Orlando Magic: What the 2018-19 lineups could look like
By Chris Murch
Defense
- PG: Jerian Grant
- SG: Jonathon Simmons
- SF: Aaron Gordon
- PF: Jonathan Isaac
- C: Mohamed Bamba
This is where the Magic devoted a lot of time and effort this offseason. Bucking recent NBA trends, the Magic, instead of acquiring shooters and guards, went with long, rangy wings and bigs to counteract this heavily offensive league.
The thought behind this is probably something along the lines of, “If they can’t score on us, how will anyone beat us?” While the Magic might have a hard time scoring themselves, they should be an impressive defensive team this year.
Starting with a backcourt of Grant and Jonathon Simmons gives the Magic bullish defense on the perimeter and the ability to guard 1-3 effectively. With a frontcourt that features three players with more than seven feet of wingspan, Orlando can switch a lot of big-to-big movements and rack up tons of blocks.
This defensive scheme was already put on full display in the 2018 NBA Summer League, where Isaac and Bamba had block parties and stifled other teams’ bigs. With the incredible amount of length provided, expect the Magic to be one of the top defensive teams in the league next season.