The Orlando Magic entered the year questioning their point guard depth. The season so far has not eased those concerns. And now it is reaching a crisis.
Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford put the onus on himself following Monday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings.
It was up to him to find a combination that would work and get the team out of its rut. It was his responsibility to make sure there was enough shooting on the floor all the time to create spacing. And with the lineups he has used, the team just cannot create offense consistently.
It was two weeks ago when the Magic replaced Jerian Grant with Jonathon Simmons as the primary backup point guard (save two games while Simmons sat out with a sprained ankle). That came simply because the bench was struggling with Jerian Grant in the game. Orlando needed a spark.
But Jonathon Simmons has been imperfect on that end too. The experiment has not provided the spark Clifford hoped.
Clifford fully admitted what he asked him to do in the last five games was a big one. Simmons is not a natural point guard and it showed with his play. It showed with the Magic’s play in that stretch. The inconsistency, especially off the bench, seemed to grow worse.
And so Monday night, Clifford looked like a man with few answers. His comments after the game were of someone who probably understands success for this team is not going to happen unless some fundamental questions about the roster get resolved.
No question has been hanging over this team more than the point guard question.
Orlando entered the season with one of the worst point guard situations in the league. And that has not changed.
Now with the season seemingly in the balance, this situation is becoming more of a crisis than ever. If Orlando wants to make a Playoff push this year, they have to do something to address their point guard depth.
This has little to do with the starter in D.J. Augustin.
D.J. Augustin has long been a serviceable point guard, but never a full-time starter. Relying on him to hold that position was always a big ask.
He has stepped up to this point. Augustin is averaging a solid 11.2 points per game with 4.8 assists per game and a 55.7 percent effective field goal percentage. Wildly inconsistent his entire career — and bouncing between teams for much of that time — Augustin has found a nice level and a home with this group.
More importantly, and more obviously, the Magic are significantly better when Augustin plays.
The team has a +2.1 net rating (107.9 offensive rating and 105.9 defensive rating, yes that math does not quite work out because rounding is fun) when Augustin is on the floor. That is the best mark of any rotation player.
When Augustin is off the floor, the Magic have a -10.9 net rating with just a 95.3 offensive rating. The team is only worse with Nikola Vucevic off the floor.
Everyone knows the team struggles with Augustin off the floor. And Clifford has tried to move him more into those second unit lineups to give it more punch.
The fact he has played so well is the big reason why the Magic have put themselves in the Playoff race at the midpoint of the season. This is one of the big surprises for the season.
The situation behind him was not much better before the season. And it has not developed into anything near sustainable since.
Grant struggled to find consistency and manage the lineups. He is averaging just 4.1 points per game with a 48.1 percent effective field goal percentage. Grant has been in a lot of bad lineups, but he has been unable to get dribble penetration consistently. His solid defense is not enough to cover up these flaws.
Orlando hoped putting Simmons into that point guard role might be able to keep the boat steady. The one thing Simmons is good at is getting into the lane and forcing action in the paint.
And his first few turns at point guard this season resulted in some solid passing games — six assists against the Toronto Raptors and seven in the loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But he is still averaging just 7.0 points per game with a 38.8 percent effective field goal percentage too. Since taking over as the point guard on Dec. 26, he is averaging 5.0 points per game and shooting 27.7 percent from the floor without making a 3-pointer. He has dished out 3.0 assists per game.
Making matters worse, the Magic have a -16.3 net rating with Simmons on the court since Dec. 26 when he became the point guard. Only Mohamed Bamba‘s on-court net rating is worse and the team scores a paltry 86.3 points per 100 possessions with him running the show.
Orlando Magic
Simmons was put into a poor position shoehorned into that position. But his overall struggles have continued. And it is hard to say he is much better than Grant for that role.
That should be pretty symbolic of the scant options the Magic have at that position. The other options on the roster are intriguing but not likely to draw much better results.
Isaiah Briscoe has yet to play meaningful minutes, although his physicality and tenacity offensively could help mix things up for a time. And two-way player Troy Caupain continues to tear up the G-League –17.0 points per game, 5.0 assists per game and 34.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
At some point, the Magic should try those options simply because they have no others available to them. Isaiah Briscoe seems in line for some minutes with how he has looked at the end of the games. It is unclear whether Clifford will turn to him outside of trying something new when things fall apart in the first half.
But the options are not encouraging.
That probably leads to the conclusion that Orlando needs to look outside the roster to solve the point guard problem. The Magic did not give it the attention it needed in the offseason. It was likely a need the team figured it would fill for the future at a later date, not wanting to pour in any long-term investment into someone the team does not want for the long haul.
Now that the team has found itself in the Playoff race, this decision is coming back to haunt the team. This lack of depth could very well keep the Magic out of the Playoffs. It may be the reason why the team is fading now — losing 11 of the past 16 games.
The good news is the Eastern Conference is very forgiving. The Magic are still two games back of the final Playoff spot and every team from the No. 6 Miami Heat to the No. 10 Orlando Magic are currently on a losing streak.
These group of five teams fighting for three Playoff spots seem to run hot and cold, as most teams with their record do. There is still time to recover.
But if the Magic are going to recover and hold firm to their Playoff dreams, they will have to find an answer at point guard.
If it is not going to come from within the roster, then surely Jeff Weltman and the front office will have to find some answer outside of it, whether that comes in the form of a trade or a 10-day contract flyer.
Regardless of where it comes from, the Magic need to find an answer soon.