Fansided’s NBA preview came out this week and they took an in-depth look at the Orlando Magic and what might and might not work for them this season.
Orlando Magic fans have had a small obsession with national perception of late. There have been plenty of national outlets who seem to skip over the Magic or just assume the team will be bad.
The statements in these national previews seem to start with, “The Magic were a complete mess last year, they did not do much this offseason, please let Aaron Gordon be Aaron Gordon.” And then some statement there is not much to see here.
In fairness, the Magic made few changes after a 29-win season last year that was a complete disaster. The team spent all of its money in the 2016 free agency bonanza and has to live with the consequences of that decision, even as they move on from their general manager in Rob Hennigan.
The national perception of the Magic is the team has some stability with their coaching and roster. But is that really a good thing? Does this team have a ceiling at all? Where is this team going?
New president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said he would take this year to evaluate the roster. That might actually be the only thing he could do considering the limited amount of financial maneuverability he had this summer. It is amazing some of the work he did, signing Jonathon Simmons to a very reasonable deal and adding veterans Arron Afflalo and Marreese Speights.
The other recurring storyline? The Magic are too good to tank and play for Lottery odds but probably not good enough to make the Playoffs. Orlando is kind of stuck in the middle.
Like Weltman, the FanSided NBA preview for the Magic is trying its best to piece together this Magic team and exactly how everything is going to work. After last season’s disaster where all the team’s plans did not pan out in any way. Much of that roster remains. And while things worked better after the All-Star Break, no one is quite sure how that will work out in the end.
The Magic, entering this season, are a bit stuck. They have no choice but to soldier on with the roster they have and hope the good moments outshine the bad ones and provide a path forward. As I wrote for FanSided’s NBA preview, this uncomfortable place in the middle will define the Magic’s season:
"But there is no getting around the fact the Magic do not have top-end talent. They have been down this road. As good as they think they played after the All-Star Break, they were still 8-24. Their improvements came on the periphery. It may not have solved the actual problem. Not for 2018, at least.The Magic need to get an influx of talent. But they are still not willing to go the full tanking route — not with a restless fan base that still asks whether five years is long enough. In any case, the team tried that the last five years and ended up . . . here."
A lot of the Magic’s improvement banks on guys stepping up internally. Especially Aaron Gordon.
Gordon was the obsessions for many last year. The former fourth overall pick needed some time to get acclimated in the NBA. Instead, he got dumped into an unstable situation and bounced between the two forward positions and his own issues with summer injuries.
It is safe to say last year’s experiment at small forward was a complete disaster. Gordon was not capable of playing on the wing and still displaying that supreme athleticism that helped launch him into the upper Lottery.
Aaron Gordon played significantly better after the Magic traded Serge Ibaka and downsized their lineup. He averaged more than 16 points per game.
As Scott Rafferty explored in his playbook review for FanSided, Gordon was a much better fit at the 4:
"Consider Gordon’s scoring profile from last season. Just over half of his offense came from a combination of spot-ups, pick-and-rolls as the ball handler and transition opportunities, which are three play types normally associated with guards and playmaking small forwards. Gordon, however, was below league average in each category. Where he did excel was as a cutter, the roller in pick-and-rolls and on putbacks, which are three play types normally associated with power forwards and centers. He ranked in the 74.6 percentile or better in each one."
The other question for the Magic with their young roster comes with Elfrid Payton.
Elfrid Payton, like Aaron Gordon, starred down the stretch for the Magic. He put up some strong numbers and seemed to find his fit. That has only been confirmed through the preseason where Payton seems to have command of the Magic’s fast-paced offense.
But he still has a lot of work to do. Everyone seemingly wants Payton to improve his jumper and take the next step there. Until he does, it seems like everyone will consider Payton just a solid point guard. And someone that holds the Magic back.
In FanSided’s Orlando Magic preview, Mark Carman and FanSided NBA editor Ian Levy discussed the team’s prospects and pointed to Payton as a big question mark for the team’s success:
The reality with this Magic team is that nobody really knows how things may work out for them. Nobody really knows how these pieces will come together or whether the pieces fit. Even for the long-term.
Jeff Weltman is sort of forced to evaluate what he has and coach Frank Vogel is sort of forced to do the best with what he has. The team is in a position where its fans are restless for success. But unlike last year, they are not digging their head into a defender’s chest and wildly flailing at the rim. At least Orlando has taken a step back to breathe and reconfigure itself.
That did not happen with the roster this summer. And so the fit is still a bit unclean. The team still has a lot to sort out and improve. Most of all, the Magic still need top-end talent.
That is where their hope lies in Aaron Gordon taking a leap and on promising rookie Jonathan Isaac.
But in reviewing their 2018 rotation, there are still some major questions. It appears the Magic have increased their depth, particularly on the wings, creating some interesting training camp battles to watch and sort through.
At center, it seems to Kareem Gantt of FanSided, the Magic are finally ready to do right by Nikola Vucevic:
"There is no other way to put it. [Nikola] Vucevic has quietly become one of the top centers in the NBA, but, as per the Magic’s credo over the past six seasons, the team has treated him like a red-headed stepchild. Vucevic has a versatile offensive game, although last year was a down season shooting the ball, and his defense has improved. In this newly revamped offense, he has the chance to once again shine."
The Magic will have their work cut out for them in 2018.
External expectations are obviously low. Internal expectations are tempered — no one is making the mistake of promising the Playoffs. It is hard to say with so few changes just how much better the Magic might be. But they are certainly still a team in progress. And a team in need of work to raise their ceiling to get significantly better.
The only thing anyone can say for sure is the 2018 season cannot be as much of a disaster as the 2017 season was.
Next: Previewing the Orlando Magic with Locked On NBA
From there, anything seems possible from success to Lottery dreams. It is a season where the Magic just have to find a way through and discover a path forward.