The NBA season is quickly coming to a close. There is just one week left before the Orlando Magic close down for the year. We break down what’s left.
The Orlando Magic have just four games remaining. Four games!
It is not much. And not much to get anything significant done. Most fans have already turned to logging into Tankathon every day to check lottery status and fret over every win. Even if they come with the young players leading the way.
There is not a whole lot more to say about this season. You can probably sense by how repetitive the discussions have been on this site.
The Magic have already shut down Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross. It seems less and less likely Jonathon Simmons will return from his wrist injury (it is real, his wrist is pretty heavily taped on the sidelines). And even Jonathan Isaac, whom the Magic have every reason to play as much as possible, is nearing the time he might be done for the year as he deals with another ankle injury.
Finding a purpose for these last four games is going to be difficult. The team has to do something with them and not just go through the motions, right? Going through the motions leads to some pretty ugly results.
Everyone has an eye on the future. The Draft is the first place to begin. The lottery on May 14 is on everyone’s minds.
What the team does with its future — particularly Aaron Gordon‘s upcoming restricted free agency — is next on everyone’s minds. And then beyond that. . . who knows?
The Magic feel very much like a blank slate. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman will have made some conclusions after evaluating his team throughout the season. Now is his time to start digging in and making the changes everyone feels are necessary.
It will likely be a bit slow this summer. The team still lacks a lot of flexibility. And the changes are going to continue to be more cultural — Frank Vogel’s job is still up in the air.
There is a lot to get to. And only four games before we get there.