Five questions for the 2017-18 Orlando Magic’s third quarter
How will the Orlando Magic form their identity?
This is a central question for the rest of this season. Sure, many of the players on this roster are not likely to be back or be part of this team’s future. There is certainly a benefit of losing and getting a high draft pick. The Magic are in that heated competition for the best lottery odds.
Do not tell the players or coaches that. They are — and should be — trying to win games. Their responsibility is to give their best effort and try to win games. If the Magic are trying to “tank” or what-not, they will do that with how long they hold players out with injuries and, maybe, rotation decisions or emphases from the front office.
The bottom line, this is a bad team and they will lose games because they are not good enough.
But the third quarter of the season is about building a culture and an identity for the team. Both on the court and in the front office.
Yes, wins might hurt the chances of winning the lottery — always important to remember it is a lottery, you never know which win will put you in position to get a top three pick. The team will land where it lands.
But it is still important to begin forming the semblance of a culture. Not every player will be gone. Certainly plenty of them will be — the Magic need to flip over the core. But it is still important to set some expectations. It is not good to set an expectation where losing is acceptable. As long as there are games to be played, the Magic have to set on-court expectations.
The team is building to the future. That includes on the court. They have to establish something on the court they can build upon.
It does not mean the Magic are going to win a ton of games. But the Magic have to establish their style and personality with the players that are remaining.
Much of that will come in the front office. And what Jeff Weltman does at the trade deadline will determine a lot of what this future identity is.
If the team makes a deal at the deadline, who the Magic bring in will be more important than who they send out. Weltman will begin putting his fingerprints on this team. And who he decides to bring in will determine the Magic’s future more than anything else.
That is important too. Who Weltman brings in will form the team’s identity more than anything on the court. So which players he decides to target and ultimately acquire matter too.
The Magic have to build on the court with that long-term vision in mind. That was always the case this year. Things clearly fell off the wagon. And so the Magic have to spend the rest of this season trying to lay whatever foundation they can.
Next: Mario Hezonja has found his niche
This is the most important question the Magic must answer the rest of this season.