Orlando Magic: 4 areas they need to build on for next season
By Luke Duffy
4. Assists
The Orlando Magic moved point guard Elfrid Payton at the trade deadline, and so you would think that their assists percentage would drop as a result of losing a pass-first floor general. This is even more true when you consider D.J. Augustin, who has taken over for now, looks to get his far more than Payton ever did.
Yet they’ve remained 11th in the league (23.4 percent), seeing their number in this category falter only slightly since the move (Orlando’s assist percentage was at 23.9 percent).
It might seem strange to highlight a number that is above league-average, but if the Magic ever want to be taken seriously, they need to be elite in some categories.
With how well they can pass the ball on any given night, and with nifty passing bigs like Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic (for now), there’s no reason this number can’t improve next year.
It is an advantage they have over many of the other teams who are outside of the playoff picture, and somewhat surprisingly is also better than the San Antonio Spurs (22.8 percent) and Boston Celtics (22 percent).
So while the team should be looking to ensure they don’t slip up in this category, the potential is definitely there to improve as well.
As it stands, they are only one full percent behind the Denver Nuggets in fifth place (24.9 percent) and they have one of the best passing bigs in the league in Nikola Jokic.
It’s a rare area of considerable strength for this team and something that the Magic need to ensure not only remains the same, but improves slightly heading into next season.