Orlando Magic Power Rankings Roundup: Back to the start

Jeremy Woo, Sports Illustrated

"Dealing Serge Ibaka enabled a shift in lineup philosophy. Is smaller better for Orlando? The Magic just thrashed the Hawks with Aaron Gordon at power forward and new acquisition Terrence Ross looking comfortable. It’s a worthwhile experiment."

The Orlando Magic’s shift to exclusively smaller lineups is not completely revolutionary. While the Magic have played Aaron Gordon almost exclusively as a small forward, the team has played small lineups before.

Vogel nearly a month ago stopped using lineups that featured both Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo — it did not work anyway, the two have a 95.7 offensive rating and 101.9 defensive rating when on the floor together. So instead he has used a lot of lineups with Jeff Green playing power forward. This had the benefit of

So instead he has used a lot of lineups with Jeff Green playing power forward. This had the benefit of playing Mario Hezonja a bit more. But there was still that clear logjam in the front court. Orlando’s offense was bogged down and crowded without space.

Orlando’s offense was bogged down and crowded without space. It was clearly one of the worst in the league — as it had been all year. Eliminating Serge Ibaka is not going to change that overnight.

But Ibaka was clearly a slow it down type of player. He got the ball in the post and surveyed things while working in isolation. He was not a big assister. Nor was he someone running the floor in transition, other than as a trailer to pop a 3-pointer.

Going smaller has picked up the Magic’s speed considerably. Now Nikola Vucevic is the only player who works as a trailer. Everyone else can get out on the run and keep pace with the guards trying to push the pace.

This is closer to what the Magic wanted all along.