Orlando Magic: What If They're Better Than We Think?

The Orlando Magic are entering year three of their rebuilding process, and this is the best roster they have had since Dwight Howard was on the team. While far from the finished article, they have some exciting young players on the team, as well as a couple of valuable veterans.

The consensus among most is that they are a year or two away from contending for the playoffs, and that is understandable given the average age of the lineups they’ve used in preseason action has been 24. But what if this team is actually ready for a playoff push this year?

Do they move some of the young pieces and try to go all in to be a good team, or sit in an awkward middle of the pack position for a little while to see how good their own core of young players can be?

Sep 29, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan talks with media during media day at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

While you might thing this isn’t a conversation even worth having right now, here are some reasons why Orlando could be primed to be better than advertised. We’ll start with the point that people will disregard most, their strong preseason play.

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Yes, it means precious little, but it’s also encouraging to see this team winning games in different ways. Gutting out an overtime win against the Miami Heat. Flat out beating the Indiana Pacers. Going big to beat the Detroit Pistons. The flexibility of this roster, that is still missing the injured

Victor Oladipo

and

Channing Frye

, has been a nice surprise thus far.

Another reason an unexpected push for the playoffs this year is possible is that, while the Eastern Conference became less top heavy in terms of good teams, other teams aren’t as good as people say they are. The Pacers will take a step back without Lance Stephenson and Paul George. How big a step it is depends on how Roy Hibbert deals with being “the man.”

The New York Knicks have a new system and a rookie head coach, they’re not dead certs to make the postseason. The Brooklyn Nets are creaky and look a couple of injuries away from collapse. We could go on, but the point is, while there are about six locks to make it to the playoffs, it’s possible the Magic could sneak in themselves.

If the team gets off to a decent start, even 15-12 or something similar, at what point do the people upstairs look into making a move for a quality player that guarantees them more wins? It’s a difficult question to ask, Orlando have a number of promising players and it’s hard to see them wanting to part with any of them to bring in more experienced quality.

On top of that, there isn’t a whole lot of talent out there right now that can be locked down for a long period of time for a couple of reasons.

Using Rajon Rondo as an example, a player the Magic absolutely will not sign, his soon to be expired contract would be a risk for the team. Imagine trading away a Tobias Harris and even Maurice Harkless for an All-Star level guy, only for said player to walk away from the team at the first possible moment.

It would set Orlando back a few steps, and that’s not worth it when you have a disgruntled fan base you want to keep happy.

On top of that, with the league about to be flooded by revenue from the new television deal they have agreed, players are cagey about committing themselves to new deals now, in case they miss out on more dollars if they just hold off for a couple of years.

For not-quite-max-level players in particular, that could be huge. Somebody like a Lance Stephenson, who went to the Charlotte Hornets for a modest three years and $27 million, could potentially fetch as much as $35 million once it is known how much money will be entering the league. So this is another reason why it makes sense to stick with what this team already has.

But being in the dreaded middle of the pack is something no team wants. The Atlanta Hawks have done it for years, and look where that’s gotten them. So it may be that parting with some youth for the talent required to win a playoff series is what needs to happen.

You look at the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they had the stones to trade away a potential superstar in Andrew Wiggins to sign Kevin Love, a player more capable of helping them contend now. While this may be a poor example, Love is a top-15 player in the league and there’s none of them headed the Magic’s way anytime soon, it shows the mindset of a top team not afraid to part with youth and potential.

But here’s the thing. From where I’m standing at least, I really like this young core of players the Magic have assembled. There’s more of an identity to the team now, and I think they’ll be fun to watch this season. Personally, I’d like to see this team stick together for a year as it is now and see what they can do.

Then we will have a better idea both of the young players on the roster, and the ceiling of this team. Plus another trip to the draft couldn’t hurt either.

So it seems standing pat for now is what will happen here. The league is in an unsure place what with more money and a higher cap surely coming down the line. There are no monster contracts on this team, so sticking with the mostly rookie deals and friendly veteran pickups, this team will be able to strike for a big time player when the moment is right.

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Orlando Magic: What If They’re Better Than We Think They Are?

By Luke Duffy | Oct 21, 2014