Orlando Magic’s biggest battle this season has been balancing rotations

The Orlando Magic have a roster that is short on options. The team has some players it clearly needs and balancing how to use them has been a tough battle.

Coach Steve Clifford has had a consistent drum beat to his calls for his team. He has consistently said for a team like his Orlando Magic team, they have to play a certain way. They have to do things the right way within the principles the team has.

That might be a veiled way of recognizing the reality the Magic have very little margin for error. They do not have the superstar player who can take over the game and carry the team on an off night — on either end. And they do not have the depth to rely heavily on their bench.

The Magic’s season and their search for success have been a journey about finding the right combinations and lineups to balance the team’s offense and effectiveness. The Magic really found their groove when they found a rotation that minimized their margin for error.

That has been a difficult thing to do throughout the season.

Clifford has had precious few impact players to rely on. Players who make a clear difference in every lineup they are in. Regardless of how this season turns out, the Magic certainly need to upgrade their talent moving forward.

This was on full display in Sunday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. There, the Magic were without two key players for the stretch run.

Evan Fournier was ejected in the early third quarter with two quick technical fouls for arguing a non-call. The Magic were down perhaps their best shooter and never seemed to find a consistent offensive option.

Orlando typically runs its late-game offense through Evan Fournier as a playmaker and the team was missing that as it turned the ball over and went without a field goal for the final six minutes.

The Magic were also without Aaron Gordon. While Aaron Gordon played in the second half, he was clearly limited by a rib injury he suffered in the second quarter. Gordon did not play down the stretch regardless. Orlando could have used him on both ends.

Both Gordon and Fournier have been critical parts of the Magic’s attack. Fournier and Gordon are among the six regular rotation players with a positive net rating. But both those players hover better than neutral. That is because Clifford has started using them more and more in bench lineups.

This balancing is part of the problem Clifford has had to figure out throughout the season. And finding the right balance is at the heart of why the Magic have found success and started to make waves.

Few truly reliable creators

But there is always an eye on the Playoffs. And the fact the Magic have so few reliable players and so few reliable combinations does not bode well for the Playoffs. The balancing act of finding the team’s best and most effective combinations will continue through the next few months.

Zach Lowe of ESPN pointed out a few weeks ago that lineups for the Magic without Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic and D.J. Augustin really struggle. Aaron Gordon and Terrence Ross, a combination the team largely uses at the end of the first and third quarters, simply does not have the same offensive and playmaking gravity to it.

That D.J. Augustin–Nikola Vucevic-Evan Fournier trio is the most used trio for the Magic. The team has a +5.6 net rating (110.4 offensive rating, 104.9 defensive rating) with that grouping on the floor.

In fact, most of the Magic’s most-used combinations have a positive net rating. And all but two of the top 15 lineups include one of Fournier, Vucevic and Augustin. Those happen to be the only two most-used lineups with a negative net rating.

Gordon’s case is the most interesting here. Despite his scoring chops and strong defensive play, the Magic struggle when Gordon is on the floor without one of those three key players.

According to NBAWOWY, the Magic have played 375 minutes with Gordon on the floor alone without those three key players. The team has a 103.3 offensive rating and 47.4 percent effective field goal percentage. The team gives up 105.8 points per 100 possessions in that grouping.

Gordon’s development has slowed some offensively. He is not the primary option everyone wanted for him this season. But defensively he has made a big impact all season long.

The biggest burden on Fournier

What this all means is the Magic have very few offensive creators. That role of providing spacing and creation has fallen on Augustin, Fournier and Vucevic more than any other player. Those players carry a larger offensive burden than anyone else on the team.

Their presence in any lineup for the Magic clearly makes the team better. Vucevic and Augustin have far greater on-court net ratings. It has been Fournier whom the Magic place most with those second-unit lineups. He has carried the burden of creating and leading that group.

To Fournier’s credit, he has played admirably in this new role.

His shooting has struggled all year, but he is averaging a career-high 3.6 assists per game. That may not seem like a huge difference. But it represents a significant shift in his play and how the Magic use him.

One that he has found limited success with and also plenty of struggle.

Finding the right balance

When it comes to the Playoffs, the Magic will have to find the right balance of using these three key players. It will be hard to imagine any moment in the game where at least one of the three are not on the floor.

Tightening that rotation might have to come sooner than later. The Magic should already be rearing up for Playoff mode. The team is only a game out of the Playoffs and so a massive shift in the rotation is probably not warranted yet. But that day will come quickly.

Whether the Magic make any changes to their Playoff rotation, it is abundantly clear how important these three players especially are. And Clifford’s most difficult task is balancing when and how he deploys them.

The Magic, despite their recent struggles, have found a nice groove to their lineups and have achieved at least some semblance of balance. It is obviously still not enough as the Magic still have to play attentive, focused basketball.

As Orlando moves forward and tries to build off this season’s successes, the team will have to find a way to shore up this rotation deficiency and give Clifford more options to use.