Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have done a lot to become really good two-way players in the league. However, the postseason has demonstrated that the Orlando Magic clearly need a lot more in terms of offense if they want to become contenders. Coach Jamahl Mosley has been good at creating an even and well-distributed defensive system. However, the Magic need to address their production on the other side of the floor.
Defense does win championships but that classic saying might not be too applicable to the Magic. Paolo Banchero and the rest of the Magic only ranked 26th among all teams when it comes to points per game. To put it into perspective, they were only able to net 109.7 points per game with an average win margin of +2.2 points. While this is a good display of being able to come out of close games, their clutch defense can only go so far. Moreover, playing really close games nearly every night for Coach Jamahl Mosley's squad is surely not good for their fatigue management in the long term.
Another big need that the Magic need to patch up is being able to rotate the ball to a scorer efficiently. Banchero and Franz Wagner have been good at creating their own shots but the offense stalls a little bit too much. This results in hasty shots from the mid-range area or ill-advised shot selection from their guards. The fact that the Magic are a playoff contender despite only notching 24.2 assists a night is a question to most stat heads. These numbers rank them 28th in the association too.
Oftentimes, the passes they make are also not the best which leads to the Magic's opponents taking advantage of their lackluster offense. A big evidence of this is their assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks 28th in the league because its value clocks in at 1.651.
The Magic needs shooters to help them with their needs
Delay actions and five-out offensive philosophies now run the NBA. One cannot simply thrive in it and come close to a Larry O'Brien trophy if they do not shoot enough threes. The Magic are the fifth-worst squad when it comes to knocking shots from far out. It largely comes with Mosley's defense-first philosophy along with Banchero and Wagner's style of play. The fact that their shots from way out only see the bottom of the net an average of 34.8% and they only take 31.5 of them a night surely makes them lag behind in the league.
Recent champions have always had at least three serviceable three-point shooters because of the league's ongoing offensive meta. The Boston Celtics, the most recent team to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy, even had a rotation where every single one of their guys can knock down a three-pointer at any given moment. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jett Howard might help with this problem. But, it does not look like the Magic's needs will be met by just new players. An offensive philosophy overhaul should be considered.
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