Rob Hennigan’s fate tied to Orlando Magic’s finish

The Orlando Magic may still be debating their future and whether to retain general manager Rob Hennigan. How the Magic finish may be all that can save him.

The media asked Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel what happened before the trade deadline Thursday as his team prepared to take on the Portland Trail Blazers. The deadline had passed and the Magic had stood still, completing their big deal a week before.

For fans, the trade deadline is a time of extreme interest. Everyone wants to see the team do something . . . anything.

The fact there were rumors about Paul George and Jimmy Butler created a feeling of disappointment that neither got moved. Never mind that All Star DeMarcus Cousins was traded earlier in the week.

The trade deadline always has the opportunity to bring change.

Fans wanted to see the Magic make a big move. They sensed the rebuild had reached something of a breaking point. And, probably more importantly, general manager Rob Hennigan’s job was on the line.

The Playoffs were all but out of reach and, with the promises the team made, everyone expected splashy move to try to save things. Going silent — almost completely silent with nary a leak –was the opposite of what everyone expected.

Except the decision makers.

“Most trade deadlines, there is usually a lot of talk and end up not being a lot of activity,” coach Frank Vogel said before Thursday’s game. “We talked about a lot of things, but ultimately we stood pat.”

Do not take silence for inactivity. But the Magic likely did not find anything that improved their team. Hennigan promised he was not going to sacrifice the team’s future to save his job. He would always keep the team’s long-term interests in mind.

But undoubtedly, Hennigan is feeling the heat. Even he acknowledged it when asked about it following the Serge Ibaka trade.

“The seat is always hot,” Hennigan said. “That’s something that comes with the territory. that’s something that is part of the job. It’s a difficult job with a lot of complexities. We feel like we are figuring it out. This season has been a disappointment based on the expectation level and how we expected our defense to perform. That hasn’t happened. At the same time, though, we feel like we are not that far away. We are a few tweaks away. We are on the path to fixing some of the inefficiencies our roster has.”

The question now for the Magic is whether Hennigan and his staff will be the ones manning those shifts and changes that have to occur to get the roster better positioned for the Playoffs moving forward.

There is indeed heat on Hennigan.

And having now passed the last opportunity to shape the roster before the season, Hennigan’s fate is tied finally to this team — if there was any doubt left for him.

Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins said he would not review Hennigan’s job status until the end of the year. There are already whispers and reports the Magic may be inclined to give Hennigan the opportunity to fix things next year.

Considering all the chips he cashed in this season and the struggles he had with an open pocketbook and four years of building through the draft behind him, this season’s failures are completely on him. The buck stops with the decision maker.

Hennigan shoulders a large responsibility for the roster issues the Magic appeared to have all season.

With a seeming directive to build a Playoff team, Hennigan certainly did not deliver.

For the sake of argument, put Hennigan’s future as undecided.

If Hennigan is going to have a future with this team, it has to come from building some type of momentum into the offseason and a belief the roster the Magic have assembled now, with a few tweaks, can make the Playoffs.

There are no more Draft picks to rely on. The roster for the next 23 games is the one that can save Hennigan or cement his fate.

When Vogel said the team is not planning on tanking and trying to build winning habits, it is a clue to the team’s plans for 2018.

Orlando plans to compete again for the Playoffs in 2018. The team’s draft pick will be another piece to that puzzle. The Magic are not putting all its eggs in development again.

With this new goal in mind, if the Magic still have faith in Hennigan’s vision to build, they must deliver on the court to end this season. They must build a base to grow from for next season.

Orlando Magic

There were at least a few signs they can do this in Thursday’s 112-103 loss to the Trail Blazers. The Magic looked much more energetic and refreshed from the break in many ways. Terrence Ross did add a new dynamism to the team.

Then again, the Magic still fell to the same problems they have for much of the last five years. Orlando lost a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and looked increasingly tight as their lead diminished. It was a rough shooting game for them too.

Vogel said it plainly, these are the games the Magic have to win. It was exactly the kind of thing he was talking about when he talked about building a winning culture.

That lack of traction or growth is what has the Magic in such an uncertain state, out of the Playoffs and questioning a management change.

If the Magic can build some momentum to the end of the season and change the narrative, though, perhaps that will be enough to put some faith in Hennigan for one more year.

Or maybe the writing is already on the wall. And there is nothing that can save him.

There is a fair argument for both. And that decision rests on ownership to make at the end of the season.

If Hennigan is going to get that chance to remake the Magic roster again, the team he is left with to end this season has to prove there is something worth building upon.

Next: Projecting the Orlando Magic after the All-Star Break

If not, the Magic may look to head in a new direction.