Early season injuries have put the Orlando Magic’s depth in focus and helping the team figure out which players are truly the most indispensable.
Injuries happen in the NBA. The 82-game season is a long slough and only a select few players have the fortune and iron will to make it through the whole thing. In 2017, only 17 players played all 82 games — out of 450 roster spots, that is just 3.7 percent of all players.
Inevitably, a team will have to make adjustments and changes as the season progresses. Every team has to deal with injuries — or the occasional decision to rest a player.
Those decisions have come quickly for the Orlando Magic.
Aaron Gordon missed Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets and Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a sore ankle. He returned with a flourish in Tuesday’s win over the Nets.
The Magic got a second blow in the second quarter Friday at Barclays Center. Elfrid Payton left the game with a hamstring injury. It might knock him out for some time.
Both injuries brought their own challenges. These are two players that figure centrally in the team’s plans this year. Their replacements were not meant to be long-term starters, not this year at least.
It seemed like losing both Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon could be a death knell for the Magic’s early season hopes. But that has not been the case.
It was clear Friday seemingly just how much the Magic missed these players and how much they would need to adjust. Jonathan Isaac filled in for Aaron Gordon in the starting lineup. He played admirably scoring nine points and grabbing three rebounds. He struggled with turnovers, twice losing the ball in the backcourt as he tried to start the fast break. And he picked up three fouls fairly quickly in the first half.
Isaac, in other words, was a rookie playing his second career game. He will continue to get better. But the growing pains were evident.
Missing Payton seemed like another issue. But one the Magic pulled through with.
D.J. Augustin struggled initially. But he turned things around in his starts against the Cavaliers and Nets. He averaged 15.5 points per game and shooting a 78.6 percent effective field goal percentage the last two games.
D.J. Augustin does not have the raw passing ability and the team’s pace has dipped with Augustin in rather than Elfrid Payton. Coach Frank Vogel noted the team plays at a different pace with Augustin — a perhaps more controlled pace. But Augustin’s shooting and scoring have certainly helped the team’s spacing.
The Magic have made things work as they waited for these two key players to return. Orlando has taken its “next man up” mentality well early on this season. That is certainly a good sign for the team overall.
The Magic are surviving, for now, keeping their early season momentum going.
Orlando spent much of its summer trying to improve its depth and bench. The team loaded up with veterans like Jonathon Simmons, Marreese Speights, Shelvin Mack and Arron Afflalo. Hoping to get some consistency.
The early reviews for the bench are mixed. Many of the same problems that plagued last year’s bench remain.
Through four games, according to HoopsStats.com, the Magic have the 22nd best bench in the league — posting a -3.8 net efficiency rating. It is still very early. Overall, the Magic’s depth has remained inconsistent. And injury is going to put more pressure on this group.
Orlando relying on that depth more than ever. Clearly, with the injuries in the second half, coach Vogel was looking for something that will work. He played Arron Afflalo and Marreese Speights for the first time this season Friday, trying to find a rotation that worked. Mario Hezonja got backup power forward minutes seemingly out of necessity.
In reality, the Magic may be playing things by ear and relying on finding favorable matchups.
The reality is, even with an improved bench, the Magic were more likely to rely more heavily on their starters just as they did last year. Orlando banked a lot of its season on its growth to succeed.
And the team has seen that from Nikola Vucevic adding a 3-point shot to Aaron Gordon’s growth on the perimeter to Evan Fournier returning to efficiency with a 56.5 percent effective field goal percentage.
But depth always has its limits. The Magic are a growing team that still relies heavily on its starting lineup. Orlando has to figure out what will crack it as they explore their roster.
Orlando Magic
Last week Andrew Johnson of Nylon Calculus took to his season projections to figure out which starter might be the costliest in the league to lose. Thanks to the lack of depth at shooting guard around the league and his projection Arron Afflalo would be the primary backup, Evan Fournier was among the costliest players to lose in the league.
Considering how poorly some players played last year, it might have been easy to project it would be Payton. Augustin struggled so much last year. The same could be said for Gordon too. Especially with a rookie behind him in Jonathan Isaac.
But the Magic survived injuries to both.
Evan Fournier has Jonathon Simmons behind him on the depth chart. But the Magic also are light on the perimeter, relying on either Arron Afflalo or Mario Hezonja. Fournier might very well be the Magic’s one player they cannot afford to lose or come close to replacing.
Consider through the first four games, Fournier is averaging 21.5 points per game and shooting 47.6 percent from beyond the arc. His low for this season is 13 points.
Fournier has been a model of consistency throughout much of his Magic career, often producing solid numbers without much notice or acclaim. The Magic turned to Fournier late in the fourth quarter Tuesday. He helped bring the Magic back into the game.
Orlando hopes it never has to find out. So far it has survived the injuries it has faced. That does not make the players the Magic have missed any less important to its ultimate success. It is just something the team has been able to overcome. Perhaps easier than expected. Or easier than someone else.
Next: Orlando Magic heading in right direction early in season
It is an important thing to learn this early in the season. And the Magic are learning just how to make their roster work with these two critical injuries.