Orlando Magic Preseason: 5 things we have learned so far

The Orlando Magic have been impressive so far this preseason. At the midpoint of the schedule, we have learned a lot about this team and how it will play.

In less than two weeks, the Orlando Magic will open their regular season against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The shortened schedule and even the reduced preseason gives coaches less time to prepare their teams. And very quickly they have to be ready to play.

Orlando’s preseason schedule offered no solace either. The team opted to do a three-game road trip very early on in the preseason with a day between games heading into the weekend.

Next week will provide the team a little bit of a deep breath before their preseason finale and the season ahead of it.

The Magic have looked strong in getting off to a 3-0 start. The team has dominated defensively and won all three games relatively easily.

But it is just preseason. The final result and even most of the statistics do not really mean that much in the end. There are things to read between the lines to get to the real truth about what this team will be when the regular season begins.

The Magic have looked fairly organized on both ends. It certainly seems like their continuity with the coaching staff and with each other has helped them race out to a strong start. The question is whether this can last and whether this will be a harbinger for what the team will do once the games start to count.

That is not always easy to decipher.

Preseason success does not always equal regular-season success. If there is one thing the magic can pass is that preseason struggles often preview regular-season struggles — just think of how much the Magic struggled to score during the Serge Ibaka year or a one-win preseason before the Magic’s 2004 season.

Orlando has at least looked coherent enough to get everyone talking that they might exceed any external expectations. That is a positive step.

As good as the Magic have looked, there is still a lot of work to do before the regular season begins for this group and this team. The Magic are far from a finished product and far from the team they will be at the end of the season.

Midway through the preseason, we can already see what this team is going to look like and, at least, the beginnings of how this team is going to play.

Here is what we have learned about the 2020 Magic so far.