When Wendell Carter pump-faked at the perimeter, drove to the basket and threw down a monster dunk in the first quarter of the106-99 Orlando Magic defeat to the Charlotte Hornets, it was a reminder of exactly what the 22-year-old big man is capable of.
It was the type of moment Magic fans knew he could produce at any given time. But one they have not seen enough of during his first few months with the team.
Carter arrived in Orlando following an injury-hit spell with the Chicago Bulls which saw him play just 44 times in his rookie season and 43 times in his sophomore year.
One of the biggest criticisms of his time in Chicago was his inability to impact games to the extent someone with his skillset should do. With the constant shuffling of coaches, Carter and his development seemed to get lost in the fold.
And for all the positive signs he has shown in Orlando — enough for the franchise to hand him a four-year, $50-million contract — there remains a sense Carter could be doing more, particularly on offense.
Wendell Carter’s talent has never been in doubt, but his offensive contribution and role on the Orlando Magic must grow if he is to reach his high potential.
The former Duke big man is the most underused player on the Magic roster.
His offensive stat line is respectable — scoring 12.3 points per game, shooting 50.8-percent shooting from the field and 40.3-percent from three — but he has not formed a key part of the team’s offense so far this year.
Surprisingly, perhaps, Carter averages only 9.5 field goal attempts per game. A career-high for sure, but hardly the number of shot attempts such a central figure in the offense should be taking. He also posts an 18.1-percent usage rate, the lowest since his sophomore season when criticisms of his hesitancy to shoot began to arise.
Carter is not afraid to shoot. But he remains an often-forgotten part of the lineup. He has even had some odd games where he played fewer than 20 minutes because of where he fits into Jamahl Mosley’s rotation and some of the blowout results the team has faced so far.
Carter took just six attempts in both games against the Milwaukee Bucks, and only five against the Brooklyn Nets prior to that. Even during the defeat to the Hornets, where Carter put up 14 points, he took just nine shots and was the only starter with fewer than 10 field goal attempts.
He is routinely taking the lowest number of shots per game from any of the Magic’s starting group.
And while his high-efficiency numbers may be due somewhat to the fact that he is taking safer shots, the question has to be asked as to what a player making half of his attempts and 40 percent of his three-point shots could do with more opportunity.
How is he currently being used?
Part of the problem is the Orlando Magic do not run a whole lot of plays for Wendell Carter.
There was a debate heading into the season as to who would start at center, Wendell Carter or Mo Bamba? But Jamahl Mosley sprung a surprise when he instead opted to play both together, with Carter being used more at the 4-spot and Bamba at the 5.
It means Carter spends a lot of time out on the perimeter and on the wing as a floor-spacing power forward.
He has shown he can do that role, knocking down 38.3 percent of his catch and shoot three-point attempts when defenses give him the space to let fly. Carter has also taken 72 3-pointers already this year when he had attempted only 112 in his three seasons prior.
But while he has the ability to create off the dribble, as demonstrated with his first-quarter dunk against the Hornets, there are limits as to what he can do beyond the arc.
According to NBA.com, Carter Jr has not taken a three off the dribble yet this season.
The Magic have, therefore, got Carter Jr running dribble hand-offs and screens out on the perimeter to try and create openings for the team’s better shot creators, and as a means of getting Carter inside as a roller to the basket.
This is where Carter can do the most damage. He is making 60-percent of his attempts from less than 10 feet away from the basket so far this season and has the strength, athleticism and finishing ability to make teams pay in the paint.
The issue is the Magic are not finding him inside nearly enough and he often seems too passive and withdrawn from the offensive scheme. He has passed on plenty of open shots, especially after he misses a few in a row.
Orlando is still working to find a better balance and have their guards look for him. According to NBA.com’s tracking data, Carter averages only 0.8 post-up possessions per game. He is scoring 1.07 points per possession on such plays. The sample is probably too small but there is at least some indication the team could post him up more effectively.
In pick and rolls, Carter averages 3.5 possessions per game as the roll man and scores 1.02 points per possession. He certainly can and should be used more in these actions to get him free and be available as an option.
Further to this point, Carter averages 3.8 screen assists per game according to NBA.com’s hustle stats. By far the most on the team.
And while he might be spending more time out on the perimeter by playing at the power forward spot, when he is rolling to the basket or getting in position for post-ups against a weaker defender, he is not getting the ball.
How can his role grow?
The Orlando Magic have to do a better job of getting Wendell Carter more touches inside, which would go some way to boosting the number of shots he is able to take per game.
Wendell Carter averages 5.5 paint touches per game according to data from Second Spectrum, tied with Mo Bamba for the lead on the team. That puts both the Magic’s starting big men in weird company surrounded by Isaiah Hartenstein, Derrick Favors and Christian Wood on the rankings.
In the loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the Orlando Magic passed up plenty of opportunities to try and find him near the basket, instead settling for too many threes.
The only player who actively looked to have the intent to find him seemed to be Franz Wagner, who threw up a great alley-oop for his teammate toward the end of the third quarter and found him again with this great pass in the fourth:
This is exactly the sort of thing the Magic should be doing more of. But both he and the team also need to do more to get him into positions where he can have an impact.
Orlando should be using him in a higher number of pick-and-roll situations, and when he is used in those plays, Carter needs to do a better job of rolling hard to the basket. Often his rolls are not convincing enough, almost as if he expects not to receive the ball.
By making him more of a pick-and-roll threat, it opens up a greater opportunity for him to do damage inside while opening up space for the shooters around him. And if teams are more worried about his presence inside, he will create more opportunities for the catch and shoot threes he has hit at such an impressive rate this season.
Carter demonstrated exactly that in the 107-100 win over the Utah Jazz, where he took 14 shots and scored 22 points. He was regularly put in situations where he could screen and peel off for an open three or cut to the basket.
Now in his fourth year as an NBA player, Carter will, at some point, have to demonstrate some offensive growth to justify becoming a focal point of the Magic’s rebuild. Using him in a greater offensive role is how he will do that.
The tools are there. He has the jumper from the perimeter, the strength inside to finish through contact and some ability from mid-range with difficult fadeaways and shots off the dribble.
But not only does Jamahl Mosley need to bring the best out of him with a bigger offensive role, Carter must also take it on himself to start attempting more shots with a higher level of ambition or risks letting the opportunity of becoming a key focus of a rebuilding team pass him by.