Orlando Magic: Wesley Iwundu will have his moment

Despite looking to be on the outside of the Orlando Magic’s rotation to start the regular season, Wesley Iwundu will have his moment.

Although the NBA’s preseason tells us nothing about how the regular campaign is going to go, it was disheartening to see the Orlando Magic lose their final three meaningless games. Especially after winning the first three, and looking like they were on a mission from before day one to prove to everybody they were for real.

The most worrying part of these losses is just how listless they looked on their way to being beaten. This wouldn’t have been a problem — again preseason after all — if this wasn’t an issue that reared it’s ugly head last year, with the Magic dropping plenty of winnable games against far inferior opposition.

So to see that not stubbed out by head coach Steve Clifford, who is known for his ability to get the best out of guys defensively and preaches effort, despite bringing back the same core as last season, was concerning. Which is where third-year forward Wesley Iwundu comes in, as he is about to have a bigger role this season than you think.

This might seem a strange statement. After all, it looks like coach Clifford is going to go with a nine-man rotation to start the season, and Iwundu falls outside of that.

Orlando Magic: Appreciating what Wesley Iwundu does https://t.co/ROJkKQBelM -- @LucaLockheart via @HoopsHabit
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Iwundu’s career numbers so far are barely worth mentioning, but we’ll do so anyway. 4.4 points and 2.5 assists with a poor 30.4 percent from 3-point range in there too. His Player Efficiency Rating of 8.3, with the league average being 15, is worse than bad. It is essentially non-existent. He has only averaged 17.3 minutes per contest as well though, which explains some of this.

Although he started out his NBA life as a second-round pick with no guarantees he would stick around. As the Magic continued trying to find their way out of a never-ending rebuild, he quickly won over Clifford with his hard work on the court and the ability to do whatever was asked of him.

Iwundu was just as likely to receive DNPs too, however, as was also the case last season. That’s the beauty of Iwundu though, he will always give his best, no matter what way he is being used or even if he doesn’t see any action for a few games. It draws a strange comparison, but one worth mentioning.

During the title runs of the Miami Heat earlier in the decade, point guard Mario Chalmers always seemed to be the guy that the other star players picked on. Whether it was LeBron James, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, even the former President of the United States of America had to get involved to have his back.

Iwundu isn’t quite on that level, but at various times last season, Clifford could be seen unloading on Iwundu. Seemingly going from his favorite player, as he appeared to be earlier in the season, to one who was resigned to the end of the bench. Successful teams need these guys who can take that verbal bashing. Tony Parker was this guy for the San Antonio Spurs early in his career, and Iwundu can fill this role.

If given the chance though — and he will be given the chance — he will be able to do much more than that. Last season the Magic ranked 8th in defensive rating (107.6), but when Iwundu was on the court, that number shrank to a much more impressive 103.1 (this would have led the league if taken over a whole season).

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Iwundu’s sample size was smaller, which did help. So too did playing against second units. But he also started enough games for this figure to matter, and his defensive ability when out there was noticeable. He looked like he could be a proper 3-and-D player, and the 36.7 percent he shot from deep seemed to back that up.

Things have only gotten better in that regard, with Iwundu shooting 60 percent from 3-point range during the preseason. It is not the final number that really counts though. t is stepping into that shot with more conviction, and having a stroke that looks smoother than it did before as well.

Which is why he is sure to break into the rotation before long. We already know coach Clifford likes him, and we know that he is able to play sparingly, as a starter, or not at all. But his skillset, which again is still improving, seems to mesh so well with the likely second unit of Terrence Ross (offensive firepower), Al-Farooq Aminu (defender), Bamba (paint protector) and Michael Carter-Williams (defensive-minded point guard).

You could even make the case that he should see minutes with the starters in place of Evan Fournier. However, one of Aaron Gordon or Jonathan Isaac would have to take a big leap offensively to supplement the switch, which isn’t completely out of the question.

Fans are already vocal in their support for Iwundu to break into the rotation, and those voices will only grow louder which each opportunity that he successfully takes. He will because that is what Wesley Iwundu has done since being drafted by the Orlando Magic. Continue to stick around, and improve and to do his best when called upon. This season, his best is going to give head coach Steve Clifford a minute distribution headache going forward.