Orlando Magic complete transformation with signings

The Orlando Magic had a lot of work to do this offseason and some big goals in mind. Through free agency, they have completed a major transformation.

When the Orlando Magic started the offseason, they had a jumble of talent and several needs to fill, but no set path to do so. They could have largely stayed the course, adding a few key veterans to supplement a core that had grown to a 35-win team in four years, but still seemed to have a little more in them.

The four-year rebuild had gone slowly. And the time seemed right to take a big step forward. They moved some key players around to get cap room. And then they spent that cap room, pushing their chips in.

They spent it on veterans. On rim protection. On toughness. On defense.

The Magic went through their checklist in their attempt to improve the team and worked to make the team better, introducing Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green and D.J. Augustin to the media Thursday.

In many ways those signings, particularly the addition of Biyombo in free agency in conjunction with Serge Ibaka in that draft night trade, will transform the Magic into something entirely new.

“Biz is a guy who is going to help us establish this identity that has been successful for me in Indiana that we want to bring here,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said. “Defensive-minded group that doesn’t just commit to that end of the floor, but has talent and ability. The rim protection has always been a staple of my defenses. But as the league evolves with the way it has changed so much, so dramatically the last few years, the ability to have bigs who can not only protect the rim but switch out and guard smaller offensive players is a very important attribute to build on a great defense.”

The Magic now have two of the best players in the league, if their faith in Biyombo is to be believed, at protecting the rim and the paint and switching onto guards. The transformation of the Magic’s defense is so complete, they have gone from one of the worst rim-protecting teams in the league to potentially one of the best with Ibaka and Biyombo in the game.

This was the kind of push the Magic needed to change the results of the last four years. To take that step forward. An outside injection was needed.

Rob Hennigan said all offseason his team would be aggressive in free agency. There was no doubt they were willing to spend. And they went after it throughout the first few days of free agency checking off their needs quickly.

“I thought it was a great offseason,” said Evan Fournier, who signed a contract extension himself. “We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of experience going deep into the Playoffs. A guy like Serge has gone to the NBA Finals. Jeff Green as well went deep into the Playoffs. We have a very strong roster. Now it’s our job to have a good balance on the floor. I’m definitely excited about the players and looking forward to playing with those guys.”

The Magic added that experience and depth to their lineup as much as they added that rim protection in Ibaka and Biyombo. Their identity was and has quickly changed.

But even after acquiring Serge Ibaka, the Magic sought a rim protector. Even after acquiring Jodie Meeks, they sought more shooting and depth. Even after getting Jeff Green they wanted more leadership and experience.

Orlando’s summer was not perfect by any means, but the team did hit on some things and can see if internal development can take the team the rest of the way and into the Playoffs.

“We think we’ve accomplished our main goals, which was to add some experience and depth, some versatility and perimeter play,” Hennigan said. “We feel like we have done a good job addressing needs. We have to see how it plays out obviously. We think we’ve improved externally and we think we’re going to improve with our guys coming back a year better and a summer better. We certainly feel like we accomplished our biggest needs and priorities.”

Questions still remain. No one is quite sure where the offense will come. They did improve their depth and shooting. The team will have to score by committee rather than rely on a single player to generate offense.

The team has incredible positional versatility and should be able to defend at a high level. But as Vogel reminded Thursday, talent alone does not make a good defense.

The team is hungry to do more. That has been the driving force for this offseason. There is no doubt the Magic pushed for that. It became the driving force as fan unrest has continued to grow and the team looked to push its timeline and return to the postseason once again.

The players they brought in certainly fit a type and certainly are part of the needs they needed to hit.

The results will bear out whether this spending spree ends up working or not. the end goal though remains the same. The Magic want to win. They feel ready to win.

And that is the ultimate goal.

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“In the end, for all of us, what we are trying to accomplish is winning,” Biyombo said. “And winning is very important. When the opportunity come, I felt really confident about being here and being part of the organization. The way the whole organization is thinking now is it’s all about winning and taking the extra step because I believe there are a lot of special moments that have been done here in Orlando. I think for us it is just bringing that back to the city and being excited about what we can accomplish here.”