The Orlando Magic have a lot of work to do just to advance in the playoffs next season, let alone win it all.
The Orlando Magic are a young team that is trying to take another step, one that has been eluding them for quite some time now.
In each of the last three seasons, the Magic have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Sure, it is fair to say that the first year, Orlando was still very young and just learning how to win, and in the second year, its season ended at the hands of the defending champion Boston Celtics.
However, the Magic should have capitalized on a 3-1 series lead against the Detroit Pistons last season, but they could not get the job done. Now, the road through the Eastern Conference is harder, and Orlando’s front office was limited in what it could do during free agency to improve the roster because of first-apron restrictions.
So, are the Magic any closer to contending for a title? In a recent collaboration with my colleagues on the Heat Wave Podcast, I provided my thoughts:
"But just in general, [they have] a lot of roster flaws; just an awful bench. I mean with the exception of Anthony Black and, you know, at times, a couple of other guys. Just a really bad bench, and so, I think this is a team that.. they're in a tough spot because they're trying not to get into the second apron, so they can't do too much. But yeah, even with Sean Sweeney and a couple of the marginal moves. I think they're still a ways off.
I don't think that they were really realistic to begin with. I mean even last season, I think that this was a team that could have gone deeper than it did, but they're still very young. There's still just too many core flaws, and it was gonna take more significant moves this offseason that realistically, they just couldn't afford to make unless they were willing to part with key guys, and this is just not a front office that deals in seismic transactions.
The Desmond Bane trade was the largest move made in the Jeff Weltman era, and he's been at his position since 2017. And so, there's no more draft capital left. Like, you don't have money, and so….. This is not a team that is close."
The Magic are going to have to work hard just to win a playoff series, and that should be the more reasonable and realistic expectation for the team. But for now, raising the Larry O’Brien trophy probably is not in the cards.
