The Orlando Magic have some talent to work with this season, but how will head coach Scott Skiles set his rotations?
It is a matter fans deride, analysts obsess over and coaches pull their hair out for (what is left of it in some cases, ahem): How should the minutes be distributed among rotation players?
It is never clear cut, nor is it easy. Different players bring different strengths and weaknesses, and complicating that some players play best with certain teammates on the court. Determining how best to amalgamate given units is the toughest job of a good coach. And make no mistake, only good coaches ever really get a handle on how to best run their team.
The hope here is coach Scott Skiles both keeps his remaining hair and discovers the secrets to getting the most out of a talented Magic roster. There will be position battles to be settled in training camp. As it is, the staff here at OMD all agrees on four of the five starters, but that fifth starter is very much in the air.
Which direction Skiles chooses to go with that fifth starter, and how he shapes the offense around both the first and second unit is really anyone’s guess at this point. There are arguments to be made for small ball, and equally valid ones that suppose the Magic need a dominant 4-man to compensate for center Nikola Vucevic’s defensive shortcomings.
At this juncture, it is difficult to ascertain which view is right.
The Magic could simply always aim to have the best scoring unit possible at all times. But balance is really the key to winning basketball. As it is, the Magic’s non-core players all offer disparate strengths that will help shape the identity this team is still striving to achieve.
Let us look at some minute allocations that at least make sense, while it is easy to admit this is nothing more than an exercise or an ideal rotation. Players will earn their minutes and guys will define their roles, mostly on the basis of their play, not conjecture such as this.
That said, it is hardly a futile exercise to attempt to discern how Skiles will divide his minutes this season.
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