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The End of the “Process” for the Orlando Magic

By Zach Palmer

May 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Orlando Magic general manager Rob Hennigan represents his team during the NBA draft lottery at New York Hilton Midtown. The Philadelphia 76ers received the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tobias Harris, Detroit Pistons, Nikola Vucevic, Orlando Magic
Dec 4, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (34) goes up for a shot against Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic (9) during the third quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Magic win 98-92. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

The beginning of the end

Jacque Vaughn’s dismissal was the turning point of Hennigan’s tenure. Suddenly former Magic player Scott Skiles was being linked to the head coaching vacancy. If you want a more

Suddenly former Magic player Scott Skiles was being linked to the head coaching vacancy. The Magic began to short circuit and undermine the process.

Then a few months later, it became official. Skiles was the new head coach of the Orlando Magic. The man known as a taskmaster was to head up the project of coaching up a bunch of young players that had been relatively babied under Jacque Vaughn.

At this point, Hennigan’s process had become tainted and it seemingly had a lot to do with the team losing patience with the speed of the rebuild and letting business interests take over. Orlando’s impatient casual wine and cheese fans were complaining about the team (and justifiably so) and the Magic needed a way to sell tickets.

Vaughn’s final season left Orlando with the fifth-best odds in the draft. And this time the Magic stayed where they were.

Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic /

Orlando Magic

The Magic had their eyes on Kristaps Porzingis. But once again, the Magic were foiled, as the New York Knicks took Porzingis the pick before the Magic. The Magic ended up selecting Mario Hezonja, a player who was known for his offense and his brash confidence. It would be fair to say he is not a player anyone would have predicted to get along well with Skiles.

That offseason the Magic gave away Maurice Harkless for free because of concerns about a logjam at forward with the selection of Mario Hezonja, and with current players Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier on board.

The Magic also let Kyle O’Quinn walk in the free agency and replaced him with Jason Smith. The Magic also added veteran point guard C.J. Watson into the fold.

The message was clear now, the Magic intended to win now. The time for rebuilding and trusting the process was over. Fans were fed up, and Orlando’s bottom line was going to impacted by it and that wasn’t an acceptable result for ownership.

As the 2015 season progressed, the Magic went from bright, young upcoming team to a complete disaster.

The Magic traded away Tobias Harris (a player Skiles reportedly had issues with in Milwaukee) for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, a pair of former Skiles starters. The Magic recovered a bit after the All-Star break, just enough to crush their draft prospects but also give hope to fans.

Abruptly on May 12, Skiles resigned as head coach. Reports about Skiles quitting on the team in January began to surface and the Magic were once again left with egg on their face.

The Magic replaced Skiles with Frank Vogel and once again focused on winning right now. But this time the coach was much more of a players coach.