Orlando Magic vs Miami Heat: A comparison of the two

1. The future

We know enough about both teams now to understand which direction they are going to continue to go in this season. For Orlando it is slow and steady, but you can see the signs of progress.

For the Heat, they were looking for a star this summer to push them back into genuine contention and it has failed to happen. That being said, because they’re the Heat and they’re in Miami and they’ve got Riley, they will likely get a chance to add a star next summer too.

The only problem there is the aforementioned lack of cap space that players like Whiteside are hoovering up. This makes it more likely that two seasons from now at the least is when the Heat will be able to create some roster flexibility.

Based purely on what we know today, and assuming both rosters begin the season as is, the Magic have to be the winners here. They’ve got the young players in Gordon, Isaac and Bamba that have a lot of potential.

They also have the trade piece in Simmons, as well as a player in Nikola Vucevic who could end up getting them some assets in a trade or once more becoming their best player again. A wildcard like that isn’t a bad thing to have on a roster.

Of course the Heat aren’t a lost cause completely, with Bam Adebayo having a promising rookie season. Much like Ellington and Winslow, he could be on the verge of a real breakout year.

It just feels like the Heat are really relying on these players to become quality players in the league. The Magic on the other hand, while that is still certainly the goal, now have a bit more wiggle room to make something happen through trade if necessary.

The Magic edge this one, but ultimately it is not enough to save them in this head to head. Even if we added in the categories of head coach or championships, this would only favor Miami more.

The gap is closing, and that’s a positive for this Orlando Magic organization, but they’re not quite on the same level as their Florida rivals yet.

Now we just need to wait until they meet for the first time on Oct.18 to renew this rivalry. If you really can’t wait until then, there’s always that preseason game on Oct. 9.

Advantage – Magic