The Orlando Magic avoided a lot of hand-wringing and chaos this offseason when they won their Play-In Tournament game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
With that win, the Magic punched their ticket to the playoffs and could at least count that baseline goal as achieved. They do not have to worry about deeper existential questions that come from missing the playoffs. There is at least something they can build on, even after a disappointing season overall.
Finishing the season 12-6 to rally to the 7-seed, win the division, and earn that home Play-In Game will do that.
Orlando only needs to look at the dark cloud hanging over the teams that lost in the Play-In and are heading home to know what a loss and a failure to reach the playoffs would have brought.
The teams that lost in the Play-In are likely teams ripe to make some major changes this offseason. The Magic are likely hunting for ways to add quality players to support their core. But they still need to be careful.
Just because there are some teams ready to hit the reset button does not mean the Magic should jump at the chance, lest they make the same mistakes those other teams made.
Magic cannot afford to make the wrong trade this offseason
Just because the Magic had a disappointing season and need to make a move does not mean they should make any move. It is far too easy to get attracted to a player with star power or a name and make a huge mistake that could bury them in the hole.
That is why there is plenty of suspicion over the Orlando Magic making a play to acquire Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball or Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, despite the Magic's apparent need for a point guard.
Indeed, the Atlanta Hawks were already facing many questions about their future after they made the Play-In for the fourth straight year—the Play-In has existed for only five seasons. Falling to the Miami Heat in overtime will likely only increase the conversation around Trae Young.
The Sacramento Kings were riding the high of being the 3-seed in the playoffs three years ago. But back-to-back Play-In showings have the team facing some deep questions. They already traded away star guard De'Aaron Fox but went deeper into the salary hole with their trade for Zach LaVine. That failed to cause a spark.
The Dallas Mavericks are publicly not second-guessing themselves for trading Luka Doncic, but everyone else is. And with Kyrie Irving likely to miss most, if not all, of next season, their immediate future looks bleak.
The Chicago Bulls have been in the Play-In ringer too. After finally trading Zach LaVine, they could be due to hit a fuller reset.
These are all teams that will be making trades next season to reconfigure themselves, even if it means taking a step back. Those are the kind of teams the Magic should target.
Early trade pitches or ideas involving those teams would bring back some name power to the Magic, but ultimately hurt them and their identity.
The latest came from Andy Bailey of Bleacher/Report, who pitched a three-team deal that would send Anthony Davis to the Bulls and return Nikola Vucevic to the Magic for Jonathan Isaac and Gary Harris.
There have been other various ideas that would send Domantas Sabonis to the Magic.
On the surface, they would bring the Magic some skilled offensive players to unlock their 27th-ranked offense. Orlando must meaningfully address its offensive woes this offseason.
But the team must do this without sacrificing any of their defensive identity.
Vucevic is coming off a solid season with the Bulls, where he averaged 18.5 points per game and 10.1 rebounds per game. He is as reliable as ever with his counting stats and shot 40.2 percent from three on 4.4 attempts per game.
But Vucevic is still limited defensively, as Orlando knew in his prime during his tenure with the team. The Magic love using Wendell Carter because of his versatility and ability to get out on the perimeter and switch onto guards. The Magic do not seem likely to abandon that vision for their defense or scale back their defense that much.
The same could be said about any idea of acquiring All-Star center Domantas Sabonis.
Sabonis is a nightly triple-double threat and a great playmaker from the high post. And he is a dominant rebounder. He averaged 19.1 points per game and a league-high 13.9 rebounds per game. He shot 41.7 percent from three on 2.2 3-point attempts per game.
Sacramento still had a 113.9 defensive rating with Sabonis on the floor, 1.4 points per 100 possessions better than the team's average. But he again is limited defensively.
And that does not get into his salary—three years, $140.3 million remaining. Like in trying to acquire another star in Devin Booker, putting in the trade assets to acquire Sabonis might cost the team its depth, with no guarantee of maintaining the team's defense.
This is the reality and the difficulty of the Magic's next steps. They will likely have to take a risk and sacrifice some of their defense to add offense. The team is going to have to upset their apple cart.
That does not mean the Magic should sacrifice everything to go after a big-name player. It is not about winning headlines, it is about improving the team. And there are a lot of pot holes and traps to avoid.
The Magic will go through their own re-evaluation as they go through their playoff series. The series with the Boston Celtics will show the weak spots with the team—both obvious and hidden—and point the Magic in which direction they need to go.
It is not likely in the direction of players who do not fit the team's defensive scheme. And that is the direction a lot of trade winds are trying to push the team.