The Orlando Magic have not had the season they -- or anyone -- imagined this year.
As they prepare for Saturday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they sit in eighth in the East (a half-game behind the Miami Heat with three games in hand). The Magic find themselves in a fight to avoid the Play-In, pressuring the teams above them while feeling pressure from the teams behind them.
Barring a major turnaround, the Magic's dreams of getting homecourt advantage have long disappeared. And the team is going to spend the offseason trying to figure out what went wrong -- beyond injuries.
Everyone has been disappointed and frustrated how this season has gone. The question Jeff Weltman and his staff will need to answer is just how far away this team is from being a title-contending team.
The question is whether this team is actually close.
Magic legend -- and should-be Orlando Magic Hall of Fame member -- Horace Grant has been on championship teams. He was a starter for the Chicago Bulls' three-peat championship teams and was a major contributor to the Los Angeles Lakers' first title in 2000.
Not to mention, he was a galvanizing force and free agent who helped the 1995 Magic reach the NBA Finals for the first time.
It is why he is preparing to start his own web series, Legends in Session, this summer to interview and discuss the journeys of championship-level players and figures.
If anyone knows what a championship team should look like, it is Grant. And what he sees in this year's Magic team is a team full of talent but one that seems a bit disconnected.
"They have the pieces. Paolo and Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr., Suggs, Bane's a great pickup. They have the talent," Grant told me on Locked On Magic. "I think more or less they have to start trusting each other in terms of letting Paolo do his thing, let Bane do his thing. The other guys are going to have to play their roles in terms of rebounding and trusting each other on defense. I see in terms of the Magic playing defense, they are going to have to trust each other. They have the pieces. But I think it's all about trust."
Something has indeed felt off this season.
The Magic have been good enough, even through the major injuries they have faced, to be five games above .500. But they have struggled to piece everything together this year.
It does feel like the team has not quite gotten over the hump. And So Grant's diagnosis seems spot on. Trust is an intangible thing that the great teams have and the mediocre teams are struggling to find despite all of their talent.
A seeming disconnect
There is no doubt that one of the prevailing stories throughout the season has been a seeming disconnect within the team.
While everyone with the Orlando Magic has denied it, stories and rumors persist of frustration between the star player, Paolo Banchero, and the coach, Jamahl Mosley.
Despite some improvements offensive for this team to climb to 18th in offensive rating, that is still not good enough for a team with title aspirations. The Magic's offense still looks very clunky.
The real damage to the team has been on defense.
While Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, two of the team's best individual defenders, have missed significant time this season, Orlando did not expect to slip out of the top 10 in defensive rating. Much of their formula was still based on building an elite defensive team.
The Magic enter Saturday's game 13th in defensive rating, giving up 113.3 points per 100 possessions. They were second in the league in that category last year.
Trust is indeed a tenuous thing. It is something that is built year after year. It does not simply roll over. And the Magic have clearly lost some of the trust that defined them.
"A lot of people can believe, but if you don't execute that trust out there on the floor and in practice, you aren't going to succeed," Grant said on Locked On Magic. "If they can bring that into fruition, I think they'll be OK."
There is no seeming discord in the locker room. It has been clear that players on the team genuinely like each other and there have been a lot of visible conversations of the team trying to figure things out.
Proof of concept
Ultimately a lot of those questions about how the Orlando Magic enter this season will fall on Jeff Weltman and the front office.
When Weltman spoke to the media following the trade deadline, he positioned the team as still optimistic that what they have can work and play at a high level. They argued injuries were a big part of the reason the team was disappointing, while acknowledging that the team has not lived up to its standards.
The team, in other words, is not likely to throw the baby out with the bathwater so to speak after this injury-filled year.
Orlando's main quartet of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane and Jalen Suggs has a +11.8 net rating (119.7 offensive rating and 107.9 defensive rating) in 137 minutes and 13 games together. That is something to build on with more time together.
There is at least proof of concept the Magic's idea for the season worked. It just was not on the floor enough and did not get the time to develop during the course of the season.
Even if Wagner returns before the end of the season, there will be little ramp-up time to get the whole team playing at its peak.
The Magic too are finding a groove after the All-Star Break. Their defense has mostly recoverd, giving up 108.6 points per 100 possessions good for sixth in the short time since the break.
There are signs of life and signs that trust is growing more.
All it is though is proof of concept. The Magic will need to consider the whole season and wonder why things did not click.
That may necessitate some major changes in the offseason. A third straight first-round exit and second straight season struggling to avoid the Play-In is not where this team should be.
But it should also be clear that it is not just talent keeping the Magic from their goals. There is something intangible that champions know they need.