We are officially one month from the start of the Orlando Magic’s season.
The long sojourn through the summer — with a FIBA World Cup oasis in the middle — is nearly over. And one of the most anticipated and eagerly awaited seasons for the Magic is about to begin.
Without a doubt, Magic fans see something special on the horizon for this young team. They spent most of last season reaching that critical stage of playing .500 basketball and competing for a postseason spot. They had dug themselves too deep a hole at 5-20 to start the season thanks to injuries to the guard spot and nearly climbed all the way out of it.
The Magic were the last team eliminated from postseason contention in the Eastern Conference last year. And while they never got closer than three games from that final Play-In spot — and the Play-In itself is a rather low bar to clear for any promising team — they really do feel the postseason is a clear-cut goal for next season.
At least the players are willing to say so.
Every season is its own thing. And the Magic will have to find a way to repeat what was good about last season and build upon it.
The Orlando Magic feel like they can build off a strong finish to the season last year. But to get over the hump to the Playoffs will take little improvements in some big areas.
The truth though is if the Magic want to make the postseason they will not have to make any sweeping changes. The roster certainly did not see much turnover only adding Anthony Black, Jett Howard and Joe Ingles to replace Michael Carter-Williams, Admiral Schofield (now on a two-way deal) and Bol Bol.
Orlando is betting that internal growth will help the team make that climb.
Considering how close the team ended up being last year, some added depth and little changes are ultimately what could help the team take that important next step.
If the goal is simply to make the postseason, it will not take much for the Magic to get over the hump. It will be small improvements that get the Magic into the postseason.
What kind of improvements and just how small will they be? It is often going to be and sound like the simplest things. But something that this team was clearly on track to achieve in some measures and can clearly achieve with internal growth and development. Or it could be something the team struggled with as a young team that needs to turn around to take the next steps.