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Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 13: No such thing as a free agent

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Feb 21, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles huddles up with center Nikola Vucevic (9) and teammates against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Amway Center. Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-102. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Scott Skiles huddles up with center Nikola Vucevic (9) and teammates against the Indiana Pacers during the second half at Amway Center. Indiana Pacers defeated the Orlando Magic 105-102. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Aaron Gordon, Orlando magic, LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jan 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots as Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) defends during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

This is probably the big question for the Orlando Magic, right? Who is the best one-on-one defender and how do they set up matchups.

Individual defense has largely not been the problem. The bigger issue has been the team’s help defense and how they rotate and trust each other. The team is not as sharp on its rotations since December.

Individually though, the two best defenders on the team are Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon. Both are very good on the ball and have good discipline and speed guarding their man.

Both still struggle some when they are off the ball.

Oladipo especially gets caught ball watching a bit too often or digging down too hard on the ball handler, ignoring his man. Usually it does not create too much of a problem. And the aggressiveness is a good thing.

Gordon is still learning good help-side positioning and how to rotate defensively. But he has grown by leaps and bounds as the season goes on.

I should mention Evan Fournier here too. He has been good defensively, but his big issue are his physical limitations. He just is not a small forward at the end of the day.

So who guards LeBron James?

I think we saw that in the April 1 game at Milwaukee. Aaron Gordon was the one guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo late in the game. It was clear that was who the Magic needed on him with his length.

If it is a guard, you stick Oladipo on him. It is a real luxury to have two quality, versatile perimeter defenders like those two on the floor to pick from for these moments.

Next: Options, options, options