Sir Charles in Charge puts Orlando Magic bench in top 10
The Orlando Magic will be relying heavily on their bench this coming season. Like with all things with the Magic’s offseason, it is extremely divisive.
If there is one thing to learn about the Orlando Magic in this quiet point of the offseason, it is that no one knows what to think of the Orlando Magic. And so predictions are all over the board.
The Magic are predicted to stagnate one moment. Then to make the Playoffs by another publication. They have a promising starting lineup. Then a confusing one.
Orlando has questions with its bench, and then one of the best benches in the league.
This Magic team will truly be in the eye of the beholder.
Sir Charles in Charge may very well be counted among the early believers. Mason McFee of Sir Charles in Charge ranked the benches across the NBA and put the Magic in the top-10 in terms of depth:
"The bench got incredibly deep this offseason. I chose to place Watson at the two with Meeks recovering from foot surgery. Hezonja may actually move his way into the starting lineup if Gordon struggles, and Green would then become the backup 3 and Gordon the backup 4. Vogel has his work cut out for him, but it’s not a bad problem to have.One of the main reasons this unit is so high is because of the impressive postseason play of Biyombo. Considered incredibly raw when he was selected by the then Charlotte Bobcats, he slowly improved during his time with His Airness’ team; but never really was able to maximize his potential."
The Magic’s depth is certainly going to be one of their strengths this year. Orlando invested much of its money in bringing in veterans to support the proposed starting five. If the Magic do not have better bench help, then something has gone terribly wrong. Or, at least, the Magic misspent their money.
Last year, the Magic had the 13th highest scoring bench in the league. But they had the 18th best offensive rating off the bench. They were 20th in the league in bench net rating. Those numbers are imperfect, of course, as it only takes the results of players who came off the bench. It is not necessarily a reflection on how specific bench units played.
Orlando was not considered a particularly deep team last year. The Magic could rely on a few key players off the bench — at one point Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier took turns out of the starting lineup — but were largely in trouble because of their lack of depth. That was shown as the Magic took on injury after injury.
The Magic certainly improved their depth, signing D.J. Augustin and Jeff Green and, especially, in adding center Bismack Biyombo. Orlando should have one starter-quality center on the floor at all times.
The questions remain though. CBS Sports ranked the Magic’s bench No. 23, questioning the need to add D.J. Augustin with C.J. Watson already on the roster and lamenting Jodie Meeks‘ latest foot surgery.
Orlando certainly did increase the team’s talent off the bench. A sophomore Mario Hezonja should add some talent and ability for the Magic. Biyombo or Vucevic, whoever does not start, have starter quality in them. Augustin and Watson are capable backup point guards. And Jeff Green is a solid veteran, despite largely disappointing for his draft position throughout his career.
The Magic will be relying on this depth a lot. They need to hope it is a top-10 bench rather than the bottom-10 bench CBS projects.
Next: Evan Fournier is Orlando Magic's most underappreciated player
Like with all things with the Magic this offseason, it appears extremely divisive.