2019–2020 Orlando Magic Roster Preview
For the first time in forever, every Magic player comes into the season with a clear understanding of his role, his positional battle, his coach, and his contract status. Augustin, Iwundu, and MCW are the only ones with expiring contracts; the rest of Orlando’s roster can basically expect to be here for the next 2+ seasons.
DJ Augustin is a stable vet coming off a career year. He can’t be viewed as the longterm placeholder for Markelle Fultz, but his outside shooting and overall efficiency makes him an asset to this team in this season. If Fultz stumbles out of the gate, DJ is the steady hand capable of guiding this offense to the playoffs. if Fultz seizes the reigns on his own accord, DJ either becomes: (1) one of the best backup guard options in the league entering a weak free agency class for his last deal, (2) a possible trade target for any team who wants to add an efficient outside-shooting veteran presence on an expiring deal; or, (3) due to his success in Orlando and where DJ is in his career, he could receive and consider a reasonable extension near 120% of his current salary to enstill depth at point for The Magic going forward.
Evan Fournier, coming off his sensational summer in FIBA, remains the starting 2-guard. With Terrence Ross fully comfortable in his sixth man role, Evan has no one breathing down his neck. Fournier’s clutch numbers were great last year; hopefully Evan’s shot returns to form, allowing his all-around game to be more consistent. He’ll have every opportunity to hold onto his starting gig going forward, Orlando’s offense is cleanest when Evan is making his shots.
There’s no more questions about Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon playing together; it works. Other than Clifford replacing black holes with plus-defenders at nearly every spot in the rotation, the wing duo deserves the most credit of anyone for Orlando’s top-8 defense last year, as J.I. and AG are capable of matching up with any other team’s 3/4 while providing help-D elsewhere. Both players are expected to make leaps, and although progression isn’t linear, they both seemed to have put in a ton of work this offseason. AG wants to be more of a half-court creator out of the post, working on his footwork, deceleration, and post-moves. Isaac’s goal, in addition to bulking up to hold his own against stronger matchups, is to become a reliable outside shooter. Magic coaches said last season that they thought Isaac would finish the year as a 40% 3pt shooter (Isaac shot 39% on 5 3PA per game in his final 27 outings last season), while Clifford mentioned J.I. has been working this summer on his shooting, range, mechanics, ISOs, post-ups, and shot-making.
Terrence Ross, aka The Human Torch, aka The Magic 8-Ball, formerly known as T-Flight31, returns to the roster with bolstering applause from an approving fan-base. Ross had a career year establishing himself as a premier catch&shoot and pull-up shooter from both the elbow and the outside; practically Orlando’s 2nd scoring option and only offensive threat off the bench, T-Ross should have seen more consideration for sixth man of the year with The Magic making the playoffs. DJ and Terrence could regress from their year of lights-out shooting, but similar usage and role in the same system should produce similar results.
Nikola Vucevic, reigning eastern conference all-star, should produce similarly to last season. An elite rebounder and post-move matchup hunter, hopefully Vuc’s newly settled contract doesn’t affect his play; Orlando needs Vuc to find the two-way balance he had early last season before he regressed back to bad habits of settling for mid-rangers and ignoring the ball-handlers in pick-and-roll defense. Vuc’s new deal means less time for J.I., AG, Mo Bamba and Khem Birch at the 5, so Vuc’s production needs to be pristine if the cost is PT for prospect development. Being the most stable half-court offensive option on the roster, The Magic don’t have much of a choice but to build low-risk schemes around his high-post creation.
Al-Farouq Aminu fills all kinds of roles at once for this team. He’s an upgrade over Jarell Martin as an injury reserve 3/4, but he might even begin the season as the first wing off the bench. He’s an ideal D&3 vet who can step in as a starter if either of J.I. or AG go down with an injury, capable of playing next to either forward. Aminu is at the age normally considered a player’s prime, coming off of multiple playoff appearances as a starter in the western conference. Chief also serves as a stopgap veteran presence for rookie Chuma Okeke, who is redshirting his first year due to injury. Aminu is a wonderful transition for Chuma’s long-term progress, as the timetable should matchup with Aminu’s contract. Having a D&3 veteran wing on the MLE for two years isn’t the worst trade chip, either.
DaQuan Jeffries is basically this front office’s rookie cheat code. WeltHam was somehow able to draft and stash their desired rookie (Chuma Okeke), trade away their 2nd-rounder for Cash from the Lakers, and still end up with a a fringe 1st-round talent in DQJ who should provide defense and be capable from downtown right away. Orlando’s front office locked down the long-term prospect they coveted AND found a win-now prospect to help chase the playoffs this season, both of whom fit the long, smart two-way culture being built in Orlando. Chuma won’t play this season, but the organization is excited about his long-term potential as a cerebral, team-first player who makes the right play with good vision and has flashed some handles, post-moves, and an outside jumper.
Mo Bamba probably has the toughest challenge lying in front of him. Clifford has declared him the backup to start the season, but Mo knows how well the team fared once Birch replaced him in the rotation last season. With Vuc committing another four years, and Khem signing on for two years himself, Mo has been given the short end of the stick in terms of opportunity. That said, being the first big off the bench is his role to lose. If Mo takes a big enough leap, Vuc’s descending deal could be moveable down the line. Until then, Bamba will have to continue to grow into his NBA body and develop his two-way skill-set outside of the games for when his time comes.
Wesley Iwundu and Michael-Carter Williams (MCW) being on expiring contracts should inspire their play, if they weren’t already naturally born hustlers. Neither are locks to make the final eight-player rotation, but both will serve as plus-defenders who normally make the right play with the ball in their hand; the same goes for Khem Birch, although he inked a 2-year deal. All three are serviceable role players capable of being plugged into the rotation when called upon, even if they don’t start out the season there. Especially when compared to Jerian Grant and Jonathon Simmons, these three are clear upgrades as replacement-level role players, all being mobile plus-defenders and good decision-makers. Birch could even be a level above that, a consistent role player who many teams coveted this past summer but couldn’t really pursue due to his RFA status. Melvin Frazier is another long, defensive athlete on Orlando’s roster who will be fighting for PT on the wing, but he’ll likely be a reserve stuck with garbage time opportunities for the time being.
Markelle Fultz. Everyone loves the hype, and deservingly so. His high school mixtapes show off fluid handles that resemble Kyrie, he shot 41% from 3 on 5 attempts per game in college, and his height/wingspan combo gives him a lengthy advantage at the guard position. Coming out of a confusing situation in Phili, there should really be no expectations put on him. Orlando gave up no real assets to acquire the former #1 pick (Jonathon Simmons and a fake first), so Markelle should be given as long as he needs to fully recover.
The real question seems to lie in the status of Fultz’s jumper; even though his shot looked questionable in Phili, the defense and playmaking aspects of his game were never really in question. Orlando found Briscoe and MCW to fill the defensive playmaker reserve role lasts season, but it’s hard to see Fultz not matching or surpassing that impact, even without a jumper. If the shot does return to form, his pre-draft potential suggests that he could put it all together, becoming an all-around two-way creator and clear starter in this league full of star potential; if not, he should at least resemble an Exum type of reserve player who brings defense and playmaking when called upon as his team spends $10+M per year trying to figure out what they have in him. Using 10% of your cap on a trial run isn’t ideal, but with Fultz’ upside fitting so well with Orlando’s most glaring position of need, allocating salary this way makes sense, especially for a team not quite getting meetings with the real stars in free agency yet.
No matter what happens, Orlando is capped out for the next few seasons anyway. With AG and Evan already on the books, The Magic committed to Ross, Vucevic, and Birch in free agency, while also accepting future team options for Isaac, Fultz, and Bamba. However, in a loaded 2022 free agent class, The Magic could carve out around $20M in cap space before dealing with its own free agents. That’s years down the road though; until then, the roster is set. Last year was Orlando’s first 40-win season since 2011. This is the first year since 2014 that The Magic go into a season with the same head coach and front office from the season prior; continuity gives Orlando’s players an understanding of cultural expectations, where they stand in their role, and the relatively safe feeling that this roster will stay intact for the foreseeable future. The Orlando Magic are ready to #RunItBack.
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