The Lakeland Magic are in first place in the G-League at the All-Star Break. Their success is another sign of the Orlando Magic’s culture change.
The Orlando Magic are basking in the excitement of their five-game win streak at the All-Star Break. The team is playing its best basketball in several years and has the Playoffs in sight for the first time since this rebuild began.
There is legitimate excitement about the direction the team is headed for the first time — and that includes the trade deadline acquisition of Markelle Fultz. There are tangible results to go with that optimism and hope for the future.
As much as president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman likes to avoid using the word “culture” or any of those words to try to describe systemic organizational frustrations, his goal was to change the team’s, for lack of a better word, culture.
That started with a complete overhaul of the team’s internal structure and support staff. It also included changes to the practice facility and support systems around the team.
The addition of a new coach in Steve Clifford would be vital to the growth and development of the team as a whole. Getting that decision wrong could have very well thrown the whole project into disarray once again.
But the successful organizations around the league make the most of their talent throughout the organization and the team. Everything they touch seems to turn to gold and every decision seems to work.
It is not the biggest part of the Magic’s sudden turnaround, but there were a few little moments during that win streak which signaled a larger growth within the entire organization.
At the end of the Orlando Magic’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks last week, Melvin Frazier got his first extended run with the team. To that point, he had played mostly garbage time minutes (as these were) and still looked a bit overwhelmed. There were hints of what his length could do.
At the end of the game, Frazier scored the first six points of his career, including an emphatic windmill jam.
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He has scored a modest 12 total points in a little less than 16 minutes in the last four games. The Magic still do not have a place for him in a crowded rotation.
Then there was the moment at the end of Thursday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. A quick bounce pass to Amile Jefferson on a cut that ended in a layup, assuring that every player scored in that 37-point blowout victory.
Amile Jefferson, like Melvin Frazier, has appeared in only a few games this year and mostly in garbage time at the end of the games. They are still opportunities for these two players. And their success (relative, as it is) in those situations is a credit to the organizational successes the Magic are experiencing.
They are a credit to another important aspect of the Magic’s “culture change” that is firmly taking root.
Both Frazier and Jefferson have spent most of their time with the Lakeland Magic. They have both played exceptionally well there.
But it is not just them. It is the entire team. The Lakeland Magic find themselves at the All-Star Break first place in the Eastern Conference by two games.
A first place team
They are fourth in offensive rating, posting 110.0 points per 100 possessions, and fifth in the league with a +3.9 net rating. They have established themselves as one of the best teams in the league, building off last year’s Playoff appearance.
This all happened quite suddenly too. Lakeland has won nine of its last 11 games, surging up the standings.
Frazier, the Magic’s second-round pick from last year, has been a big part of this when he has been with the G-League team. In 14 games with the Lakeland Magic this year, Frazier is averaging 12.1 points per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Considering shooting was one of his biggest detractions during the draft process, these are more than encouraging. In his short NBA stints, he has shown the length and defensive athleticism that helped him rise to the 35th pick in last year’s draft.
Similarly, Jefferson has continued to show why he is knocking on the door of getting a full-time NBA contract.
Jefferson, on a two-way deal with the Magic, is a double-double machine in the G-League. He is averaging a team-best 17.9 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.
The Magic’s other two-way player, Troy Caupain, is also having another fine season for Lakeland. He is averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 39.1 percent from beyond the arc.
His passing and long-range shooting are part of what has kept him from getting into the NBA. But a second great G-League season probably will get him a call somewhere this summer (if it is not the Magic).
The recent acquisition of Anthony Brown, long considered the best G-League player not on a NBA deal of some kind, has paid dividends for the team too. Brown is averaging 13.3 points per game in 15 appearances for Lakeland.
Orlando Magic
But it is also the play of longtime Magic G-League favorite Gabe York (16.3 points per game on 36.1 percent shooting from beyond the arc) and training camp invitee B.J. Johnson (14.6 points per game on 43.5 percent 3-point shooting) that have also boosted the team.
Lakeland has a ton of shooters — including guard John Petrucelli who has again put in solid work for Lakeland throughout the season.
The Magic have found some intriguing talent. Whether they make it up to the NBA level is still anyone’s guess. And they may never play in a Magic uniform. That is the nature of the G-League in a lot of ways. Some teams are more integrated than others with a direct pipeline.
Organizational success
The Magic are not quite that team. There is some strategic synergy between the main roster and the G-League roster. Lakeland is running a lot of similar stuff to Orlando on both ends of the floor. Orlando wants to groom players in Lakeland to join the roster or get a chance in Summer League — keep an eye on Johnson at Summer League next year.
But Lakeland’s success in conjunction with Orlando’s recent run is a good sign for the team’s overall shift and change.
Weltman has made some good decisions big and small. The last part of the project is likely continuing to revamp the roster. That was always going to be the slowest part of the rebuild.
But fans can see how Weltman has sunk his fingers into the entire organization. And that is the important part — the fans can see it. The changes are resulting in wins. There is clearly a new feeling and atmosphere about the franchise.
The team is clearly changing and moving in the right direction. That goes throughout the organization.