doct3r dr3 wrote:In fairness, the Magic were 30th in 3PM, whereas they were 28th in AST and 24th in TO, so as bad as the playmaking numbers were, the shooting numbers were even worse. That said, I wouldn't disagree entirely with adding playmaking, but I also think there's some logic to forcing Paolo, Suggs and Franz into that playmaking role for the sake of their development, as they did with Victor Oladipo. Adding more floor spacing should allow them to flourish as playmakers, as they'd have more space to operate, and more shooting threats to pass to.
You are correct about the 3PM ranks v. the AST and TO ranks.
That said...
In my opinion, the biggest reason for the Magic's 3PT makes problem came from the fact that Orlando's two highest usage and highest shot attempt players on the team simply did not make many threes at a high enough percentage comparatively speaking to their peers around the league.
Let's dive deeper...
Top 10 offenses this season were: Boston, Indiana, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers, Denver, Milwaukee, New York, Dallas, Golden State and Phoenix. Here's how many threes each team's top two total shot attempt players made this season...
Tatum and Brown: 374 threes
Haliburton and Turner: 311 threes
SGA and Williams: 198 threes
George and Leonard: 383 threes
Jokic and Porter: 303 threes
Giannis and Lillard: 254 threes
Brunson and DDV: 494 threes
Luka and Kyrie: 457 threes
Curry and Klay: 625 threes
Durant and Booker: 320 threes
Paolo and Franz this season combined to make just 213 threes this season at 31.1%. Simply put, Paolo and Franz combined were one of the very worst 3PT shooting (volume and accuracy) top duos in the sport. Not hating, but just factual information.
The issue, at least to me, is not going to be solved by the Magic's role players making more threes ultimately. That will help, but only to a limited extent. Until the volume and the accuracy tick up from Paolo and Franz, the Magic are going to continue to be one of the worst teams in the league at 3PTM/3PT%.
Now...
How can they mitigate their existing 3PTM/3PT% problem and still improve offensively outside of those two guys simply getting better at shooting?
By adding a player, preferably a guard, who can consistently make plays off the dribble - both for himself and for his teammates. That should lead to more easy buckets from said guard, and it should lead to fewer spammed Paolo/Franz isolations (they won't go away completely and nor should they) which should lead to more ball movement, more player movement, more open shot attempts and fewer turnovers.
All ways the Magic can uptick offensively regardless of how well Paolo and Franz shoot the ball (and I expect them both to shoot better than last year).