Where to go from here? The Orlando Magic Bench
By sfenech
Magic GM Rob Hennigan must address the team’s bench during free agency this offseason in order for the team to improve on the court.
The Orlando Magic have not fielded a competitive team since Dwight Howard forced his way out of town. With that being said, the plan has seemingly been to bottom out, and then reload with players drafted early in the lottery and keep cap space open to pounce when the team had grown up enough.
For that reason, it has made sense for Magic general manager Rob Hennigan to invest very sparingly in the second unit, focusing instead on building the core of the roster.
What is the point in assembling a great bench when the plan is to lose games? While a stacked bench can certainly make the difference between a good and great team, the path to championship contention is paved by acquiring a couple superstar players.
Thus far, the Magic have drafted three players in the lottery and “won” the Howard trade by securing the best young asset in the deal in Nikola Vucevic. While the roster has been reloaded with young talent, the improvement on the court has been minimal.
With another high lottery pick on deck for this June’s NBA Draft, the Magic should be able to nab another talented young player to add to their core. In fact, Orlando has a strong chance to earn a pick inside the top five for the third consecutive season.
While being positioned at the top of the draft is enviable in the offseason, the Magic need to take strides on the court next season. Simply put, if Orlando is still in contention for a top-five pick next year it would be a disappointment.
For that reason, Hennigan must start to invest in the team’s bench.
Last offseason, the franchise decided to sign Channing Frye to a four-year, $32 million deal. At the time, some ascertained Frye could be a valuable starter at power forward, but that has not yet come to fruition. If the Magic hold onto Frye this offseason and the Arizona product is able to regain his past form, then he could be a solid bench option heading into next season.
Other than the Frye signing, very few of Hennigan’s other free agency acquisitions looked like moves that were made to improve the roster. Certainly not for the long term.
Entering his third offseason at the helm, Hennigan’s other free agent signings include Ronnie Price, Jason Maxiell, Luke Ridnour and Ben Gordon. Putting it gently, there is a reason the markets for those players were either non-existent or very sparse.
Based upon the players the Magic have coming off the bench, it is not surprising the team sports the worst bench differential in the entire NBA at -11.4 differential using HoopsStats’ efficiency recap metric). Simply put, that is not acceptable and is working to outweigh the development of Vucevic and Oladipo. At least, in the win column.
Not only does Orlando’s bench sport the league’s worst point differential, they are also ranked dead last in effectiveness as well (28.6 in HoopsStats’ efficiency recap).
The Magic are keyed to have significant cap space this summer thanks to the plethora of rookie contracts and no long-term deals. Even with Vucevic’s extension set to kick in. Tobias Harris and Kyle O’Quinn are the only two potential high-priced free agents they have to retain.
With that being said, the upcoming restricted free agency period for Tobias Harris will be one of the most important Magic storylines to follow this summer. Kyle O’Quinn is also a restricted free agent, and it is unclear whether he or Harris will be back next season.
Realistically, the Magic should have enough cap space to add at least two significant role players to the roster to bolster the team’s bench. While Orlando could try to use that money to sign one big fish, it remains unlikely that any prominent free agent would come to Orlando at this juncture without being desperately overpaid.
It seems prudent for Orlando to invest in a couple veterans who still have gas left in the tank. If Hennigan signs the right players, it could make a huge difference both on the court and in the locker room, where the Magic are still working to create a winning culture.
Hennigan’s plan in the past was certainly rooted in good basketball theory. Lose a lot of games and hope to draft a generational talent atop the draft. The plan worked for the Magic in the past, as the first overall pick led to the arrival of both Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard.
With that being said, the franchise has not been quite as fortunate thus far.
The players Orlando has drafted under Hennigan have the potential to create the core of a good team, but we are still waiting on the results.
It’s time for Hennigan to start looking at the whole roster and not just at a few young players. The likes of Oladipo, Vucevic and Payton need to start winning games in order to build confidence, and they won’t be able to do that will a below league average bench.
Orlando ownership have been patient with Hennigan and reportedly plan on giving him a contract extension. Now it is time for the young GM to prove that he can shift gears by acquiring the right players this summer to supplement the roster and help them turn the corner.
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