OMD Staff Lineup Recap: Who should be Orlando Magic’s fifth starter?
The range of starting lineups varied, but all really on that “wildcard starter” for the Orlando Magic. Who should it be?
The Orlando Magic are all set in the backcourt with Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton appearing like the tandem of the future. Nikola Vucevic is a borderline All Star penciled in to start at the 5-spot. And no matter which forward spot Tobias Harris is deemed, he is likely going to start at one of them.
But that leaves one starting spot available, and all of us here at Orlando Magic Daily went different routes with who that player should be.
There are compelling lines of reasoning behind each pick, but let’s recap it briefly:
Philip Rossman-Reich: After long deliberation, Phil decided Evan Fournier would round out the starting unit well by providing the floor spacing and offensive handle to create more offense. Fournier would add a third guard more than a forward at the 3-spot, but the Magic may be best suited toward playing a lot of small ball.
David Iwanowski: Aaron Gordon gets the call from David on the basis of his defense and versatility. It allows Harris to function on the stronger of the two forwards and allows Gordon to manipulate the more testy of the two on the perimeter.
Juan Antonio Bisono: Aaron Gordon and Harris start alongside one another in Bisono’s lineup too, with the emphasis again being the positions will not matter so much. “Welcome to position-less basketball!” Bisono announced to us, and that may end up being the motif we see more and more this season without a defined 4-man requiring minutes.
Conner Renfro: Conner favored last season’s opening night starter Channing Frye. Renfro still figures Frye can offer what he was originally signed for: premium floor spacing. As a shooter and spot-up guy, it is hard to argue against Frye. He lacks rebounding presence and is not much defensively, but his floor spacing is unequaled by any other true forward on the roster. He also has the quickest release.
Lastly, my own pick was the least flashy in Dewayne Dedmon.
Dedmon cannot shoot the triple, at all really. And that is not what would be expected from him. Rather, the Magic have to find some way to halt the trips to the rim, and Dedmon is a savvy shot blocker when he can stay out of foul trouble.
He is aggressive and rebounds the ball well. With starter’s minutes, he could easily become a 10-point, 10-rebound, two-block type of player, which would round out four offensive players quite well.
Dedmon will not provide heaps of scoring, nor much at all along those lines—but he can finish.
And given how well Elfrid Payton gets into the paint to create looks, Dedmon can become a lob finisher and flusher around the basket. A strong defensive effort with the ability to finish around the bucket might be all the Magic need from a starting power forward with Oladipo, Vucevic and Harris all able to put the ball in the bucket.
Adding Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier is more offense still, meaning Dedmon’s defense would be well received with various combinations taking the court.
So, in summation, there are plays for defense in Dedmon and Gordon. There is the logical solution of putting a shooter like Fournier or Frye out on the court to keep the floor spaced. And there is also the reasonable expectation Aaron Gordon can do both those things and be bar-none the best starter of all the options.
But that is a very idealized notion of what Gordon can become, not necessarily on what he has already been.
There truthfully are compelling cases for all four of these players as starters, and just because I personally think Dedmon is the defensive stopper needed next to Vucevic does not mean Skiles might not be able to find other ways to solidify the Magic’s defensive efforts aside from starting the offensively lacking Dedmon.
As of right now, it is really just an interesting debate to be had.
When the players take the court in camp, we will get a better idea of which units function the best together, which was kind of the basis Phil took in trying to determine which guys would be best alongside one another.
Truthfully, there is just too much not known to use last season’s numbers as a basis for guiding those types of efforts, though Phil did find compelling evidence Fournier can be the scorer the team needs.
The Magic, for now, are in a luxurious position in having some different options that all bring different skills and strengths to the table. There is no real sense in being locked into nor sold on any of them quite yet, necessarily.