Orlando Magic search for identity in face of likely changes

The Orlando Magic have spent the post-All-Star Break trying to find their identity and forge a new path. That may all change with the offseason looming.

Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel has not wanted to let the last 20-plus games of this season go to waste. Not for his team or for the players on it still needing to grow.

With the Magic all but eliminated from the Playoff race and seemingly falling further and further down the standings, there was the urge to let it all slip away and lose to solidify a better drafting spot. Vogel was hearing none of that. He would be here for the long haul and would do the most he can to get the most out of his players.

Vogel was hearing none of that. He would be here for the long haul and would do the most he can to get the most out of his players.

That would be laying the foundation for future teams to come. Let the ping pong balls land where they may. His concern was his team and the building the kind of team he wanted to coach for the future while getting the most out of the roster he had at present.

His concern was his team and the building the kind of team he wanted to coach for the future while getting the most out of the roster he had at present.

The team had now was a more modern, up-and-down team using transition to create points. Whether that style is sustainable or not is hard to determine. Whether that style has truly become the team’s identity is even harder to determine.

"“It has been an issue for us all season,” Nikola Vucevic told Orlando Magic Daily after practice Wednesday. “We never really established who we were on either end of the floor. We showed glimpses at times. Even offensively, we never knew what do we do, what our go to plays, when we need a bucket, what are we going to do, who we are agoing to go to. All these things I think we never established consistently throughout the year to be a good team.”"

Vogel said the team is playing a more up-tempo and trying to do a lot of switching and swarming on defense.

He said Terrence Ross‘ addition has given the team a big lift and helped cement a different playing style in the second half of the season. Having him and Evan Fournier on the 3-point line has created more space for players like Elfrid Payton to attack. Moving Aaron Gordon back to power forward has helped him bring his scoring back up.

There is certainly a better fit. But the team has had its successes and failures. The group is playing better but not exactly inspiring confidence.

Since the All-Star Break, the Magic’s pace is up to 100.4 after the break from 98.4 before. Their offensive rating is up to 103.1 from 100.5 before the break. The only issue is their defense has gotten worse from 107.2 before the break to 109.5 after. The increased pace and spacing has had a measurable effect.

The one area it has not is in the win column. The Magic are a woeful 6-14 since the All-Star Break, a pace for 25 wins. The Magic were on a 29-win pace before the All-Star Break. That may still be the number they end up at for the season.

Aesthetically and statistically, the Magic may have found a style that fits better. But it has not produced results.

Despite the promise the team could build momentum for the offseason and have some carryover effect, no one is quite sure what the team will look like. Inevitably that will shape the team’s identity.

"“We’ll see what the roster looks like next year,” Vogel told Orlando Magic Daily. “You have to create your style of play based on what your roster looks like. There is definitely a feeling that what we have done in the second part of the season and the development of our young guys and this group going in the right direction. We’ll see what the offseason looks like at that time.”"

Elfrid Payton certainly favors that style. He said he believes the team has carved out an identity on the offensive end at least. And that this is something that can work.

Vogel has talked a lot throughout the season about the change in the NBA and how teams are increasingly playing smaller and faster. Size is not as important as it once was. That was a hard lesson for the Magic to learn after their first try at building a culture and an identity failed.

Vogel did not come to the Magic to lose. He wanted to build something long lasting and bring the team back to the Playoffs. To do that, he needed to instill an identity in the team. The hope was that it would come on the defensive end. The team went big to force fit it.

Orlando Magic

The identity never took despite the early buy-in during the first quarter of the season. The Magic’s trade of Serge Ibaka forced the team shift midstream.

What he has tried the second half of the season since that deal was predicated on the Magic’s roster. So too will be what comes next. And it is unclear exactly how the Magic may remake their roster.

Vogel said what style the team plays is largely dependent on the power forward the team uses. Use a power forward like Serge Ibaka or LaMarcus Aldridge, and the team has to be willing to pound it in the post. Use Aaron Gordon, and it should be a team that tries to get up and down offensively.

This will be part of the decision the Magic will have to make this summer as they reshape the roster.

Whether the team can carry over this identity or whether they choose to build this identity is still a mystery. For these final four games, the Magic are simply soldiering on.

"“We’re trying to win,” Nikola Vucevic told Orlando Magic Daily. “But it’s not going to change much even if you win a lot at the end. We have the next four games. A lot can change in the summer anyway. We’re trying to finish the season on a positive note. But I think it’s not going to help us build something really. Next season is going to be a whole new year.”"

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Next season will be a hold new year indeed. And identity will have to be the first thing the team addresses and buys into.