The Magic have been hard at work gaining insights about their roster this preseason and have already come up with a five-man group that they’re fond of. John Denton of the Magic’s official site writes that Frank Vogel particularly enjoyed playing Elfrid Payton alongside Jonathon Simmons at the two with Jonathan Isaac and Aaron Gordon at the three and four, respectively, with Bismack Biyombo at center.
“That’s scary for other teams because there is a lot of athleticism out there and a lot of guys who can guard point guard through power forward,” Payton, entering his fourth year with the Magic, said. “There’s so much speed and athleticism there. Even though we’d be seen as a small unit, Jonathon [Simmons] is athletic, Isaac is athletic, A.G. is athletic and I don’t think we’d lose anything on the rebounding end. I look forward to seeing that [lineup] more.”
The scribe also notes that Isaac, while famously raw as a 20-year-old, 210-pound forward, could still be utilized as a defensive specialist for the Magic in his first year in the pros. “He’s NBA-ready to come in and impact our team on the defensive end right now,” Vogel said.
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Wizards will need to come up with a suitable temporary power forward until Markieff Morris is ready to step back in, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. Head coach Scott Brooks will have several options, including sliding small forward Otto Porter Jr. up to the four.
- The Magic have made a concerted effort to play a modernized style of basketball and Frank Vogel, synonymous with gritty, hard-nosed basketball from his days at the helm of the Pacers, is leading the operation. John Denton of Orlando’s official team site discusses how Vogel has handled the transition.
- The Heat have been starting Rodney McGruder at small forward but don’t be surprised if Josh Richardson gets some looks as well considering the results thus far from preseason, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes.
I talked about Jonathan Isaac a lot last year, and he looks like he can definitely step in right away and be productive. I knew he could play defense at this level from the start. His tenacity has definitely carried over, including on the boards, and I feel like he is a little smoother offensively, which is something I was looking for. He definitely stood out the most to me for that tenacity last year. That lineup has a chance to be very disruptive. They’re very active. I only question the spacing. Gordon needs to knock down more shots. Its crazy that i can feel like they got a lot better, but still have them relatively low in the east. Its essentially going to come down to a lot of close games, and injuries, as it did last year, for a couple of spots
Richardson has looked amazing, but I’d still go with McGruder as the starter. The one thing that does come into play is at the 4. They have to find a way to play to JJs strengths when he is playing with Dragic and Waiters. He’s going to have to knock down shots the way he did early in the year last year, and those guys are going to have to sacrifice some of the playmaking to allow him to get going offensively. You can’t really substitute him with Winslow b/c the same thing happens for him in that lineup. I am hoping to see some of JJ and/or Okaro at small ball 5 this preseason b/c I feel like those are potentially good lineups for us as well…that 2nd unit should be really fun to watch
Kelly looked better with the starters than Johnson.
I think he looked way better with the 2nd unit
He gets minutes with both when he starts at the 4