NBA: 2015-16 Eastern Conference Projections

11.  Orlando Magic:  31-51

Weakest month:  October/November — 17 games, .465 (26th)

Hardest month:  February — 12 games, .548 (8th)

Overall strength of schedule:  15th

Taking the time to set up your team for tremendous future success and keeping the fans excited is the hardest challenge.

Rob Hennigan expels these challenges, forming what could be the best “League Pass team” in the Eastern Conference this season.  Orlando will be featured on national TV just five times throughout their schedule, which means majority of NBA advocates still won’t be getting a full grasp of how engrossing this team will be.

Hennigan has attempted to build around the trio of Tobias Harris, Victor Oladipo, and Nikola Vucevic for the last couple years, and he’s finally drafted/signed the right complementary pieces for them.  Elfrid Payton shows more promise with each dribble I watch of him, Aaron Gordon is determined to erase opinions of him being a “stretch” at No. 4 overall in the 2014 draft, and Mario Hezonja is built like a Croatian menace that’s completely unabashed with asserting himself offensively.

Shabazz Napier and C.J. Watson were brought along to provide insurance for Orlando’s backcourt. With that duo — which may not see the floor much at all if everyone avoids major injury — the Magic have a desirable mix of maturity and athleticism.

While this roster is at least one year away from a rightful chance at the 7th or 8th seed, the only thing that could slow down their train is unfortunate injuries.  A good sign though, was that the core of Oladipo, Vucevic, Payton, and Harris played an average of 74 games last year, with Harris missing the most (14). In a league where one bad landing of a knee can ruin your hopes and dreams, this is the greatest thing for a front office to see — players actually collecting checks for their performance.

Only six teams were worse defensively than Orlando last season, with those being the Raptors, Nuggets, Kings, Lakers, Knicks, and Timberwolves.  It’s the leading reason Scott Skiles was trusted with this new head coaching gig.  Although he’s barely over .500 for his coaching career (443-433 record), his teams have demonstrated pure discipline on defense.  He may not be exactly what Oladipo and Payton need as a guy that’s orchestrating plays for the backcourt (it was horrific with Ellis and Jennings in Milwaukee), but he’ll have the Magic’s young blood developing on the most important end of the floor.

Getting easier points and attacking the basket are the imperatives for Orlando this season.  The NBA is moving closer and closer to a “systematic” league, and recent history tells us one thing:  You either need to be in the upper-echelon of long-range attempts (while being efficient!), or you need to get to the foul line with reckless abandon.

The Magic had neither identity last season under Jacque Vaughn and James Borrego’s coaching.  They took just 19.5 3-pointers per game (22nd), and finished dead-last in trips to the free throw line (19.1).

Going through a re-model will have its ups and downs.  Improving by six wins, the Magic can finally begin to reap the positives of this post-Dwight project.

Next: 10th