The Magic’s 3-point shooting will level off
If there is one big concern facing the Orlando Magic this coming season, it is their 3-point shooting. The team does not have a ton of knock-down shooters that defenses are going to outright respect off the tip.
Orlando is going to have to manufacture points and scoring opportunities throughout the game. It is going to be a struggle that will demand precise execution and an understanding of how the team has to play.
Paint touches are vital to working inside-out and that was a big thing the team worked on throughout the latter part of the preseason.
Still, the team has to be able to hit from the outside to find any success. And the preseason did not exactly provide much confidence the team is going to light things up from the outside.
Orlando ended up shooting 31.6 percent from beyond the arc in the preseason. That was the seventh-worst mark among NBA teams in the preseason. There were some surprises beneath them — the LA Clippers (27.9 percent), Denver Nuggets (30.4 percent) and Atlanta Hawks (31.3 percent) most notably. So preseason stats should always get taken with a grain of salt.
Still, this is an unquestioned weakness for the team and something the team is going to have to sort through and fight to correct early on in the season.
More from Analysis
- 2023 Orlando Magic Playoff Lessons: Philadelphia 76ers can’t seem to avoid conflict
- Orlando Magic FIBA World Cup: Franz Wagner can be a star if he takes it
- Orlando Magic are going to find out who they are in 2024
- 2024 Orlando Magic Player Outlook: Moe Wagner is the spark off of the bench
- NBA 2K Ratings represent Orlando Magic’s hope and skepticism
The Magic did not get great shooting preseasons from seemingly anyone. Terrence Ross shot 32.5 percent from beyond the arc, D.J. Augustin hit on 31.3 percent. Nikola Vucevic (16.7 percent) and Aaron Gordon (21.7 percent) both struggled from the outside. And Jonathan Isaac hit on only 26.3 percent of his threes.
Their looks were fine for the most part. They just were not going down.
If there was one saving grace, it was Evan Fournier who seemed to bounce back perfectly. He hit on 42.9 percent of his 3-pointers. Getting his shot back to around 40 percent would be a huge boost to a team hungering for his outside threat.
Outside of Isaac, most of those players are veterans. There is a trust they know how to get themselves right for the regular season. So there does not seem to be anything to worry too much about when it comes to their 3-point shooting once the ball tips for real.
Yes, Gordon and Vucevic more recently introduced the 3-point shot to their games. They both could fall back down a bit instead of continuing their gradual improvement. Augustin shot better than 40 percent on his threes last year and could see a regression to the mean.
The Magic generating and making 3-point shots is going to be a major storyline for this offense.
The good news is last year they were better than their reputation suggested. Orlando finished 11th in the league making 35.6 percent of its 3-point shots.
The concern about making 3-pointers might be a bit overblown. It is more about establishing that threat to create driving lanes and finding those shooters better that could drive this offense forward.
The preseason warning signs for this team all seem correctible. But it will be up to the Magic to rediscover their identity early on in the season.