The Orlando Magic's 2024 season will go down as one of the truly special seasons in Magic history.
The team ended a decade-long rebuild it seemed with the kind of surprise playoff run that felt like a natural growth for their young roster and the beginning of a long playoff run. Paolo Banchero made the All-Star team in his second season and then backed it up with a stellar Playoff showing.
Even making the Playoffs saw the Magic compete and get on the doorstep of the second round, taking an 18-point lead in the first half of Game 7.
In many ways, the Magic seemed like they overachieved this season. It felt like they arrived earlier than everyone could have expected.
That is all a good thing. This was a good season.
Orlando accomplished its baseline goal of reaching the Playoffs. That was the most important thing for this young team's development. They got put under Playoff pressure to see how the team would respond and had many of their flaws exposed.
Even with that, the Magic persevered and showed they had the mettle to compete and win. They left at least a few people thinking they should have won the series and that they left an opportunity on the court.
That should leave the team with something to be hungry for this offseason as they look to improve—both the individuals on the court and the management building the team.
The overall result of the season, though, will be something the team can hold onto throughout the offseason. The Magic were much further ahead than anyone anticipated. And during exit interviews, the team was excited about what they had just accomplished.
Still, there is a lot for the Magic to assess and learn from this season. There is a lot they must examine as they make their final assessments for this season and look ahead to what they must do to improve during this important offseason.
It is worth it for everyone to take a step back now, three weeks after the season ended, and assess what went right that the team can build on and what went wrong that the Magic need to be looking to shore up.