Orlando Magic Daily
Fansided

Orlando Magic Daily Roundtable: Holiday wish list

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Dec 16, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) celebrates after they made a shot against the Brooklyn Nets during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Brooklyn Nets 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 16, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) celebrates after they made a shot against the Brooklyn Nets during the second half at Amway Center. Orlando Magic defeated the Brooklyn Nets 118-111. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Jeff Green, Aaron Gordon, Serge Ibaka, Orlando Magic
Dec 4, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) forward Aaron Gordon (00) and forward Jeff Green (34) celebrate after a play during the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Magic win 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

What are the Orlando Magic asking from Santa this Christmas?

Iwanowski: The Magic are asking for a team to be desperate for some veteran help and big men, and as Jonathan Tjarks of the Ringer recently pointed out, the demand for big men is way lower than the supply. The Magic are likely best off unloading some of their vets for young assets and getting back on the track they were on pre-Scott Skiles, but it seems unlikely they get fair value for any of their bigs due to the shift in the demand curve for big men. The Magic should hope a team becomes desperate for a one-year wing scorer (Jeff Green) and a two-way big man (Vucevic or Ibaka) and offers a big haul for them. As I mentioned before, Jeff Green has filled the role of bench scorer fairly well and Ibaka and Vucevic have been very good for the Magic. But the team is in an awkward stage right now and probably do not even have the ability to make the playoffs this year. They should just pack it in, gather some assets and a top pick in a strong draft and be patient, waiting for a higher ceiling. A deal such as trading one of the bigs for a young near-max level player and lottery pick would be a perfect start to getting this franchise back on track (shakes head thinking about the Draft Night deal the Magic made despite the fact Ibaka has been very good this season).

More from Orlando Magic Daily

Jumani: The Magic are asking for a go-to-guy on offense. The team has shown it can lock in on defense and deliver at times. But the Magic need a player who they can count on to score 20-25 points each game. Evan Fournier and Serge Ibaka have desperately tried and worked hard on the offensive end to help this offensive-lacking team. But it has not worked out yet. The Magic are way too inconsistent on offense to have ease at the back of their minds knowing they will have one player who will most likely score 25 points to give the team a lift offensively. Magic head coach, Frank Vogel, has done a brilliant job and worked very hard to come up with great combinations from both the starting lineup and the bench. D.J. Augustin, Evan Fournier and Serge Ibaka alongside the defensive specialist, Bismack Biyombo. And Aaron Gordon has not worked out too well, as the Magic often struggle to start the game and at times, even the third quarter. The Magic have to find a more consistent scorer, as Jeff Green has had a few good games for the Magic, but he has struggled more often than not. Shooting 38 percent from the field and 29 percent from beyond the arc is not what he was signed for, he was brought in to be an efficient spark plug offensively off the bench, which he clearly has failed to do.

Grullon: The Magic are desperately asking Santa to bring their defensive consistency and effectiveness back. For a stretch in November, the Magic looked like the defensive team we all expected and the team was on pace to become one of the top defensive teams in the league. Something changed in late November heading into December. Since then, the Magic have allowed 100 points or more in nine out of their last 10 games. The Magic are clearly at their best when the defense is leading the way and for a period of time it seemed like the Magic had figured things out on the defensive end. It kept the Magic playing competitive basketball night in and night out. The Magic will need to find their defensive identity once again if they are going to keep their Playoffs hope alive as the season progresses.

Rossman-Reich: Consistency. The Orlando Magic need consistency. They at least need to find an identity and stick with it. Which I guess is consistency. Orlando just does not seem to know what it can count on from game to game. Will the offense be good? Will the defense be good? Who will score? Is Aaron Gordon going to step up? Will Elfrid Payton? Will Serge Ibaka score? About the only thing the Magic can count on right now is Evan Fournier putting in somewhere near 18 points and Nikola Vucevic getting a double-double off the bench. Orlando just needs some consistency. Be awful nice to find some soon.