Off-Day Open Thread: Should the Orlando Magic Move Gilbert Arenas into the Starting Lineup?

Let’s just play a few games before making another change the chemistry of the team.
Nelson obviously fine with starting, Gil seems fine coming off the bench and is providing the bench scoring/playmaking we needed, and Stan thinks that way too.
Play some games, see how this lineup before doing anything. Last thing we need right now is a potentially frustrtrated Nelson making a fragile situation ecen more so.

Jumping back and forth between being the backup PG for ~18 mins. and SG for about ~10 mins a night gives him the total minutes he deserves with his good play, while at the same time making it tougher to account for him on defense.

The biggest reason though, as cliche as it sounds, is the fact that he can provide a “spark off the bench”.

Duhon, Redick, MP, Bass, Gortat

That’s what the Magic had before, and there’s no “spark” there. Really other than Redick’s consistent scoring, I don’t remember a lot of times where this 2nd unit really played in a way that fired up the crowd and other starters. MP would do it sometimes, but it was random.

Now they have Arenas coming in, from different positions even, that can get the offense moving when they are stagnant. He can create plays to get other players going – and the backup unit has enough juice now that SVG could basically sit the entire starting lineup.

Arenas, JJ, Q, Anderson, Allen

Apart from Allen…that could be a decent starting lineup for most teams in the NBA, and it’s Arenas that provides the spark that can really allow them to play that way.

Nelson is playing ALL-STAR quality basketball this season. It’s stunning how quickly people forget that. He had a decent game last night, and he was dehydrated. It’s more than the fact that he “knows the offense”. He’s playing amazing this year in every way, and he’s been a leader on the court for the Magic. He’s their general – and it’s a role he’s played really well. Arenas is the guy you send to lead the rag-tag group around the flank, who ends up turning the tide when things look grim. It’s a one-two punch that will make the Magic really hard to stop offensively, especially when they get the half-court offense figured out.

If this team can pull themselves back into a top5 defense, they will be seriously difficult to beat.

The last 2 games where Gilbert didn’t play as well as he did against the Spurs..absolutely NOBODY was talking about him starting over Jameer..now that he has a great game, the drama starts and people think he needs to be the starting PG…smh. Like it or not, Jameer is a key part of this team and contrary to what alot of people think..He and Dwight set the tone for us..he’s been here for 6 or 7 years and has done a great job for us. All of a sudden he has a subpar game and people want to throw him under the bus…I don’t get it. Gilbert is the spark we NEED off the bench..Jameer is the starter, and if SVG is as smart as I think he is, he will remain the starter.