The Orlando Magic watched as teams around them got stronger this offseason, and will have to maximize their roster to once again make the postseason.
Over the last couple of years, the Orlando Magic have proven that they are once again a competent franchise. The importance of this cannot be overstated, one look back at the years between 2012 – 2017 makes for some grim viewing. Rosters and games that are best left in the past.
Back-to-back postseason appearances have the organization somewhat back on the map, although they still remain a mystery to most casual fans. Center Nikola Vucevic might be climbing the all-time Magic leaderboard, and he has been an All-Star as well, but as best players on a team go, he’s not the trendiest name out there.
Which is the main concern for the Magic as they come into this 72 game season. They have a solid base, that much we know. But many expected their to be some significant movement around trades, and to a lesser extent free agency signings, during the condensed offseason that has flown by.
Instead the franchise stood firm, while those around them improved noticeably. The Brooklyn Nets and their returning embarrassment of riches have been well documented, but a franchise like the Atlanta Hawks, built around a “cooler” All-Star in Trae Young, made the kind of roster moves that signals they want back in to the postseason.
Other opponents in the division might not strike as much fear into the Magic but make no mistake, this will not be an easy season for them. Point guard Markelle Fultz, fresh off a breakout season of sorts, might be saying the right things. But there is no Jonathan Isaac, and he’s not the only player who is going to be missing for some time. Here are the three biggest goals for the team this year.
3. Trust in the Orlando Magic’s youth
If the introduction was overly bleak, that is only because caution should always be advised when dealing with the Magic. The reality however, is that a best case scenario for the organization could end up working really well for them this coming season. It might not feel like it right now, but there is some real depth to the roster.
Dwayne Bacon was a nice get from the Charlotte Hornets, and Al-Farouq Aminu is going to return at some point. What head coach Steve Clifford should be most excited about however, is the opportunity to lean into the youth available to him some more. He may be reluctant to do this, especially as the veterans on the roster have bought into how he plays defensively.
But the Magic have not been a good outfit offensively, at least on a consistent basis, and some of the young players have the opportunity to change that. If nothing else, it would give the likes of Vucevic and Evan Fournier a break from doing so much of the heavy lifting on that end of the court during the regular season.
Fultz was better than expected last year, and he appears to have spent the offseason working on his shooting touch. He was already effective as a penetrator and passer for the Magic, and you could argue he was their second best player in a series against the Milwaukee Bucks in the bubble. Adding some more consistent shooting to this would be a great development for player and team.
Chuma Okeke is the real wildcard here. Having missed all of last year, what would have been his rookie campaign, as a result of an ACL tear, he appears rearing to go. The front office have spoken favorably of him as well, and if he can contribute and threaten the position of Aaron Gordon in the rotation, they will know they’re onto something.
Gordon continues to be talked about in trade rumors, and perhaps some direct competition like he has never really faced in a Magic uniform before can spur him to take the leap. If the season begins to slip away, and it could, then turning the team over to Okeke and Fultz, as well as incoming rookie Cole Anthony, wouldn’t be the worst idea. In fact it would be great to see how good they can be together, knowing that Isaac will be returning eventually as well.
2. Give Cole Anthony plenty of run
You might think that Anthony should be included in the previous point, but he is a slide unto himself because he has the opportunity to be a franchise savior if the situation breaks kindly for him. The Magic have not had a player who generates the kind of excitement that Anthony does with his game since Dwight Howard. That is saying a lot.
A guy with that kind of buzz probably wasn’t expecting to fall to the Magic with the 15th pick in last month’s draft, but it is a situation that could work out so well for both. The organization needs not only a pure scorer, but a guy who can generate excitement and sell tickets and jerseys.
That might be a lot of pressure to put on Anthony, but the reality is there is a nice system already in place, so he won’t have to do it all. It will be fascinating to see if he shares the court with Fultz, and if so how that will look. Initially he is likely to back him up, but if the play of Anthony is so good that it can’t be ignored, then they would make an ideal backcourt pairing.
This will be the major development for the roster of the course of the season. The possibility of the defensive play of Fultz and the scoring of Anthony combining beautifully. Add in Isaac the following year, and the Magic could really be onto something. Even if that is the best case scenario, Anthony should still see plenty of the ball.
D.J. Augustin is gone, so running the second unit would be a great first goal for Anthony. Coming off the bench alongside Bacon and Terrence Ross, there could be a real scoring punch there that will have opponents struggling to keep up. There are going to be mistakes, bad shot selections and silly turnovers. All of this is necessary, should be welcomed even, as Anthony finds his feet. He could repay them by being the steal of the draft.
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.