The Orlando Magic are in a tough spot trying to build a team that will remain competitive and have a chance to win while also eyeing their future.
The Orlando Magic seem to be at a crossroads this offseason.
That is how most teams feel when they do not reach expectations. In a NBA of constant change, teams that are not moving forward might as well be heading backward. There is no standing still.
The Magic faced some criticism for holding onto Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross and largely maintaining the same roster. But that fit with the team’s overall development philosophy.
After six years out of the Playoffs, the Magic decided staying in the Playoffs was a better way for their young players to develop rather than essentially starting completely over. The hope was that retaining the veterans would further the development of young players and that they would eventually take over larger roles.
That in turn would enable the Magic to make all-in moves and become players for bigger-name players to climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
The Magic did not fail in 2020 because they made the Playoffs. But their struggles throughout the season made this proposition more difficult.
Orlando still likely made the right decision retaining all those players and trying for the playoffs once again. But now their next decision will have a major impact on the franchise.
Even if that decision is deferring things once again.
The Magic are eyeing their future. The team is trying to figure out how it grows next.
And so the big thing the Magic have to do entering this offseason is achieve that balance. They need to plan for their future and create the team they ultimately want to become — this is surely not the final product — while also filling immediate needs on the roster to remain competitive.
So what do the Magic need? What makes a successful offseason?
Ultimately a successful offseason will be determined with how the team does in 2021. Did they make the Playoffs a third straight year? Did they show signs they can progress out of the 7/8 ringer when Jonathan Isaac is healthy?
Those are the questions that ultimately matter. And to do that they will need to accomplish these three things:
Find a shooter/scorer
The biggest bugaboo for any team that sits at No. 23 in offensive rating and have struggled to crack the top-20 in offense since Dwight Howard left in 2012 is to find scoring and shooting.
The Magic have built a team that even when it has played poorly is still a top-10 defense in the league. No one questions Steve Clifford’s bona fides as a defensive coach or what he has been able to do transforming this team into a solid defensive unit.
There is no reason to think the Magic’s defense will slip heading into next season — outside of having less time to prepare in training camp. Losing Jonathan Isaac is a big deal for the defense. But regaining Al-Farouq Aminu might also quietly be a big boost to the defense too.
The Magic are not going to spend much time worrying about their defense. If that fails, the Magic might have bigger issues.
Orlando Magic
But Orlando needs shooting and scoring desperately.
Most fans have spent the offseason so far obsessing on how the Magic could get a major scoring player — such as Zach LaVine or Buddy Hield — or other similar big names that would provide a huge boost to the offense.
The Magic should be fishing for those players. They should also be putting an emphasis on shooting and other offensive skills. The team has plenty of defnesive ability. It is not a major concern. But adding some shooting and offensive creation will be vital.
They can do this in the Draft too. While it might take longer for someone taken 15th — or someone the Magic trade up to acquire — they could still provide a big boost.
Players like Devin Vassell, Killian Hayes, Aaron Nesmith, R.J. Hampton or Cole Anthony are among the players the Magic could draft to help fill thesee needs.
For sure, the biggest moe the Magic make this offseason will undoubtedly involve some boost to the offense. Whether that comes in a trade or in the Draft.
Fill the backup point guard spot
The most immediate need on the Orlando Magic’s roster is at the backup point guard spot.
Despite some in the national media wondering if Markelle Fultz is the Magic’s long-term answer at point guard, the team should feel very comfortable giving Fultz a full season as the clear-cut starting point guard.
Orlando is going to build and plan as if Fultz is going to be a part of this team for the long-term. They owe it to him at least to give him his chance to earn a new contract and extension this season before his restricted free agency in 2021.
Behind him is a bigger mystery though. Both D.J. Augustin and Michael Carter-Williams are free agents this offseason. It feels unlikely the Magic will bring back both players.
Augustin simply does not fit the team’s overall vision. His lack of size and slower-paced play makes it hard to justify giving him a new contract and committing to him long-term. Not to mention, he would just be the backup at this point. It might make sense to give him a one-year deal as a way to keep him as a veteran influence for Fultz.
The Magic will have to look to replace that veteran influence if they let Augustin go. That might be a lower priority with Al-Farouq Aminu on the roster and having a year with the team — although just 18 games playing.
Carter-Williams’ case is a little bit more complicated. There might be a market for Carter-Williams this offseason. But he has undoubtedly found a home and saved his career in Orlando. Playing for Steve Clifford has been a big boost for him.
Many mock drafts have the Magic taking a point guard in the draft — whether it is Tyrese Maxey, Tyrell Terry, Kira Lewis or Cole Anthony. The Magic are definitely in the market for a point guard somewhere.
This is the most immediate and clear need the team has to fill before next season begins.
Set up the team’s future
Overall, the team’s bigger philosophy will not change.
The Orlando Magic are going to enter this season believing they will make the playoffs. Even in an Eastern Conference that seems to be improving — with young teams like the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls pushing to get into the playoff picture and veteran-infused teams like the Washington Wizards hungry to get back — the Orlando Magic should still feel they can make it.
It is not likely the Magic spend the offseason completely deconstructing their roster. That just is not part of the team’s overall philosophy. They believe young players grow best by playing in meaningful games.
And in any case, this is still a veteran-filled team. Their best young player in Jonathan Isaac is likely to miss the entire season. And Mohamed Bamba is already getting minutes and improving in his role. The only action the Magic can take to get him more playing time is to trade their best player in Nikola Vucevic.
Chuma Okeke is still a great unknown.
In other words, this is not a team that is in a great position to try for the best Lottery odds. It would not make sense to do so even if the team traded away most of its starters. It is not likely the team will be bad enough barring complete disaster to make a real push for a top pick — outside of Lottery luck, which is needed even if the team ended up with the worst record anyway.
As the Golden State Warriors proved, every team is only a few injuries away from a complete disaster. Those dreaming of a high lottery pick should take that as some comfort.
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Just because the Magic view the playoffs as a goal does not mean they are sold out on getting there. This is an important distinction.
Orlando is not going to make moves — trading young players for veterans — just with the goal of making the playoffs. The team is still planning for a future where it is competing for something more.
This is why the Magic are not likely to trade out of this Draft. They need the young players to supplement and grow this overarching philosophy guiding many of the Magic’s long-term decisions.
What that goal is or what that team looks like is still something of a mystery. And that is part of the problem facing the Magic. Outside of Jeff Weltman’s penchant for drafting players with length, nobody knows what this Magic team wants to be.
More than anything else, the Magic need to start making this overarching philosophy clearer. They will do this in how they choose to move with their veteran players — particularly Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon.
All three have extremely uncertain long-term futures with the franchise. And, especially with Fournier after he opts in to the final year of his deal, it seems inevitable the Magic will trade them.
Outside of Fournier’s expiring contract, the Magic still have time to assess the trade markets for Vucevic and Gordon. This is why Orlando should enter the trade market from a position of power. The hope is both players will play better in 2021 — it would be hard for Gordon to be significantly worse — and increase the Magic’s ability to trade them.
This is another reason why it is important for the Magic to compete for a playoff spot this season. Maintaining trade value and market value are vital to the team’s ultimate success and ability to improve.
But whatever the Magic trade these players for — or decide to double-down and invest in them for the long-term — will set the Magic’s course more significantly than any other.
And it is these moves — along with the free-agent signing the Magic get from their mid-level exception, although this will likely be used to address an immediate need — that will have the biggest impact and determine this team’s future.
More than anything else this offseason and into next season, the Magic need to start shifting this team toward that direction and making their identity and their goals clearer.
But that is not the goal to start the season or in the offseason. The Magic are going to try to find a tricky balance of supplementing the team’s roster while also eyeing the future and the changes they need to make.
And that is clearly not going to be easy. It may not even be extremely well defined.
But they have to start somewhere. And it might as well be this offseason.