Orlando Magic’s Playoff chances officially squashed

The Orlando Magic’s Playoff chances are officially over. The team now has to build hope for its future in the aftermath of another disappointing season.

What little — and it was extremely little — hope the Orlando Magic had of making the Playoffs went by in an instant.

In a game the Detroit Pistons absolutely had to have to advance their own Playoff ambitions, Goran Dragic dug out a rebound in the dying seconds, got a shot up and missed. But Hassan Whiteside was there to nudge the ball back toward and into the hoop as the buzzer sounded.

Game over. The Miami Heat win, building a one-game lead over the Chicago Bulls for the final Playoff spot and officially eliminating the Magic from Playoff contention.

The Magic hoped to be playing in games like these late in the season back in October. Their idea of pairing Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo or Nikola Vucevic and going big had long ago fallen flat. Orlando never strung together enough wins or played defense at the elite level they had to if they wanted to make the Playoffs with this roster.

While Tuesday presented finality, the Playoff dreams ended a long time ago. The Magic were not really ever in this Playoff race despite all those calculations and well-laid plans. The team fell flat on their face early, never getting above .500 the entire season.

But here they are. Officially out of the Playoffs with eight games to go. They have not been playing meaningful games since December or January even. The season deteriorated that fast. The team went searching for identity and somewhat for a purpose. Things had played out the string.

The first quarter of the season provided some promise. The team had one of the top defenses in the league. It looked like the Magic were going to fit that identity they envisioned before the season — with some rough edges, but still plenty to work with.

It never happened. The bottom fell out and hope quickly dissipated. The Magic were playing out the string for some 30 or 40 games, it seemed. The season was lost and change was demanded. That change came in admitting the team’s biggest experiment and risk failed — trading away Serge Ibaka.

Things have looked pretty bleak for the Magic this season. There have been lows during this rebuild, but they seemed planned or were part of the growing process.

This roster was meant to be a finished product. This was meant to be a Playoff roster, one way or another.

Instead, everyone is wondering how and where this team goes next. A high draft pick is likely on his way. But after that? After that, it is hard to say what direction the Magic go from here.

And that uncertainty is probably the worst thing about the Magic’s failure this season. It is too hard to say what this team’s core is and how to improve the roster quickly. The Magic’s five-year Playoff drought, the longest in franchise history does not appear to have a clear timeline toward ending.

That is not the way it was last year. Last year, the Magic had problems for sure after their collapse following a 19-13 start. But the team still improved by 10 wins and seemed chock full of young talent. Young talent that had not reached its potential quite yet, but still plenty of potential.

And plenty of hope.

Turning potential energy into kinetic energy has always been the difficulty of the rebuild. The Magic have never been able to take that tangible step forward. A 10-win improvement was nice, but it was clear it was not enough for the Magic to meet their goals on their timeline.

The changes the Magic made did not work out. The team not only failed to meet its goals, but it is one loss away from tangible regression. Thirty-five wins seem like a dream for this group right now. It is no longer a reality with one more loss.

This season is just disappointing.

All fans want is to be rewarded for their investment. Winning is nice. It helps a ton to bring reward for the investment. But if winning is not happening, they want to believe something better is on the way. That the wins are on their way.

Fans enjoy the ride up and the growth with the team. Hope and optimism are powerful currency.

It is why fans for the Bulls are so miserable despite their place in the Playoff race. Magic fans would kill for that position now.

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It is why the first few years of the rebuild were met with much more enthusiasm. It is why the beginning of this season was met with so much enthusiasm. There was belief and hope something big was on its way. The Magic fed those expectations.

That also explains the depth of the disappointment for this season.

Orlando somewhat admitting this at the trade deadline by trading away Ibaka and changing styles of play has provided a brief bit of belief. The change suggests things will turn out different. But how much different depends on what happens this summer.

Now that the Playoffs are officially out of reach, the team has to spend the rest of the season picking up the pieces and finding hope.

It is a small thing. But it is all fans have to hold onto in a year without the postseason. There has to be a belief the next season will be better. And the future beyond it even better.

That is the table the Magic have set for themselves this offseason. Fans are frustrated. This is the longest they have ever gone without a Playoff appearance. This is the longest they have gone without an All Star by a few years already. The fans, as much as anyone, need a tangible reason to believe in 2018.

How they do that will be challenging.

It will take the base the team builds from the rest of this season — the style and players fitting into this new identity that has had limited success. It will take hitting on the Draft — and perhaps some Lottery luck. It will take making key offseason acquisitions to complement the group the Magic want to feature.

Right now, all of it feels incredibly uncertain. It is not the place any franchise wants to be.

The Magic have taken a strange journey to get to this place. How they got here does not matter so much as what they do next.

Next: Frank Vogel: Orlando Magic have no regrets about Serge Ibaka

Orlando has to find a way to make everyone believe and hope in this franchise again. The Playoffs have to become a possibility again.