Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag: As the ping pong ball turns

All the hand-wringing that came after the trade deadline and it became clear what the Orlando Magic’s goals were is over. The Magic limped to the end of the season and secured the best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery on the final day of the season.

There was no repeat of 2018 where, despite fielding a lineup that was certainly not designed to win against a team that had something to play for, the team won on the final day of the season to knock them out of a tie for third and a one-in-three chance to land either the pick that netted Luka Doncic or the pick that netted Trae Young.

Fans still rue that win. Even if it is just as fair to say two more wins would have landed the team the second pick that went to the Sacramento Kings that year. Such is the Lottery.

The Orlando Magic, despite an early lead, “took care of business” and lost to the Philadelphia 76ers on the final day of the season. That, in addition to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s surprising win over the LA Clippers (a loss the Clippers are surely regretting right now), moved the Magic into third for the Lottery order.

Orlando holds the best odds to win the NBA Draft Lottery, giving them a 14.1-percent chance to win the whole thing and a 52.1-percent chance of landing in the top four.

The Magic wanted a coin flip’s chance at getting a top-four pick in a draft many consider a five-person draft of star talent and they got it.

On top of this, the team got good news with the Chicago Bulls winning the tiebreaker, giving the team a four in five chance of receiving their pick and a more than two in three chance the pick ends up eighth or ninth.

It is all good news for the Magic. At least for now.

The Orlando Magic still have a month before the NBA Draft Lottery and the event they torpedoed their season for. We are here to answer questions in the meantime with our regular Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag.

The next big date on the calendar is June 22 when the NBA Draft Lottery takes place. That will answer more fully the questions the Magic have about their offseason and which direction this team will go.

For now, it all seems uncertain.

That is where the Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag thrives — in uncertainty.

There are still a lot of questions to go with the Magic and while the Lottery will illuminate a lot of them, the magic can begin pondering and answering some questions about their current roster as they plan their offseason beyond the Draft.

The Draft undoubtedly is a big piece of the puzzle. The biggest piece of the puzzle. The one that sets everything down in motion. But the team is still going to find a way to align itself the best it can.

With a month to go before the NBA Draft Lottery, this is the time to ponder all those big questions. So we are opening up the Orlando Magic Daily Mailbag once again.

Submit your questions to me on Twitter @omagicdaily, in the comments below or by e-mail at omagicdaily@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing your questions and diving into what should be an eventful and momentous offseason. I will hope to get the full mailbag out before the Lottery in mid-June.