Orlando Magic: This is Shelvin Mack’s chance to impress

After an incredible 6-2 start, the Orlando Magic’s depth is about to be challenged for the first time. This is a good thing for point guard Shelvin Mack.

There have been several key component’s to the Orlando Magic‘s fantastic 6-2 start to the season. Chief among them has been the development of their young core, as well as great offseason additions like Jonathon Simmons.

This increased depth was an underrated but very important part of this team’s quest to improve, and has already proven invaluable this season.

With starting point guard Elfrid Payton still out with a hamstring injury, and with D.J. Augustin now joining him on the sidelines for a period, we’re about to see if their depth can keep them soaring.

While this will mean more minutes for Arron Afflalo, who is on his second tour of duty with the team, the real winner here is Shelvin Mack, who will slot into that starting role.

This is a big chance for the former Utah Jazz playmaker, but will he be able to take it and ensure that when his teammates are healthy, head coach Frank Vogel will still turn to him?

Before we see if Mack has any staying power or will be in line to get more minutes, we need to once again commend the Magic for even being in this position. When teams lose their two point guards to injury, traditionally the third guard who comes in to take over isn’t of a particularly high standard.

Mack, however, had some nice moments on a nifty Jazz outfit last season that was fun to watch. Having him fill in for the time being represents a serious turnaround in the team’s fortunes.

It wasn’t too long ago Luke Ridnour and Ben Gordon were getting minutes in this backcourt, and it is at times like these we truly see what a forward-thinking front office can do.

Back to Mack though, and what can he provide for this team to ensure they not only remain competitive, but actually thrive while he’s on the court?

Well, Mack is built like a bulldog: not particularly tall but physical and strong. His defensive rating of 104.8 is right around the middle of the numbers he’s posted year on year.

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Part of that is down to Mack being beaten by quicker guards, but we need to cut him some slack here as he plays mostly with the second unit when on the court.

Bismack Biyombo is a great player to have backing you up. Mario Hezonja? Less so. Nevertheless, Mack should want to improve big time if he wants to stay on the court for longer.

The Magic currently boast the ninth-best defensive rating in the league (100.2), and that may dip somewhat if Mack plays more than the 19 minutes per game he’s averaged so far this season.

Thankfully they’re so good offensively right now (109.9 offensive rating, second-best in the league) that they can afford to fall a few spots defensively.

Going forward Mack is a better career 3-point shooter than Payton (32.3 percent to 29.1 percent) but trails the 37.1 percent of Augustin considerably. So while the court may shrink once again for guys like Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic as opponents sag off Mack, they are still used to operating this way playing with Payton.

Also worth noting is the very impressive 4.6 assists Mack is averaging right now. Somehow that is a career high for him. This is important because the Magic are assisting on 59.6 percent of their made field goals so far this season, the eighth-best mark in the NBA.

Mack was clearly bought in to making the extra pass, so this should help the team continue to excel offensively.

Combine that with his ability to barrel his way into the lane and we begin to see his case for staying in the starting lineup even when Augustin returns.

So far this season, Mack has put up a Player Efficiency Rating (league average 15) of 14.7. “Not great,” you might argue, and you’d have a point. Only that too is a career high for Mack, and is better than the (admittedly tiny sample size) 13.8 Payton has put up.

For comparison’s sake, Augustin has a rating of 17.8 so far this season, but a career average of 13.9. He is excelling in the Magic’s newfound depth and unselfish play, so why can’t Mack?

The run as a starter may be short-lived, but it is still an exciting prospect for fans.

Whereas Augustin can take too much out of the ball and Payton oftentimes releases it too quickly, Mack is a calming presence who will have no problem deferring to guys like Fournier.

He’ll play off the ball some too, as when Simmons enters the game he tends to take ball-carrying duties upon himself for some possessions.

All of which is to say that Shelvin Mack is about to get an opportunity to beat out D.J. Augustin as this team’s backup point guard, much like he was meant to before the season began.

The team may regress in certain areas, and it may result in some less slick offensive movements, but it is not going to be a massive drop-off for the Magic either.

Next: 2017-18 Week 3 NBA Power Rankings

After five years of having no depth and poor role players, Orlando having its third string point guard come in and it not be a dreadful thing says all you need to know about where the organization is at right now.