At the trade deadline, as president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman addressed the team's frustrating season publicly, he acknowledged the disappointment to that point. The team had not played to their standards, and it was frustrating.
But he continued to hold out hope. He continued to say that injuries were the main reason the Magic were faltering.
With Franz Wagner getting set to make his second attempt to come back from a left high ankle sprain, he and the Magic hoped that a breakthrough was on the way. That the Magic would see the team they imagined on the floor again.
Wagner would return for just two games and then miss the first 22 games after the All-Star break, not returning until Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.
In that time, Weltman was proven partially correct as the Magic played well coming out of the All-Star break and won seven straight games during one stretch. It seemed things had finally stabilized for his team. The vision was clearer.
But by the time they got Wagner back on Wednesday, everything had collapsed again. A six-game losing streak gave that win streak right back and tumbled the Magic from fifth in the East, and eyeing fourth, to ninth and trying to survive in the Play-In Tournament.
The Magic look lifeless, forsaking their defensive identity and looking ready for the offseason to begin at times on the court. The booing and chanting that ended Wednesday's game made Wagner's return a footnote.
Injuries are not the only issue the Magic must fix as they look ahead to the offseason. Wagner is not a cure-all, even in his limited state returning from injury.
"You know one of the hardest things to coach? Effort," Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's loss. "At this point in the season, we don't realize the importance of the game, how hard they are going to be, then you have to do a gut check. You are down to six games left playing for a playoff spot. If I have to coach effort, there is something there."
A healthy Magic team likely does not fall apart like this and is likely still competing for the 5-seed and maybe even the 4-seed. They are not far from their goals.
But it should also be clear that this team is not close to the championship dreams they espoused at the beginning of the season.
Orlando is healthier now with Wagner back. But Wednesday made it clear that alone would not save the season.
Injuries revealed the bigger issues
Injuries are a big part of the Magic's story.
Franz Wagner has been out for more than half the season with the high ankle sprain. Jalen Suggs missed significant time first with a hip injury and then a knee sprain. Anthony Black has been out for nearly a month with the lateral abdominal strain. Paolo Banchero missed nearly a month with a groin strain early in the season.
Those all had major effects on the season and likely knocked the magic down a tier. So then why are the Magic fighting for their lives in the Play-In?
That is the question Jeff Weltman needs to ask this offseason. There are bigger issues he must address to get the team back on its championship path. And those go beyond injuries.
It starts with the team rediscovering its heart.
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins called it out on NBA Today, saying the team had quit on their coach and that their star player, Paolo Banchero, had failed to live up to his potential while throwing his coach under the bus.
"The biggest issue is the Orlando Magic have quit on Jamahl Mosley," Perkins said on Thursday's NBA Today. "They quit. And if we go back, not from last game, go back against that game where they played Toronto a few nights ago. How embarrassing was that? It starts with Paolo Banchero. It starts from the top."
All of that frustration has bubbled out in the open now.
The Magic undoubtedly have the talent to demand and expect more from themselves. They rightfully came into the season with big expectations and their management made an aggressive move meant to put them over the top.
Yet, this team is still faltering on offense. There is still a lack of coehsion and movement. Shooting is still a massive problem. The Magic do not look like a modern offense.
Everything just feels hard on that end. And it has weighed on the players.
They have lost faith in the system. Their effort has collapsed with it.
"I think part of it is strategy and Xs and Os," Franz Wagner said after Wednesday's loss. "And then, I think the other part is just mentality, having pride out there. Remembering it's a blessing to be out there on the court. To be honest, I don't think we've been doing that consistently. Tonight was another night like that."
Is that something the team can so easily get back?
The team has lost its identity. It is too late in the season to get it back fully. The Magic have lost a lot of will to be physical this season. A new coach will have to rebuild that from scratch. At least there is proof of concept that it can work.
More than a coaching change
It is clear the Orlando Magic are set to reset themselves a bit this offseason. The chants calling for Jamahl Mosley's job was just that feeling coming up for air. It is clear Mosley has lost his connection with the team.
The coach is simply the easiest thing for a team to change. But these are issues that go much deeper. When a team starts to play like this and quit on their coach, that is a rot that can be very difficult to root out.
The Magic can no longer assume that better health luck (although vitally important with the amount of parity in the league now) and a new coach will fix every issue.
The Magic must find a way to make things easier for their best players.
At the same time, Franz Wagner's absence and Paolo Banchero's frustrating season have left the Magic behind. They need their best players on the court and playing better.
Everyone has blame in this disaster of a season.
"I think we've just got to be better, have more heart, more commitment to doing it together," Desmond Bane said in the locker room after Wednesday's game. "I think that is where it starts. You see the two teams that we lost to pressure the ball, get out and play fast. I think we're capable of playing that way too. We just have to do it for more spurts and longer stretches."
The Magic cannot hope for better injury luck. They need to be proactive in improving the team, even if they decide to give the core group another year to prove themselves.
They have six more games to show they are worth the continued investment and belief and that injuries were indeed the main culprit this season.
It should be abundantly clear that it was not.