What Kentavious Caldwell-Pope must do to take the Magic’s offense to the next level

The Orlando Magic are looking to take a step forward offensively and finally leave the bottom third of the league in that category since Dwight Howard was on the team. The Magic have doubled down on internal development and the team’s defensive identity with the key addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Caldwell-Pope's defense will continue to be stellar along with Jalen Suggs in the backcourt. The importance of Caldwell-Pope’s shooting will definitely be great as well, but the difference and what will determine his effectiveness will be the volume.

The worst shooting percentage Caldwell-Pope has shot from three in the past five years was 38.5 percent during the Los Angeles Lakers championship run in 2020. Three of those seasons saw him shoot 40 or more percent from three.

This type of shooting will open the floor for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, but the team will need more. Only one time in the past five seasons did Caldwell-Pope shoot more than five times per game, and last season he only shot 4.1 threes a game.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope must become a volume shooter to take the Magic’s offense to the next level

The Magic will need Caldwell-Pope’s attempts to go up this coming season. He needs to spread the floor, but that will only happen if he not only makes shots but is also willing to shoot as often as possible.

Caldwell-Pope will likely need to join players such as Duncan Robinson and Mikal Bridges, who average seven 3-point attempts per game. Even better would be if he could get to Donte DiVincenzo’s level from last season. He took 8.7 3-point attempts per game with the New York Knicks and converted 40.1 percent of those shots. For Caldwell-Pope to make the necessary difference in Orlando's offense, he will need to have a comparable impact and season to DiVincenzo’s 2023-24 campaign.

This increase in volume would force defenses to close out harder on Caldwell-Pope and force him to become more of a secondary playmaker. Caldwell-Pope should be able to make plays off of closeouts, creating a new wrinkle in the Magic's offense. It would also add a sense of unpredictability the Magic’s offense did not have before.

If Caldwell-Pope takes a step in terms of attempts while being able to stay efficient from three, the floor will open for Banchero and Wagner as playmakers. This will be the shooting the Magic have been looking for the past several seasons.

The Magic were already a top-15 3-point shooting team since the beginning of January, following jumps from Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr., and Jonathan Isaac. The internal development of other players plus the addition of Caldwell-Pope should propel the team to a respectable 3-point shooting team and open up the floor.

More space to work with and get to the paint will be crucial for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. It is what will take the Magic’s offense to the next level and allow the team to continue competing in the Eastern Conference.