The Orlando Magic Are Dominating With Defense

The Orlando magic are off to their best start in just over a decade, sitting at 12-5 through 17 games with a chance to surpass the 12-5 start the reached during Stan Van Gundy's final year with the franchise in 2011-12. 

To say it's been a joy to watch the Magic would be an understatement for me. The past decade of Magic basketball has been frustrating, to say the least, and I say that without even being a fan. There has always been just enough there to have you invested and excited.

• Victor Oladipo's rookie year and electric play
• Tobias Harris looked like a legit building block after the trade with the Bucks (it's easy to forget he played in Orlando now; do you even remember the JJ Redick trade?!)
• Elfrid Payton was the OG triple double point guard of the 2010's for a fleeting moment
• The one year under Scott Skiles when they started 19-13
• We don't talk about the Frank Vogel era or the 3/4 of a season Serge Ibaka spent in Orlando
• The Steve Clifford era was filled with defense and promise, but injuries always found a way to derail
• If you would like a comprehensive break down of Aaron Gordon's plethora of roles and swings as a player pre-Denver, search "@jespvagberg Aaron Gordon" on Twitter and get back to me

This is all to say that this start freaking means something in Orlando and to Orlando fans. This didn't happen overnight as the Magic were able to rebuild with a youth movement, in some ways, this has been propelled by a decade. 

Orlando is spearheaded by the 4th best Defensive Rating in the league per Cleaning the Glass, separated from the first ranked Timberwolves by .3 points per 100 possessions: They've toggled with being the best defense in the association for much of the season.

The Magic finished 17th in defense in Jamahl Mosley's first season, and 16th last year. Each season has been marked by a significant improvement in-season: They were 10th in defensive rating from January 1st onwards in both 2022 and 2023.

What's wrapped everything together and how have they found consistency in year 3?

Personnel

When you think of the Orlando Magic under Jeff Weltman and John Hammond, you automatically think of the word wingspan. Every year since the pair have led the charge in Orlando, it's reported leading up to the draft how they covet length and ranginess. And, every year, they draft players with length and ranginess on the defensive end.

8 of the top 12 players in minutes played this season for the Magic are 6'7 or taller.

You get this idea in your head of a group that sizable, imagine positionless basketball and all the notions that come with that, and constitute and image of what the Magic are. It's how they defy that that's impressed me most and been most palpable this season.

Yes, there are a lot of players that are like-sized, but it's their differences that have played such a huge role in their defensive success as a team.

Franz Wagner is 6'10 and highly agile, capable of navigating screens, fleet footed on the perimeter, and adept as an off-ball defender. Paolo Banchero has improved drastically in year two as a defensive player, capable of switching like Franz, making plays around the rim, and excelling as a defender of larger forwards. Note how he guarded Giannis in their matchup and win over Milwaukee. Paolo has a higher center of gravity, but is much stronger and capable of taking on those matchups against the premier power forwards in the league.

Two players with vastly different body types, athletic traits, and defensive skill sets while having the same "size".

Jonathan Isaac is listed the same 6'10 as Paolo and Franz, and even he is vastly different. Pound for pound, there are but a handful of defenders who have the aptitude and ability that Isaac brings to the defensive side of the ball.

He's averaging 2.2 stocks (combined steals and blocks) in 13.9 minutes of play. Those numbers are of course not everything, but highlight his incredible hand-eye coordination and his versatility as a rover and defensive free safety. He can legitimately go from guarding on the ball to blocking or altering shots at the rim in a moment's notice.

He will likely not play the minutes necessary, or a role large enough, but by and large, Isaac has played at an All-Defense level for the Magic. He is an elite defensive skeleton key for this team.

While Anthony Black has also played a smaller role (the Magic are 9-2 with Black as a starter!!!), his screen navigation at 6'7 is remarkable. It stood out at Arkansas, but it has popped in Orlando. He can get bumped off his spots, but that's more of a nit pick and room for growth than a slight. With a group predicated on size, having the players who can handle those roles are just as, if not more, important to maintaining and upholding an elite defense.

He mirrors well. He skirts through narrow lanes to stay in front. He's active off the ball. He has the makings of an impactful defender for years to come.

Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz have both done their job in the backcourt at a quality level when called upon, but Jalen Suggs is the star of the show, and the player I would point to of the Magic that perhaps most deserves an All-Defensive team nod.

He's physical on the ball. He sheds screens like prime Patrick Willis. He weeds out plays off the ball before they've even developed; do not even try to throw a skip cross corner to the weak side when Suggs is in the slot, he will take it to the house.

In so many ways, you are only as strong as your weakest link when looking at the defensive end. Jalen Suggs is of course, not that. However, when you look at this group that prides and is built upon playing big, their smallest player on court is in many ways, the most pivotal.

Suggs is not a player you can bully in the post. He's not going to get dusted by many guards. He can hang with bigger wings. He does all that while being one of the best help defenders in the sport. Oh, and he brings a bit of a mean streak and frenetic energy that people have to play against (I think he's always had this, it's just now getting recognition).

Suggs' improvements across the board offensively, finding a foothold with his efficiency, have allowed him to fully thrive and showcase the defensive skill set that makes him so special. It takes time for young guards to acclimate to the league; growth is not linear, nor does it always occur in the areas anticipated. I know the comparisons have been made widely, but it's stark to me looking back the past weeks on old games from Marcus Smart when he first came into the NBA and not seeing a similar trajectory from Suggs.

They are not the same player, but there is a similar idea, and certainly a similar pathway to growing into themselves. I don't know who Suggs ends up being in his prime, but I do know he's a player I want on my team.

I would also be remiss to not point this out; Wendell Carter Jr. is a damned good basketball player. This team is better with him on the court. The advanced stats widely pan his minutes this season.... he played five games pre-thumb injury and oh hey, the entire team was in a giant shooting slump (including him), so of course the stats stink. Goga Bitadze has filled in admirably and done some very nice things; he blocks more shots, but I would not call him a better rim protector or close to a better defender. That bleeds into the next point, this team scheme is phenomenal and they are locked in as a unit, which is what makes the sum of their parts so impactful. This season has been about putting together the stretches they've shown in the recent past and making those stretches consistent play.

Scheme & Principles

Orlando nails the small stuff, integral to propping up their defensive identity as a whole.

The Magic are 2nd in the league in defensive transition efficiency; aka they are very good at defending the fast break. I marvel watching the continual efforts from the entire team to get back, load up early on drivers, and prevent any kind of easy look off their own miss or a quick inbounds.

This is a common sight from the Magic; a lot of bodies shown to prevent early penetration, someone barking out who's where and how the offense is trailing in, and 5 players back across halfcourt before the offense can press and advantage.

You hardly even notice it because they're so consistent in doing it, and that's why it matters so much.

Getting set allows them to establish their presence, not dissimilar to elite line play in football. If you want to dictate the pace and tempo of the game, you have to be first.

The Magic are also first in defensive turnover rate, which is not a surprise; you have multiple long, quick, connected defenders. 15.4% of Orlando's defensive possessions end with a turnover! While the steals and blocks are impressive, it's the setup that makes it possible and impactful.

Let me give you a quick run down of what the Magic want to do and the order with which they want to do it defensively

1. Stop the drive
2. Stop the drive
3. Stop the drive
4. Sto.... you get the point!

Orlando takes a slightly different approach to defense (one we've seen an uptick of in all levels), something you can see clearly in their shot profile. It's a blend of what the Knicks and Celtics do; Stifle initial actions, make the ball move, rotate off it, and contest the hell out of it in the paint.

Per Cleaning the Glass, 34.2% of total shots against the Magic come at the rim, the 10th highest mark in the league. However, they're 6th in actual conversion allowed at the rim, 62.5%.

It's not something I can point to without tracking data that isn't public, but I'd posit in watching that much of these rim attempts are no initial attacks or drives, but secondary or third looks as the ball gets swung. This team wants to force you to either drive into the packed paint off second-side where they loom large, or launch a three from above the break that they're happy to contest after walling off the paint.

Watch this.

The Hawks hit the Magic with a ghost screen from a good shooter for a great driver.

• Overplay the shooter, and there might be a driving lane
• Overplay the driver and you have to scramble to the shooter
• Miscommunicate or bobble either assignment and you're on the bench

This possession is a common occurrence from the Magic, showing multiple bodies and defenders to the initiator and quasi-handing off the player with the ball to the next man in these actions. There's a crease or a pocket that can happen during switches; the pocket is essentially the space or gap created with time. However long it takes you to make the decision to switch along with the time it takes for the next defender to occupy the player being switched onto is my general rule of thumb for looking at that.

Orlando denies the switch pocket to primary ballhandlers, opting to take away any sort of dribble penetration and being comfortable getting reattached to the shooter in off-ball actions.

It's what we keep coming back to; there are always multiple players in wait, rarely leaving a man alone.

They would rather stop the roll and give up a floater or pull-up two to a ball-handler; they want to take away your best rim threats and deny those actions, showing two to stop that roll/drive and recovering to halt the shot they're ok with.

I find this possession incredibly telling to their entire defensive process.

Every time the Bucks try to put them on an island, or work to create an advantage/draw two, the Magic have help in wait.

Middleton comes off the Iverson, and Giannis screens and releases to the interior. It may not seem like it, but that's a difficult angle to pick up given how Franz is angled. Middleton starts working that screen and as he starts to get downhill, Cole Anthony stunts incredibly hard off the strong corner (something the Magic will do with some regularity), giving Paolo some breathing room.

This whole time while we're looking at the screen, note how Goga has rotated over to wall off the rime before the screen even hits. There is always a backstop/failsafe for every play. They provide a necessary level of recovery for each player in each action. Goga waits to retreat to Brook Lopez until Franz is in front of Giannis. This is a shot they'll live with after everything they've taken away.

Perhaps what stands out most to me in this group is their improvement in discipline, highlighted in the past few plays and in any game this season. Where they created turnovers out of havoc last year, I feel they create turnovers out of their commitment to making the right plays. There are certainly those All-Defense game-changing moments when Suggs makes a highlight reel play, but they're loud this year by being quiet and making opposition uncomfortable.

They're an uncoiling spring as possessions go on, looking to compact at first before a kinetic awakening as they close possessions. This is the good stuff.

Speaking of closing possessions, the Magic are 2nd in the league in defensive rebounding rate, an important footnote on their defensive success. They're big and they play like it, which matters greatly in winning the war of attrition game to game.

Has Orlando benefitted from shot luck? Maybe a bit, as teams are only shooting 34.1% from the corners against them, 5th lowest in the league. However, they've been pelted from above the break where opposition is shooting 38%, 5th highest.

In watching the process of how this team plays and approaches the defensive end, I'm comfortable in calling this a very good to elite unit. Regardless of luck or aggression, Orlando has built an incredibly strong foundation with a top-ranked defensive approach that's been building for the past few years. Times are good in Orlando, and it feels like they're here to stay.