What Are the Orlando Magic seeking this summer?

The Orlando Magic have a lot of vacancies this summer, so how does it begin to address them?

The Orlando Magic met with Paul Millsap at 12:01 on Wednesday morning, and offered him a four-year, $80 million contract. Although Millsap ultimately decided to return to Atlanta for the same deal, it shows general manager Rob Hennigan is looking to spend to help transition this team from “up-and-coming” to “playoff contender.”

Millsap would have brought major experience to the team, and also significant abilities as a stretch-4. This past season, Millsap posted 18.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, two steals and a block per 36 minutes.  He also shot 47.6 percent from the field, 35.6 percent from the 3-point line and 75.7 percent from the free-throw line — all of which were above league average.

Millsap’s offensive contributions would have significantly helped a Magic team which was 27th in the NBA last season with a 102.6 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions), 25th in the NBA with 95.7 points per game, 14th in the NBA in field goal percentage (45.3), 25th in the NBA in free throw percentage (72.9%) and 16th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (34.7%).

Millsap also could have brought versatility to the team — both offensively with his ability to create, drive and shoot threes. Defensively he has the ability to guard three positions and create turnovers.

Although the Magic struck out on this deal, it appears they are looking to bolster the frontcourt.

Aaron Gordon should log significant minutes at the 4, but he needs to improve his jump shooting to provide the team with the spacing it needs. The team’s current stretch-4, Channing Frye, does not appear to fulfill the team’s needs, failing to fulfill the four-year, $32 million contract he signed last summer.

Frye’s defensive and rebounding flaws, mixed with his inability to create shots when run off the 3-point line, seem too much of a problem for the team to rely on him as a significant contributor moving forward.

Frye attempted 4.6 3-point attempts per game, and 4.4 of them were catch and shoot. Overall, about 78.9 percent of his field goal attempts were catch and shoot, and teams adjusted to close out hard on him and force him to put the ball on the floor.

Most glaring, however, he was inefficient when creating his own shot. His overall field goal percentage off of pull-up shots was 31.7 percent, and his field goal percentage from within 10 feet of the basket was 37.7 percent. He was largely reduced to standing in a spot and waiting for a drive and kick, a move even he admitted was not using his skills effectively.

Although he created space for Victor Oladipo and Elfrid Payton to drive, the offense was stumped when teams ran Frye off the line.

It seems the Magic would like to acquire a big who can stretch the floor and help build a diverse offense, but the team would also like to sign some rim protection.

Last season, the Magic had trouble with opponents’ field goal percentage in the paint: Frye let opponents shoot 51.9 percent at the rim, and Nikola Vucevic conceded shots at 53.7 percent at the rim.

The team needs to improve that, and free agency is where they can address that flaw.

Another big goal for the team is to improve its bench production. Having a deep bench is important in the NBA, and Orlando was 29th in the NBA in bench scoring per game (26.5 points per game), 24th in points against (34.7 points allowed per game), and last in efficiency.

The team has already started bolstering its bench, as it drafted a potentially excellent scorer in Mario Hezonja. He should begin the season on the second unit if the team resigns Tobias Harris. The Magic will likely also look to sign a point guard to back up Elfrid Payton.  Luke Ridnour was traded this offseason.

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The Magic have its core and now are looking for the pieces to take the team to the next level.

With the cap set to rise from about $69 million to $89 million in the next year, and potentially to about $108 million in 2018, the team can spend significant money now and it won’t take up as high of a percentage of the cap.

Millsap’s contract would have taken up 29 percent of the team’s cap this season, but only about 22.5 percent in 2017 and 18.5 percent in 2018.

Magic fans have waited three long years to return to relevancy, and it appears Hennigan will be working hard this offseason to get the team there. He has been looking to make moves, but thus far nothing has panned out.

The signs of activity are most certainly a positive thing for a team that made little progress last year in the third season of this rebuild.

Next: Should Orlando Magic Entirely Restructure the Frontcourt?