The NBA season is on hiatus, giving us a lot of time to kill and a chance to look ahead to the offseason and the big questions ahead for the Orlando Magic.
The NBA and the Orlando Magic are on hiatus while the world fights the coronavirus pandemic. Rightfully, the league has shut itself down to limit social gatherings and cross-country travel and contain the spread.
At this point, nobody really knows when the league will return and what it will look like when it does. Almost certainly, in the league’s efforts to get the season in, the league will probably play games without fans for the time being. Whether they will still happen at team arenas or hometowns or all in one central location is another question.
The NBA already seems to be making its plans for a return. But they are waiting just like everyone else for the curve to flatten and to get the go-ahead from government and health officials to return. The NBA led the way with sports leagues shutting down and taking coronavirus threats seriously and they are probably poised to lead the way in the return to sports.
The rest of the league is stuck at home waiting. Players have been given at least some workout equipment to train on their own. Just look at Mohamed Bamba:
https://twitter.com/TheRealMoBamba/status/1243893540310126594
It feels like the offseason already.
That is going to be the extent of what we see from the Magic for the time being while everyone waits this thing out.
Inevitably the Magic will have another mini-training camp. There is the chance players return from injury depending on how long this thing goes. And the offseason is probably going to get cut short a bit to get the league back on schedule for 2021.
A lot of things are up in the air now. There is a ton of uncertainty.
It feels like this is the offseason come early. With the rest of the season sprinkled in. And so the Magic are beginning to think about and assess all the questions that would normally come after every offseason.
Honestly, the Magic probably did not need to see what happened in the playoffs to start asking and finding answers for those questions. The offseason planning happens well before the season ends. So, to be sure, the Magic are already in those throes.
With so much up in the air, it is time to answer some questions ourselves. Let’s open up the Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag and answer your questions.