The paradox of the Orlando Magic’s season: Individual players improved

Down the line for the Orlando Magic, it was easy to point go improvements individual players made. So why did it not come together for the team?

Everyone seems ready to move on.

A 25-win season left the Orlando Magic prepared and hunting for a change. The team simply cannot run the same group back and expect drastically different results.

Perhaps injuries during the 2018 season affected the Magic’s ultimate finish in the standings, but it certainly was not enough of a difference to push the team into the Playoffs. That hot 8-4 start was always a bit of a mirage with the team’s unsustainable shooting.

It was a bad season. One where it felt like the Magic hit rock bottom. And that is as much a reason everyone expects the Magic to make some major changes as any.

Longtime players like Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier are clearly on the block. There is the potential the team lets Aaron Gordon go. And a whole lot of other changes that seem to be coming. What direction the Magic ultimately go is still undetermined.

The only thing anyone knows is that there will be a new coach. And renewed hope in Jonathan Isaac to keep growing in his second year.

It was a weird season in that way though. The team saw several individually positive signs.

Player after player could say they had a better season in 2018 than they did in 2018. They took steps forward in their game. And yet, the final product was not what it could or should have been.

This was the season’s central contradiction.

"“I definitely feel good and rewarded with individual growth of pretty much everyone on our team,” then-coach Frank Vogel said after the season’s final game. “It falls back into relationships. You are here to help these guys improve as basketball players and in time come together have it contribute to winning. It has not contributed to winning at the level we want. These guys have definitely improved and learned a lot. I have enjoyed the process and working with all of them.”"

This growth — or perceived growth — was clearly not enough to save Vogel’s job. Orlando still chose to move in an entirely new direction. And all that good chemistry the team professed to have never coalesced into victories.

But it is hard not to see how players improved, even if marginally.

Nikola Vucevic began adding a 3-point shot, taking 3.6 3-point attempts per game. That may have taken away from his post-ups — Vucevic saw those decrease from 3.7 post ups per game to 3.2 this year.

Evan Fournier returned to his customary levels of efficiency. After shooting a 50.1 percent effective field goal percentage last year in a mismatched lineup, he increased his scoring to 17.8 points per game and shot a 53.8 percent effective field goal percentage. It was not quite his 2016 numbers, but it was a welcome return.

Aaron Gordon had his breakout year, averaging a career-high 17.6 points per game and emerging as a more reliable 3-point shooter at 33.6 percent. There is still some room for improvement with him as he enters a contract year.

Jonathon Simmons came to Orlando to play a bigger role. He accomplished that too. Jonathon Simmons averaged a career-best 29.4 minutes per game and 13.9 points per game. He also posted a career-best 17.1 points per 36 minutes too.

Mario Hezonja finally got his playing time, averaging a career-best 22.1 minutes per game. He averaged 9.6 points per game with a 51.5 percent effective field goal percentage. Mario Hezonja would say playing time was the big difference for him. But he quickly became a usable NBA player after struggling even early in the season.

Those are all positive, albeit small, signs of improvement from the Magic. A reason to perhaps stick with the coaching staff and let them continue their development. Then again, the results did not follow.

"“We had a great chemistry overall throughout the entire season,” Hezonja said during exit interviews. “We were really positive practicing and executing our stuff. Just overall this season it felt like a bit weird. We were missing something for every game. I think we really had a good couple games before the All-Star Break and we finished yesterday on a good note. Overall, it wasn’t how we expected it to be.”"

Results do matter. The league is a zero-sum game. There is always one winner and one loser at the end of each game.

And the Magic, at their sixth year in this rebuild and with a capped-out roster, should not be at the stage where improvement is an end in itself. Winning has to matter at some point. With these young veterans, it should have.

Orlando simply could not put all these pieces together. No matter their improvements individually. That collective progress was not enough.

Why this was the case is the biggest mystery of the season. Was it truly a matter of poor fit? Is it injuries? Do the Magic simply need more talent?

Orlando Magic

There is likely a bit of all three involved. That is all part of the problem facing the Magic this offseason.

They have to find a way to minimize their margin of error as much as possible. Orlando simply had none. The team collapsed under the pressure of their injuries and inexperience reeling things back from the brink.

For Orlando to take that next step they obviously have to continue the individual improvements that continued this year and add that team element that has been missing for so long.

"“You go into every summer with different goals,” Bismack Biyombo said before the Magic’s final game. “I think there is a lot to be learned from this season going into the summer with other goals. Making sure when the season starts we can be ready for a better season.”"

And so the Magic go into the summer with those dual goals. Get better as individual players as many did last year.

Then somehow find a way to make the team better and improve on last year’s frustrating season.  It is a big task for sure that the Magic have to find a way to accomplish.

Next: NBA Playoffs leaving dilemma for rebuilding teams

All to make sure their hard work gets the reward it deserves.