We close the book on the 2015 Orlando Magic season, putting them in a historical perspective and determining what the season means moving forward.
We have completed all our player evaluations for the Orlando Magic.
It was intriguing winding through every player. Many players probably outplayed their expectations. Many players met their expectations. A few players did not hit their marks, but it seemed those were fewer and far between.
Yet, the Magic had a disappointing 2015 season. There was no way around it. Orlando did not accomplish what it needed to do in this stage of the rebuild. The coach got fired for not getting the team to be more competitive and individuals improved, but failed to come together.
The failures then lay squarely on management and coaching more than anything else. They did not put a roster together that could accomplish the goals they set out.
It did not always seem that way.
Back in December, the Magic were riding high coming home from a West Coast trip. They took the Warriors to the limit at Oracle Arena and then gutted out victories at Sacramento and Utah. Neither of those teams were playing well, but the Magic were headed home with two major road victories a season removed from winning only four total for the year and a 2-2 West Coast road trip.
With a home-heavy December, the Magic seemed capable of stockpiling some wins and carrying momentum forward to stay in the Playoff hunt deeper into the season.
That run in December was the turning point of the season. The Magic lost some bad games — including a home defeat to the 76ers — and the season lost all momentum. By January, it was clear Jacque Vaughn needed to go just to save anything. At the very least, he was not going to get the 2016 season as his team was no longer responding.
And it has not sparked something of a panic to turn the corner at a faster pace. Then again, they were supposed to do that in 2015.
So the Magic’s 2015 season was ultimately a failure. The Magic are repeating a grade in their rebuild, hoping even more that some of their core players take a bigger step forward to achieve what they wanted to achieve in 2015.
Next: The Good and The Bad