I do not think many of us waking up Thursday morning expected the Orlando Magic to detonate as big of a bomb as they did at the trade deadline.
Sure, the Magic were expected to move Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon. But when Nikola Vucevic got sent to the Chicago Bulls, it started a domino effect that clearly ended with one era of Magic basketball ending and the next one beginning.
I am sure there were some of us who would not have been surprised if the Magic did not do anything at all and got set to “run it back” next year.
After all, the Orlando Magic fought back from down 24 against the Denver Nuggets and beat the Phoenix Suns in back to back games, all on the back of Fournier’s 31 points and game-winner in each respective game (not to mention Vucevic’s 27 points and 14 rebounds in the Suns game).
But the Magic blew it up. They started anew.
The Orlando Magic are starting fresh with a new roster and a new rebuilding plan. Immediately there are several things the team has to do to get started.
Jeff Weltman and John Hammond have finally given clear direction for the future of this organization, despite feeling that the team could have competed for homecourt advantage this season if they had stayed healthy. Ultimately, they concluded that was not their path to a championship.
So moving forward without Vucevic, Fournier, and Gordon, the three players who have been the embodiment of the Orlando Magic for the past seven years, where do the Magic go from here?