
By now, the basketball world knows the Magic's starting lineup is one of the best in the league, rating 5th overall in net rating among lineups with at least 100 minutes played:
Suggs - Bane - F. Wagner - Banchero - Carter have a +18 Net Rating in 117 minutes together, via NBA Stats.
Did the basketball world know there's six other lineups rolled out by Orlando this season beating teams by an even higher margin of net rating, albeit, on a much smaller sample of playing time?
+51.6 Net Rtg Suggs - Bane - Black - Wagner - Carter (29 MIN)
+39.7 Net Rtg Jones - Black - da Silva - Banchero - Bitadze (22 MIN)
+33.8 Net Rtg Jones - Bane - Black - Isaac - Carter (47 MIN)
+33.5 Net Rtg Black - Bane - da Silva - Wagner - Carter (38 MIN)
+32.8 Net Rtg Black - Suggs - da Silva - Wagner - Bitadze (55 MIN)
+20 Net Rtg Black - Bane - Wagner - Banchero - Bitadze (+21 MIN)
2 more Magic lineups with a positive net rating and at least twenty minutes of playing time:
+3.8 Net Rtg Suggs - Bane - da Silva - Wagner - Bitadze (25 MIN)
+1.3 Net Rtg Black - Bane - da Silva - Banchero - Bitadze (25 MIN)
Only three other lineups have twenty minutes on the court together, all three with a pretty drastic negative net rating, and two have quite a bit of minutes together:
-6.3 Net Rtg Black - Bane - Wagner - Banchero - Carter (77 MIN)
-9.1 Net Rtg Suggs - Bane - Wagner - da Silva - Carter (98 MIN)
-14.1 Net Rtg Jones - Black - da Silva - Wagner - Bitadze (24 MIN)
Many of these lineups are small samples; the net rating can swing quickly.
Orlando is absolutely destroying folks when the starters are fully in tact (+18 Net Rtg), and even moreso in the 29 minutes when Anthony Black is specifically spot-starting in place of Paolo, (+51 Net Rtg)
Banchero + the bench mob of Jones/Black/da Silva/Bitadze is killing opponents by +39 Net Rtg; on the contrary, Wagner with this same bench mob is Orlando's worst unit with 20+ MIN with a -14.1 Net Rtg.
Mixing in Black and Bitadze's defense, play-finishing, and connective playmaking next to the big three star scorers of Bane, Wagner, and Banchero is also wreaking havoc, +20 Net Rtg.
Black spot-starting at point guard for Suggs has not been all that effective, surprisingly. Neither has da Silva spot-starting for Banchero.
Black and da Silva in general, however, are a part of killer lineups for Orlando, being the Magic's 6th and 7th men options all season, about as versatile of options as this Magic team has, let alone off the bench.
What stands out is that Banchero can keep the second unit afloat best, while pairing Wagner and Bane together has proved to great results, both appearing together in 4 of the positive lineups (despite 2 negative ones)
Overall, Orlando has a +3.24 Net Rtg in 552 minutes of Desmond Bane and Franz Wagner on the court together, via PBP Stats.
The Magic have a +1.54 Net Rtg with all three of Bane, Wagner, and Paolo Banchero on the court together.
Add Wendell's two-way versatility, and we're up to +3.6 Net Rtg with Orlando's starting center next to the three star scorers.
The big key is Jalen Suggs, unlocking everything for this team as the group's table-setterand face of the defense-first culture, with Orlando beating teams by a +14.1 Net Rtg with the core-four of Suggs - Bane - Wagner - Banchero in 115 minutes, and even better with Wendell. (117)
How many different effective lineup combinations can the Magic build by playoff time? Only 57 games left to find out.
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