ORLANDO – Becoming a top 10, maybe even top five, defensive team as soon as this season is a priority for the Magic, apparent from this summer’s activity.
Hiring Steve Clifford, known throughout the league as a tough-minded, defensive-oriented coach, drafting college’s most prolific shot blocker in Mohamed Bamba, re-signing the versatile Aaron Gordon and acquiring lockdown defenders, Jerian Grant and Jarell Martin, in separate trades gives Orlando a solid defensive foundation.
The groundwork, actually, started a year earlier, when the Magic selected Jonathan Isaac and Wes Iwundu in the 2017 draft and then signed one of the more tenacious and resilient players in the entire league, Jonathon Simmons.