2023 Orlando Magic Playoff Lessons: Brooklyn Nets show the perils of star hunting

The Orlando Magic’s 2023 season saw them execute a simple game plan. That was to continue to get better internally with the group of young players they have amassed.

They accomplished that goal, as Paolo Banchero became the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year, and Franz Wagner staked his claim as the best sophomore in the entire league.

Looking across the Eastern Conference and at an organization that actually made the postseason, and the same cannot be said of the Brooklyn Nets. They are headed in the opposite direction having detonated a star-laden team and recouped assets to restart their franchise.

The Brooklyn Nets’ sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers after losing some superstar talent showed the Orlando Magic just how quickly fortunes can change in the NBA.

The mighty fell quickly in Brooklyn.

The Nets began the regular season with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and the belief that they could make a run at a championship.

Losing James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers the season before had not been part of the plan. But any franchise that has Durant automatically has a chance to win it all. There was still plenty to believe in with Brooklyn.

We know now that by the time the final buzzer sounded on the Nets’ season last weekend, their roster looked completely different.

The fantastic Mikal Bridges spearheaded a future that also currently features high-level role players like Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie. Ben Simmons is also still here.

But this team is not the same championship-level team. In fact, Brooklyn went only 13-15 after the trade.

But what does the sudden demise of the Nets to a middle-of-the-road team have to do with a Magic outfit that is surely on the rise?

We know the Nets cashed in all of their chips, and then some, to be able to acquire Durant, Harden and Irving. A series of moves by the way, that you make every single time.

It was unfortunate for them that COVID, and Irving’s feelings toward that period and many other things in general, happened when it did. We never got to truly see how good the Nets could be. And in reality, they were a toe nail away from advancing past the Milwaukee Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals and potentially a championship in 2021.

This coming offseason, there is going to come a moment, or perhaps several, where the Magic are in a prime position to also land a marquee-level player.

Not of the same standing as Kevin Durant, although it may be that Luka Doncic suddenly decides the Dallas Mavericks is no longer the long-term situation for him. Or perhaps Trae Young, who has restored some of his value with his last two playoff performances against the Boston Celtics, is the player that becomes available.

The Atlanta Hawks sensing that there will never be an opportunity as good as this, with Young proving he can have memorable postseason moments, to get a serious package for him.

The Magic are going to be involved or speculated in these conversations should they happen.

No matter who the player is, it is going to be very tempting for the Magic to get involved and see if they can speed up their rebuilding process.

After all, given the instant success from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, and the likely addition of two lottery picks this summer, the Magic are most certainly ahead of schedule.

The path the Oklahoma City Thunder are currently taking has shown just how hard winning at a truly meaningful level is, and so skipping some steps in adding high-level talent and overtaking the Thunder is certainly worth exploring.

We have seen during the first round of this year’s playoffs that lower-seeded teams can have situations break their way.

Had the Orlando Magic made the Play-In and then the postseason, as the Miami Heat did, their roster as currently constructed would have gained some valuable experience and been bounced early.

But imagine if they had had a player like Young, or Anthony Edwards, to go with what they have already got.

A Milwaukee Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo for some games would have suddenly found themselves under some pressure to get by that fictional Magic group.

That is the temptation of thinking about the all-in move. The Magic’s front office continues to say it will not skip steps. But opportunities arise and things change quickly in this league.

Having those two lottery picks, all of their future picks, Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter, Markelle Fultz, Gary Harris and a healthy cap sheet means the team can significantly upgrade without losing their best young players.

Orlando can get very good very quickly if that is what the team wants to do or the right player becomes available for the right price.

Yet if the Nets failed to get this right in adding three Hall 0f Fame players at once, then the Magic need to realize that adding better talent will not guarantee success.

They are on the right track, and losing the run of themselves because they are now in position for the first time in over a decade to be serious players in trade chatter needs to be avoided at all costs.

Orlando has not been a free-agent destination during this timeframe either, and just because All-Star level players may want to come and play with Banchero soon, it does not make it a good idea.

They need to navigate this summer carefully, and avoid the pitfalls the Nets fell into in their quest to win it all. They do not even have a conference finals appearance to show for it.

The grass is not always greener and the superstar teams do not always come together the way everyone expects.