A report from Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes the Orlando Magic have not set a specific free agent plan, but it is clear they will not settle.
It is easy to race ahead at this point.
There are only six games left in the season and just about everyone is focused firmly on the future and what the Magic will do in free agency. Rumors are already flying (there may be another post on one of those coming up later today with Shaquille O’Neal saying an Orlando return would be good for Dwight Howard).
Whether the Magic go after Al Horford, Chandler Parsons, Nicolas Batum, Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, Mike Conley, Harrison Barnes or whoever, they will be big players in free agency.
A specific plan has not developed — at least not anything they will tell or leak to the media.
One thing seems clear though, the Magic likely still have a plan and still have their targets. They will not just spend the money simply to spend the money. Even with the players they have and bringing everyone back, the Magic appear to believe they are closer to the Playoffs than everyone thinks.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported last week the Magic will be aggressive, but are by no means going to settle on a high-priced player they do not want:
"Magic sources cautioned that they are nowhere close to knowing who they have a realistic shot at in free agency and will not settle for who they feel they can get; rather, they plan to be aggressive in pursuing guys they want.The Magic were one of the more aggressive teams at the trade deadline trying to swing a major trade, and it’s expected they will pick up where they left off once the season ends.. . .There is no sense that Orlando wants to blow up their young core. Several teams tried to pry away parts of Orlando’s roster at the deadline only to be turned away. That is not to say the Magic would not be open to moving a core guy if it returned the right impact veteran, but their plan is to add to this group, not subtract from it unless it moves the team forward radically."
As a fallback plan, another year of development is certainly not the worst idea. The worst thing the Magic could seemingly do is do what Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons did in 2009 when he split a max salary slot between Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.
That did not work.
The Magic are not going to sit on their hands this summer. They have the opportunity to free up somewhere near $45 million in salary cap room. They have the max cap space. But that does not mean they have to use it and it does not mean they have to use it on a free agent.
Orlando has options and flexibility this summer. They could look to acquire a marquee name by trade, giving up a core player to do so. With the open cap space, the Magic can acquire more incoming salary than outgoing salary. That is an important point to remember as fans think about what the magic will do this summer.
Surely, the Magic have a better idea of what their options in free agency will be than this report states. That is probably the big thing teams everywhere are working on right now with just about every team having cap room.
Orlando will have options available. The trick to making this summer successful is taking the right ones. Signing the wrong player to a long-term deal could lock the Magic into mediocrity — or worse — for a very long time.
That is the risk of the Magic’s plan to clear cap room and the precarious moment the Magic are at. They clearly had a better season in 2016 than in 2015, but clearly are not a Playoff team yet.
Would another season of development get them there? Do they need to blow up the roster some and bring that player in? Can they integrate the two?
Next: Brandon Jennings' focus fixed firmly on future
We find out after these six final games where the Magic will go.