Orlando Magic hold the keys at the trade deadline

The Orlando Magic need change. Whether that comes at the trade deadline is wholly in the team’s hands. They must look and make the right moves.

The Orlando Magic seemed like they had turned a corner toward consistency last week. The team had defeated playoff teams in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics and were playing their best basketball in several months.

Trying to explain what happened Tuesday despite plenty of alarm bells and warnings is confounding. The Orlando Magic’s uninspired, disappointing loss to the Sacramento Kings continued a trend for this team that has lasted all year.

The same group that started the year 8-4 and was the darling of the league is the same group that has won just six times in their last 35 games. Somehow the team is the same group.

It has left the team at a loss every time trying to explain the latest inconsistency and the latest frustration.

Coach Frank Vogel seemed to let out his frustrations with the media, giving a somber press conference where he all but questioned his team’s leadership and willingness to play for each other. He hit the team hard for trying to play too much one-on-one basketball and not digging down deep defensively.

The progress the team had made in the last week was all gone.

Perhaps president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman had already made his decisions as the team descended toward the bottom of the standings. But it has become abundantly clear as the same mistakes happen over and over again and the season has come completely unraveled, the Magic need changes.

Everyone associated with the Magic has to have at least one eye toward the February 8 trade deadline — just two weeks away. After five years with much the same group change seems inevitable and necessary now more than ever. The team cannot roll back the same team again.

But that does not mean the team should be in any rush. The Magic hold the keys to their own success right now. In the trade market, they have no reason to rush.

With how disastrous this season has been for the team, it would be easy to say to burn everything down and start revving up the bulldozers now. There are certainly more than a few players fans would like to see move sooner rather than later. And it will all come in time.

But patience is still in order. Not a lack of urgency, but a willingness to wait for the right deal.

The Magic are not chock full of the kind of players that usually get traded at the trade deadline — expiring contracts and cheap, young players. This is a team that is still stuck somewhat in salary cap limbo. The Magic will not have much maneuverability this summer to add via free agency.

Orlando Magic

The players the Magic are trying to move still have years left on their deals.

Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross both have one year remaining on their deals. Evan Fournier has three years left (a player option on the final year) and Bismack Biyombo has two years left. If the Magic are determined to cut some payroll, that will make it difficult to move any of these players now. Teams do not look to make big salary additions at the trade deadline unless it is a truly great player.

Evan Fournier has been good, but not that good. He still continues to garner a lot of interest and is a more than capable player who can contribute to a winning team. But whether anyone is willing to take on his contract — roughly $17 million per year for the next three years — is another question.

Whether the Magic are willing to take on the contract they might have to take back to send him out is another question too.

The answer that likely matters more is what the Magic are getting back rather than who they are sending out. And this is where the Magic hold their control at the trade deadline and why a decision to wait to make their moves makes sense.

According to some reports, the Magic are looking to get back short-term deals or players on their rookie contracts who are a bit further along in their development. They are not looking for future draft picks. And with the team trying to rid itself of some of its heftier contracts, it is not likely they are looking to take on any more long-term money.

Orlando is keeping these goals in mind in these final two weeks before the trade deadline.

And that is the power the Magic have right now at the trade deadline. They hold the keys at the deadline if their players are truly garnering interest. They are in no hurry to make any trades or deals now. Many of those same deals are likely to be available to them at the draft or later when team’s goals and needs change. They might also be interested in a larger shakeup in the offseason rather than midseason.

Elfrid Payton and Mario Hezonja are their only expiring contracts. They are the only players there might be some urgency to move as the Magic are not expected to retain either player this summer in free agency.

Players like Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic — the three players most likely to be deal for anything of value — will retain their trade value to the summer. They might have even more then because their contracts will be a year closer to expiring.

Orlando can afford to wait if there is no deal that nets them what they want. The Magic can be picky with their deals. They can extract as much as they think they can at the trade deadline this year.

That is not to say Orlando should hold a posture of doing nothing in the next two weeks. The Magic should remain aggressive with their trade discussions and try to make things happen where they can. They clearly need to make some changes to the roster. That part has not changed.

But they are in no hurry to do so. They are not forced to do so now at this deadline. They still have another place they can go and wait for better deals this offseason.

Maybe the urgency is a bit higher with Elfrid Payton. But even with him, the Magic might be able to wait. It is more important to get expiring contracts or players that fit the team’s long-term future than to flip the roster.

And that is why the Magic might be one of the more powerful teams at the trade deadline. If teams are truly chasing after their players, they can sit back and evaluate offers and pick the one that fits them best. They know they have the time to make deals now or in the future.

They can even lay seeds and begin negotiations for what might happen in June and July too. There is no rush to get a deal done now.

But that time will shrink. So the team’s urgency to find a deal and being the change is certainly rising.

Next: Comparing the 2016 and 2017 collapses

This is an incredibly promising time for the Magic as their rebuild gets set to restart.