ORLANDO — After making the decision to fire head coach Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman held a press conference on Monday to discuss the choice of the front office to dismiss Mosley and the state of the team.

As he has often done, Weltman reverted back to the health of the roster.

"This year, and again, I say this when healthy because everything is predicated on that, we were top five defense and top ten offense, and we liked the trend that that presented," Weltman said. "We liked where we felt that would take us, and I think we saw that in the playoffs. By going up 3-1 against the number one seed in the East, I think we saw some of what we had hoped to see."

It is a talking point that Weltman has relied on during multiple occasions. After the Feb. 5 NBA Trade Deadline, he met with the media and pointed to what a healthy Magic roster could achieve as part of the reason for the front office’s relative inactivity. 

It is largely true that injuries have hurt the organization. When Franz Wagner suffered a right calf strain in Game 4, the Magic were able to close the evening out with a win to take a commanding 3-1 lead over the Detroit Pistons. In his absence, however, Orlando lost the next three games, the worst of which was a disastrous Game 6 in which it missed 23-straight shots en route to a 19-point second half, and was sent home for the summer.

"So, I don't want to tear this thing down and dismantle it because of the way it ended and certainly because of one half," Weltman said.

While injury concerns have some merit and create a "what-if" ecosystem, there is a question of whether or not Weltman is relying on it too heavily.

The move for Desmond Bane last June showed a sense of urgency and proactiveness not often demonstrated by Weltman, and the decision to fire Mosley demonstrated it as well. Yet, if health continues to be a recurring issue, perhaps he needs to dig deeper into his offseason moves.

"It's very frustrating," Weltman said about the injury struggles. "But it's also very encouraging because whenever they are together, they've been elite."

This season, Wagner was the most unavailable player; playing in just 34 regular season games and four postseason games. Jalen Suggs also missed 25 regular season games. However, Bane played in all 82 contests, Wendell Carter Jr. played in 78 and Paolo Banchero played in 72.

The Magic dealt with the injury bug, but three key players remained mostly available, and the team still found ways to underperform en route to a 45-37 finish and the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. Moreover, players such as Tyus Jones (who the Magic moved along with two second round picks at the trade deadline) and Jonathan Isaac grossly underperformed when healthy. Isaac was awarded a five-year, $84 million contract by Weltman and the front office in July 2024, and the deal has quickly become an albatross.

According to The Athletic, Weltman himself also quietly received an extension by the organization during the 2025-26 season, which illustrates a belief by ownership that he is the one who can direct the Magic to a successful and more impactful future. 

If that is the case, he cannot rest on his laurels and continue to repeatedly tie hopes for a healthy roster to his production and willingness to improve the team.

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