5 free agents for the Orlando Magic to keep an eye on
5 free agents for the Orlando Magic to keep an eye on
Dwight Powell, Dallas Mavericks
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/16/2023.
The Orlando Magic’s trade of Mo Bamba highlighted a few things about this team. The first is that it understood things with Bamba had run its course. He had fallen out of the rotation completely. It was to the point that the team very seriously compromised its center depth to move him along someplace where he could contribute.
The Magic rectified this some by signing Goga Bitadze for the rest of the season with a team option for next season.
But this is a stopgap. And the Magic should know they have some questions at center to answer.
Moe Wagner has been solid this year and been pretty good. But he is also a player with some clear flaws as well as he has played this season.
He is currently the third-worst center in the league defending the rim, giving up 77.4 percent shooting at the rim. The two players behind him are Neemias Queta (77.8 percent, four games played, 6.1 minutes per game) and Tony Bradley (85.7 percent, 10 games played, 2.9 minutes per game).
Wagner leads the Magic in charges drawn this year. So he has value. But that is his defense in the paint right now.
There is something missing there. And the Magic need to invest some at the center spot because Wendell Carter is due to miss 15-20 games per year (he played a career-high 62 games last year and can only top out at 62 again this year if he plays every game the rest of this season).
Orlando needs at least a starter-caliber center off the bench. And that does not even get into some of the rebounding inconsistency this team has battled throughout the season.
There are not a lot of centers available on this market. But one to keep an eye on who would fit a lot of the Magic’s needs is Dwight Powell.
Powell is not much of a scorer — 6.8 points per game and 4.3 rebounds per game in 19.7 minutes per game. Powell has been a solid starter and screener for the Dallas Mavericks, but he has not been the guy to finish.
His real value is in his screening ability and ability to make every wheel work.
Powell ranks in the 95th percentile with 5.8 screen assists per 75 possessions. Basketball-Index ranks him in the 99th percentile in total roll-man impact per 75 possessions at +1.12 points per 75 possessions above the league average.
How much of that is working with Luka Doncic and now Kyrie Irving? That is a fair question to ask. The Magic’s guards are not the same level. And Orlando likes to work a lot from their forwards, which enables teams to switch more effectively.
On top of this, Powell is not going to boost the team’s defense significantly. He gives up 64.0 percent shooting at the rim, a better mark than Wagner but not significantly so.
He can still make an impact there though. Basketball-Index rates him in the 79th percentile allowing 2.70 percentage points worse at the rim than expected and 94th percentile in adjusted points saved at the rim per 75 possessions at 0.43.
He is also a so-so rebounder (although a great offensive rebounder, again how much of that is from Doncic?).
This is all to say, the Magic are going to have to probably look elsewhere to get some real center help. Powell will want to get paid like a high-level backup to leave the Mavericks.