Orlando Magic Third Quarter Review: Answering the big questions

What direction will the Orlando Magic move in the future?

I posed this question with an eye toward the trade deadline. Essentially, it was asking whether the Magic would push in to make a Playoff push in 2017 or concede the season and prepare for the future, in whatever form that would come.

The trade deadline did play a role. It had to. The Magic had a big piece to deal with in Serge Ibaka and his impending free agency. What they did with him would set their future.

So, in some sense, Orlando did set its future to some extent.

By targeting a young player like Terrence Ross, the Magic committed to playing Aaron Gordon at the 4 and running a transition-based offense. The Magic finally seemed to have unlocked their athleticism.

So the Magic answered this question, right?

Not quite.

The Magic are pushing the ball more, but there is no way to know if this will work. And there is still no way to know exactly how the Magic improve their team from here. For the rest of the season, the Magic will play this “small-ball” style to see if it works.

Whether it continues? That depends on performance.

So far, the Magic seem to have an identity. A distinct identity. The small ball play has at least unlocked something worth further exploring.

The rest of the season will be spent developing and fostering this group and this style.