Orlando Magic: Biggest strengths and weaknesses for 2017-18
By Luke Duffy
Strength No. 3: Versatility
The Magic have spent years employing traditional players who can only play the one position on this team. The likes of Payton and Biyombo personify this.
The addition of Isaac, however, as well as Nikola Vucevic continuing to expand his range, means they will be able to play with more modern lineups this year. This is great because it means they can plan accordingly for different opponents and now have the personnel to deploy different lineups and ways of playing against them.
Rookie Isaac appears to be the symbol of this new way of thinking, as already it looks like he could play both forward spots or even as a center in a smaller lineup.
This way of thinking could even spread to other players. For instance, is it really that crazy to think Fournier could see some minutes at the point guard position this year?
However Vogel utilizes these players, there’s no doubt that he will play different rotations and lineups to what we saw last year.
A positive result of this is what it could do for the futures of Payton and Gordon. Neither of them have signed an early extension with the regular season about to begin.
So this season looks to be an audition for both before hitting restricted free agency next summer. It may be that the Magic find they can exist just fine without Payton playing the point. Between Mack, Augustin and even Fournier, the versatility of this new group may squeeze some players out, allowing others to come in their place.