Orlando Magic must seek a plan and stick with it to right the ship
By Bill Johnson
The perception is the Orlando Magic rebuild is taking longer than other franchises. But the reality is the Magic scrapped the rebuild before the season, putting them behind their rivals.
The Orlando Magic organization made changes because they felt their rebuild effort was falling behind other teams.
The Magic compared their rebuilding efforts to teams like the Chicago Bulls or Indiana Pacers, which is not fair to the Magic. The Bulls and Pacers not only have established star players in Paul George and Jimmy Butler, but they were never as far down as the Magic. So naturally there rise would be quicker.
The team felt they were ready to rise to that level. The trip up has been difficult for the Magic.
Once an organization hits rock bottom, it is hard to climb up. That is why year after year the same teams picking at the top of the NBA Draft Lottery.
The Philadelphia 76ers, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns for the fifth consecutive year will join the Magic in the Lottery. The Los Angeles Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans have been involved four out of the last five seasons.
A tear-down rebuild like the Magic are going through is a long process. One that has not been a straight line of improvement.
The Magic’s rebuild was going according to plan until Scott Skiles resigned as head coach. The team had shown nominal improvement every year, peaking at 35 wins in Skiles only season at the helm. The natural progression under Skiles would have been challenging for the playoffs in 2017.
Orlando Magic
But with Skiles’ sudden resignation and new coach Frank Vogel in the fold, there was a new philosophy. So it is not surprising that the team took a step back. Especially considering the other roster changes that took place.
The Magic had the ninth highest payroll in the NBA at just more than $104 million. Of course, management expects wins when they spend like that. But they did not sign any difference makers.
The organization wanted to win, but they did not have any players that have actually won in the NBA. In fairness to the organization, they put their money where their mouth was. But it takes more than spending money to build a winner.
In trying to win now, the team may have compromised its future. At this point, the organization cannot be sure what they have with the young players. Plus they are not as financially flexible because they have some seemingly immovable contracts.
The team tried to speed up its plan and got backed into a corner.
There are many ways to rebuild a NBA franchise. It requires foresight, vision and patience.
When taking on a task of this magnitude, there needs to be a vision of what the finished product will be. The organization needs to be a unified so they stick to the plan in good times and bad.
In a rebuild, there are bound to be more bad times than good. And as the Magic look to other teams going through this process, they can take lessons as they try to right the ship and fix the past’s mistakes.