Wendell Carter is trying to watch and learn.
For one of the Magic's more veteran players and someone who is more established in the league, Carter has probably been the most uncomfortable on the team.
His injury struggles early in the season opened the door for the Magic to move in a different direction. The injuries throughout the roster opened the door to keep Carter around and try to press his versatility. They have inserted him wherever they needed him.
It has left Carter with his head spinning.
One night he is starting at power forward alongside Goga Bitadze, an experience that Carter admitted felt very new to him. The next night he is coming off the bench, trying to help boost a bench group that is without Moe Wagner due to a torn ACL.
Carter has had to be everywhere all while finding his own game. It has taken a lot of reflections and eagerness to tackle these challenges.
"It's difficult. First things first, we're human. We get used to a sort of type of rhythm, a sort of role," Wendell Carter said after practice Tuesday. "Consistency is kind of a thing that is naturally good for . When things are kind of wonky like minutes played, to starting to coming off the bench, not just for me but for all of us, it's hard."
Carter has felt these changes more than any other player as the Magic try to find a way to fit him into the rotation. And especially lately, he has had to go through those ups and downs.
Dealing with inconsistency
Wendell Carter has not had consistency, whether it was the plantar fasciitis that caused him to miss 12 games at the start of the season or a jumper that has simply betrayed him—17.5-percent shooting from beyond the arc and 38.5 percent shooting on field goals from 10-16 feet.
It has been a rough season for Carter. Not being able to settle in with lineups has been at least part of this discomfort.
Right now, coach Jamahl Mosley cannot promise that any lineup will have any consistency. He often is trying to matchup his lineup against his opponent. He is still piecing his rotation together on a nightly basis with all the injuries his team is facing.
"I wish I could give you a dead-set answer on exactly how it is going to look," Mosley said after practice Tuesday. "As you know, what we've been going through and how we've been hit with different injuries at different times throughout the season, it's going to stay fluid. That's the beauty of what we go through in training camp of understanding you are going to play with different lineups and different rotations and different people. You've got to be able to accept that and understand your responsibility to the team."
With Carter, Mosley said whether he is coming off the bench or starting, they ask him to do the same things—be a presence in the paint, defend, protect the rim, and be a playmaker.
Sunday, starting alongside Bitadze for the 10th time this season, Carter finally found a breakthrough. It started with Tristan da Silva firing a pocket pass to Wendell Carter cutting to the basket for a two-handed jam.
Carter had 13 points and six rebounds, shooting 6 for 9 from the floor in the Orlando Magic's win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. It was just his fourth game in December with 10 or more points.
Lineups with Carter and Bitadze together have a +20.4 net rating and a 96.5 defensive rating. Since Wagner's injury, the duo has an on-court net rating of +8.1 points per 100 possessions with a 100.5 defensive rating.
While Carter's offense has struggled, he has remained a stalwart on defense. The Magic have a 103.7 defensive rating with Carter on the floor, a mark that trails only Gary Harris and Jonathan Isaac among rotation players.
Opponents shoot 60.3 percent at the rim against Carter, a number that is down from last year's 58.4 percent, but is still comparable to Bitadze's numbers and among the best for the team.
It is an area where Carter continues to show promise and shades of what made him successful last year, but wher ehe is still coming up short.
"It says a lot about who he is as a young man being able to adjust to whatever is thrown his way," Mosley said after practice Tuesday. "It's so good that he can accept it. It's all about the team and what he needs to do for this team. It may not be comfortable in the moment but that's what makes him him. He will find a way to adjust to whatever is thrown in his direction."
Carter came off the bench for three games this year and had some moderate success. It forced him to be aggressive and fill in the gap.
Filling in
The Orlando Magic have lost a lot of scoring with Moe Wagner's injury. The Magic are averaging only 28.5 points per game off the bench in the four games since Wagner's injury. Orlando has found scoring somewhere it seems whether it was from Cole Anthony, Caleb Houstan or elsewhere.
Wendell Carter will have to be a consistent option if he is coming off the bench.
"It was a different mindset you have to have coming off the bench," Carter said after practice Tuesday. "Moe was that spark offensivley for us. I'm not saying I have to be Moe in any kind of way but I have to be able to provide that spark on the offensive end. . . . I think offensively, it gives me an opportunity to be a little more aggressive but at the same time set the tone for us offensively whether that is setting hard screens, getting offensive boards, being aggressive whenever I catch it in the pocket or the post. it was different for me, but I'm able to adjust to everything."
Everything has been an adjustment for Carter this season. Carter said he has been watching how bench players like Bobby Portis. It has all been an adjustment.
The lack of stability in his role has certainly affected Carter as he tries to get his legs back under him. Carter just keeps going with it though. He continues to try to find his way.
It has not been easy for Carter. But this is life in the NBA. Carter is among the players trying to find his way and get his rhythm back. And he has had to roll with whatever the Magic throw at him.