Both the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat will push to get inside the Eastern Conference Playoffs in 2016. In October? That landscape is too far off to worry.
On paper, it is fairly clear the Eastern Conference should play tougher in 2016 than it has in some time. The eight that made the postseason field last season do not seemed poised to take a step back and there are several worthy challengers who think they will be a part of this year’s party.
The Indiana Pacers have a healthy Paul George. The Brooklyn Nets still have a bloated payroll but some veterans to guide them. Stan Van Gundy is now in his second year at the helm of the Detroit Pistons. Even Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks fans have reasons to feel optimistic about being improved teams.
Perhaps the teams that have gotten the most offseason chatter regarding cracking that Eastern Conference playoff rotation are the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic. For different reasons, these Sunshine State intradivisional foes feel their time is now.
The Heat have a healthy veteran team entering the season, and if they remain that way, there is no reason to think they cannot be a top five seed. The Magic are young, but improving and have a new head coach in Scott Skiles who has been through this particular phase in a franchise rebuild before.
There is no question we could see a competitive crunch in the East that makes playoff spots a valued commodity, something they have not been as of late.
Skiles and his Miami counterpart, Erik Spoelstra, have no time however for that conjecture.
Prior to Wednesday’s Heat-Magic preseason showdown, I asked Skiles and Spoelstra if they saw a tougher postseason path. Both declined an opportunity to make projections.
“Maybe,” Skiles replied. “My understanding is that Dwyane (Wade) isn’t playing tonight and maybe Amar’e (Stoudemire) isn’t playing. That’s what you get in exhibition season. A lot of times guys aren’t playing in back to backs so it’s hard to get a gauge. You can’t really measure right now where you’re at.”
Spoelstra shared that looking outward is never a part of his process this early on.
“Everybody feels great about their team early on in October. That’s what you play the season for is to prove it.” –Erik Spoelstra
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said before Tuesday’s game in Orlando. “I don’t ever look at it that way. I just look at it as competition. Everybody feels great about their team early on in October. That’s what you play the season for is to prove it. This team is improved. We don’t expect any of this to be easy and that’s what it’s about.”
Skiles and the Magic may not have been an active participant in the Eastern Conference race the last several years, but one would surmise Skiles’ presence now makes it tougher for everyone else. Veteran coaches like Spoelstra and others may have been able to exploit a young roster paired with a similarly nascent coach in Jacque Vaughn, but that opportunity no longer exists.
Track records are normally an indicator of future results and the quick turnaround acts Skiles orchestrated with inexperienced teams in Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee speak volumes. It is a background that has caused the league to take notice.
“We have respect for the type of program that they’ll have this year,” Spoelstra said. “Another year for the young players to grow. Scott has proven himself in terms of building these types of teams. We have enough on our plate. That’s what we’re focusing on to develop our best version of our team. That’s still a work in progress.”
Even though they are a veteran team, Miami still has plenty to work on. Orlando probably has significantly more to firm up given their situation. The goal Skiles bandied about when hired to get to the Playoffs was to finish with an above-.500 record.
While it remains to be seen if the East plays tougher, that benchmark would have comfortably placed the Magic in the postseason for the past three seasons. It is a simple goal Skiles can set and then worry about where everyone else stands down the line.
“I don’t believe that every year, year after year, losing teams are going to be in,” said Skiles on the playoff picture. “Teams change rosters. Teams get better. It hasn’t been like that in the history of the league. That’s our goal. We’d like to get there, we’ll see if we can.”
Next: Orlando Magic Daily Podcast: Previewing the Eastern Conference