For the Orlando Magic, the last three years have been foundational for growth after making the playoffs each time, despite dealing with injuries and other adversity that comes with an 82-game NBA season.

Now, it is time to put that growth to the test.

The Magic, especially their core of best players consisting of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Desmond Bane, are all still very young. However, they are more battle-tested and seemingly hungrier than ever before to demonstrate that they are in a similar weight class to the other contenders in the Eastern Conference.

Previously, I wrote about how important it is for Orlando to take a step in the postseason after failing to advance past the first round in each of the last three seasons, and there is another layer to that.

The first time Banchero and Co. made the playoffs in the 2023-24 season, they did so as the fifth seed in the East under former head coach Jamahl Mosley, and they pushed the Cleveland Cavaliers to a Game 7 showdown. However, in the last two seasons, they have barely punched their ticket to the playoffs.

In the 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaigns, the Magic fell into the NBA Play-In Tournament. Defeating the Atlanta Hawks in the former season set up a first-round date with the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, who defeated Orlando in five games.

Last season was more dire. The Magic were supposed to be better, yet injuries and inconsistencies resulted in a 45-37 record and an eighth-place finish in the conference. After losing the first play-in game to the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando routed the Charlotte Hornets at home in a do-or-die game.

The Magic, on paper, are better than what they have proven to be, but recent years have demonstrated that hardships and obstacles have pushed this group to its limit. After Orlando’s young core pushed Cleveland around and nearly beat the No. 1 seed Detroit Pistons around in the playoffs last season, the talent has been demonstrated, but fighting to get into the postseason cannot continue to be this hard.

Unfortunately for the Magic, things are not getting any easier in their own division, let alone the conference. In a recent episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I predicted Orlando’s record next season, but it only reflects marginal improvement:

"I'm actually gonna flip the numbers around here. I think that they are only gonna be two games better. I think that they will go 47 and 35 this season.

I think that there's so many things that have to go right for this group. And, you know, at some point, they're gonna face bumps in the road under their new coach. As skilled as Sean Sweeney is and the experience he has accrued as an assistant, he is a rookie in his role, and he is trying to lead a young team. 

And like we talked about, this is a better Eastern Conference. And there's a lot of challenges here just within their own division, and in that Southeast division, they are going to be facing those opponents the most. And there's no team that's gonna roll over, not like before. 

But I do think that a motivated Paolo Banchero, a new voice in the locker room, and hopefully some continued continuity, you know, among this group can help them at least get a couple more wins and really what I'm looking for, Drew, is can they stay out of the play-in tournament? Can they get one of those one through six seeds and be a lock for the playoffs instead of battling for their playoff lives and not getting a rest before the most physical part of the year in the NBA?"