A Little Too Much Forward Thinking
9 man rotation. Steve Clifford. Orlando Magic. We know how it is, and he has re-iterated during pre-season media that he intends to take that approach for the most part again heading into the 2019-20 season. For the un-initiated – Steve Clifford, head coach of the Orlando Magic likes to use a 9 man rotation. I knew Clifford as a ‘Get a lot out of little’ type guy during his tenure as Charlotte head coach, in addition to knowing him as “the bald guy who stands there looking satisfied after Charlotte beats Orlando yet again, and Kemba Walker scores 1000 points off of high pick and roll”. I wasn’t paying attention to his rotations, but with Orlando, it soon became obvious what he liked and that he was sometimes prone to trying to milk what he liked for a little too long.
Coach Clifford was not blessed with a fantastic set of options to assemble his four man bench unit with at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, or more-so, the obvious options weren’t so great. Behind the starting unit and 6th man/friend of The Close Up Magic Terrence Ross was a close-to-bad-enough-at-times-you-could-almost-say-barely-ready-for-the-NBA Mo Bamba, Jonathan Simmons who had begun to look like he hated Basketball and a player I am convinced I have better court vision than – Jerian Grant. The results were not good. The team’s production at both ends of the court were abject failures and as a Magic fan, the fear when certain players took to the court was real. However a change came – rookie Center Mo Bamba obtained a season-ending injury, Clifford essentially just gave up on Jerian Grant, whilst Simmons was moved in the Markelle Fultz trade. With these three shifts in health, belief and roster make-up Clifford was forced to utilize three (pretty much unknown) NBA entities in Khem Birch, Wes Iwundu and Isiah Briscoe in more prominent and defined roles, which then lead to great success and help build a cohesion this Orlando Magic squad had not seen since the ever so quick tease at the beginning of the 2015-16 season. There it was – Coach had his 9 man rotation, and it worked.
Coming into this 2019-20 season, Orlando’s 9 man rotation looks pretty obvious on paper. However, it’s once you consider it from a perspective that addresses both A) who plays what position and B) Who is now left out that contributed last year? It then, well it then becomes a little murky.
I want to pre-face anything I say from here on out with this – I too believe in “position-less” Basketball, to an extent. Ultimately I believe the game can still be spoken about with traditional positions in mind, but the build and height of people who can slot in to those positions has changed. This obviously ties in directly with the up-tick of the importance of the 3 ball and athletic/switchy tendencies, but on the other hand, I think confidently breaking teams down into Bigs, Wings, and Ball-Handlers works wonders. But with wings – complimentary or diametrically opposed skill sets can certainly force you into thinking in a more traditional fashion (Who’s the 3? Who’s the 4? Who defends who?) Does that make sense? Cool – I want you to keep in mind that that is my take on the matter from here on out. Thanks.
So, back to this rotation thing - It’s the skillsets of Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac, and what players are will be ready to check-in for them that causes most of the confusion about who plays when, what they’re being asked to do, and whether or not players in the rotation are being utilized correctly. So let me just confirm who I think Cliff’s going to play – Vooch, Isaac, AG, Evan, DJ, Bamba, Aminu, Ross and either Markelle Fultz or MCW. In Gordon and Isaac- I believe you have two players, who (at this stage) are both better suited when slotted into a traditional ‘Power Forward’ role – benefiting from floor spacing guards, getting involved with put-backs and finishes around the basket, as well as utilizing their strength. “Oh, but have you heard of a stretch four?!” I hear you say? Of course, notice you never hear of a stretch small forward? No – It doesn’t need that qualifier because it shouldn’t be an outlier. A stretch four is a bonus and if either of Gordon or Isaac can add a legitimate, trustworthy shot to their game then that will brighten the Magic’s outlook immensely. Until then, a Magic fan could be comfortable with last year’s starting five which on offense, essentially put AG into more of a 3 role to at least begin the game. The advantage of this was Cliff’s ability to then stagger Isaac and AG for the remainder of the game, allowing AG to toggle between perimeter play (where his ability as a playmaker really began to show) and utilizing his athleticism, strength and natural inclination to simply out-athlete others inside the 3 point line and allowing Isaac to just kinda… learn the NBA game.
2019-20 presents itself with a new challenge in that signing Al-Farouq Aminu, another player with a less than trustworthy resume from outside the arc who’s game has morphed in to that of a power forward who does all the little things, the Magic have now taken away the luxury of staggering two power forwards (or “bigger wings”) with immense potential. What they’ve broken their (bigger) wing rotation in to is essentially this: A young, high potential player in Isaac who’s game stands to grow immensely if he can get better off the dribble and as a shooter, one starting-caliber wing who has joined the team from a Western Conference Finals team and will expect, and deserves minutes, and a highly explosive yet still learning wing, who’s close to proven that his game is a better handle and shot away from its ceiling.
Not a lot of this really matters on defense. Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon can mix it up with the best offensive wings out there. However, with Aminu coming in off the bench and expected to play a role that isn’t predicated on floor spacing, he’s essentially taking away the wildcard that Coach Cliff was able to use last year – the previously mentioned staggering of Isaac and Gordon in the traditional 4 role. This could be viewed in a few different ways. There’s an argument that Gordon being given the opportunity to further enhance his Draymond-esque playmaking forward type development from last season, and see if he can finally shoot the three at a clip that opposition teams will have to legitimately respect? Gordon was forced into some version of this as a result of previous Magic coach Frank Vogel’s refusal to use Serge Ibaka as a centre during his tenure with Orlando and it was…. not good. But that was then, this is now. Maybe Aaron is ready to take the offensive leap needed so nervous Magic fans like me aren’t constantly dragged back to arguing he’s being used wrong. But also – maybe he’s not. It’s an apprehension born from too much recent pain that’s associated with Magic fandom; games lost on the back of no shooting, players played out of position far too long, young players not being developed well enough next to other young players. It’s a long list, and Magic fans have the right to ask if the Aminu addition disadvantages us as a team, if both Isaac and AG are not afforded enough opportunity to play in a free, instinctual fashion. In conjunction with this right, is the right to be absolutely overjoyed if the Isaac/AG/Aminu rotation works perfectly without anybody mentioning the previous apprehension. We’re Magic fans. Please just let us be happy.
So why did I mention specifically the 9 man rotation earlier in this article? Well, that brings us to who’s left out now – Third-year forward Wes Iwundu. Wes proved himself as a handy contributor when given the opportunity in 2018/19. Sure, he didn’t blow anyone away with humble numbers of 5 points and a couple rebounds in just over 18 minutes per game, but it was his 36% three-point shooting, growing feel for the game, and willingness to play hard every opportunity he was given that allowed him to be a suitable bench piece that could allow Aaron Gordon free reign to lead bench units along with 6th man Terrence Ross. Iwundu looks to be the odd man out of this year’s rotation and my hope is that Coach Cliff will be willing to accept the idea of amending this if our current rotation isn’t performing at the standard he expects it to be.
Early on last season “Can Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon co-exist?” was a legitimate question from Magic fans and NBA media alike. The question has not been 100% answered, but we got a better feel for exactly how it might work as the season went on. The problem with the upcoming season? Well, it’s that we still needed another year to find out the answer to that question, however adding another player to the mix and further crossing skillsets and some tendencies may limit our opportunity to find out the answer, or worse – highlight one of Gordon or Isaac’s ceiling in a jarring fashion.
To finish, I will say this: This could all be part of the plan. We mustn’t forget the team-friendly contract Aaron Gordon was signed to, and how that, along with his potential growth as a player may see him become the trade chip Orlando needs to better balance their roster construction and commit further to the Bamba/Isaac/Fultz future. But that, well that’s an article for another time. For now, I am ready to wait and see. I’m excited about Magic Basketball and if leaps can be taken, I’ll be over the moon. It is just important to be real with ourselves prior to the season starting. Both Gordon and Isaac have areas they need to improve so as to increase their versatility in a way that negates potential logjams, and I have all my fingers crossed. Oh, and to Wes Iwundu? I’m rooting for you to get off that pine my man. Go Magic.