The Orlando Magic had a rough decade in the 2010s. Their best players were part of the past and part of a failed future. And they still shape the franchise.
It is still hard to believe we are in a new decade. That is the funny thing about time, it keeps moving forward — unless you are Doc Emmett Brown.
It has been a frustrating decade for the Orlando Magic for sure. The 2010s saw the collapse of the team’s most sustained period of success and the beginning of a rebuild that seemed to have no end.
For a young franchise that has experienced a relative amount of success in its 30-plus years, the 2010s will go down as the most difficult worst decade to date.
The Magic started it off as title contenders with perhaps the best team in franchise history before falling in the Eastern Conference Finals. That appeared to be when things went off the rails.
During a lockout-shortened 2012 season, the Magic faced a standoff with superstar center Dwight Howard that ultimately led to his departure in a trade. The 2010s were as much a restart as an ending.
The Magic hoped their rebuild would move quickly, building assets through the draft and growing back into a contender. But the lottery never hit for the Magic, for the first time in franchise history. And poor decision after poor decision seemed to bury the team only deeper in the hole.
The Magic went through several coaches throughout the decade looking for something to hold onto. They lacked consistency and struggled to develop a stream of talent that have proven themselves elsewhere in the league.
It was only last year that Orlando ended a six-year absence from the postseason. That first-round exit felt like a bigger breakthrough than it probably actually was. The Magic had returned to relevancy and thoughts of winning, even on a small scale, was no longer just talk.
The Magic have had plenty of good players come through even if they did not reach their full potential. The 2010s will likely be a decade that most want to skip over.
There is still a somewhat unreasonable debate about Nikola Vucevic’s place in franchise history as he enters his eighth year in the team and continues to rise the all-time ranks in Magic history.
The changing of the decade is at least a good time to reflect on what has passed. As is the going tradition among many sites right now, they are reflecting on the people, events and moves that impacted the last 10 years.
So it is our turn.
Josh Robbins of The Athletic submitted his all-decade team for the Orlando Magic. We will not follow the same rules — no game limit rules — but we will hold true to positions as listed on Basketball-Reference. We will follow All-Star team construction rules — four backcourt players, six frontcourt players and two wild card players — but we are not looking to build an actual team. Simply the best players at each position.
Let’s dive into the all-decade team.