The noise around the Orlando Magic has been hard to ignore.
The Magic were largely projected to win 50 games and finish in the top three in the Eastern Conference. They were a dark-horse Eastern Conference Finals pick.
The Magic not only bought these predictions, but they also told everyone that they believed they could do more. They did not hide from their championship aspirations after adding Desmond Bane in the offseason. Everyone bought into the hype.
Sitting at 25-24 entering Thursday's game against the Brooklyn Nets and eighth in the Eastern Conference as the All-Star Break approaches. This is not where anyone hoped to be.
The only feeling is the one that has been simmering among the team, exploding among fans and clear to anyone around this roster.
In some sense, it was good to hear the man in charge of shaping this Magic roster vent that frustration too.
"I don't like the state of the team right now," president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said Thursday after the trade deadline. "We're not playing well. It's been a little while since we've been playing well. I would imagine our fans are frustrated by the way we're playing, and I'm frustrated with them.
"I remain optimistic about the rest of the season. I think it's on us to turn this thing around. But there's still over a third of the season left, and we're right in the thick of the race. We've got to get it done."
There is still tiem for the team to right the ship. But the Magic will do so with the same roster that got them into this mire.
Orlando only traded Tyus Jones to get under the luxury tax, standing pat otherwise. The Magic are betting on themselves once again.
A frustrating season
It has indeed been a frustrating season.
One filled again with injuries -- missing Paolo Banchero for a month, Jalen Suggs for the better part of six weeks and missing Franz Wagner for nearly two months. But also filled with a shocking loss of the team's identity.
The defense the team thought it could bank on and lean on has slipped to 16th in the league at 114.6 points allowed per 100 possessions -- and an even worse 27th at 117.6 points allowed per 100 possessions since their loss in the NBA Cup semifinals in mid-December.
This team hardly resembles the team the Magic thought they would be, what they were last year or anything anyone would have predicted.
Frustration seems the appropriate response. But it starts with this identity that has been lost.
"We can attack it in a lot of different ways," Jeff Weltman said Thursday after the trade deadline. "But honestly, for me, I see the world through a defensive lens, and I just think our defense has to get better. When we're at our best, not only does our defense create stops and put pressure on the other team to take a while to crawl back into games, but it also generates a lot of offense for us. I don't think it's a coincidence that earlier in the season, when we were healthy, we were the 10th-best offensive net rating team and third-best defensive net rating team. Our defense rises our offense. For me, that end of the floor has to get better."
Undoubtedly, that is where everything starts. Weltman said the team has been practicing and focused on improving that end. Whether the team gets some results on that front or not remains the question.
There has been a lot of talk about what the team needs to fix and little action to fixing it.
How good is this team?
The question remains whether there is something worth building on and what direction the Orlando Magic need to keep growing.
It was a constant refrain from Jeff Weltman that when this team was healthy, they had the indicators that they could be one of the top teams in the league.
The Magic's opening night starting lineup still boasts a +18.0 net rating (122.6 offensive rating/104.6 defensive rating) in 117 minutes. It is the sixth-best lineup that has played at least 100 minutes.
There is something there. But promises have not turned into action and change with the players. That has only added to the frustration.
The Magic are still trying to find out if their team is good enough. If only it were that simple.
"I know the character of our guys and the talent, and hopefully the way the team fits together. Now we have to reconstitute that," Weltman said Thursday after the trade deadline. "The frustrating part is, through whatever we've been through, we've kind of lost it. It's not like you get Franz back, and it just clicks. We have to re-earn that."
Forty-nine games into a season is a frustrating time to make that admission. But there are still 33 games and plenty of advantages the Magic can turn to.
They have games in hand on most of their competition. They have a heavier home schedule through this final stretch of the season -- starting with a four-game homestand that starts Thursday agains the Brooklyn Nets. They have the promise of getting Franz Wagner back soon, according to Weltman.
The Magic are not out of the race by any means. But it will take an alignment and a focus that has been fleeting.
Nobody is satisfied with where the team is at.
"It starts with me and ends with me," Weltman said Thursday after the trade deadline. "I'm not happy with it. I understand the fans' frustration. We've got to do better. Everybody has to do better -- coaches, players, my staff, everybody. . . . I'm hoping once we get our guys back and get this group together again, I can tell you there is belief on this team, there is care factor. We just have to get back pointed in the right direction."
What should be clear is that if it does not get pointed in the right direction that the Magic will need to start thinking about the big moves the team was reluctant to make at last year's deadline and again at this year's deadline.
It will be on them to prove their worth and prove that faith. If not, everyone is going to feel the heat and frustration will turn into action off the court if it does not on the court.