The dust has mostly settled from a busy offseason. Every team in the league is gearing up for training camp to start in less than four weeks.
If you cannot be optimistic about your team now, it likely will never come. Everybody should believe in the best version of their team.
The Orlando Magic eschewed any major moves because of their belief in the roster they had. They believed that with better health, the Magic could advance deeper into the Playoffs. After two injury-filled years, Orlando feels it has not seen that team at its best.
That faith also comes with an ultimatum.
The Magic are now among the most expensive teams in the league, with Paolo Banchero's max contract kicking in along with Franz Wagner's max extension and $30-plus million salaries for Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane. Orlando is only $2.5 million beneath the second apron.
Anthony Black's extension is looming.
The Magic have big decisions to make regardless of how this season turns out. The team will have no choice but to be active to manage their finances and retreat a bit from the aprons.
People are already discussing the possibilities. And it includes an Earth-shattering trade that does not feel so far-fetched, depending on how the season turns out.
The storm clouds are already brewing.
"If you don't believe that us playing two or three different guys who are max salaries who are 23 or 24, if you are not looking at that value and you are going to pay a tax of $30-40 million because you thought these guys might be going to the conference finals and we're stuck in the play-in, you will be to Perk's point, quicker to move off that," Richard Jefferson said on the Road Trippin' Podcast. "That's detrimental to development, in my opinion, that's detrimental to the growth of a franchise. You have to make that financial decision when they are an All-Star in their third year, and you get that max deal. Now, all of a sudden, you get stuck in the play-in and approach the second apron, you have to get off salary."
The league's virtual hard cap with the second apron has forced a lot of teams to make difficult decisions. And the parity in the Eastern Conference, especially, has created both opportunity and peril. Another year in the Play-In Tournament would force the Magic to ask themselves a lot of questions.
That includes questions about their star duo and whether that is their best path to a championship and the two players they can truly build around. Suddenly, the conversation of trading Banchero or Wagner does not feel so far-fetched.
Most predictions -- including all three of Kendrick Perkins, Channing Frye and Richard Jefferson on Road Trippin' -- have the Magic finishing in the Play-In again. There might be different degrees to it. The Magic need to see how the season plays out.
But even before the season begins, this pressure to perform exists. It is clear that the Magic will not be able to sustain this roster as it is for much longer. Already Magic fans are bracing for trade rumors to fly around this team -- sooner or later.
Winning solves all problems
The only thing that would keep the team together is to win.
The degree to which the changes the Orlando Magic will make will depend on the outcome of this season. If the Magic have a strong season, advance out of the first round and have a competitive second-round series, the Magic will have established themselves as a potential title winner.
Another year in the Play-In Tournament or missing the Playoffs entirely with a Play-In Tournament loss will force the Magic to ask some bigger questions about their pathway to win.
Adding to that is the fact that the 2027 first-round pick is the only first-round pick the Magic own without conditions until 2031. Orlando cannot afford to bottom out. This team must find a way to remain competitive.
That inevitably has led to at least some preliminary discussions about the top of the roster. Orlando must deliver this season. Everyone is feeling the pressure.
Paolo Banchero in the spotlight
This offseason has featured a lot of discussions about Paolo Banchero.
The Orlando Magic's former No. 1 overall pick has been the center of criticism and doubt throughout the league as he has struggled to break through to be a perennial All-Star.
The Magic fired their coach to create some new context and shake up how they use Banchero. But it will be up to Banchero to silence doubters and prove he can be a true lead option.
If Banchero does not take a big step this season, the Magic will have to consider splitting up their star duo, despite their age.
"There are things he does well enough and he is young enough, we've got a little more time," Richard Jefferson said on the Road Trippin' Podcast. "I know that their team and maybe he hasn't proven to be the number one guy and you have to find the number one and he can be the number two, you want to try that formula before you move off him. He has proven he can be one of those ones. Orlando shouldn't just be like we can get all of this. He's young enough that you can try. "
It is fair to quesiton whether the Magic either have built around the right player or whether they have built the best team around that player after three straight first-round exits.
It is probably too soon to discuss such a massive trade seriously. But it is not far off either.
The league has changed again
It is true that the league is moving faster now. Teams must make these franchise-altering decisions sooner now because of the pressure of the salary cap. The Orlando Magic cannot avoid those questions.
With their payroll, the Magic should be competing for a championship. They arrived here because of some successful drafting and investing in their own players. It is time for everyone on the roster to deliver.
Those questions would all come to a head if the Magic fall short again.
"They have talent," Channing Frye said on the Road Trippin' Podcast. "But talent and expectations have reached the point where we're like, OK you are in the play-in again; OK, you got injured again; OK, you can't shoot again. You can bring any coach in there, it's not going to solve shooting or continuity. Unless something crazy happens, it's not a knock on the players, it's a knock on the build of the team. It's just not it."
The Magic are staring this reality down.
The question is how massive will the changes be when the team retreats from the apron. If the team falls short, they could be quite big and envelope one of the team's core players.
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