Josh Magette’s passing and pick-and-roll will help Orlando Magic in spurts
Josh Magette reportedly signed a two-way contract with the Orlando Magic, giving the team some depth at a position of need.
The Orlando Magic are another step closer to completing their roster for the 2020 season after Josh Magette agreed to join the team on a two-way contract, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports and Josh Robbins of The Athletic.
Josh Magette has played four seasons in the G-League, with a short stint with the Atlanta Hawks. He briefly played with Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB in Spain for 10 games last season. He has been a Summer League staple and was with the San Antonio Spurs this summer.
Magette will spend the majority of his time with the Lakeland Magic and has up to 45 days with the NBA affiliate before the team is forced to sign him for the remainder of the season, or keep him in Lakeland.
He is not a legitimate difference maker for the Magic and is an elder statesman compared to most two-way players at 29 years old. But his passing and pick-and-roll ability could come useful at times in the NBA.
Magette, who has one NBA stint with the Atlanta Hawks that spanned 18 games in the 2018 season, is a legitimage passer, able to fit the ball through tight spaces with either hand.
His lack of size (6-foot-1,160 pounds) has forced him to learn to throw passes from all sorts of angles. These come in handy when he somehow finds a teammate cutting with a wraparound pass from the perimeter to the paint.
His small-frame and lack of elite athleticism limits his offensive game, which forces him into a pick-and-roll ball handler role when he is on the floor. Luckily, he is pretty solid at finding angles and changing his pace to create that little bit of space to get a pass off or take a step-back jumper.
This ability to find cracks in the defense via passing is why he led the G League in assists every season from 2015-2017, all by a comfortable margin. Magette may not play much for Orlando, but he is one of the best passers in the organization and will help their pick-and-roll woes when he is on the floor.
The Orlando Magic had two players that ranked above the 36 percentile as a pick-and-roll ball handler last season in D.J. Augustin (81.5 percentile) and Terrence Ross (93.6 percentile). D.J. Augustin is their best pick-and-roll player despite the numbers, with Terrence Ross only averaging 1.7 assists per game and using screens to get shots off moreso than find others.
As a team, Orlando finished in the 13.8 percentile in the pick-and-roll, good enough for 26th in the NBA.
To put it lightly, the Magic need somebody who can navigate a pick and roll, make the right pass and keep the ball moving. Josh Magette is that and provides depth at the position, which is comforting considering the unknown availability of Markelle Fultz heading into the season.
The other plus with Magette is that G-League experience and success. Having a solid point guard makes life easier for everyone offensively, and that is valuable to a G-League team, especially when they have the level of success of Magette has had in that same league.
Magette is not the answer to the Magic’s point guard troubles. Judging by how little the Magic have used their two-way players — Troy Caupain and Amile Jefferson combined to play 16 games and 84 total minutes last year as two-way players.
But he is a player who will not need developing and will know his role when in the NBA. He will run a pick-and-roll, find a slither of space to make a pass and spot-up on the perimeter.
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He is not the best shooter, but averaging 9.3 assists over three seasons as he did in the G-League is impressive. The Magic would have to surround him with strong defenders to make him for his limitations on that side of the floor, but he would repay them on the offensive side of the floor by passing, cutting and doing the little things that make an offense run effectively.