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Orlando Magic Daily Roundtable: Midpoint review

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Jan 8, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Timofey Mozgov (20) defends a shot by Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) in the first half of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 8, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Timofey Mozgov (20) defends a shot by Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) in the first half of the game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jeff Green, Orlando Magic
Nov 9, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Jeff Green (34) pumps his fist against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at Amway Center. Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Orlando Magic 123-107. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

3. What is the biggest need the Orlando Magic must address ahead of the trade deadline?

Palmer: The biggest need for Orlando right now is to free up playing time at power forward for Aaron Gordon. This means the Magic need to ship Nikola Vucevic out without blocking more time at that spot. The Magic need to see how effective a lineup with Ibaka at the 5 and Gordon at the 4 can be.

Jumani: The biggest need for the Magic is to free up time at the shooting guard and small forward spot. They must give Mario Hezonja playing time to see how he performs when given consistent minutes off the bench. The Magic must trade Jeff Green for this to happen. Green has been perhaps the Magic’s worst player on both ends of the floor. There is no reason to keep a player who cannot help a team win due to the lack of effort on defense and an inconsistent showing on offense on a nightly basis. Shooting 39.1 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from behind the arc is not worth giving minutes to. Doing all this just to have Hezonja, who has a possibility to blossom into a really good player as opposed to Green, who only has a few years left in his career. Benching Hezonja made sense at first when the Magic coaching staff made that decision. But with Green struggling, it only makes sense to finally give Hezonja some minutes.

Rossman-Reich: They need better perimeter defense, probably at point guard. Elfrid Payton has improved defensively from last year’s abysmal year. But he has struggled to hold down the starting spot. And D.J. Augustin is just not good defensively. Orlando’s defense is the biggest issue facing the team. If the Magic play better defense, they could easily climb back into this Playoff race. It feels like that is a long way away. Ibaka has seemingly returned to his defensive numbers of the recent past. The guards though continue to struggle to keep their man in front of them and recover and rotate. Orlando has Aaron Gordon manning the best perimeter scorer, they need a point guard who can lead defensively. This is probably the biggest area of need and upgrade.

Doyle: The biggest need for the Orlando Magic is as Philip said, perimeter defense. Far too often are the big men left on an island because an opposing guard blew by his man. The Magic have had a problem with perimeter defense for a while now and not one of their guards plays defense well. From Evan Fournier to D.J. Augustin, the Magic do not have a stopper up top. This is something the Magic should probably look to get through a trade near the deadline. With improved perimeter defense, the talented bigs can wreak havoc in the paint for the remainder of the season.

Iwanowski: I may not be the Tank Commander, but I have definitely been a fan of focusing on the future rather than this pipe dream of competing for current success. The Magic NEED to remember the path to the championship is a long process unless you can sign a top-five player. Thus Orlando cannot sacrifice the team’s entire future for veterans to help them MAYBE make a run at a bottom seed in the East and get embarrassed on national TV.