The Orlando Magic have been on a clear upward trajectory in the last three years.
You do not need to look further than their record which went from 25 to 34 to 47 wins. They went from earning the No. 1 pick in a not-huge jump in the lottery to the sixth pick to fifth-seed in the playoffs.
That is something measurable and trackable.
Orlando, to many, arrived a year early. Before the 2024 season, everyone thought the Magic could compete for a Play-In spot, but nobody had them sitting in the 2-seed a week before the season or defeating the Milwaukee Bucks on the final day of the season to clinch that spot in the playoffs proper. Much less pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to a Game 7 and holding a sizable lead in the first half with a chance to advance.
The Magic defied the odds at every turn. And they left plenty to remain hungry about as they prepare for the 2025 season.
It seems simple then how we should measure success for the Magic in 2025. If the team is to get measurably better success is only defined by advancing out of the first round—losing in the first round in anything but a Game 7 would be going backward if results are all that matter.
But that is not entirely how success can be measured. The Magic made it clear with their fairly quiet offseason that they are threading a needle that is as much about the continued development of their young players as it is about advancing deeper into the playoffs.
Success then is measured in something more than just wins and losses. The team is trying to build for a bigger future with Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs at its core. And it is still trying to figure out what they need to succeed.
There is still pressure to win. Results are a part of the formula for the team's success. But the Magic may reach the end of the season lower in the standings and use a different rubric to assess their season.
This team is still about its development and internal growth as much as it is about trying to push its way up the standings in the Eastern Conference.
Thin margins in the Eastern Conference make progress difficult
That the Orlando Magic did not aggressively pursue needs that many felt they needed—like a starting point guard or a solid rim protector—only suggests the Magic are still assessing and evaluating the key players on their roster.
It makes very real the possibility the Magic do not improve on their season from last year. At least not in the traditional, measurable sense.
It is easy to forget considering how exciting and competitive the first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers was that an Orlando Magic loss on the final day of the season would have sent them tumbling to eighth and a Play-In Tournament trip to Miami to face the Heat.
That is how thin the margin for error is and will once again be in the Eastern Conference. Everyone should be expecting it will take 82 games to settle the Magic's postseason seeding.
No one then should take offense to John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranking the Magic seventh in his offseason Eastern Conference power rankings. After all, we had them sixth in our conference power rankings.
It is not far-fetched to think the Magic will not repeat their 5-seed this year.
Does that make the season a failure if this is where the Magic end up? Can the team define success beyond its results?
The answer to that question is yes and no.
Results are part of the equation, individual growth is the measure of success
The Orlando Magic should be judged by results from this point forward in some fashion. There can be no success for this team without taking that important step forward in the standings and in the playoffs. That is ultimately the prize the team is after.
Now that the team has proven it can win in the playoffs, that is how we should judge the team. It is part of the equation for this group. It is impossible to divorce success from results. The Magic are either closer to a title or further away from it and they have to act accordingly.
The challenge ahead for the Magic is not merely just to try to advance to the second round and improve their place in the Eastern Conference, they have to prove they can do it all again. This time carrying the weight of those expectations.
The Magic are not sneaking up on anybody anymore. Everyone acknowledges they are a playoff team, if not outright picking them to be the next it team in the Eastern Conference. That is an entirely new set of expectations and a new way to measure success.
But Jeff Weltman has also made it clear this is still a development outfit. He fashioned his team to allow its young players plenty of room to grow—especially off the bench.
The Magic did not go after high-priced veterans or greatly reshape the starting lineup. He did not push his chips into the middle to go all-in on the upcoming season.
Orlando is still looking at a timeline of years rather than one season. And that is seen in what the Magic did this offseason.
Everyone looked at the Magic's playoff run and said addressing point guard was a critical need—Paolo Banchero himself noted publicly that finding a table-setter was essential. But the Magic left that need unaddressed.
They put their offseason work into improving their defense and shooting with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They turned their point guard duties over to Jalen Suggs in an expansion of his role. They did not chase after any volume scorers or big-name free agents, they kept a wide berth for their young players to continue growing.
While the Magic undoubtedly want to win, it still seems their primary goal this season is to foster growth within their young roster. If Banchero or Wagner take a leap in their games but they happen to have a loss at the wrong point of the season and finish sixth, they will be satisfied with their progress.
Not that such a finish would not push the team to start making reforms and changes. This is a results-driven business. And the Magic's window to compete for a championship is beginning to open. Orlando has to make progress up the standings and deeper into the playoffs.
But results are not the only way to judge the season. The margins for this team will be narrow. Everyone should expect another season where seedings are not locked in until the final day fo the regular season. A bad couple of weeks could be the difference between homecourt advantage and the Play-In.
This is why no one should overreact to results—or predictions suggesting the Magic are lower in the standings now than they were last year. Success has to be tied more to the development of the team. And that development will inform results and how this team moves forward.
If the Magic are a better team but happen to be lower in the standings, the season may be deemed a success. You kind of have to let it play out and see how the season turns out before you judge it.
But certainly, the Magic's season is not a failure unless they miss the Playoffs entirely. The team just may take a while to define what success looks like with such small margins at play overall.