Are The Orlando Magic Fading Fast?

Despite being an up-and-coming team in the Eastern Conference, it looks like the Orlando Magic are running out of steam.

Although it’s clear the Orlando Magic are a much-improved team on the last couple of seasons, it looks as if they may have hit a downward turn. In the thick of the playoff race in the tight Eastern Conference for much of the year, they now find themselves outside the top eight looking in with a 20-20 record.

Now, while being at .500 at this point in the year is a great achievement for an organization that hasn’t cracked 30 wins in a season since Dwight Howard left, it’s somewhat frustrating as this is a team with some talent. Center Nikola Vucevic likely won’t make the All-Star team, but he’s in the conversation.

Victor Oladipo‘s move to the bench has been an inspired move for both player and team, while even Aaron Gordon has had more influence in recent games (team-high 18 points in Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks and team-leading 10 rebounds in a loss last week to the Washington Wizards).

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Head coach Scott Skiles has made this team better defensively, so how come they’ve lost three straight? Worse still, is this a sign of things to come?

Well, with one of those three losses being in London to the Toronto Raptors and the other two coming against the Hawks and Wizards, it’s fair to say the Magic have just played teams that are better than they are.

In that overtime loss to the Raptors the players looked lethargic towards the end as well, and with Skiles often using small rotations in games, it’s understandable why that may be.

The young guys on this team get after it on both ends, but some nights the intensity just isn’t going to be there. It’s looked that way recently and it just so happened to come at a point when they were playing teams that all boasted at least one star player. The Magic still don’t seem to have one of those yet and perhaps that’s another issue here.

Where is that guy who can get you out of a tight spot or a jam in a close game? For the longest time now it feels like we’ve wanted Oladipo to be that guy. On his night he can be, as he continues to learn to take over games.

This was the case against the Raptors, as his energy when on the court (as well as a team-leading 27 points and six assists) kept the short-handed Magic in the game longer than they should have been.

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But star players don’t start games on the bench and Oladipo is still to make the leap we want him to. The same thing applies to Vucevic, a tremendous offensive center and consistent scorer, but somebody who leaks points on the defensive end. As Zach Lowe excellently pointed out as well, he gets to the free throw line 1.7 times per 36 minutes.

That’s on track for the third-lowest mark for a player taller than 6-foot-10 in league history.

Obviously many star players aren’t two-way forces, but Vucevic, for all his pristine offensive play, is still unwilling to mix it in the paint to get some easy points at the charity stripe. Given that he’s got an improving jump shot, surely that would translate to being a good shooter at the line?

As it is though, just more than 39 percent of his points come from mid-range jumpers, the kind of shot Vucevic should be moving away from but in actual fact is relying on more.

So with an internal power struggle (or lack thereof) to contend with while other teams begin to wake up and really get into gear with the All-Star break looming, it’s no surprise the Magic are losing games. Their schedule may also be to blame as well. They haven’t had overly long stretches of easy games this year, but they were winning games they would not have in the past.

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That’s not the case now and to make matters worse the run of games they play through the first half of February are particularly brutal.

This is why they need to take advantage of upcoming games against the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks and a home-and-home against the Boston Celtics (which will be difficult as they look to have found an identity as a team) before the end of the month.

Really though, for all the reasoning and potential excuses outlined above, we shouldn’t be overly surprised that the team is in this position right now. They’ve remained competitive for longer than many thought they could this year, and players like Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier have broken out.

It’s not quite time to think about lottery picks, but an element of realistic expectation must also now be factored in.

The Orlando Magic have become a lot better as an organization and this summer is important for them. They have the young pieces and now need to kick on and make an impact in this league. Some of their League Pass performances against better teams have achieved that already, but now it’s about doing so on a more consistent basis.

In comparison to years gone by this season so far has been quite a successful one. However it looks like the momentum of having a new head coach and up and coming players has slowed somewhat, as the grind of the season sets in. This isn’t supposed to be overly negative however, as the team are still hanging in there and capable of fighting for a playoff spot.

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Right now though, it looks like they’re slipping down the pecking order.