Orlando Magic: Whose team is it anyway?
By S.W. Guest
The Orlando Magic are seeking identity as they continue their rebuild. As they have gone year to year, it seems the Magic have lacked this leadership.
Almost five full seasons into the post-Dwight Howard era, the Orlando Magic’s rebuild still lacks a number of crucial elements.
Try as Rob Hennigan might, the team has no true identity, no star player, no obvious direction and, at times, no cohesion, focus or commitment to winning.
These factors combined have resulted in a record of 127-268 and what appears to be five seasons of playoff-less basketball. It leaves a huge question mark hanging over the team’s future and the direction it will go.
On top of that, the club no has some serious personnel issues focused around the fact that Bismack Biyombo, who is averaging just 23.5 minutes per game, is earning more than anyone else on the roster; management/ownership may have lost faith in starting point guard Elfrid Payton; and there is an obvious lack of leadership from the team’s veterans.
The team seems still to lack direction.
Before the season, Jason Concepcion of The Ringer tried to identify the “alpha personalities” for each team in the league. Every team needs one. He becomes someone who directs the team’s style and identity in a number of ways.
When it came to the Magic, Concepcion could not think of anybody:
"Whose team is it? TBD but it’s probably Serge Ibaka"
It was not Serge Ibaka. The experiment with Ibaka did not work as his defense stagnated and the team’s defense cratered.
Orlando still seems to be seeking a firm identity and someone to define it.
With that in mind, now seems like as good a time as any to ask, whose team is it anyway? And how did this evolve through the Magic’s rebuild?