With an influx of new faces and some young players still with a lot to prove, what will the Orlando Magic’s opening night starting five look like?
The Orlando Magic finished last season with a 29-53 record, with the franchise feeling aimless in how it planned on getting better. From there, however, they had their most productive summer in five years, firing general manager Rob Hennigan and hiring John Hammond.
Before we knew it we were at draft night, with the team selecting Jonathan Isaac from Florida State with the sixth overall pick. This was followed by the offseason additions of Shelvin Mack, Jonathon Simmons, Marreese Speights and Arron Afflalo.
Clearly then there has been roster upheaval, but as opening night approaches, it’s still anybody’s guess who will actually start for the team. Everybody seems to have their own ideas, but differentiating between who should start and who should come off the bench is a lot trickier than it seems.
Should Isaac be in from the start, for example? Bismack Biyombo is the joint highest-paid player on the team this season ($17 million) so he has to start, right?
The other joint top earner, Evan Fournier, is a player the Magic have paid with the belief that he can lead a future playoff push. So he has to start.
But where does that leave Terrence Ross? Or Aaron Gordon, who himself could be signed to an early extension by the time the season kicks off? If you’re going to pay him, haven’t you got to play him?
We haven’t even mentioned Jonathon Simmons, a surprising get at three years, $20 million but who could be primed for a breakout year. This isn’t going to be easy, so here are our official predictions for the Orlando Magic’s starting five in 2017-18.