Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 16: Let’s talk free agency

The Orlando Magic had a lot of work to do this summer in free agency. Did the Magic accomplish their goals and fill out their needs? I answer your questions.

The Orlando Magic said they would spend. When they traded Tobias Harris for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, that was the definitive promise. They certainly spent.

In comes D.J. Augustin, Jeff Green and Bismack Biyombo in free agency. Serge Ibaka is in with a trade. And Evan Fournier is back with a new contract. Out goes, well, a lot of people and players.

Free agency has already changed the Magic completely. The roster is nearly complete and there are certainly more questions remaining. And some major questions about where the Magic are headed for the short term and the long term.

Those questions seem very universal. A lot of the issues entering the offseason seem somewhat unresolved.

Way back at the Draft Lottery I asked for your questions to prepare for the offseason. I answered the first batch of questions before the Draft, hoping to save the free agency questions for before free agency. Free agency has obviously come and gone.

Like I said, though, many of the same questions still remain. So perhaps there is still something to learn in the questions asked back then. Apologies if the setups seem stale.

Next: Needs

The Orlando Magic certainly have a lot of needs they need to address. I covered them a little bit in this article I wrote with an eye specifically looking at the draft.

The long and short of it entering free agency: the Magic need to find a star, get some more rim protection, add some length on the perimeter, get a backup point guard and get more shooting. That seems like a lot, but some of it certainly can be added at the same time and some of it can grow from within the roster.

The Magic obviously gave up Victor Oladipo to fill one of those needs — adding rim protection and a bit of shooting in Serge Ibaka. That filled two needs. But the signing of Bismack Biyombo only doubled down on things.

The Magic addressed that rim protection need (Ibaka and Biyombo), they added length on the perimeter (Jeff Green and moving Aaron Gordon to the 3) and got a backup point guard (D.J. Augustin). They also added some shooting in Jodie Meeks and re-signing Evan Fournier.

The Magic though still need to find a star. It is hard to figure out who is going to score the ball and who is going to step up. Maybe Aaron Gordon and Mario Hezonja can step up and become stars. Maybe they are ready to take the next step in their career.

The “star” question is one that I get pretty consistently right now. It is uncertain how the team is going to fill that need. There are some trade possibilities — maybe the Magic cash in Aaron Gordon or use expiring deals in Jeff Green and Jodie Meeks to go with Nikola Vucevic closer to the deadline to add that missing piece — but now is not likely the time those opportunities emerge.

Overall though, it appears the Magic addressed many of their needs. It would appear the Magic made some improvement to their roster despite all they had to give up.

Next: Targets

So the players the Magic should target. They have to bring in a veteran, that is key number one this offseason. And not just a veteran, they need a leader and someone who can help the team late in games and snap them to attention.

It is more than fair criticism to say the team lacked really strong leadership last year. When things got tough, there was no one to snap them to attention in the locker room or on the court. Not that Channing Frye and C.J. Watson are bad guys or bad leaders, but they stayed in the background a lot. Orlando’s young players needed someone who could get in their faces a little bit to back up Scott Skiles‘ message of accountability.

So who is that?

Before free agency, I certainly would have said Al Horford. It still seemed even before free agency began that they were not going to get a free agent of that caliber. The team needed to win first to get on his radar.

Mike Conley and Joakim Noah too were likely in the same boat.

But these were kind of guys the Magic wanted to go after, but they likely had to settle for and pursue some secondary guys who could still contribute and play that leadership role on the court.

So did they do it? Or did they go another route?

Serge Ibaka might fit that role of veteran and be able to push his teammates. It is yet to be determined, he has never been an alpha dog on a team. He will be figuring out a lot of things on his own too. Augustin and Meeks fit the lead-by-example mode of leadership. They likely do not move the needle.

The experience factor should continue to be a bit of a concern for the team.

The other option was for the Magic to go out and spend a lot of their money on an up-and-coming player like Harrison Barnes or Chandler Parsons as their primary target. Those were players fans thought were popular targets.

The Magic instead got Bismack Biyombo to fill that question and will rely on several of their young player to take a step up.

Like I have said, there are still a lot of questions as to whether this team can take the step up as anticipated or needed.

Next: The Vuc question

"“Where’s the beef?” Vuc gives 18+ pts per night “consistently”. Decision time Magic! Keep Vuc & find a bro that can pair with him as a rim blocker (Gordon?). Sabonis best looking in draft for quality minutes. Trade for rim man and find some outside shooting? Quantity of players and draft picks does not get quality in return folks. NBA is not that dumb. Vogel needs to do one thing: find an identity for this team! Don’t just say defence & tough guys. Man starts sounding like the “Donald”.” –Michael Clark via Comments"

"“Is trading Vucevic a possibility?” –Jonathan Leonard via Comments"

This is the big question for the Magic this entire offseason. Can you build a winning defense with Nikola Vucevic as your center?

There is no doubt Vucevic is a gifted offensive player. As Michael said, he averages nearly 18 points per game and is a double double machine. Those numbers are part of the story with him.

But his poor pick and roll defense — he gave up 0.95 points per possession to the roll man last year according to NBA.com — and his lack of rim protection and indecision on pick and rolls gives him and the team a bit of a ceiling.

Vucevic has gotten better in these areas. But it still is not enough. The Magic just could not take a step forward on the defensive end last year despite Scott Skiles working whatever magic he was supposed to have on the defensive end.

The question in this league where post players are going away and there are more mobile centers and smaller lineups is whether Vucevic can produce enough offensively to force other teams to change first.

The answer to that question right now is no.

Seeing as Vucevic does produce and has value in the league to someone, he does become a valuable trade chip. At this point, I am somewhat expecting him to remain on the team. The Magic seem committed to trying to play him with Serge Ibaka at the 4. At the same time though, the Magic just made a $17-$18 million commitment to Bismack Biyombo. That is going to be hard to keep on the bench.

At this point I think Vucevic starts because the team needs his offense. But I still wonder if Ibaka can cover up all his defensive missteps. This team needs to be elite defensively to compete with the lack of offensive weapons it has.

That leads to the question of whether the team could or should trade Vucevic. One that we will certainly wrestle with for a while.

Vucevic is valuable. There is no question Vucevic and his defensive shortcomings make it hard for the Magic to take a big step forward. And with potential center replacements in Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka on the roster, Vucevic becomes a little more expendable.

The Magic have some pieces they can move now too. Vucevic is valuable in himself and has a hefty salary. Jeff Green and Jodie Meeks on expiring deals could help with deals too. But Vucevic is the most valuable piece the Magic could reasonably part with considering their roster.

The discussions about Vucevic are not entirely about his play. But it is clear there is a ceiling with Vucevic in the modern NBA and he puts a lot of stress on the team that coaching has not been able to scheme around. Maybe Ibaka will help. Perhaps the Magic deserve to see if that can work. But even then, it still feels like Vucevic is the odd man out with the money committed elsewhere in the front court.

Next: Logo redesign

The Orlando Magic have had three different logos in 27 years. They have had this logo design now since the 2011 season. I fully admit I am not a huge fan of the design. I think it is a little plain, but I get the image they are trying to convey. It is a much more mature look.

I wish the Magic would go back to using the star more in their logo design. I thought it gave them something unique. It is really tough to come up with a logo that represents “Magic.” The original logo was plain but solid. I like the current secondary logo a lot and am glad they kept that.

It is hard to say how the Magic could or should change their brand identity or look. Maybe they could adjust the font some? I am not a huge fan of the font they use right now.

I do not know if the Magic are in dire need of a look rebrand. Their jerseys are fine. I know reviews of the new pinstripes are a bit mixed, but I do not mind them. I think they are a good look, maybe in need of some minor tweaking.

More likely than not, the next rebrand will be to create the circular logo that has become very popular and could be used as a patch when ads come to uniforms (yes, they are coming, get over it).

If the Magic change their logo, I think they keep the secondary logo, surround it in a circle with Orlando on the top and Magic on the bottom curved inside the circle. That seems to be the direction logos are going.

As long as the streaking ball secondary logo remains, the Magic look seems pretty fine.

Next: Free Agency 2017

I have not even had time to break down the Magic’s potential cap space yet, much less evaluate what their needs might be. Everything the Magic might do next summer is going to be completely dependent on how this season goes. It could be a completely new management group if the season does not go well.

Predicting it is going to be too hard.

Assume the Magic re-sign Serge Ibaka as a starter, I guess. That could run a bill more than $20 million. So already the Magic could have a fair amount of money committed. Even befor a potential Ibaka deal, the Magic are on the hook for $53.3 million. The salary cap is expected to jump again to $102 million. So Orlando should still have some cap room to burn.

That is why making the Playoffs is absolutely critical. The team has to do that in order to attract bigger-name free agents.

From there who do they target? That depends on how Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon perform. It depends on so much. The Magic still need their star and they have already committed a lot of money to players at several key positions.

So does chasing Jeff Teague, Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook make sense at point guard? Those last two probably, but they may not view the Magic as a necessarily better situation. Does chasing Gordon Hayward or Paul Millsap make sense? Do those fill the team’s needs?

Next: Studs and duds from Orlando Magic Summer League

It still feels very early to think this far ahead. A lot of things have to play out first for the Magic.