It is the holiday season with Christmas this weekend, a big date on the NBA calendar. We take this time to take stock on the Orlando Magic and what comes next.
Christmas Day is a big day in the NBA.
The day on TV belongs to the league and is the first big national showcase. For the casual fans, it is the time when football season begins to end and the basketball season begins. In the course of an 82-game schedule, the marathon is long and people start paying attention past the quarter mark.
The trade market is already open and conversations have begun (no clue where or who they might lead to, it is far too early for that). Teams are already thinking about how to make their moves and how to get in better positioning for the Playoff push.
From now until the trade deadline, the Magic as with every team in the league will be evaluating their rosters and looking to make their moves. In the next two months, Orlando will make the decision to keep pushing in for the Playoffs or to consider a reset to their rebuild (and perhaps more).
The Magic are preparing to make some big decisions. They will largely do it with their play. If the team comes together and makes a run to get into the Playoff conversation, the team will be on solid footing moving forward. If the team continues to struggle and remain on the periphery, the storm clouds will get darker.
The holiday season is a time to begin this reflection — or continue it — and prepare for an important stretch of games.
The Magic will be hoping to wake up Sunday to some Christmas gifts — and maybe a three-game win streak — for this push to the All-Star Break and the trade deadline. There will be a rough road between now and then for sure, but the team has to make its push soon.
With this important date on the calendar and the chance for some reflection, the Orlando Magic Daily staff gathered around the fire and made their Christmas wish list for the Magic in this roundtable.