The Orlando Magic again will not have much cap room to play with this offseason. But their Nikola Vucevic decision will set the course for their offseason.
Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has had to be patient in his first two offseasons in charge. The team was stuck in a cap hole after the spending spree of the summer of 2016 and still had work to do to wait those contracts out for some cap relief.
The team worked on the margins to add players and try to boost the roster. Most of Weltman’s work has come behind the scenes and with the infrastructure of the franchise.
Arguably his biggest move has been to add Steve Clifford as the head coach. When it comes to personnel the biggest investment he made was re-signing Aaron Gordon to a four-year deal.
That was a no-brainer. The Clifford hire took some nuance and paid off. Weltman also took a calculated gamble in adding Markelle Fultz at the trade deadline. That added some salary to their books but gave the team an extremely talented player to grow into the point guard position.
But there is new pressure now for the Magic. The team made the playoffs and raised expectations. Fans are optimistic about the team and everyone has tasted success now. They want more. The Magic certainly want more.
And while it feels like the team has a clear future, it is not that clear at all. At least not to continue directly what the Magic built in the 2019 season.
This summer comes down to the decisions to re-sign to key players that made that playoff run happen. But both players may not necessarily fit the ultimate vision of the team. But they are important to the team’s present.
There is a thin needle to thread to bring everyone back and still keep flexibility for the future. They can have their cake and eat it too. But it will take some good negotiating and a willingness to make change when the opportunity arises.
The Magic are still a team operating like they are over the cap. With the players they want to return and the salaries — some of them very big — still on their books, the team is not going to be able to throw around money this offseason.
But they still have the ability to do so if certain things fall into place. Orlando is going to have to make their plans quickly.
Every decision springs from whether the team is able to re-sign Nikola Vucevic.
From there, decisions begin to fall in place.