By Josh Cohen
Sept. 27, 2015
Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic
Payton dished out 159 assists to Vucevic last season (mostly pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop connections). Payton’s excellent court vision and instincts prevents defenses from predicting his movements and judgments. In the play featured below, Payton takes the screen from Vucevic, fakes out Pablo Prigioni and Donatas Motiejunas and whips over an assist. WATCH:
Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris
When he drives inside and forces defenses to collapse in the paint, Oladipo needs a reliable kick-out option. Last season, the beneficiary of Oladipo’s explosiveness was often Harris (59 of Oladipo’s assists went to Harris). In the play featured below, Roy Hibbert leaves Vucevic to help deny Oladipo from scoring at the rim and Damjan Rudez leaves Harris to cover Vucevic. In effect, Harris is wide open in the corner. WATCH:
Nikola Vucevic and Channing Frye
While he is still working on getting more comfortable passing out of double teams in the post, Vucevic is an underrated distributor (especially from the elbow). In the play featured below, Vucevic sees Aaron Gordon set a solid screen for Frye on the other side of the floor. WATCH:
Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton
This promising backcourt could become a nightmare for opponents. While different in many ways (Oladipo uses explosiveness and zip, Payton uses herky-jerky, speed-altering movements), both are terrific at getting in the paint and cutting to the basket. In the play featured below, Payton pushes the pace and finds Oladipo streaming along the baseline. WATCH:
Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon
While Los Angeles is still Lob City, Orlando may soon become Alley-Oop City. The Magic want to push the pace and play faster this season. That likely means there will be many fast break opportunities. In the play featured below, Payton collects the outlet pass from Vucevic and races the other way to start a 4-on-1 fast break. WATCH: