The Orlando Magic are sitting at home watching the postseason this year. They hope this will be the last time in a while that they will not get at least an 83rd game to their season.
For now, the Magic are focused on their future. They are focused on doing what they need to do to get to the postseason next year.
And as the team considers its future, the team and the franchise should be focused on what it will take to win in the playoffs.
The Magic are building their team still. They have a lot on the roster they want to foster and grow. But as the team enters the offseason and thinks about what to add to this team, they should have a distinct focus on what will win in the postseason and the kinds of players that will help lift the team up when the games really matter.
Orlando should be planning for its postseason runs now as they begin to construct their roster.
The Orlando Magic are knocking on the door of a long postseason run. But as they build their roster they need to think about who on their team could fall flat in the postseason and how to help them.
Obvioulsy, a lot of attention is rightfully on the Magic’s star players. At the end of the day, a team will go as far as their stars will take them — either as scorers themselves or in soaking up defensive attention. And right now the Magic are betting on Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to deliver for them.
They just will not know how they will respond until they get into that playoff atmosphere.
What teams equally have to be aware of is players that could become targets and liabilities in the postseason. In a series that becomes about matchups — and especially with the amount of switching teams do — some players just do not work in a playoff setting.
Orlando is still building its team. And so it has to think about adding players who will help the team in the postseason just as much as the team has to start thinking about how to limit players on the roster who will struggle in the postseason.
With the Magic having to make several key decisions this offseason, the team should already be assessing its roster’s playoff capabilities.
And, unfortunately, that means considering how teams might attack the Magic. There are certainly a few players who right now may not be built for the postseason.