Orlando Magic: 3 big questions heading into 2018-19 NBA season

1. Which bigs should Orlando build around?

Although Orlando’s roster still looks like a relatively blank canvas, the truth is they’ve begun fleshing out their team with Gordon, Isaac and Bamba. That all sounds optimistic and promising, but there is just one glaring issue.

All three of these players basically play the same position. Five-man units may not be as rigid as even five years ago but all three players fall under the former category of power forward or small-ball center.

Isaac and Bamba are almost copies of one another, while Gordon is different in just enough ways (not as long, more complete offensively, better shooter for now) to be able to play alongside one of them.

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Isaac and Bamba, on the other hand, could both be used as centers in certain lineups but therein lies the problem once more. Their skill-sets are overlapping. Whisper it quietly, but all three of these players cannot coexist on the team in future if they look like a playoff outfit.

There is, however, a method to the Magic’s puzzling draft selections. If neither Isaac nor Bamba becomes the All-Star level player they hope (and it is way too early to tell, of course) then both guys have the kind of versatility that would get them something in return if they pursued a trade.

The same wasn’t true of Elfrid Payton, for example, the most traditional point guard you could find in the NBA today who only fetched a second round pick in return for the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline.

On the other hand, Orlando has left itself with just enough wiggle room to unload Gordon if both Isaac and Bamba blossom into legitimate stars. The four-year, $80 million extension he signed this offseason moveable if needed.

Teams will always convince themselves that they can get the best out of a player like Gordon, making that contract all the more valuable.

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Players like Andrew Wiggins (making $148 million over the next five years starting this coming season) and Devin Booker (five years, $158 million starting in 2018-19) are going to be extremely difficult to trade if they fail to live up to expectations.

So if in a year or two the Magic have outgrown Gordon, which is unlikely but not unthinkable given how some fans didn’t want to extend him this summer, they will be able to do so.

We may not get a conclusive answer to this question by season’s end, but it is by far the biggest question of the Orlando Magic’s future, and one that will be on the front office’s mind throughout 2018-19.