Orlando Magic: Will continuity push them to the top in 2019-20?
By Luke Duffy
Storyline 3: Will they make a trade?
The Magic are beginning to flirt with the idea of being consistently good, and with that comes expectations. In an ideal world the core that has been brought back will continue their good form, and the organization will once again improve.
But time is no a luxury the franchise has anymore. If the season is going poorly, they may be forced into what could be panic moves around the trade deadline. Now, this is a poised front office who you would think won’t make any rash decision. But it is also true that this is a roster loaded at the forward positions with young and moveable talent.
In some cases, certain players are a combination of both. If another team enquires about Bamba for example, with Vucevic in the midst of another All-Star season and Birch continuing his stellar backup play, do they see what they can get for him? This is the intriguing part, the fact that the Magic are not the finished article right now.
Similarly if the right All-Star level player came up, knowing full well that free agents don’t typically sign in Orlando and never have, do they enter the conversation anyway? Somebody like Bradley Beal would move the needle for them offensively, and if it took two first round picks and somebody like Bamba or Gordon, is that something worth moving on?
The Magic, with the exception of the Fultz trade, have been quiet in that area for years. They weren’t good and they preferred to collect young assets and build from within. Only now they have moved up a few rungs on the ladder, and we all know that stars are what get you deep into the playoffs.
It could be that they already have some in the form of Isaac and Gordon and we just don’t know it yet. But there is likely to come a time where an offer comes in that they will have to think long and hard about. If they stutter this season, knowing they are locked into this core as well, how long before they pick up the phone themselves and see what is available? It is the undercurrent to what is right now a happy and perky franchise.