Orlando Magic’s inversion includes guards setting screens

The highlight of the Orlando Magic’s preseason finale against the Cleveland Cavaliers came fairly early in the game.

Franz Wagner, bringing the ball up, initiated the offense against Cedi Osman. He faced him up and faked to his right before quickly crossing over to his left. Osman went sprawling in the opposite direction and the lane was wide open.

Wagner finished the drive with a massive two-handed jam. Jaws dropped everywhere.

But watch the play again. More specifically watch Cole Anthony.

As Franz Wagner drives down the lane, Cole Anthony sets a jarring screen on Evan Mobley that freezes the ace defender from the play. That cleared the runway for Wagner to take off for the jam.

This was among the many things the Magic were experimenting with more and more throughout the preseason. With their 6-foot-10 forwards in Franz Wagner, Wendell Carter and Paolo Banchero handling the ball more and taking on more playmaking duties, it would make sense that the inversion has made its way to the guards.

Players like Cole Anthony and Jalen Suggs are setting screens to spring their bigs free or create switches that make favorable mismatches.

"“I be in there trying to light someone up, for real,” Anthony said after Monday’s practice. “The better screen I get, the more open my teammates get. That’s how I look at it.“[Wagner and Banchero] are both awesome with and without the ball. That’s kind of been the common theme. Dudes being awesome with the ball and without the ball. When you get a full group together of dudes like that, that’s when it gets pretty fun.”"

As the Magic try to move away from strict positional nomenclature and roles, everyone has to do everything. And so the guards have to learn how to screen and help teammates out.

Learning how to screen is something entirely different — just as learning how to use screens for bigger players is also different. The Magic have had to discuss some of the finer points of it to get the most out of this offense.

It should be noted how rare it is for guards to be heavily involved in screen plays.

Last year, Stanley Johnson (1.2) and Stephen Curry (1.1) were the only guards to average more than one screen assist per game. Last year, the Magic were led in screen assists by Wendell Carter with 3.7 per game. Devin Cannady led all guard with 0.4 per game. Anthony had only 0.2 per game.

This should be a signal of how much of a change this would be if guards are suddenly relied on as screeners. And while they probably still will not rack up screen assists because of the nature of how that stat is calculated, it is something very different from offenses around the league.

"“Because the league is going into so much switching, the angles you have to set screens have to be better,” Mosley said after practice Sunday. “There is a technique in which you do it opening up to where you know you can find that pass. Our guards are willing to set screens. They like hitting those bigs on screens. It creates an opportunity for them not only to receive the pass but also to be able to create a play for that big.”"

Orlando is still running a very read-based offense with set actions to try to initiate downhill movement, but it is also dependent on players cutting at the right time off the ball to keep the defense occupied and create space.

So there is a lot to learn.

The Magic have put an emphasis on setting low-angle screens, trying to cut off the space for players to switch or get over screens. The goal is to force the defender over the screen and try to get them to chase. That is what creates mismatches and indecision the team can exploit with the pass.

That requires a lot of different things, especially if bigger players like Banchero, Wagner or Carter are the ones doing the ball handling.

Just as the guards are having to learn screening technique, bigger players like Carter are having to learn to read some off the dribble, something Carter has certainly never done in his pro-playing career. The fact that he has had this responsibility is a sign of the trust the Magic have put in their bigs as playmakers.

Giving guards screening responsibility too is a sign of trust too. They just have to be more precise with their angles to do it because there is a smaller target for them to use as a screener.

In the end, it is still about doing what the team has to do to get each other free and open shots.

"“That’s what we talk about in dominating the simple,” Mosley said after practice Monday. “That’s part of it. Dominating the little things — the angles of a screen, how we are passing the ball on time, on target, being in the proper defensive stance in the right position on the floor for your teammate. If you do those simple things part of your job, it allows your teammates to know exactly what they are doing and where they are supposed to be on the floor.”"

The Spain pick and roll that used Anthony to screen out Mobley is certainly one of these more complex actions the Magic are trying to use to find an advantage.

When the Magic talk about drilling into the details and being more detail-oriented, this is almost certainly something they are including in that discussion. Dominating the simple is meant to be dominating these little details, including setting good screening angles to limit the defense’s ability to switch.

If that means guards have to set screens and be good at it, that is what it means.