With Scott Skiles, minutes are never guaranteed

Even with the Orlando Magic more or less out of the Playoff picture, the focus on winning will not end. Minutes will not be guaranteed to young players.

The Orlando Magic could be officially eliminated from the Playoffs this weekend. Two Magic losses — they play the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls on Friday and Saturday — or two Detroit Pistons wins — they play the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks at home this weekend — will end the Playoff dream officially. With 11 games remaining, the odds of Playoff elimination are all but assured.

Orlando has little that is meaningful to play for at this point other than pride, building a culture where losing is not accepted and development.

The balance all season of winning and development may give way now to development in full. Mario Hezonja may see his minutes bump up. Aaron Gordon may get his minutes bumped up even more. Elfrid Payton should finish games more often even when he is struggling.

That would be the expectation at least.

Shut that down now. It appears the Orlando Magic — and specifically coach Scott Skiles — will still put winning at the forefront through the final 11 games regardless of what is or is not on the line. Minutes will still have to be earned and the players who will play are going to be the ones that give the Magic the best chance to win.

Skiles said minutes will not be given even though the Playoffs have become and are almost officially only an unrealized goal. He tells Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:

"“It’s imperative that we get away from just playing guys regardless of what they do. That’s a terrible mistake, in my opinion. I don’t think that’s how guys develop properly.”"

That is just how Skiles is wired. And it is hard to fault him for it. This is exactly what he brought in for.

Following Wednesday’s loss to the Detroit Pistons after Elfrid Payton recorded a triple double, Skiles was asked if Payton would return to the starting lineup Friday. He said it was possible, he would discuss it with his coaching staff. But it also appears he will stick to his guns. Payton will return to the starting lineup when he is 100 percent healthy and when it will help the team.

That question seems pretty obvious.

The questions that are not obvious are how to get Mario Hezonja more experience and what to do with Nikola Vucevic missing the last 10 games and just 11 games remaining.

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports the Magic have no plans of shutting down Vucevic. Skiles said Vucevic is more day-to-day now. His ability to play is determined on how he is feeling as he works his way back. He seems much closer to playing than not.

That is a sign the team is still trying to win.

That may spell trouble for Hezonja and him getting more minutes too.

Hezonja has been handled mostly the same way all year. He has been given bench minutes, but gets pulled if he is making poor defensive rotations, turning the ball over too much or taking poor shots. Hezonja has had plenty of rookie moments. He is averaging 16.5 minutes per game this year and has seen his minutes go up and down.

When he has been given minutes, Hezonja has produced more. His shot goes down and he becomes more engaged. It just has not been consistent. And his inconsistency is worse than other options for the Magic.

Hezonja playing more would take minutes away from Evan Fournier, another young player the Magic want to develop too. It is not an easy problem to solve.

More than anything with Hezonja, with Payton with anyone on the roster is that the Magic want to establish a culture where playing time is tied to performance.

The last three years as the Magic played out the string to end the season, there were times where players were able to play through mistakes and got minutes because of their status. That does not create urgency and creates entitlement.

That is not what Skiles is about. Skiles was brought in to bring accountability.

So these final 11 games, do not expect Skiles to change — for better or for worse. He will continue to push his team for wins and will continue to dole out playing time based on performance (or perceived performance or trust, that is a debate for another day). Building accountability in the young players and an understanding playing time is not guaranteed is more important than anything else.

Next: What to look forward to the rest of the season

That was the ultimate goal for this season anyway. The Magic are not giving up on that goal any time soon. Even with the Playoffs out of reach.