Orlando Magic: Overwhelmed by injuries, it’s time to blow it up

The Orlando Magic have had the season from hell so far, and it started in the NBA bubble this past summer when Jonathan Isaac tore his ACL. This injury ruled him out for the entire 2020-21 season.

That devastating injury was followed up when Markelle Fultz tore his own ACL in January, and on Sunday Aaron Gordon sprained his left ankle and will be out 4-to-6 weeks. Considering that the 8-13 Magic are already in free-fall after a promising start to the season, and it’s time for this team to pivot away from trying to make a playoff run.

It’s time for the Orlando Magic to blow it up

In what has quickly become a lost season for the Orlando Magic, it’s become clear that the organization needs to start thinking about next year and beyond. With three of their top producers out of action, the Magic should begin the tear-down of their roster and accumulate some assets while they still can.

The Magic have solid trade chips in Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier. Vucevic is having a career year squandered by his team’s downfall around him. He’s averaging 22.6 points per game and he’s turned himself into an absolute sharpshooter, hitting a ridiculous 44.1 percent from 3-point range on 6.0 attempts per game.

Vucevic is adding 10.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game on top, and he’s in the second year of a four-year, $100 million contract. His salary actually declines over the duration from this year’s $26 million to next year’s $24 million, down to the final year’s $22 million.

Fournier has missed nine games so far but has been mostly fine since his return, averaging 19.1 points over the last seven games on less than impressive efficiency. His shoot splits have been .410/.358/.763, which gets the job done but won’t fetch you a whole lot on the trade market.

In any tear-down scenario for the Magic, Vucevic is going to be the prime candidate for a solid return. As for Fournier, they’ll probably take what they can get.

If the Magic are to return to their former competitive glory and build a talented roster around Isaac and Fultz, they need to stock up on what assets they can get. And if there’s ever a year to let go of the rope and let nature take its course, this is the year to do it with an outstanding NBA draft class waiting in the wings and flattened lottery odds.

Depending on what decisions the Orlando Magic make based on their current circumstances, things could end up working out very well indeed for this organization.