The Orlando Magic enjoyed a sweet victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. The win took them to 3-9 and gave them a much-needed second win during a seven-game homestand that was supposed to help their push for the play-in tournament.
Instead, they languish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference, with wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors surrounded by more puzzling losses to the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings.
The identity of this group is coming, it is just taking a while to get to the destination.
In among all of these early struggles for the Orlando Magic is a still uneven roster, but there are three players right now who are pushing for more minutes.
Injuries to key players like Markelle Fultz and Cole Anthony have contributed to the lopsided nature of the rotations. It is hard to see what the Magic can be at full strength when most of their backcourt depth is on the shelf.
That being said, this has been an excellent opportunity for Jalen Suggs to begin to find himself, and he has responded well.
The return of Jonathan Isaac looks over the group too. How will he slot into the group on the court after more than two seasons injured? Will his introduction mean precious minutes have to be taken away from the solid Wendell Carter or from Bol Bol, who has been the surprise package of the season so far, perhaps across the entire NBA?
Questions for another day. But let’s examine the three guys knocking on the door right now to try and force their way into the bigger picture of head coach Jamahl Mosley. Figuring this conundrum out will go a long way to deciding whether his second season with the Magic was a success.