Orlando Magic Power Rankings Roundup: Trade showcase time

The Orlando Magic are quickly hurtling toward the trade deadline and the season is slipping away. The Magic will be at the center of the trade winds.

Teams have spun the wheel, made their bids and now they await Drew Carey to come on down and tell them what they have won.

The calendar officially turns to February in a few days and that means general managers and front offices will hunker down in their war rooms to make the final preparations for the trade deadline. February 23 is right around the corner.

The rumors are already starting to trickle out — both old and new. It is important to remember there are lots of conversations going around the league right now. These are constant, but that does not mean anything real comes of them.

Take this weekend’s rumor about Nikola Vucevicc.

Multiple sources confirmed the Magic and Boston Celtics talked about a deal involving Nikola Vucevic. But Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported the conversation was not recent. And Marc Stein of ESPN.com confirmed the talks did not move past the exploratory stage.

That is not to say none of these will eventually bear fruits. Conversations are ongoing.

But every game from now until the trade deadline is a chance to showcase players and create some recency bias. The Magic already lost a key trade piece in Jodie Meeks going down to an injury. It could be tough to deal him — if the Magic even considered exploring that possibility.

These are those precious last days before the trade deadline. These are the last days to make an impression or to make a move to improve your Playoff chances or your draft chances.

And the Magic are clearly stuck right in the middle.

This past week has done little to clear the Magic up. They continue to sink it seems, struggling to get to the end of January. There is still time to try to make a run. But that time seems to be quickly running out.

And everyone seems to know it.