While the majority of NBA teams appear to be trending in the direction of offensive innovation, the Orlando Magic seem intent on a different position after they hired Scott Skiles as head coach. Skiles is known in NBA circles as a defensive minded coach that preaches tempo and hard work, and the move has fantasy owners grumbling. The Magic seemed to have tantalizing fantasy prospects with sleepers like Elfrid Payton, Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo, but what’s going to be Skiles impact on this team?
Fantasy Stats Will Suffer
The Magic ranked 25th in the NBA in scoring last season with an average of 95.7 points per game and while that number is unlikely to fall too much lower, the players that score their points for them might not be as reliable. Skiles will preach defensive intensity and tempo, and one of the fallouts could be more inconsistent numbers from the team’s best offensive players like Oladipo and Harris. The other issue is that the Magic are not a great defensive team and Skiles has a habit of throwing guys in the doghouse if they don’t play well on the defensive end. This is a young nucleus and this is a hardline coach. The initial reaction right now is to avoid Magic members.
[related_post_one]
Limit The Projections On Oladipo
Before the addition of Skiles, Oladipo was considered in most circles as a potential breakthrough star at the guard position for next season. He made substantial progress in 2014-15, averaging 17.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals and a 1.2 threes per game for the Magic a year ago. While he could put up similar stats, it makes sense to temper expectations rather than expecting him to be drafted ahead of players like Klay Thompson and Jimmy Butler in fantasy circles. Oladipo is probably still the first player off the board for Orlando in annual fantasy leagues but you’ll have to be careful here. This won’t be a free-flowing team and that could hurt Oladipo more than anyone else.
The Potential Clash Of Minds
One player to keep an eye out for is Tobias Harris, who ranked third in scoring for the Magic a year ago when he averaged 17.1 points per game. Harris is still just 22 years old and he entered this offseason as a player pegged by many to have a potential breakout season next year – especially after such a strong month of April where he averaged 18.7 points per game, 8.1 rebounds, 1.9 threes, 2.6 free throws and 1.0 assists. But a balloon of optimism has been popped after it was announced that Skiles was hired. That’s because there is potential for some fallout based on the past relations between two.
Harris and Skiles clashed when they were both members of the Milwaukee Bucks and while the coach said at his introductory press conference that the two have a “great” relationship and there will be no problems, their history says otherwise. Harris saw no more than 11.6 minutes of playing time in the two seasons he was under Skiles and Milwaukee and he averaged no more than 5.0 points per game. Granted, those were the first two years of his career, the friction between him and Skiles was well documented and it creates a big red flag here. You’d have to be very wary of drafting Harris at this point because of the hire.
A Sleeper On The Rise
If there is one player on the Magic roster that will buy in to what Skiles preaches, it should be Ben Gordon, who called him the best coach that he has ever played under. Gordon didn’t stand out much last season but he has all of the tools to thrive at the NBA level and perhaps the right coach to maximize his talents. He’s 32 years old and Skiles is the type of guy that will sooner rely on a past-his-prime veteran than let a young player go through growing pains and hurt the team.
Gordon’s not really on the fantasy radar in early rounds but he could be a sleeper later on in drafts if you’re looking for someone who can potentially score double figures, chip in 1.5 threes, and a couple of rebounds and assists.
