Orlando Magic's NBA Cup draw offers glimpse of brutal Eastern Conference

The NBA Cup is not quite a thing yet.

So much so that the announcement that the championship game this year will take place at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and the official groups for this year's tournament slipped under the radar -- announced at halftime of the final of the WNBA's version of this tournament, the Commissioner's Cup, all on the first day of free agency when NBA attention was put elsewhere.

Even though the NBA Cup arguably took a small step toward legitimacy with an NBA Cup Final rematch in the NBA Finals and the first double in NBA history. Three of the four teams that went to Las Vegas as semifinalists in the NBA Cup reached the conference finals -- the Orlando Magic were the lone team sitting out.

This is still an experiment -- and a bit of a money grab -- to try to inject some excitement into the early part of the season.

Not everyone has to be bought in. But it is still a trophy to pursue. And especially this season, an early statement in the Eastern Conference could have major reverberations. You do not have to win it, but performing well is a good thing.

The Magic have embraced the NBA Cup in its first three editions. And they should hope to embrace it again.

They are certainly set up to do so. In a packed Eastern Conference, the Magic got a favorable draw in East Group A. They will host the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks and travel to the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets.

In that group, the Magic get a good test from the team that bested them in the Playoffs and a team that made a splashy move in the offseason. But they also get two teams that are not expected to compete for a Playoff spot.

It is a chance to make a statement in a packed Eastern Conference. And if Orlando advances to the knockout round, it could be a sign that the Magic will be more competitive in the Eastern Conference.

This season will not be the same as the last three times in the tournament. The Magic have a lot of continuity in the roster, but will be learning a new system under Sean Sweeney. It is far more important that the team learns what Sweeney wants than that the team goes all-out for a November tournament game.

But it will be a check-up nonetheless. Because the East will be a year-long bloodbath for playoff positioning.

A tighter Eastern Conference

Regardless of whether it is an NBA Cup game or not, every game will matter more in the Eastern Conference this year. Everyone is expecting a very tight race throughout the entire season.

The Orlando Magic cannot afford to drop any games or have prolonged lulls.

Just take last year, for instance.

The Orlando Magic, at 45-37, finished a game behind the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors for fifth and just a game ahead of the Charlotte Hornets for eighth. If the Magic had won that season finale game, they would have tied the Hawks and Raptors, falling to seventh on tiebreakers.

That is how close the margins were even last year.

Orlando finished its seven-game win streak on March 14 and sat in fifth in the Eastern Conference. At the end of the team's six-game losing streak on a week and a half later, Orlando tumbled to a tie for ninth.

The East only figures to get tougher.

Twelve of the 15 teams realistically believe they can make the Playoffs. The Indiana Pacers with the return of Tyrese Haliburton, the Washington Wizards with a full season of Trae Young and Anthony Davis along with top overall pick A.J. Dybantsa will be added to all 10 teams that made the postseason last year.

There will not be any easy nights in the Eastern Conference this year. No team can be dismissed so easily -- even with two of those three teams in the Magic's NBA Cup group.

Teams will have varying degrees of expectations. The Wizards likely do not expect to win a championship. And some teams categorically got worse -- the Hornets have not replaced LaMelo Ball yet.

But this is as competitive and tough the East will be in a long time. Giannis Antetokounmpo on the Miami Heat and Kawhi Leonard returning to the Toronto Raptors greatly improves those teams as does Jaylen Brown's imminent trade to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Magic hope to be a team that improves simply through health. But their climb up from eighth will be tough and hardly guaranteed.

Still learning to win

The Orlando Magic's trip to Vegas last year for the NBA Cup semifinal was a natural progression for a young team to gain reps in pressure situations. The Magic have been one of the teams that have fully embraced the NBA Cup.

To be clear, the December trophy is not the main goal. It is a nice prize to claim, and winning a trophy is always good. But the ultimate goal is the one they hand out in June. If the NBA Cup is some prelude to that, then it is worth pursuing.

Really the Cup has become a test of who has everything together early in the season. And the Magic with the same coach and virtually the same team always had a leg up on everybody.

The biggest thing they showed in the three years was how much more serious they were about winning. It was something of a warning shot early in the season. One the team never quite followed through on.

This is a Magic team that should be competing for more than a playoff spot at the end of the season with their payroll. They need to do everything they can to prove themselves against the Eastern Conference.

There will be no time to waste this year.

The NBA Cup group gives them a reprieve, putting them in manageable pressure games early in the season. The Magic should get a good stress test of their capabilities and what works and does not when the games really matter in the spring.

They have a group that they can win with some big challenges -- look, it is not the deathtrap that is East Group B.

The NBA Cup groups should provide an early preview of a tight Eastern Conference.

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