What Will Rivalry Between Orlando Magic, Miami Heat Look Like?

This season, the rivalry between the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat will look a little different, as the former has a new head coach, Sean Sweeney. 

Meanwhile, the latter has undergone significant roster changes that were headlined by the acquisition of superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. On Friday, the two teams will conclude their preseason slate against one another in Orlando, but then they will not meet again until February.

On the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I talked about the rivalry between the Magic and the Heat and how the offseasons of both organizations will affect them moving forward:

"And, you know, at that point, you're so many months into the season. It's hard to say who's going to be healthy, what both teams are going to look like. It's going to be drastically different from what we're going to witness on Friday here in an exhibition game. So, a lot to keep track of with both these squads throughout the season. But really, it comes down to a tale of two off-seasons. The Magic did not really make any adjustments to the roster; they held firm.

I mean, the addition of Nikola Vucevic in a reunion between him and the organization was definitely the most significant. But the big move for the Magic was moving off of coach Jamahl Mosley and taking a chance on first time head coach Sean Sweeney, who was drawing a lot of hype in those coaching availability circles, given what he had done as an assistant, especially last year with the Spurs. But for the Heat, everything changed in terms of personnel on the floor.

But they still believe in Erik Spoelstra to keep this thing rolling and get back to championship ways that we are used to seeing from that organization."

I think the addition of Sweeney helps. I think that Mosley had hit his ceiling with this group. And that that's not to take away anything from him. I mean, he got them out of a perpetual tanking era that they were in, it felt like, and got them back to winning basketball. But he had hit his ceiling, and the ceiling for this team needed to be raised. I think the floor is pretty well established, especially given that the team is largely the same.

Obviously, they made the big move for Desmond Bane last offseason. But other than that, you know, Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr.- those guys have been in the building for years. They've been learning how to win together. But now it's time to take another step, and I think Sweeney can be the right guy for that."