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Orlando Magic Lineups: Versatility is a Good Problem

By Seth Arora

It took Steve Clifford nearly half the season to find a working rotation for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
It took Steve Clifford nearly half the season to find a working rotation for the Orlando Magic. (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic will again rely heavily on their starting lineup, a group that proved successful in 2019. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images) /

2019’s Primary Lineup

Last season, the Orlando Magic’s starting five of D.J. Augustin, Evan Fournier, Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Nikola Vucevic played 852 minutes together, more than any other five-man combination outside of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starters.

The Magic’s primary lineup posted a net rating of +2.4 points per 100 possessions, well behind nearly all of the primary five-man combinations Clifford deployed throughout 2019. And, even with the Magic’s much-discussed tear to end the 2019 season, that lineup’s net rating actually worsened starting January 31.

The team’s hope is this lineup — likely the starting unit to begin the upcoming season — will weaponize any internal growth and improve its performance on both ends of the court. The working theory is key players like Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac have pushed their games closer to their respective ceilings and this, in turn, will improve the main unit’s chances throughout the season.

And there is at least some foundation from which this unit can grow.

Among the 40 five-man units playing at least 200 minutes together, that combination was 15th in assist percentage and assist/turnover ratio and 18th in true shooting percentage. They were also one of the best defensive rebounding units in the league, coming in at third in defensive rebound percentage.

But that sprinkle of good may be insufficient to overcome the tablespoons of not good enough.

The unit remained in the bottom half of the league in offensive rating throughout the year. It played at one of the NBA’s slowest paces, yet failed to balance that with an uptick in their efficiency and impact like other snail-paced five-man units did, such as the Indiana Pacers’ lineup of Thaddeus Young/Darren Collison/Victor Oladipo/Bojan Bogdanovic/Myles Turner or the Detroit Pistons’ lineup of Reggie Jackson/Reggie Bullock/Blake Griffin/Andre Drummond/Bruce Brown.

Thus, if the Magic are going to carry over their starters from 2019, there must be some improvements right out of the gate.

The team is hanging its hat on continuity, hoping that bringing back so many components of its 2019 success will lead to greater success in the 2020 season. The only way that does not prove to be a fallacy is if this main unit shows improvements on both ends of the court.