2. Shooters Lineup
PG: Jalen Suggs
SG: Jett Howard
SF: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
PF: Tristan da Silva
C: Wendell Carter
Everyone knows the Orlando Magic have to figure out their shooting at some point. Everyone probably also understands they need Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero to improve their outside shooting too. Otherwise, the Magic's best shooting lineup lacks a great creator.
But putting all the names down on paper—and realizing you still have left off Gary Harris, Caleb Houstan, and Cole Anthony—shows the Magic have tons of potential with their shooting. It is about putting those pieces together and seeing players execute and make shots.
The solutions are sometimes that simple.
Orlando has some promising shooters too.
As noted before, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is going to enhance every lineup he is in even if he is not a volume 3-point shooter. He made 40.6 percent of his 4.1 3-point attempts per game last year. Even that low volume will help the Magic. So too will the fact he has made at least 40 percent of his threes in three of the last four seasons.
Jalen Suggs took a major leap with his 3-point shooting last year, hitting 39.7 percent of his 5.1 3-point attempts per game last year. A repeat of that performance will give the Magic two of the best 3-and-D guards in the league.
The Magic drafted Jett Howard to be their volume shooter. But their roster crunch put them in a position to slow-play Howard's development. He played in only 18 games and 67 minutes for the Orlando Magic last year. But for the Osceola Magic, he made 37.7 percent of his 9.5 3-point field goals per game.
Howard is hoping to get a look for some minutes this year after taking that gap year in the G-League.
Howard looked impressive in Summer League with his shooting making 10 of 21 in three games. So did Tristan da Silva. He made 10 of 17 3-pointers in three games during Summer League. And he has grown tremendously as a 3-point shooter in his four years at Colorado, finishing at 39.5 percent in his final season in college.
Finally, Wendell Carter remains one of the best shooting centers in the league. He made a career-best 37.4 percent of his threes last year—with a 60.0 percent effective field goal percentage! Among centers who took at least 3.0 3-point field goal attempts per game, Carter ranked 10th in the entire league.
The Magic value Carter for his defense and versatility. But his shooting is something vital to the offense too.