The All-Star Break brings with it a chance to pause and reflect.
Everyone around the league wants to use the break to reset and refresh themselves for the sprint to the end of the season. It is a chance to get away and return focused for the rest of the season.
The Magic were certainly eager to find a way to reset themselves and get back on track. The team hopes a week away will allow them to return more focused and ready to be themselves.
Quite simply, the Magic have not looked like themselves for much of the season.
Sitting at the All-Star Break at 27-29 and seventh in the Eastern Conference is not where the Magic envisioned their season. They were in fourth place in the East as late as Jan. 14.
“We’ve had about three seasons in one,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after the Orlando Magic's win over the Charlotte Hornets to head into the All-Star Break. “What I think it is is growth, adversity, leaning into the adversity and how you can be better down the stretch. It has given us a glimpse of what we can do when we are whole and it has also given us a glimpse of when things get difficult how we respond.”
It has indeed felt like three seasons for the Magic.
Entering the break, it did feel like the wheels were coming off. The Magic were trying to get their heads around everything going on and stay above water. Injuries had finally gutted the team and missing Jalen Suggs for 19 of the 20 games heading into the All-Star Break (and now beyond it) seemed like the final straw.
After losing Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner for an extended time, the Magic entered the break losing 14 of 20 games since Suggs suffered a low back strain on Jan. 3.
There has been little time to settle in. The Magic hope the All-Star Break helps their stars settle in after they both missed 20 or more games with torn right obliques. They hope it helps the team find its groove to power them back into the playoffs.
The optimism from the early part of the season has given way to the frustration the injuries brought on.
The result has put the Magic in a big hole. They are still in seventh in the Eastern Conference, but tied with the Miami Heat for that spot atop the Southeast Division and three games behind the Detroit Pistons for sixth and a ticket to avoid the Play-In Tournament.
The Magic have only 24 games left to make their move. But they are also considering how to decipher this season. That was at least one reason Jeff Weltman decided to be patient at the deadline. He wanted to evaluate this team at full strength.
He may not get that opportunity, and he will have to figure out where his team is based on the incomplete picture of this season. He will have to consider the ups and downs of the Magic's three seasons.
Pre-Franz Injury | Pre-Suggs Injury | Post-Suggs Injury | |
|---|---|---|---|
Record | 16-9 | 5-6 | 7-15 |
Off. Rtg. | 110.3 | 105.7 | 104.7 |
Def. Rtg. | 105.5 | 108.5 | 112.2 |
eFG% | 52.1 | 50.3 | 48.4 |
3FG% | 31.0 | 30.9 | 29.5 |
Season 1: Franz Wagner's emergence
It seems like it was forever ago when the Orlando Magic were the talk of the league. How was this team surviving missing Paolo Banchero after just five games?
The going explanation was that the team just tried harder than everybody else. They played with such intensity and effort on defense especially that it overwhelmed teams and caught them off guard. That togetherness was something nobody could copy or match.
Part of the reason, of course, was Franz Wagner's emergence as an All-Star-level player. His game-winner against the Los Angeles Lakers was the loudest statement he could make. Despite missing Banchero, the team remained a dominant force. They did not miss a beat.
It is important to recognize and remember that this was the vision the Magic had. They may not have made threes at a league-average rate, but they were passable enough on offense (still 24th in the league), but, with that defense and their slower pace, they could feast on those numbers.
Orlando must believe they can be this team when fully healthy. And this team is still good. The Magic are trying to replicate this part of the season. And it really cannot happen until the team is fully healthy.
That does not mean they are perfect. Orlando struggled to beat the best teams in the league—notably losing the NBA Cup game against the New York Knicks in embarrassing fashion. They needed Banchero to compete at the highest levels. And the offense still needed major improvements.
But the Magic had a clear winning formula they could execute with even just Wagner in the lineup. That is where the Magic are trying to get back to and match.
Season 2: Cracks show
Losing Franz Wagner took away the Orlando Magic's best remaining scorer and offensive engine. Suddenly the pressure was on Jalen Suggs to step up and lead the team.
He and the Magic had their moments. Orlando fought and defended, playing loose and free without the pressure of stardom or expectations. The team was still competitive and far more competitive than anyone expected.
But cracks began to show.
Things really broke open when much of the Magic's scoring depth disappeared with Moe Wagner's torn ACL. Wagner was having a career season averaging 12.9 points per game. He averaged 13.0 points per game and shot 63.9 percent between Franz Wagner's injury and his own.
Losing Moe Wagner took away one of the Magic's major strengths—its depth. It also took away one of the key heartbeats for the team, someone who used the Magic to rescue and grow his career. His absence has been far greater than anyone could have anticipated.
Part of this season was also being used to see if Suggs could handle the point guard duties. All of a sudden, he was thrown into the role of being the lead creator and scorer.
After Wagner's injury until his own, Suggs averaged 18.6 points per game and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 41.0 percent from the floor. Suggs showed signs he can step up but he did not fully take on the role. He has not fully taken on the role of playmaker and creator.
Then again, he has played only six games alongside Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. It is not clear how he works in that atmosphere. It is not clear if the Magic have time to wait and find out any longer.
That is what the Magic want to know most. But during this period, the Magic saw that Suggs may not be the offensive creator they will need. It left a lot of questions the team has struggled to answer.
Season 3: The wheels fall off
It is hard for any team to win when they are missing their best player, let alone their two best players, let alone their three best players.
The Orlando Magic had to play for a week without all three of those players. Then Paolo Banchero returned and struggled to find his footing. Then Franz Wagner returned and he too had to find his footing.
Orlando has not been able to put all the pieces together quite yet. After both Banchero and Wagner missed more than a month, they struggled to find their rhythm. Those ups and downs were expected, but they were so vital to the team, that waiting on them ultimately cost wins and losses in a tight playoff race.
The Magic have fallen in the standings because of this period. They have struggled to stack wins. Their defensive identity without Suggs seemed to collapse -- or was at least inconsistent. Without both of their main creators playing at their best, the offense collapsed further.
Confidence has been in short supply.
Wagner has found his footing as a scorer and gotten nearly back to his pre-injury levels. Banchero took more time to get up to speed with his decision-making and shooting. He is getting better every game.
But it has left the Magic needing to make up ground in the standings. They are now in a sprint to the finish.
There will be a fourth season for the Magic. One of rebirth and reclamation. Orlando is hoping to get all those pieces back together to get at least a glimpse of what they hoped they would be in the preseason.
The Magic have little time to make those evaluations before a critical offseason.
But when those final evaluations are made, they will have to own two truths: They are the team that took the league by storm early in the season and they are this team that has struggled to find its footing for the last two months.
What is left to discover this season is whether the Magic can overcome the worst version of themselves. What is left for the offseason is for the front office to determine just how close they are to the best version of themselves.