Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman is weighing a lot as the clock ticks toward the NBA Draft and the beginning of the offseason transaction period.
Everyone around the team -- and really the league -- is anticipating the Magic making some major moves to improve their offense.
That comes with a cost. Even Weltman had to acknowledge that and begin weighing it when he spoke to the media at the team's exit interviews at the beginning of May. Those considerations and what the Magic are willing to sacrifice surely have been par tof the team's internal discussions for the last month.
It is out in the open. If the Magic are going to improve their offense, they may have to be willing to sacrifice some of their defense and some of their other principles to get there.
That might be a fair trade. Orlando was second in the league in defensive rating and, by all accounts, have a championship-level defense.
But the team was 27th in offensive rating and last in 3-point field goal percentage. Orlando has not had an offense outside the bottom 10 in offensive rating since Dwight Howard's final season in 2012.
The Magic must be willing to explore every offensive option. That will inevitably mean sacrificing for a player with less than a stellar defensive reputation.
But how much is too much?
There are several litmus tests that fans will go through to determine that question. And the Magic will have to do their research to determine if they can fit into their defensive scheme. Orlando does not want to give up its defensive identity, especially if the team brings in an offensive player who cannot fully make up for that loss.
Every player most Magic fans have talked about this offseason fit into this imperfect category.
Anfernee Simons, the most popular player Magic fans have wanted to pursue, has the scoring and shooting chops the team is looking for but has a reputation of being a poor defender -- some statistics would suggest he is one of the worst defenders in the league.
That would be the same for someone like Jordan Poole.
Bovada recently listed the Magic as the favorite to land the Washington Wizards' sharpshooter. Like so many other players, he checks a lot of boxes for this team.
Poole averaged a career-best 20.5 points per game last year, adding 4.5 assists per game. He shot 37.8 percent from three on 9.1 3-point field goal attempts per game.
As the best player on a pretty poor Washington team, Poole had to do a lot of self-creation. He shot only 36.6 percent on 4.1 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game, according to data from Second Spectrum.
Poole has been part of a winning team before, coming off the bench to average 18.5 points per game and shoot 36.4 percent from three on 7.6 attempts per game for the Golden State Warriors in their championship season in 2022. He averaged 17.0 points per game and shot 39.1 percent on 5.8 3-point attempts per game during that Playoff run.
In theory, at least, Poole gives the Magic a lot of the things they like.
He may not be a true point guard, but he handled the ball and could create his own scoring, averaging more than 4.0 assists per game in each of the last four seasons. Poole is a potential volume three-point shooter who might benefit from less on-ball responsibilities.
Then again, so much of his game and his raw scoring success is predicated on him hunting for his own shot and being a volume shooter.
The Wizards were not a good offensive team to begin with, averaging 105.8 points per 100 possessions for the season (worse than the Magic). They scored only 104.8 points per 100 possessions with Poole on the floor.
Their 117.9 defensive rating with Poole on the floor was at the team's average of 118.0 for the season. Poole is not exactly known for his defensive capabilities.
How much of that comes from playing for a poor team like the Wizards and how much of that comes from Poole not being a good defender is at the heart of the debate to chase him.
So too are questions about his shot selection and focus on the game. It is concerning that, for all of Poole's offensive talents and reputation, he does not have much of a positive impact on the Wizards' offense.
A player like Simons has the same issue and same questions and a similar profile -- strong raw numbers, but little positive impact and zero defensive reputation.
About the only thing Poole might have in his favor is that while he is paid $31.8 million next year, he is not an expiring contract. He would give the Magic some cost certainty for the next two years -- Collin Sexton, Anfernee Simons, Austin Reaves and Coby White are all on expiring deals.
And that is still what is at the heart of the question for the Magic: How much of their principles are they willing to sacrifice for better offensive players? Who will they take the risk on?
Orlando has noted in its past how much it has valued defense and basketball IQ. A player like Poole does not come to the team with the reputation of being strong in either. There are several players the Magic might be looking at that encounter the same problem.
Whether Orlando would chase a player like Poole -- or really any players fans have discussed -- comes down to how much the team believes it can integrate that player into their fold and into their culture. A lot of the question is whether the player they acquire can make up for that difference.
Is that Poole? Is that Simons? Is that somebody else?
Orlando will likely take a risk on someone to boost their offense. The Magic must hope it does not compromise anything else on their team.