It feels like a brand new day for the Orlando Magic in so many ways. The team is facing expectations this franchise has not seen in more than a dozen years. Everyone expects the Magic to do great things.
It is not merely just the external expectations and hopes, this team believes it can do a lot of big things this season. The team feels the opportunity ahead of it.
What is the first step then in reaching those goals?
Is it to integrate a new player like Desmond Bane fully and try to maximize and focus on his offensive skills? Is it getting the team going up and down and seeing how all of these puzzle pieces fit together?
That answer is simple.
Despite the new toys the Magic know they have brought in to boost the offense, the team knows its identity and its secret to success. As much as the Magic are eager to score more and run more in transition, everything starts on defense.
The first day of training camp is still about the team's fundamentals.
"We always go back to the fundamentals," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday's practice. "Today's practice, the theme and the focus was conditioning, sprinting and defensive fundamentals. We keep it simple for that so now those guys walking in are understanding our defensive principles and where we start things. You have got to be in shape in order to do it and communicate at the level you need to."
The answer is not so simple and yet it is simple. Everything is involved in the early days of practice as the Magic lay down the foundations for the team they will aim to be. Elements of offense and defense are getting laid in.
There is a lot of fawning over the Magic's offensive potential. But this team still goes back to its defense. And quite simply, the Magic will go as far as their defense can take them.
Everything starts with the core principles. There is an understanding of what the team is trying to do defensively. There is the competitive edge the team needs to get quickly before Saturday's preseason opener against the Miami Heat.
Orlando is leaning on its continuity too to try to hit the ground running. The weeks of practices and camps before training camp formally began have also helped the team in these early days.
The Magic know this is the groundwork they need to accomplish those goals.
"It was a great first day," Desmond Bane said after Tuesday's practice. "Energy was there, intensity was there, a willingness to learn was there. We are building the blocks. It's a long marathon. It's good to get that first day out of the way. I'm still settling in and learning the concepts and terminology. I'm excited to continue building off of this."
The Magic's newcomers are veteran players. They should pick things up quickly. But how they fit defensively matters as much as the boost they can bring on offense.
The new additions
Desmond Bane, Tyus Jones, Jase Richardson and Noah Penda are the four new players on the roster. They are the ones who have to make sure they are coming along with a team that pretty much knows the drill and what Mosley expects from his team.
They are also the ones who would seemingly be the ones to push the team to its next level.
A lot of the excitement for the team came from the Bane acquisition and the opportunities that come from him. He is an elite shooter and a growing playmaker. He will not take away from their defense.
The success for this team comes in how quickly they integrate Bane and how much Bane can impact the team. It is in the exchange of information.
The Magic are trying to teach him their way. He is also going to inform a lot of what they do too.
"A little bit of that, but also embracing his experience and the teams he has been on and how they did things and picking his brain," Franz Wagner said after Tuesday's practice. "That's what I'm excited about these next couple of weeks and the whole year. We have a lot of room to improve, especially on offense. I think there is especially defensively, everyone being on the same page and knowing the concepts. There is communication on both sides."
Bane remains one of the big storylines within the early days of camp. He admitted he still kind of looks around and realizes he is not in Memphis anymore. There is some familiarity that he needs to get -- something he worked on by coming to Orlando early and working out in the Magic's training facility.
But Bane has also taken on something of a leadership role. He has at least been very eager to integrate with the club and learn his new teammates. He seems like a great fit.
It is on the Magic to make sure he fits in with the group and understands the way they want to play.
Moving to offense
While the Orlando Magic are not wholly working on their offense yet, everyone can sense from early pick-up runs and scrimmages in practice that they will have an effect on the team's offense.
Everyone can see the hints of what they will do -- and Mosley already said that they intend to run more off misses as a way to boost the offense.
Not a lot has changed for the Magic, even with these major additions. They still want to be about the same things. And so the first day of practice was a lot of the familiar as the team relays its foundations.
"It's different players, a little bit of different skill sets out there on the floor," Paolo Banchero said after practice Tuesday. "We've got some guys that can knock down some shots. We're still defending at a high level so it doesn't feel too different from the past. It's definitely different with some of the new guys as well."
The Magic are also still waiting for the returns of Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner from long-term injuries.
Both participated in non-contact drills in Tuesday's practice. Jamahl Mosely characterized Moe Wagner as two steps behind where Suggs is at. But they are both involved with the team in this vital stage.
All the foundations are being put in. These are the first steps for the Magic. And it starts with what they know is their core -- their relentlessness and defense.