The Orlando Magic had their breakthrough season in 2019, making the playoffs. But there is no guarantee their progress continues in 2020.
On the TD Garden court in Boston, the Orlando Magic embraced each other. The team completed a fourth-quarter comeback to upend the Boston Celtics. All concerns about the end of the season and that their run came too late were pushed to the side.
Orlando played their way in.
Longtime stalwarts on the roster like Evan Fournier, Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon embraced. They had been through so much pain with the franchise — through coaching changes and poor personnel decisions — it was easy for them to believe this moment would never happen for them in these jerseys.
It meant a lot to them.
Even coach Steve Clifford could not help but smile as he made his way back to the locker room. All before he gave the rousing speech to them to expect more. This was not the end of the journey.
Making the playoffs in the 2019 season was a small victory in the grand scheme of things. The team erased six years of doubt and found confirmation they were back on the right track. It was uplifting.
But ultimately shortlived. The eventual champion Toronto Raptors quickly dispatched the Orlando Magic in the first round, despite one memorable moment from D.J. Augustin that seemed to legitimize the Magic’s presence in the postseason.
That sent the Magic into the offseason. An offseason that features plenty of questions: How does the team keep growing and building? How best to foster the team’s young core including players who have not really proven themselves in Mohamed Bamba and Markelle Fultz? And what does the team do with unrestricted free agents Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross?
Orlando had a lot to be proud of in the 2019 season. They had their breakthrough moment. The kind of moment that should inspire the young players through the offseason. They have been through the playoff ringer.
But progress is rarely a straight line. There is rarely a clear progression for a team moving from a playoff bid to contention. There are starts and stops along the way. There are trials and tribulations ahead.
The champion Raptors took a long time with Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan just to win a division title, only to face first-round disappointment and then the hurdle that was LeBron James. Their best teams seemed to fall short.
They ignored calls to break the team up until the right opportunity came along. That was Kawhi Leonard.
Their title was built on the backs of beloved players they had to move — like Terrence Ross, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas. This was a six-year odyssey of triumph and doubt. It all came full circle with their championship win this year.
Remember too then that the Golden State Warriors were anointed the champions before the season began with their lineup featuring five All-Stars. No one was supposed to compete with them. But they too found some struggle. This was likely the worst of the Warriors’ five NBA Finals teams.
Injuries hurt them throughout the playoffs, of course.
Kevin Durant‘s injury in the second round knocked out a big part of their offensive and defensive schemes. His ruptured Achilles in Game 5 was unfortunate and frustrating. So too was Klay Thompson‘s torn ACL in Game 6. It seems to put the Warriors on a path to reset some as they wait for both players to return from injury next season.
The lesson though is that nothing is guaranteed. There is never a clear storyline and things rarely happen according to plan. There is no guarantee of success for even the best teams. It is all a fight for your place.
For a team like the Magic, hoping to make the playoffs a regular thing, there is no guarantee they get back. The work has to start again. There can be no issues with a “problem of more,” they must be willing to commit and play with the same intensity they showed throughout the season and especially in the team’s 22-9 run to end the season.
The team itself might look very different.
There is a good chance key players like Vucevic and Ross will be playing elsewhere next season. That will force the Magic to reshuffle their lineup some and change responsibilities. Even if they signed some replacement, next year’s team will be different.
And different certainly means the result is unclear. The Magic’s bid to make a second-straight postseason will have its own set of ups and downs. It is far from certain.
And so the Magic’s hard work to make the playoffs will start again. The team is 0-0 just like the rest of the league now.
They enter the season with no guarantees. Only the experience of their playoff run to guide them on their journey again.
It will be different this time, no doubt. There will be new challenges and trials to face. Everything will be different. As every season is.
Orlando has its work cut out for it to make good on the promise they seem to have. But it will take considerable work.
Internal improvement from the young players like Aaron Gordon, Jonathan Isaac and Mohamed Bamba will be paramount to the team taking its next steps. But even that is not particularly clear or guaranteed.
The journey for the Magic is just starting. Last year was a first step for the organization as it tries to rebuild itself. There is clearly a lot of work to do to take that next step.
It may not actually happen in 2020. But the Magic will have to continue on their building and growing path with no promise their work will create the same result they got in 2019.