Elfrid Payton, Aaron Gordon key to Orlando Magic’s core

Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon participated in the Orlando Magic’s free agency meetings, signaling they remain a key part of the team’s core and future.

The Orlando Magic transformed their team in a matter of four days to begin July. They went from a team of young players lacking identity and cohesion to a team with depth, youth and a defensive mentality.

The additions of Bismack Biyombo, D.J. Augustin and Jeff Green will help supplement a team that is still trying to find its way. Through the force of these changes, the Magic have likely cemented themselves as one of the top defensive teams in the league — the rim protection from Serge Ibaka and Biyombo along with Frank Vogel seems to point to that cementing itself.

What remains unclear though is exactly how this Magic team will be finally constructed and who is the core part of this team. The identity is established, but its future and who gets the focus on offense, who gets on the posters and advertisements, is still up in the air.

That player was supposed to be Victor Oladipo. His time ran out as he failed to take a meaningful step forward in his third year. To quicken the pace in the Magic’s rebuild, they had to cash him in.

It leaves some unproven players in his wake to try to lead the team over the top.

Serge Ibaka is the veteran, but has never been featured in any offense. He may anchor the defense but no one is quite sure he is the complete package. Biyombo will be the highest paid player on the team after he signs his contract, and he may not even start depending on what the team does with Nikola Vucevic.

Those were all new pieces. New pieces with uncertain effect on the team and relationships with the fan.

This team is still shaped by the drafts Rob Hennigan and the Magic hoped to sculpt the Magic with. And it is for that reason that so much of the team’s future is still tied into third-year players Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton.

As the Magic prepared to dip into free agency and meet free agents for the first time, they were the ones representing the team. It is not exactly Draymond Green, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson leading the delegation to meet Kevin Durant, but it is what the Magic have.

It could have been availability. It could have been a sign of who the team truly wants to build around. It could mean nothing.

But when the Orlando Magic met with Bismack Biyombo in California this weekend, Payton was there, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Gordon was also involved in meetings last weekend.

It was a clear sign that both are part of the team’s core and part of the team’s future.

The focus for the 2017 season certainly is turned toward these two players. Rob Hennigan said himself during exit interviews that a player is typically who he will be in the NBA by the time they reach the end of their rookie contracts.

Like Oladipo last year, Gordon and Payton are entering their extension years. This is the season both players will earn their opportunity at a big salary and likely set what kind of careers they may have.  Or at least the role they will fill long term.

With Oladipo gone, they are the next in line to answer that ultimate question about whether the Magic’s years of positioning for the top talent in the draft was worth it all. And both have something to prove.

Injuries have slowed Gordon’s development plenty. He broke his foot early in his rookie year and lost most of his rookie season. He seemed to be making incredible progress when a broken jaw in July halted all that progress. He was not up to full speed by the time training camp began.

By the end of last season though, Gordon had begun to shine. His performance at the Slam Dunk Contest made him a national name and he began carving out a niche as a strong perimeter defender with flashes of offensive brilliance.

With Ibaka and Biyombo now in the lineup, Gordon will have to show more offensive signs and develop into more of a perimeter player. Considering he shot 29.6 percent from beyond the arc, it is not certain if he can take that step to the perimeter which it clearly looks like he will play.

Payton too showed plenty of promise in his rookie year and his numbers stayed largely the same in his second year. His woeful shooting even improved. But there were plenty of moments of struggles too. He struggled to lead the team out of its rut in January and his defense noticeably slipped.

The Magic’s decision to move on from Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo were both designed to free up these two players in some way. They became the future.

They were treated as such during free agency as the Magic tried to attract new players. They have become the faces of the franchise.

The hope, in looking at who the Magic have reportedly signed is that the  Magic have built around Serge Ibaka, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Mario Hezonja and Evan Fournier. That is a loaded and balanced starting lineup. But someone will have to emerge.

It is now Gordon and Payton’s turn to step to the plate and see if that role fits them.

The next step is figuring out how the pieces fit together and how to feature these clearly core players. That role falls on Frank Vogel in the months between introduction and training camp and on the players to improve their skills.

Next: Orlando Magic have plenty of excitement before free agency

Payton and Gordon were treated like core players and big parts of their future in these meetings as the Magic made a serious push for the 2017 Playoffs and spent to do so.