Orlando Magic fans are frustrated.
Among the deepest reaches of Magic X or message boards are cries to fire president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman after he sat out the trade deadline for the second straight year.
Frustration has boiled over with the Orlando Magic falling to ninth in the Eastern Conference after Monday's 112-106 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. As criticism of Weltman grows, conspiracy theories are not hard to find.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN unintentionally fueled that fire by claiming on the Hoop Collective podcast he did not hear of Weltman placing any calls ahead of the trade deadline. He questioned just how aggressive Weltman was.
Weltman would dispute this, telling both Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel and Mike Bianchi of Open Mike that he was aggressive in seeking out trades. In the end, Weltman felt other teams were trying to take advantage of the Magic's frustrating month and "squeeze" them out of assets they were not ready to part with.
Weltman said he did not want to put a temporary Band-Aid on any of the team's issues, acknowledging publicly the team needed to add shooting in the next transaction periods. Weltman's assessment was the team was better off waiting for the offseason and giving this team a chance to get healthy and see what they can do.
That will not make fans feel any better. The season has not gone according to plan. It is clear the Magic need an injection of offense to be competitive at the level they anticipated at the beginning of the season.
It seems inevitable the Magic will make a major trade or transaction to add to the roster.
The question is why did the Magic decide to wait for the ofseason? Why was this not the time?
In the words of Aaron Rodgers everyone needs to R-E-L-A-X. There is still time for the Magic to improve and make the moves to vault them closer to contention.
Michael Pina has a positive message for Magic fans
That was at least part of the message Michael Pina of The Ringer wanted to portray when he examined why the five teams who did not make a deal t the deadline decided to stand pat.
While he was confused by much of what those teams did not do in this situation, he at least agreed with the logic of the Magic sitting tight.
"The Magic know how good they can be with what they already have," Pina wrote. "In the face of serious injuries to Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and a few other key pieces, they chose to remain calm."
This is even after acknowledging how poor the Magic have been this season on offense and the team's lagging playoff hopes. He said the Magic are self-aware enough to know that this team is not who they are and they were not ready to break things apart.
Weltman portrayed that message in response to the trade deadline too. He said they have not been healthy enough to make any long-term evaluations. The hope is that Jalen Suggs' injury will not last much longer and the Magic can begin seeing those pieces come together.
This does not come without some warning though.
Weltman has previewed in his availabilities that the team's bill is coming due. Franz Wagner's max contract and Jalen Suggs' extension kick in next season. And Paolo Banchero's contract extension will begin at the start of the 2027 season.
Orlando will be a tax team most likely next year and will be above the first apron in the 2027 season. The Magic's time to spend is now. And that is why it feels like the Magic missed an opportunity at this year's trade deadline.
There is also the belief the Magic are not far.
Most pundits will agree the Magic are better than their record and injuries have put them in this position in the standings. Matt Moore of Fansided was incredulous at the Magic sitting tight believing the team should have seen enough and a microwave scorer or guard would be something that puts the team over the top.
That might still be the case. And the Magic may just be a step behind where some pundits and fans want them to be, willing to put future assets to make a deal to improve the team in the short term.
Perhaps the Magic will be more willing ot make that move in the offseason.
That will not quiet frustrated fans. Especially if the team continues to struggle and has to find itself going through the Play-In to return to the playoffs or, perhaps unthinkably, in the Lottery because they lost in the Play-In.
All of that seems possible. And how Magic fans ultimately feel about Weltman's decision to sit tight might depend on how the final 27 games go.