Orlando Magic: One question for each player for 2018-19
By Luke Duffy
D.J. Augustin: Can he remain a starter?
We begin with veteran point guard D.J. Augustin, who is entering his third season in Orlando. This will be the second-longest amount of time he has spent in one place, after the first four years of his career in Charlotte.
Augustin tends to follow a poor season with a good one, and given how we saw a dip in his productivity last year, that bodes well for this coming campaign. In preseason he looked crafty offensively, mixing the probing drives to the paint we’ve come to enjoy with nice passing.
The problem for Augustin is the Magic went out and got a hungry guard in Jerian Grant this offseason. Now on his third team in four seasons, you can see he is desperate to stick somewhere.
That will make holding onto the starting spot tough for Augustin. Grant is four years younger, is nearly five inches taller and is the better defender. Augustin is the better offensive threat and 3-point shooter (41.9 percent last season).
Augustin will begin the season as the starter, but he is going to have a hard time holding onto that spot. This kind of competition for minutes is great for Orlando and something the team has missed.