlando Magic finally have different options when it comes to hurting opponents each night. They have also figured out that they don’t need a superstar to do it, and they’re winning games.

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At this stage of the season, and after a difficult start, that is about all we can hope for. Long may it continue.