Magic Offense Quite Offensive Right Now

By: Kenneth Chang

Prior to the start of this season, much was made about the Orlando Magic’s continuity and how it would be a major strength, especially in the early part of the year. With essentially the entire roster returning from its playoff appearance last April, and with free-agent forward Al-Farouq Aminu and injured guard Markelle Fultz as the only two additions, there was reason to be hopeful for a quick and successful start record-wise. While the defense has picked up where it left off last season, the offense has been downright dreadful. The Magic through 10 games rank at the bottom of nearly every offensive category: 29th in Offensive Efficiency (29.1), 30th in Points Per Game (98.1), 29th in Overall Shooting (41.9%), 30th in Three-Point Shooting (28.3%), 30th in Effective Field-Goal Percentage (46.8%), 30th in True-Shooting Percentage (50.6%), and 29th in Pace (98.25).

Let’s face it. No one expected Orlando to be an offensive juggernaut heading into the season. After all, they ranked 22nd overall in Offense in 2018-19, in spite of their improvements on that end to close out the last 31 games of the regular season. This team still doesn’t have a consistent go-to player that can create their own shot when the offense stagnates or when an opponent takes them out of their sets. Nikola Vucevic, who was an All-Star last season, came into camp without the same focus (according to Head Coach Steve Clifford) he had last offseason during a contract year. Much of the Magic offense relies on his passing, shooting, and post-up abilities but the results have not been there thus far. Vucevic is shooting a career low (43.6%) from the field. Then you have Aaron Gordon who has yet to take the next step offensively and has many wondering if it will ever transpire. Evan Fournier is solid but his best role is ideally as a third or fourth option on a really great team. Terrance Ross came off a career season in 2018-2019, but he like the others has not shot the ball well and is the primary focus of opponents coming off the bench. The wild card is Fultz in that he possesses the ability to create for others and himself. However, he is just making his way back from a serious nerve injury that has affected him the last two seasons; not to mention teams do not respect his inconsistent jump shot which further negates any quality spacing on the floor.

 

So what can the Magic do to improve their offense? Start hitting more shots! Especially wide-open ones. I’m just stating the obvious. However, Clifford needs to find a way to shorten his rotation and establish a group of players that are going to play every single night so they can get into a proper rhythm. The team needs to start trusting the pass again as they did at the end of last season. That requires moving the ball from side-to-side and not letting it get stuck in the hands of a player attempting to break his man off the dribble. Getting to the free-throw line is another way the team can improve their offensive efficiency. The Magic continue to struggle to generate free-throw attempts (ranking 29th) because they do not have the reputation or guys that draw contact when driving down the lane or that sell foul calls. Orlando needs to utilize their strength as a team (positional length and defense) to generate more steals and blocks, which consequently should lead to more fastbreak opportunities and easier baskets. Lastly, I'd suggest finding a free agent veteran that could provide instant offense when the team is struggling mightily to score the ball. Among the options out there: Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Ryan Anderson, J.R. Smith to name a few.

 While still a small sample size, the Magic offense is a really big concern and will continue to be unless someone ascends as a reliable playmaker or scorer on this team. That being said, statistics show that these players will begin to shoot at or near their career averages. Team offense is well-below league average and will begin to trend upwards as the season goes on. If the defense continues to perform at a top-10 league ranking and the offense improves to at best the top of the bottom-third of the league (20th-22nd), the team should be competing for another playoff spot come April. But for now, this team has a lot of work to do to climb their way up the offensive rankings and more importantly, the Eastern Conference standings.

 Be sure to find me on Twitter @k_chang22 and feel free to hit me up with any comments or opinions as well.