Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 26: All is new again

Nikola Vucevic and Elfrid Payton are going to be at the center of a lot of trade discussions for Orlando Magic fans all season. I am not surprised that I get a few questions about them even at this early stage of the season. And this will be something to follow throughout the season.

The place to start in dealing with both Vucevic and Payton is with management itself.

Right now, president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond have given every public indication they are using this year to evaluate their roster. They want to get a feel for what they have first and see how they perform together before making any moves to change things up.

In other words, they probably have some pre-conceived notions about the talent on this roster but want to confirm it by getting in the weeds with them first. Also, they may not be in a position of bargaining power with any of these players yet so they have to get the team playing — and playing well — to increase their value.

It is both a reality the Magic are facing from a market value perspective and a bit of salesmanship to the fans.

At this point, then, there is no sense of whether the Magic intend to shop Vucevic or Payton or anyone aggressively. At this point, the Magic’s management is in evaluation mode. They just want to get a better feel for what they have.

More from Mailbag

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• Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag: As the ping pong ball turns
• Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 41: Glimpses into the future
• Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag: At the crossroads

The instinct here is correct, though. Vucevic will become a very valuable trade asset as the season goes on. Especially if he is fairly productive. Vucevic has two years left on his team-friendly deal — $25 million total left. He could become valuable in a trade.

But for now, the Magic are likely to keep Vucevic as their starting center. They trust him there and his defense greatly improved last year. There is not a rush for a change. The only way a deal happens is if it improves the Magic — including Bismack Biyombo taking a step up in his game.

As for Payton, his situation is a little bit more dire for his place both on the Magic and the league.

I think it is unfair to characterize Scott Skiles‘ resignation on the showdown between him and Elfrid Payton. It was probably one of the many factors — including disagreements between Skiles and general manager Rob Hennigan and likely Scott Skiles’ ultimate lack of desire to go through the grind of a NBA season with a wholly new generation of basketball players.

The Magic ran with Payton last year. After freeing him up to play his game, they found a lot of success with him.

If anything, the Magic are using this year to confirm the way Payton played to end last season is what they can get from Payton full time. As a reminder, Payton averaged 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. Those are stellar numbers. Payton was a driving force for the team playing better.

The Magic are not likely to offer him an extension before the deadline this month. So he will be entering a contract year. But they can still use some time to figure out if he is part of the team’s future.

I would not call it a last chance. The Magic might be willing to bring him back or do a bit of an overpay to keep him if he performs well like he did to end last season. More than anything, they want to see some consistency from him.

It is still a bit too early to give up on him completely. His poor defensive progression has been concerning. But every contract year is a bit audition period. Payton is no different.