Orlando Magic need to make their ‘experimenting’ worth it

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley has made it clear that part of the final quarter of the team’s season will be spent experimenting. The team will be looking at different lineup combinations and seeing how they play together.

That will inevitably mean some odd combinations hit the floor. And that part is OK. Even if the group struggles or fails, it is information and a tick mark for the team. Orlando is as much looking for proof of concept for ideas and combinations the team might have down the road.

Of course, that also relies on the team being healthy enough to see these combinations. The team still wants these final 20 or so games to be productive. They still want to see the players that will be part of this team’s future contribute and grow within these lineups.

Perhaps, more importantly, the team still wants to see the team play to its style. The team still wants to see itself grow.

If the Magic are going to trot out experimental lineups, the team needs to make sure they are worthwhile. The team needs to set itself up for success rather than simply trot out unusual lineups and call it “experimenting.”

Everything needs an eye on the future and so too does this latest fixation.

The Orlando Magic are going to use the end of their season to test out different lineups and rotations. They need to make sure they are focused on experimenting in a way that builds for their future.

"“I’m going to continue to look at different lineups in these situations,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Saturday’s loss. “Different combinations of guys. Different rotations. Just to see what fits and how guys are gaining chemistry together. Now we can go back and look at the film and see what different options we have for different guys on the floor.”"

It might be asking too much to expect a strong game with this as a goal against a team as deadly as the Memphis Grizzlies.

They play much the same style — an aggressive defense that tries to pounce in transition on every mistake. Even as Orlando gets more comfortable playing at a faster pace, the team is too prone to mistakes to compete against a good Memphis team firing on all cylinders.

It was no coincidence the Grizzlies trounced the Magic yet again, this time to the tune of a 124-96 final. Memphis turned 12 turnovers into 12 points. But the Grizzlies still posted 34 fast-break points, taking advantage of not just every turnover but all of the Magic’s misses. Orlando shot just 43.0-percent from the floor. Memphis hit 51.5-percent of its shots and 13 of 27 3-pointers through three quarters.

The Grizzlies mauled the Magic for 37 points, 11 fast-break points and six points off four turnovers in the second quarter to get some distance and put the game seemingly away.

Orlando can find plenty of reasons for why it did not win. Most of them will be about the team’s inconsistent shooting.

Trying out different lineups will inevitably lead to some unfamiliarity and some mistakes. It will also lead to plenty of mistakes and perhaps some odd ways to finish things out.

Very clearly part of the Magic’s goal is to get a closer look at two-way players Admiral Schofield and Ignas Brazdeikis. Both have played in meaningful minutes with a relatively healthy roster for the first time this season.

In that decisive second quarter, Brazdeikis played nearly six minutes, scoring just two points. Schofield played the first 4.5 minutes of the fourth quarter in the Magic’s loss Wednesday as the lead went from 15 to five.

These data points probably tell the team things many probably already surmised.

Still, it is hard to ignore the veneer of this experimentation going on when Terrence Ross was a DNP-Coach’s Decision in Friday’s win over the Toronto Raptors and Gary Harris got the same treatment in Saturday.

Call it what you will.

There is nothing wrong then with seeing what these players can do.

But that task has only become harder with the Magic having to jumble their regular rotation with Wendell Carter and Jalen Suggs missing Saturday’s game. Orlando has a small margin for error with its lack of depth. That makes experimentation hard.

Especially the way the Magic are doing it.

Throwing together lineups that do not seem to have much purpose behind them — or emphasize the players they are trying to develop or see — are not helping anyone. Orlando still needs to be looking at specific things and specific lineups that will play a role in the team’s future.

Schofield and Brazdeikis have been with the team all year. And the Magic are in a position to reward their season-long effort with meaningful minutes. But it is still about playing them in roles the team wants to build them in.

If Orlando is going to insist on playing these players and give them their opportunity, it should be a real chance in roles they are likely to play and succeed in. It is hard to say that they have been put in those situations, especially playing alongside some of the weaker players on the Magic’s bench and reserve units rather than with starters and facilitators like Franz Wagner or Wendell Carter.

The team at least needs to play lineups that at least make sense to build with if this is the path the team is going to go. There still needs to be a clear semblance of a plan. And that probably still needs to include both of the Magic’s veteran players.

There are certainly experiments worth having though for the team’s long-term future.

Orlando has started playing three-guard lineups with Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs and R.J. Hampton (or Gary Harris and Terrence Ross) more and more. That is a lineup that makes sense and is worth looking at. The Magic are loaded at guard and the team should be trying to get its better players on the floor.

Similarly, Orlando has played Chuma Okeke and Franz Wagner as the 4 and 5. This too is something worth examining as it might be a lineup the Magic play as a changeup to their game or to match up with another small lineup. This is certainly something the Magic may want to see work with some key players in preparation for Jonathan Isaac’s return.

This is indeed a time to start thinking long-term. It is indeed a time to start thinking about what the team will look like beyond this season.

"“I’ve kind of changed my view this year to eliminate the short term and look at it long term more than you would usually do,” Moe Wagner said after Saturday’s loss. “I take these 19 games as development and something to improve on going to next season.“At this point, it is honestly going to be very hard to make the playoffs, you’ve got to kind of make the best out of it. These minutes for everybody and these games are extremely crucial to create chemistry. Looking at it long-term, you want to keep building on it no matter what our record is. This group makes it very easy.”"

Wagner is right that Orlando should be thinking beyond this season’s borders. It is about growth and development heading into next season. The franchise should be thinking this way with its roster too.

But that also means making sure the team is building chemistry with players that will be playing and growing together. It means putting players in the long-term roles they ultimately will have nd in positions to succeed.

The Magic have started playing at a faster pace and taking on the kind of fast-paced identity they have talked about all year. Things are starting to come together on that front.

Orlando is still building toward its long-term future. But this new focus on trying some new things and experimenting still needs its purpose behind it. It still needs a focus to work.