Orlando Magic: Should Bismack Biyombo get more minutes?

Despite settling into a role coming off the bench for the Orlando Magic, should the team be using Bismack Biyombo’s rim-protecting skills more?

For the Orlando Magic, their 2017-18 season so far has been one of ups and downs. Really the only consistency they’ve found is in their inconsistency.

Nevertheless, there has been much to like about what the Magic have been able to do, and being a better offensive team (17th, offensive rating of 104.7) than years gone by has been encouraging.

Still, with a head coach like Frank Vogel and players like Elfrid Payton, Jonathon Simmons and Jonathan Isaac, many feel the team is underperforming defensively. Heading into the season, most thought this would be where they’d excel, yet they rank even lower in this category (21st, rating of 107.2).

There are many potential remedies to fix this, but could playing center Bismack Biyombo more often be the answer to this team grinding out — and winning — some of those losses they’ve had?

Last season, Biyombo’s first with the team, he split minutes with fellow center Nikola Vucevic more evenly than the traditional starter/backup combo (22.1 per game for Biyombo, 28.8 for Vucevic).

Vucevic’s great offensive game was the reason he won out though. He has started all 26 games the Magic have played so far this season, averaging 30.1 minutes per night. Biyombo on the other hand, has seen his minutes plummet to 15.6 per contest, the second-lowest mark of his career.

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Yet for all that Vucevic does for this team, averaging 16.7 points and, 8.8 rebounds a night with an effective field goal percentage of 53.9 percent, there are those who feel his lack of rim protection hurts the Magic.

Biyombo clearly excels in this area, so is there an argument to be made that he should be getting more playing time?

While the short answer is no (and we’ll get to why that is in a bit), there is one interesting quirk Biyombo brings to the floor that Vucevic cannot.

We saw it in the team’s overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night. To start the second quarter, Vogel put Biyombo out there with Shelvin Mack, Arron Afflalo, D.J. Augustin and Wesley Iwundu.

It was a strange lineup to have on the court, and while they only played just over six minutes together and didn’t do much, it was made possible because of Biyombo.

Vogel knows the rim is going to be protected and that Biyombo can cover the height disadvantages that scrappy guys like Augustin and Mack may run into.

So he can trot out four unconventional players alongside him, three of whom can shoot the 3-ball well and a fourth (Iwundu) who is an athletic wing. That fact alone may win Biyombo more minutes in the near future, especially if injuries continue to hinder this team and they need to be creative with how they stagger player’s minutes.

Unfortunately for the former Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors big man, however, that defensive coverage is just about all he has going for him.

His offensive game doesn’t extend beyond the paint, and despite living off dunks, put-backs and layups, Biyombo’s effective field goal percentage this season is 49.4 percent. That is the third-worst mark of his seven-year career so far, and although he is known for his defending primarily, that number doesn’t make for promising results.

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His 4.5 rebounds per game represent the lowest mark of his career, and his defensive rating of 105.2 is only the fourth-best mark he’s put up. Vucevic’s defensive rating may be higher at 107.1, but is it high enough to warrant playing Biyombo for extended minutes instead of him?

Beyond that, Biyombo’s net rating is -10.5 and his Player Impact Estimate (PIE) is 7.0. Vucevic’s PIE is 13.2, and that’s the third-worst mark of his career. His net rating is +3.3 as well (a career high).

Biyombo also has a Player Efficiency Rating of 10.3, with the league average being 15. Unsurprisingly, that is the second-lowest mark of his career. Vucevic’s is 20.2 and that’s not even a career high for him.

Even if we look more at the basic numbers, as opposed to those advanced ones, the case gets no better for the player.

His 4.2 points per game are somehow even lower than his career average (4.8). For someone who lives in the paint, he only gets to the line 1.9 times per contest. Biyombo is averaging 1.2 blocks per game, which is a solid number. Yet he still doesn’t even lead the team in this category, trailing the rookie Isaac (1.3).

So while Biyombo appears to have the trust of the coaching staff in anchoring any four players that are on the court with him, it doesn’t look like he’s doing much else for the team. That’s not a slight on the player, but barring that amazing series against the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Toronto Raptors in the playoffs a couple of years back, what has he really done?

Given that he’s the joint highest earner on this team right now ($17 million), it would be great to have him play more minutes. Only we know that’s not a good idea judging by the numbers we’ve just seen, and it is going to take a lot of work to turn them around.

Next: 2017-18 Week 8 NBA Power Rankings

So no, Bismack Biyombo should not be getting any more minutes for the Orlando Magic given the output he is producing.