Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has been noted for his patience. Even frustratingly so.
That changed this summer. The Magic made noted improvements and went after a player who fits their identity. Even if it came with a huge cost.
They completely changed their approach. Gone was the patience of waiting for players to grow and develop. They proactively improved their roster in a meaningful way.
Everyone around the league took notice of that, too. And there is now no going back. The era of patience for the Magic is over. With increased costs and the dance around the aprons, the Magic do not have the ability to be patient anymore.
And everyone around the league knows that, too. Which is why Sam Quinn of CBS Sports ranked the Magic 15th in his front office rankings, up just one spot from their mid-season rankings despite all the criticism of the Magic standing still at the trade deadline. The Magic made their move, but it is the next move that will determine their future.
"Pulling off a blockbuster without compromising your overall vision is difficult, but the Magic have seemingly done it," Quinn wrote. "Their ranking here is not dissimilar to Indiana's in February. They have a consistent vision and they've built a very good team. Now, it's time to see if that team can be great and if ownership will pay what it takes to keep it together. "
That is how things go. Executives are rarely judged on what they have done in the past -- unless they have a long history of brilliant moves that work out -- they are judged on what they do next.
Ultimately, while there is excitement over what the Magic have done this offseason, nobody yet knows how it looks on the floor an whether it actually works. And there is still a general acknowledgement that the Magic still have work to do to reach their title aspirations.
The Magic won their summer
But it is safe to say, Jeff Weltman passed this summer.
The acquisition of Desmond Bane took the entire NBA world by surprise and immediately lifted the Magic into conversations as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Bane acquisition addressed a lot of the Magic's key needs, adding an elite shooter who will not take away from the team's defensive identity. It was an expensive acquisition, but made more sense than some of the obvious other options that ended up going for much less on the trade market.
In one fell swoop, Weltman completely changed the conversation about his team, his stars and everything else with his team. Orlando is considered not merely a threat in the East but throughout the NBA.
That is what the Magic want everyone to believe too.
Of course, everything will get proven on the court. So if there is hesitance about what the Magic have done this offseason, it is that they have not played together yet.
The Magic have to see how the pieces fit together and adjust from there. Undoubtedly, there is tons of excitement for what comes next.
Jeff Weltman preached patience until now
That move to address the Orlando Magic's most immediate needs is not something Jeff Weltman has done. His entire tenure with the Magic has been characterized more by patience.
Jeff Weltman took over the Magic and immediately stuck with the roster his predecessor left to him. He gave them a new coach and waited to see what he had on the roster.
It turned out he had a playoff roster as the Magic broke through in the 2019 Playoffs. The Magic stuck with that roster until Weltman finally decided to tear the roster to its studs at the trade deadline in 2021. That started the rebuild that netted Jalen Suggs, Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero in consecutive drafts.
Weltman has built a team with two max players thanks to those draft picks. The team has now risen to a playoff team.
But even through that, he displayed patience. He largely kept his roster together and maintained the group despite some flaws. They always bet on internal development.
Everyone understood that time would run out. This appeared to be a now-or-never summer. The key players would come off their rookie contracts and impinge on the team's ability to spend and add to the roster. The team would hit a ceiling and face these time pressures.
That time was this offseason. And how Weltman responded to the team's 41-41 record and quick exit as a 7-seed would determine the team's future.
The time for patience is over
The Orlando Magic have started their championship clock now. Max extensions for Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and re-upping several other key players -- not to mention potentially key draft and free agent misses -- have the Magic eyeing the top of the East out of necessity as much as out of skill.
Even if ownership is willing to pay the luxury tax and go through the apron penalties, it will be hard to do so if the team is not competing and winning a title.
Patience is good for letting players develop. It is usually a bad decision to let young players walk for nothing or give up on them too quickly.
But Orlando also must face the urgency of this moment. The team must continue getting better now. This is the high-stakes game all contending teams play. There is no sitting and waiting anymore.
The Magic clearly were not waiting anymore. They knew this was a summer to strike. They made some difficult decisions too -- admitting failure with the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signing and parting ways with an emotional core player in Cole Anthony. They had to pay for that too.
The Magic will be content to see how this team shakes out. But to be among the elite teams in the league, they will not be able to sit still anymore. They will need to be aggressive to improve the roster at the trade deadline as much as they were this offseason.
The rest of the league is waiting to see what this team looks like. And what they will do next.