Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Shooting is the top priority
Orlando Magic Offseason Needs: Shooting
Option 4: Three and D
Not every team believes in the kind of spread-it-out, keep-firing-away offenses that both the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat run. Teams need to be able to shoot threes, but those are both teams that emphasize the skills of those suggested players and maximize them.
There is no guarantee, in other words, that a player like Max Strus would get the same kinds of looks and the same number of looks in the Orlando Magic’s atmosphere as he did in the Miami Heat’s atmosphere.
This is part of the calculus teams have to make as they evaluate free agents and how players would fit.
The Magic have made it clear they like versatility and players who can bring it on both ends. They may forever be a low-volume 3-point shooting team. So they may be looking for someone who can space the floor better while adding different skills.
The archetype of the 3-and-D wing may be more of what they are looking for — especially as they expect internal improvement, especially with their passing from their key young players.
That might make other options a better fit.
The hottest free agent this offseason might well be Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves.
Reaves has played well on a big showcase with a marquee team for sure. And there is always the concern that this is coloring everyone’s perception of him. But he has also been pretty good.
Reaves averaged 13.0 points per game this year with 3.4 assists per game and a 61.6 percent effective field goal percentage. He hit on 39.8 percent of his 3.4 3-point attempts per game. Reaves’ game is really about being a shooting threat but leveraging that to get into the lane where he is excellent at drawing contact — just ask the Magic from their game in Los Angeles in March.
In the playoffs through Game 4 of the Los Angeles Lakers’ series with the Golden State Warriors, he is averaging 14.47 points per game on 34.6 percent shooting on 5.2 attempts per game. His volume has increased and his efficiency has gone down in the postseason. But he is still proving himself to be a capable outside shooter in a big moment.
Reaves is an adequate defender. So he does not quite fit the 3-and-D label. But he certainly is a multi-skilled guard who could add another playmaker and driver to try to create some space for more shooting lanes. it is not like the Lakers were known for their shooting.
It is uncertain what Reaves’ market will be. The Lakers have limited matching rights to him and it is easy to believe he could blow past that amount. Especially if the Magic come calling and try to frontload his contract to discourage the Lakers from matching.
It would be a big investment from the Magic to bring Reaves in.
Additionally, a player like Bruce Brown of the Denver Nuggets has put himself in a great position entering free agency.
He had a good run with the Brooklyn Nets but got lost in the free-agent shuffle before signing with the Denver Nuggets last summer. He signed a two-year deal at $13.3 million. He has a player option for next year and could get a little bit of a pay bump.
He averaged 11.5 points per game while shooting 35.8 percent from beyond the arc (on 3.2 attempts per game) this season with the Nuggets. In the playoffs through Game 4 of their second-round series, he is averaging 10.7 points per game on 21.1 percent shooting from deep.
Brown has always been a bit of an inconsistent shooter. So there is a lot to evaluate.
But his real value comes from being a solid wing defender. He has had a positive defensive impact throughout his career. And as a versatile specialist especially off the bench, he has a lot of value.
Another lower-level option to look at is Sacramento Kings guard Terance Davis. Davis was in and out of the rotation for the Kings this year, making 36.6 percent of his 3.8 attempts per game. But he would likely be an end-of-free-agency option if the musical chairs run out.