When the Orlando Magic acquired Desmond Bane last summer, they envisioned the ultimate three-point weapon and floor spacer.
They needed a volume shooter who could just hoist threes at will and change games. Bane did not deliver the volume, but he had a really good debut season with the Magic nevertheless.
This season promised changes to the offense, improved spacing and, yes, more 3-pointers. Bane was not aggressively hunting his shot as part of his preseason prep.
If there was any doubt that Bane would find his fit, Friday's preseason finale would put that to rest. When Bane is rolling as a shooter and the Magic are whipping the ball around the perimeter and getting out in transition, their offense feels like an avalanche.
Bane made four of six 3-pointers in the second quarter as the Magic closed in on the Heat and took the lead before halftime. He then hit another two in the third quarter as the Magic expanded the lead to double digits. He scored 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting from deep in a 136-115 victory to close the preseason.
Bane looked as ready as he could for the regular season. As did Paolo Banchero (24 points) and Franz Wagner (11 points, six rebounds and six assists).
Ready or not, the regular season is on its way.
"I like where we're at," Bane said after Friday's game. "I think we have an identity both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. We have a chance to be a really good team."
But all was certainly not well or perfect.
The Miami Heat's starters came out to a blistering start to take an 11-point lead, playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. The defense had its strong moments, but still gave up loads of threes. Fouling remained a problem.
No team likely feels they are fully prepared. They all see things they want to improve.
The question everyone faces now is: How ready are they really? And what will this team look like when the games start to count and everyone plays their normal minutes?
One step forward
The Orlando Magic have at least answered their biggest preseason question: What does a Sean Sweeney team look like? How will this team play?
The team was learning a new offense and a new defense with a new coach. Sweeney was focused on building a foundation and seeing the team grow and learn from it. The preseason focused on the Magic running their stuff and learning a new system.
That is what the team believed it accomplished. these past few weeks.
"I think we're in a pretty good spot," Wendell Carter said in the locker room after Friday's game. "I think guys understand what needs to be done on both ends of the court. If they don't get it by now, it's a little too late. It's time to go now. I'm pretty confident guys are ready. We've had some really good stints throughout preseason on both ends of the court. There is a sense of accountability, which you always want as a winning team."
It is hard to argue that there is not a different energy around the team. That is what making shots will do.
The Magic finished Friday's game with a 125.9 offensive rating and made 50.6 percent of their shots and 17 of 43 (39.5 percent) from three. They had a 130.1 offensive rating through three quarters, when their starters and rotation players were in the game.
For the preseason, the Magic had a 118.1 offensive rating, the third-best mark in the league, including 118.0 in the first half (still good for eighth in the league).
Orlando, usually afraid to shoot from deep, took 42.5 3-point attempts per game in the preseason. The team had the third-best 3-point field goal percentage in the preseason at 38.8 percent. The only preseason game the Magic lost was the lone game in which they failed to take at least 40 3-point attempts.
Whether this will last is a fair question. The Magic, after all, finished second in offensive rating for the entire game last year (their first half number was worse).
But this was certainly a step in a positive direction for this Magic team.
"I think we've done a good job all throughout camp," coach Sean Sweeney said after Friday's game. "Nothing has changed now. I htink we have to keep building good habits, keep laying our foundation and keep adding to it."
Despite all the successes and this step forward, there are still plenty of questions remaining.
The big question remains
The unfortunate story for Friday's preseason finale was that it served as a reminder of what could derail this season.
In fairly quick succession, the Orlando Magic lost three key players to injury. Noah Penda got a steal in the second quarter and pulled up holding his hamstring. Jase Richardson left the game with a sore back.
And Franz Wagner left the game in the third quarter with a sore right shoulder.
For now, it does not appear any of those injuries are serious. They will all be re-evaluated.
But the Magic bet big on health -- especially for Wagner, such a crucial player to their team --and seeing any kind of nagging injuries become long-term would hurt.
They already played the preseason without Anthony Black with a sprained ankle and Jonathan Isaac, still nursing his sprained knee from last year and missing time due to personal reasons. Both are ramping up for their returns and participating in practice.
But injuries are a constant concern for the Magic. If anything could derail the team this season, it would be losing a key player for an extended period of time.
The Magic too needed time to ease into the game against the Heat. Miami raced out for 36 points in the first quarter. The Heat's starters put the Magic in an 11-point hole. This was again, playing set groups of five and without their two All-Star forwards.
As good as Orlando ended up defensively, it started off shaky. But the recovery is a good sign of hope for the team.
"There's going to be adversity throughout the season," Paolo Banchero said in the locker room after Friday's game. "You are not going to win every single game. You are going to have to regroup and withstand runs and withstand hot streaks from teams and stick to what we know and stay consistent and not waver on the style of play and the way we're trying to play on both sides of the ball. You have to continue to harp on it and work through some of the rough patches that may come."
Ultimately, Nikola Vucevic said there were a lot of positives. Defensively, he liked the team's communication. There are no overarching concerns. But the goal for this team is to continue building.
There is a lot more work to do.
There will clearly be challenges once the season begins. This will not be a straight line to a championship or wherever this season ends up. The Magic know that.
As the preseason ends, the Magic feel they are in a good spot. They feel they have come a long way since training camp began.
Add us as a preferred source on Google