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5 Lineup ideas Orlando Magic fans should be eager to see this season

The Orlando Magic are preparing for the start of their training camp. They feature one of the most versatile and varied rosters in the league. One that should allow them to experiment a bit with lineups.

By Philip Rossman-Reich

The Orlando Magic have a lot of options with their lineups as they look to build their rotation for the 2025 season. Their versatility is their strength.
The Orlando Magic have a lot of options with their lineups as they look to build their rotation for the 2025 season. Their versatility is their strength. / Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
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4. Your Own All-Defensive Team

PG: Jalen Suggs
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF: Franz Wagner
PF: Jonathan Isaac
C: Goga Bitadze

The Orlando Magic have not hidden their identity or what they want to accomplish this season. They know that defense is the key to success. They were the third-best defense by defensive rating last year. They had an all-defensive team player in Jalen Suggs.

The Magic are so confident in their defense, that they doubled down on that throughout their offseason. Signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope obviously was about adding his stellar 3-point shooting. But he is also an incredible defender on top of it. He gained nearly a dozen all-defensive team votes last year (and was very disappointed not to make it).

The Magic have a lot of upper-tier defenders on the roster. That is what happens when you have one of the best defensive teams in the league.

Suggs was on the all-defensive team for his never-ending energy and intensity on the ball. Jonathan Isaac was tabbed as the best per-minute defensive player in the league (a slight dig at him playing only about 15 minutes per game, but his defensive mastery continued as his minutes increased later in the season).

Franz Wagner is not on the all-defensive team (yet). But he is an excellent defender and fits well into the Magic's defensive scheme. He could be due for a season where his defense becomes more pronounced and recognized.

The Magic have a lot of defensive options. And if the Magic want to stop the other team from scoring for a while, they have a lineup that can do it.

The bigger thing is finding offense within those groups. The three-man lineup of Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Isaac were indeed elite defensively, giving up 104.1 points per 100 possessions in 119 minutes last year. But they scored only 100.8 points per 100 possessions.

This is where the Magic's lack of creation really could hurt them.

It is worth noting then that Orlando's most-used lineup with that specific trio was the starting lineup with Jonathan Isaac in for Wendell Carter. A fairly successful lineup. Orlando never fully unleashed its full defensive might it seemed like last year.

No matter who the Magic put at center—Goga Bitadze gets into our lineup because of his excellent rim protection—the Magic have an all-defensive team they can deploy.

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