LeBron James' move East raises the stakes for the Orlando Magic

The last seismic shift of the NBA's offseason came down Friday morning. LeBron James to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Taking that with the acquisition of Jaylen Brown and the surprising health the team showed last year that still got them to the 7-seed, led by young guards Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe -- late-season injuries knocked them back into the Play-In -- and the Sixers suddenly look like title contenders.

It is hard to assume anything in the Eastern Conference these days.

After all, last year, it felt like the Orlando Magic struck while the iron was hot. They pushed their chips in to acquire Desmond Bane in an East that seemed to be down, missing two contending teams in the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics with injuries to their top stars.

The Celtics still finished second. The Magic struggled with injuries and finished eighth.

The East still feels wide open with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining the Philadelphia 76ers, the pending trade of Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, Giannis Antetokounmpo heading to the Miami Heat, and the return for a full season of both Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton from last year's injuries.

It is stunning to look at the Eastern Conference landscape and consider there are 10 teams that likely believe they can win a playoff series this year:

The Atlanta Hawks, last year's 6-seed, is not even in that graphic. But this is a stacked Eastern Conference.

It might be the most talented and competitive the East has been since the 1990s. For the first time in at least a decade, if not longer, the East can probably claim to be the tougher conference compared to the Western Conference.

A road that seemed so open for the Magic to get deeper into the Playoffs with their core group now seems much more difficult. And the Magic face a lot of questions and a lot of doubts about whether they can get there.

Not that winning a championship is ever easy.

A clear goal

The Orlando Magic's goal is abundantly clear.

This team wants to compete and win a championship. It believes it has the top-end talent in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner to compete with the top teams in the East. It has solid secondary role players in Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs.

This is just a team with unrealized potential.

But there is urgency to make that potential real. It is not merely coming from competition that seems to be loading up.

The Magic should be running their own race and not worried about their competition. If their top players are good enough, then the team will find itself among the contenders.

That is why the Magic pushed their chips in last summer to acquire Desmond Bane. Bane himself worked brilliantly for the Magic. The injury to Franz Wagner, especially, prevented the Magic from seeing the best version of themselves.

Everyone in the organization should be feeling some pressure.

The Magic gave their roster a second chance after last year's injury-filled season because of that faith in the roster construction and its top players.

But this is a team flirting with the second apron. The Magic are paying the tax for the first time since the 2012 season (after dipping below the tax line last year). And the team cannot remain this expensive if it does not have a path to competing for a championship.

The same decisions that deconstructed the Boston Celtics' 2024 championship team are moving to deconstruct this Orlando Magic. Orlando needs to get something for it.

The Magic are confident they can compete with the top of the East. They should not be afraid of all the moving and shaking around the conference.

The one thing this team has not done is turn its potential into kinetic energy. And that is why there is a lot of doubt surrounding this Magic team and concern that they cannot escape the Play-In ringer.

Early predictions

It is not that anyone is counting the Orlando Magic out.

There is a general acknowledgement the Magic are a tough and talented team, albeit with some questions. Nobody will put them in the class of title contenders, which is a problem and something the Magic will have to prove.

Nobody is discounting them as a potential playoff team. It is rare to find anyone who thinks they would miss the Play-In, at least.

But as you sort through teams, it is easy to see how the Magic could fall behind the other teams in the East. A path to even avoid the Play-In looks tricky.

The general consensus is the Magic will be projected to return to the Play-In Tournament as a 7- or 8-seed. Perhaps even as the 9-seed with the Indiana Pacers jumping back into the fray.

Here is a summary of the Magic's recent power rankings after LeBron James landed in Philadelphia:

By the odds on FanDuel Sportsbook, the Magic are 16th at +5500 to win the NBA championship and ninth in the East at +1900.

That said, there is very little faith that the Magic will make good on their ambitions. Then again, the Magic did little to affirm that last year.

Orlando did not win the summer buzz. The team stuck with the same roster that finished with 45 wins and the 8-seed in a disappointing season. Nobody is talking about the Magic nationally. It should not be surprising that they are predicted to finish in the Play-In again.

Many teams in the East are moving in on that turf.

Every game next season will be a battle. The difference between homecourt advantage in fourth and making the Play-In may be only a few games. There could be a scenario where a loss in the last day tumbles a team from fifth to eighth or ninth.

The margins will be small to determine who accomplishes their regular-season goals. And every team will believe they can win their playoff series no matter where they end up.

This is a big season for the Magic. They are likely assessing how big the moves they need to make and how close they truly are to a title contender this year. Another Play-In year will likely lead to a full reassessment of this team's core. A series win and the team may remain aggressive to take that next step.

The only thing everyone knows now is that the East will be a bloodbath. And results will have consequences.

The Magic have a lot on the line and not a lot of belief from the NBA world.

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