Despite their best offseason in years, the Orlando Magic still are not a playoff team. Here are three reasons they’ll once again miss the cut this season.
For the Orlando Magic, the summer of 2018 was a quiet but solid one. They signed restricted free agent Aaron Gordon to a four-year, $80 million contract extension, a great deal for the organization.
They also took Mohamed Bamba with the fifth pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, adding a center who has shown a deft 3-point shooting touch throughout the preseason so far. His versatility will be key to how good their young core can be in future.
On top of that, they maintained some sort of roster flexibility, not locking themselves into any win-now deals that will only get them so far. These are the types of panic moves former general manager Rob Hennigan would likely have made, but thankfully, were not a concern this summer.
Throw in another young player with potential in Jonathan Isaac — despite some injury concerns before the season has begun — and some nice veteran players, and it is clear Orlando is a team that is on the up-and-up.
While all of this is positive and the kind of developments that have been sorely missed in the last five years, expectations need to be managed as well. The Magic may have finally taken a step forward in their rebuilding efforts, but there are still many more steps to go through.
That’s why any hopes of making the playoffs this season will need to be put on hold for the moment. Even staying relevant up until the All-Star break would represent forward movement in Orlando.
Here are three reasons the Magic won’t make the playoffs this year. We bring these up not to be negative, but to play down the unrealistic expectations that have started to appear around the group.