The Magic had slim Playoff hopes on the day that James Borrego took over for Jacque Vaughn. The move was couched publicly as a desire to put some more wins up on the board. Vaughn’s dismissal was about the team falling out of the Playoff picture too soon.
That is how the Magic wanted to sell things to their fans. They publicly stated Playoff aspirations (if not direct order to make the postseason).
That is not quite the case. Losing was bad, but not the end of the world. What was the end of the world was the perceived lack of effort and home blowouts that showed a team drifting toward perpetual defeat rather than eventual victory. Some of that was certainly roster construction.
To expect a major turnaround under Borrego was asking quite a lot.
Next: Matt Dollinger, Sports Illustrated