Orlando Magic: 5 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 NBA season

The Orlando Magic have plenty of reasons to be excited as they head towards the 2019-20 NBA season.

The Orlando Magic proved to be something of a sleeping giant last season, as they closed out their 2018-19 season with a 42-40 record, a southeast division title and a return to the playoffs. All of this, despite being an afterthought in the minds of most fans.

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The All-Star level season of Nikola Vucevic helped power the Magic to heights not seen since the earlier portion of this decade, but they were much more than a one-man band.

They formed an identity on the defensive end that allowed them to close out opponents, and over the last 30 games or so were one of the best defensive teams in the league.

Head coach Steve Clifford, in his first season in Orlando, was integral to this, as he proved to be the right hire by a front office that has worked wonders since taking control of the organization.

There are plenty of reasons then to be excited for what this coming season could hold, but the foundations for all of this were built last season.

The continuity that they will bring into 2019-20 isn’t a reason to be excited in itself, but it is integral to them being where they are right now.

Everybody from last season returned, and although that locks the Magic into this group for the next couple of years at least, we have seen enough now to know that there is still more to come from these players, assuming the young guys on the team continue to grow like they should.

Talk of them being a potential third seed in the East by the time the regular season wraps up may be a bit optimistic as of now, but the fact that the Magic are even getting spoken about at all in September is testament to the fact that people are beginning to respect them as a franchise on the rise.

Here are five other reasons to be excited.