What is the most important part of any position group in the NBA?
Well-roundedness. Can you do it all from every aspect of the court?
This is the kind of versatility the magic have sought throughout their roster. They want players who are smart enough to play every position and then can physically do it. Players who can fit anywhere on the floor.
That is what it looks like the Orlando Magic’s shooting guards have in store.
With the ability to shoot, create, defend and even rebound from the guard position, the Magic look like they have the future right in the palm of their hands.
With all three shooting guards 27 or younger, they look to make improvements every season to become a dangerous backcourt. As much as any group, the team is developing its identity in its backcourt. And that group is just as promising.
A lot of focus for the Orlando Magic has been put on its growing front court. But the team’s backcourt and shooting guard group displays all the modern qualities the team will need.
Not only do the shooting guards have the skills, but they have the intangibles. The things you can not teach. They have insane athleticism. They have extremely high IQs for such young players. They hustle like no other. And they want to win just as bad as if not more than anyone in today’s game.
Jalen Suggs, R.J. Hampton and Gary Harris look like they just need some development to be one of the best shooting guard trios in the league.
Three-Point Shooting
The Orlando Magic’s shooting guards can score from anywhere on the court, especially from behind the arc.
In the current NBA, there might not be a more important shot than 3-pointers.
The Magic are still improving as a 3-point shooting team, but they give their players the green light to shoot. And they have several shooting guards who are on their way to becoming knock-down shooters.
Last year, R.J. Hampton shot 35.0-percent and Gary Harris shot 38.4-percent. The average three-point percentage is 34-percent making both of them above average from behind the arc.
As they will continue to grow and learn the Magic’s system they will be guards that have some gravity and require defensive attention. They will punish lazy defense and will be a top three point shooting team as time goes on.
They also both shot better then 39-percent off catch-and-shoot opportunities from three.
With the ability to make it rain from three in any game, defenses will have to be on their toes to make sure one of these electrifying shooters does not have a career night against them. When defenses have to worry so much about the three, it opens up the rest of the court for everyone.
The biggest concern is with Jalen Suggs. he struggled from beyond the arc in his rookie year, making only 21.4-percent on 4.1 attempts per game.
That could have to do some with general rookie struggles and adjusting to the league. He was a 33.7-percent shooter at Gonzaga showing he has the capability to be a good three-point shooter.
He is still capable of being a major 3-point threat. He had five games with three-plus 3-pointers showing he has the ability to be an outside threat. Suggs has shown plenty of signs as a developed shooter throughout the season.
Coming into his second year, he should be a more comfortable shooter, with his shooting efficiency on the rise. With rookie year adjustments out of the way, once he figures out his spots I am confident his three-point numbers will rise.
Orlando is invested in Suggs’ growth and the team will stick with him as he learns to shoot.
Orlando Magic’s Shooting Guard Group
Getting to the Rim
If you cannot hit from the outside, you have to get to the rim. And this is where Jalen Suggs shows the most promise offensively.
With Suggs’ size, speed and athleticism, he can get to the rim just as well as the league’s best finishers regardless of who stands in front of him.
He led the team in transition points at 2.1 per game and had the third-highest shooting foul frequency in transition on the team at 13-percent.
His finishing around the basket was certainly a concern. But he got there fairly consistently.
Jalen Suggs averaged 4.0 field goal attempts per game in the restricted area, trailing only Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter, and 2.1 field goal attempts in the paint outside of the restricted area. He made 58.9-percent of his shots in the restricted area.
Once defenders start being forced to collapse in on him, and when help defense must rotate over to him, plenty of open looks and good shots will come for the Magic. Suggs is such a force at the rim he has the potential to open up the game for him as well as whoever else is standing on the floor with him.
He is not the only one scoring at the basket and running in transition.
R.J. Hampton led the team in shooting foul frequency in transition at 14.9-percent and he shot 43.3-percent from within 10 feet. He shot 40.5-percent from two. In his two years with the Magic, he is shooting 58.5-percent at the rim percentage.
Hampton is another freak athlete who loves to have those highlight finishes and dunks that make your jaw hit the floor. He has the ability to create open looks for his teammates because of his ability to score at the rim.
Gary Harris might not make the crazy plays that make fans say wow, but he can sure get it done just as well and efficiently as the other guards. Gary Harris shot 49.4-percent from two and shot 58.4-percent from within 10 feet.
Although Harris is mostly a 3-and-D guy, he is very athletic and can get to the rim when needed. He shot a 53.9-percent effective field goal percentage and 67.5-percent finishing at the rim percentage.
So although he does not take it to the rack often he can finish when he does drive to the rim.
Orlando Magic’s Shooting Guard Group
Playmaking
Although shooting guards are not the primary playmakers on the average NBA team, the Orlando Magic’s shooting guards have every tool to allow them to make plays for themselves and others.
Jalen Suggs averaged 4.4 assists per game in just his rookie season, which was third on the team only behind Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz.
When Suggs was on the floor he had a 24.9-percent assist percentage, which means when he was on the floor he assisted on about a quarter of the shots made.
He also has started to form a connection with fellow rookie Franz Wagner who shot 36.8-percent from three when getting the ball kicked out to him by Suggs. Suggs had two 10-assist games this year and had 13 games with six or more assists.
Suggs actually ran the point guard position in college and in high school, so having him at the shooting guard position just allows the Magic to have another elite playmaker on the floor to create shots for everyone.
Suggs’ offensive skill set makes him such a tough guard. You can not let him get to the basket. But when the defense starts to tighten up when he gets to the rim, he will make the right play and find his teammates.
Jalen Suggs has terrific potential and capability as a playmaker but R.J. Hampton does as well.
Hampton averaged 2.5 assists per game which was sixth on the team for rotation players, and was also a slight step down from his 2.8 assists per game with the Magic the year before.
He is still finding his place on the team so assist numbers did have a slight drop. He is still working on becoming a better playmaker and decisionmaker — something he wants to work on in Summer League. Time will tell if that experience and repetition will help him — the early returns have not been good.
On any given night Hampton can put up starting point guard assist numbers, which is an opposing team’s biggest fear. When you have to worry about scoring and passing, especially as such a young age, teams will not know how to handle Hampton in the future.
Harris is not a natural-born playmaker but can do it if he needs to.
Harris averaged 1.8 assists per game and had a 9.5-percent assist percentage. But he is not really in the playmaking role for the Magic.
With Suggs and Hampton’s playmaking abilities, along with the amazing point guard play, Harris just has to make the right plays, decisions and easy passes for him to be an effective playmaker.
Defense
Defense, believe it or not, might actually be the biggest strength of the Orlando Magic shooting guard core.
Jalen Suggs looks like he could be a future All-NBA defensive player if he keeps up what he is doing.
For all rookies who were the primary defender for at least 200 shots, Suggs had the third-best defensive field goal percentage of 43.5-percent, behind only teammate Franz Wagner and Davion Mitchell.
He also was great at guarding some of the best players in the league. When Suggs was the primary defender, Cade Cunningham shot 0 for 7, James Harden shot 0 for 6, D’Angelo Russell and RJ Barrett went 1 for 5, LaMelo Ball shot 3 for 9 and Cleveland Cavaliers all-star Darius Garland shot 3 for 10.
It is so important for a team to have a primary guard defender who can defend the other team’s best guards. Guards have been taking over the league since the 2010s so having someone to guard the other teams best guards is a must have.
He led the Magic with 2.5 pass deflections per game and had 119 total. That is why he averaged 1.2 steals per game this year. Along with his deflections and steals, he recovered 33 50/50 balls and drew eight charges.
Suggs’ innate ability to get in the passing lanes and pickpocket defenders opens up the ability for him to get out and run in transition like he loves to do, and he’s the most efficient at. In fact a majority of Suggs transition points came after one of his steals.
He gives a tremendous effort on the defensive end. Suggs averaged 3.6 rebounds per game which is really good for a guard of his size.
The Magic had 107.8 defensive rating when Suggs was on the floor and 112.8 when he was off, pointing to his positive impact.
Suggs is not the only defensive beast of the Magic shooting guards.
R.J. Hampton has shown signs of being a capable defender. And this is something the team has tried to emphasize with him.
Hampton’s athleticism, 6-foot-6 frame with a 6-foot-7 wing span, and ability to stay in front of defenders makes him a matchup nightmare on the defensive end. A lot of teams’ opposing players will not want to see him in front of them. Especially with fresh legs off the bench he can guard and starting guard or wing necessary.
Gary Harris as well can come in and shake things up defensively. Harris has long had a strong defensive reputation and is just generally solid guarding wing players.
He had multiple steals in 16 of his 61 games this season and for every turnover he had he had a steal to make up for it. He is the most experienced defender and can be a defensive anchor off the bench when needed.
Hampton and Harris can be the much needed defensive pressure off the bench. When the bench unit comes in they can guard the other teams’ best bench scorer, or even be inserted into a defensive line-up in late-game situations.
What they need to improve on
The shooting guard group as a whole does not have anything they need to work on just some individual improvements.
Gary Harris shot fantastic from mid-range last year as he shot 46.4-percent from 3-10 feet, 42.9-percent from 10-16 feet and 32.2 percent from 16 feet to the 3-point line.
Jalen Suggs and R.J. Hampton did not shoot as well from mid-range and need to improve on that.
Suggs and Hampton’s ability to get to the basket stops them from shooting a lot of mid-range shots but they need to become more effective when they do shoot from the mid-range.
Suggs and Hampton are in a lot of pick-and-roll situations so they need to be able to improve their pull-up jump shot and shot off the dribble.
Hampton and Harris are each good three-point shooters, but Suggs needs to make a big jump in his second year if he wants to be a legit three-point threat for the Magic.
Harris needs to have fewer turnovers for the time he has the ball, but Hampton and Suggs did a good job of controlling the ball as they handle the ball more than Harris does.
With some player development by the Magic, this shooting guard trio could be one of the most dangerous shooting guard groups in the whole entire league.
They are all young and improving so look for them to make strides every season. There are no additions needed to be made just self-improvement for these shooting guards to shake the whole league. Magic fans, be excited for what’s to come of these shooting guards.