Orlando Magic: 3 goals for the 2020-21 season

1. Back to the playoffs for the Orlando Magic

This didn’t have to necessarily be the main goal for the Magic coming into this season. But as a result of continuing to stick with the largely veteran core in place, it has to be. Anything else will be seen as a step back, even though as we have already mentioned, teams that didn’t make the postseason last year have really improved and will be looking to this time out.

But taking a backwards step like this, all while continuing to lean guys in their prime like Vucevic and Fournier, would not look good. The front office have done a great job of drafting for the future, it is just a shame that Isaac has suffered significant injuries. Trading for Fultz, considering how little they gave up for him, continues to look like a masterstroke too.

Yet despite this, there has been a reluctance to embrace all of the young guys and move on from what is in place. So if you’re going to bring Vucevic back for $100 million, and you’re going to have Fournier making $17 million in the final year of his deal, you better be trying to make the playoffs again.

The front office is also under some pressure to justify some of their moves as well, and this factors into their ability to win. Wesley Iwundu was as good a second round pick from them as you could ask for. After a shaky start to life in the league, by year’s end he was developing into a solid “3-and-D” player.

He was allowed to walk in free agency and sign with the Dallas Mavericks, while Mohamed Bamba just hasn’t gotten going with the Magic. First it was a leg fracture, now it is complications from having Covid-19. The guy can’t catch a break, and is in danger of becoming a lottery pick that doesn’t work out.

Bamba doesn’t look like he is going to contribute much to winning either, and with Iwundu going to attempt to do that with the Mavericks, it puts more pressure on the organization to win now and make it back to the postseason, to justify their moves. This wouldn’t be the case if trades had happened and they were all in on youth. But they didn’t and so, making the playoffs again is the main focus for the Orlando Magic.