The idea behind what the Orlando Magic tried to do last year was unassailable.
That was clear from the massive amount of expectations and predictions everyone who follows the league placed on the team last year. The Magic were meant to be the league's breakout team and finally graduate from a nice Playoff team to a full-fledged contender.
Things did not work out that way. There were many hard lessons for the team to learn.
The things that seemed so easy and clicked so well for much of the last five years were no longer a guarantee for this roster. The team was searching for its identity and some consistency.
It was not easy. It cost their coach his job.
Even through all the disappointment and frustration, the Magic clearly had the talent to compete. In one of the few instances last season where they were fully healthy, they took a 3-1 lead over the top-seed Detroit Pistons. That Franz Wagner's injury was the decisive factor showed how precarious the team's situation was.
But it showed how close they are too.
The Magic have been stewing and feeling that all summer. The front office shared the players' confidence in the talent on the roster.
A veteran like Desmond Bane knows exactly what this team has to do to have a successful season.
"I think talent is not a problem for us," Desmond Bane told Baker Machado of Front Office Sports. "I think we have a good collection of players. It's about coming together and collective buy-in to whatever it is coach [Sean] Sweeney wants from us. That's the ultimate key. If we have that and we keep building and getting better throughout the season, anything is possible."
There was a ton of frustration that the Magic could not pull all the pieces together last year. But things were not always pulling in the same direction.
That is what the team is trying to do now. All while learning a new coach.
That will be what is necessary for the Magic to be successful this season. And everyone knows it.
The Magic must come together quickly
If the Orlando Magic had a talent issue, there would be a lot more concern.
There are flaws that many want the Magic to address. But the team showed it could compete with the best teams in the league throughout last season.
It should not just be the team going up 3-1 on the Detroit Pistons that is proof of what this team can do at its best. It should also be the team going to the semifinals of the NBA Cup, including wins over the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in group play.
Injuries were a big reason the team took a step back. Their best players did not get enough time together. When they did, they won.
The Magic will need to adjust to a new coach in Sean Sweeney. He will ask the team to do different things on offense and defense. There will be strategic tweaks to learn and grow into.
But that work is already underway. Sweeney is starting to get in touch with players and implement his vision.
Bane said Sweeney visited him in his house in Texas fairly recently. He was also seen in the AdventHealth Training Center welcoming Nikola Vucevic back to Orlando this week. Sweeney will surely continue to meet with players in the next six weeks leading into his first training camp.
Bane said it means a lot that Sweeney is taking the time to meet players where they are this offseason. And that is helping with early buy-in.
"I think just little things like him coming all the way out here shows his commitment, his care factor, how much he is willing to put into this thing," Bane told Front Office Sports. "It's not only coaching but building relationships and helping us get ot where he was just out. He was just in the Finals. He has that experience and credibility when he is speaking ot us. I'm super excited. I think he is going to help us in a major way."
The players are doing their part too.
Bane also said that several of his teammates came to Texas to work with him and hang out too. Paolo Banchero and Anthony Black were both in Los Angeles recently for pickup runs at the NBPA's PLYRS UNTD performance center.
Paolo Banchero said in an interview with Tyler Preece that he was planning to meet and workout with Franz Wagner in Los Angeles too (Wagner may have also been at those pickup runs).
Whether that means anyone has improved and taken a leap in their game is another question. But the Magic are not taking this summer lying down. They are trying to work on what went wrong last season.
Anything can happen
Undoubtedly, the Eastern Conference has gotten much tougher though. Everyone realizes that too.
The Orlando Magic finished eighth last year and have a long climb to be in the same breath as contenders like the Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers after this busy offseason.
The Magic have a lot to prove.
But Orlando did not put the chips in for Desmond Bane simply because the East seemed open last season. The Magic hoped to contend with this core for years to come.
They have given that group another chance and have, at least, expressed optimism, through their action, that they have enough to be a title contender.
That the league has become so unpredictable is another reason why there is so much confidence underneath the surface with the Magic.
"You've seen it over the course of the last few seasons," Desmond Bane told Front Office Sports. "The Spurs were kind of a surprise team and made it to the Finals. The year before, the Indiana Pacers. Nothing is like it was 10 years ago, where you know LeBron [James] is going to play in the Finals against the [Golden State] Warriors. There is a lot of parity in the league. There are 10 or 11 teams in the East that feel like they can make a run. And we're one of them."
Why can it not be Orlando that makes a stunning run or makes that big breakthrough? That is how the Magic feel.
The question is whether the Magic will do the things they need to make the most of the talent on the roster. That is where they fell short last season.
Orlando knows it too. And that is what the group is working on in the summer and hoping to continue building when training camp begins.
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