The Orlando Magic had a plan for their rebuild. That plan had to be thrown out as circumstances changed and the tension between rebuild and winning boils.
There is a tension about the Orlando Magic right now.
On one hand, the pressure to win is great. The team has gone through four years of a rebuild since trading away Dwight Howard and resetting the franchise. They have gone through the growing pains and demand results. Urgently.
The Magic have never been outside the Playoff picture this long. Eventually everyone’s patience wears thin.
On the other, how does a team go about building a playoff team and sticking to the long-term vision the team always had. If it cannot be done in four years, how else can it be done? If a team can make generally all the right moves and be patient for opportunity that never comes, how can a team take the step forward?
At some point with all young teams, the money becomes too much. Everyone has to get paid at some point. A general manager makes his money on shrewdly deciding which players to pay and which ones to discard and picking the right opportunities to cash in chips.
And, at some point, time runs out. Patience wears thin. Something has to happen.
There is tension with the Orlando Magic in 2017. There is no avoiding this now. The Magic’s plan is irrelevant now. Orlando is in it to win now and making progress through the Playoffs rather than the Draft.
The Orlando Magic had the plan. They would spend two, maybe three years building their roster back up through the draft. Rob Hennigan would use his scouting acumen to bring in young players and look to find value in trades.
Luck, for lack of a better term, was a key factor to the Magic’s rebuild. Everyone knows the story. Orlando got the second pick in a bad draft (Victor Oladipo), the fourth pick in a three-man draft (Aaron Gordon) and then one pick after the man they wanted for two years (Mario Hezonja).
The fact the Magic never could get their bona fide star — oh, Kristaps Porzingis being in their grasp two years in a row shows the fragility and chance involved in the NBA — changed their rebuild. The pieces to the puzzle were not particularly clear. The Magic were trying to make the whole thing work still.
No trade ever emerged — the rumors to acquire Eric Bledsoe before becoming a restricted free agent being the most notable ones. Orlando seemingly had few opportunities but to stay the course. And then they began pushing chips in and not getting value in return — Maurice Harkless and Tobias Harris were traded for virtually nothing.
On the court, nothing was ever perfect for the Magic. And they never could make it so.
Yes, Orlando progressed — from 20 to 23 to 25 to 35 wins. But that was not enough. And there was no guarantee the progress would continue. Not after a 19-13 start to a season that collapsed just as quickly. The Magic have not established an identity.
And so this summer they forced one. They doubled down on defense and rim protection. They saw everyone going small and bet big.
They cashed in Victor Oladipo for Serge Ibaka. This, after cashing in Tobias Harris for cap room. They signed Bismack Biyombo. They are now preparing to play Aaron Gordon in ultra-big lineups at small forward, a position it is not entirely clear he will play successfully.
Defense is the key to their success. They have said that since the rebuild began. Now they have finally gone through with a plan to build a team that has some massive defensive potential. The team no longer plans to be in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating — as they have the last four years.
It should not have come to this injection of veterans. Generally, as Zach Lowe of ESPN.com writes, the Magic played things right.
They stunk for draft picks and made good picks to collect talent. They “won” trades of Dwight Howard and for Evan Fournier. They signed their young players — Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier — to affordable deals. They likely cashed in Oladipo at the right time with his camp reportedly seeking a max contract.
The Magic are in that most difficult part of the rebuild. Going from just outside the Playoffs to in. And they are doing this without an identity clearly established in the returning players, a fourth coach in three seasons and a whole bunch of new players brought in through free agency. All risks in their own right.
Yes, there is a bit of rebuild envy.
Seeing the Boston Celtics, the Minnesota Timberwolves and even the Philadelphia 76ers seemingly outpace the Magic in their rebuild efforts. Their futures seem much more certain and brighter than the Magic’s despite seemingly starting further behind or later. That is the power of Lottery luck — something the Magic did not have.
Orlando can only worry about itself. The team had to answer some questions and push things forward. There was demand for them to do so. A very real demand. The Magic want to win and win now.
The question now becomes have they done enough to do so. There is plenty of doubt out there whether they have. Lowe brings up several strong points about the Magic and how exactly their offense is supposed to work without very many shooters and two starting centers.
The Magic face a lot of challenges, particularly on offense.
They have officially turned their back on their rebuild and are moving forward to try and compete in a real way. It is an inevitable step for any rebuilding team.
Typically though the progression seems to have a bit of a straighter line. Team collects young asset. Young assets mature. Team adds veterans around them and prepare to contend.
The Magic collected the young assets. And they are still waiting for those assets to mature. The veterans are now part of the team before the investments have reached maturity. The team is putting results over that slow build.
Orlando is still growing in many ways. But the time for growth without results has come to an end. The Magic have pushed their chips in and have decided to go for winning. Ready or not.
Next: Orlando Magic begin answering questions about roles
Fans and ownership are restless for wins. The rebuild is over.