Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag Volume 31: Waiting on the team to change

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ORLANDO, FL – FEBRUARY 6: D.J. Augustin #14 of the Orlando Magic brings the ball up court during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Amway Center on February 6, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. The Magic defeated the Cavaliers 116 to 98. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

The Orlando Magic are essentially done with their summer and have a lot of work to do. I answer your questions in the mailbag.

The Orlando Magic have been lost in the woods for the past six years. there is no getting around it. Their decision to do a complete rebuild after trading Dwight Howard was likely the correct one. But the team never hit on the draft picks it needed to make the thing work. And then other poor decision put the team further into the hole.

Entering the seventh year since that fateful decision, Orlando still does not seem close to the Playoffs. But things seem to be heading in the right direction.

Jeff Weltman and John Hammond will enter their second year. And as they like to remind fans, they are taking things with a fresh approach. They are not going to think of the five years that came before them. They want to establish their ideas and their principles within the team. And that may take some time.

Still, Orlando knew it had to make some pretty significant changes to the roster to take those steps forward. Returning the same team was not going to deliver different results.

The Magic did not make the changes everyone expected this offseason. They stuck with much the same roster unable to find many deals. The only major trade they made was to trade Bismack Biyombo for the equally bad contract in Timofey Mozgov and Jerian Grant. So at least they got something.

The team seems willing to wait out for contracts to expire or to flip them only for players they find useful, like the versatile Jerian Grant.

The Magic have made big moves though. They are waiting to see just how much Jonathan Isaac has expanded his game since the end of last season and to see if he can piece together a fully healthy season. Certainly more than 27 games.

And Orlando has certainly established a type of player they chase after and want to build around considering they drafted their center for the future in Mohamed Bamba. Add in Steve Clifford as the new coach and the team has the beginnings of a hard-nosed, defensive ethos. And plenty of long limbs to make offenses think twice.

But this is all the beginning stages of things. There is not likely going to happen all at once — barring massive individual improvement and things just clicking. There are still a lot of issues for the team to resolve.

Now that the summer is starting to slow down, I decided to open up the Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag to answer some of your questions about the Magic, their offseason and their future. I also included some of my favorite questions from the Ask Me Anything I did with the Orlando Magic Subreddit a few weeks ago.

Let’s dive into the mailbag!