As the Orlando Magic begin yet another season in their decade-long journey down the road to relevancy, all we’re asking is for them to make the p-word.
What do you mean by the p-word?
Are you talking about making the ‘p’ as in playoffs?
No, I’m not talking about the playoffs. Making the playoffs is a bit far-fetched for a team that won only 22 games a year ago and was last in the Eastern Conference.
Oh, then you must be referring to ‘p’ as in play-in. Are you thinking the Magic should at least be able to make the play-in tournament just for the right to get into the playoffs?
No, even making the play-in tournament seems like a bit of reach. Based on last year’s standings, the Magic would need to win 21 more games than they did a season ago just to get the 10th and final play-in spot.
Then what are you talking about when you say this is a season in which the Magic need to make the p-word?
I’m talking ‘p’ as in “progress.”
That’s all we can realistically ask this season; that the Magic make significant progress and give their beleaguered fan base some hope.
“I know that the last 10 years have been tough for the people here,” says Paolo Banchero, the Magic’s No. 1 overall pick and the 19-year-old whom Orlando fans hope can save the franchise. “This is a great city and a great organization. As players, we want to get this thing back on track — for each other and for the fans.”
Banchero, of course, is the centerpiece of a rebuild that — dare we say — looks like it hopefully, possibly, maybe might actually work.
I know, I know, we’ve been through total rebuilds, partial rebuilds and rebuilds of rebuilds over the last decade, but this is the first rebuild under the management team led by Jeff Weltman — the Magic’s president of basketball operations.
It started a year-and-a-half ago when Weltman and GM John Hammond blew up the roster and dealt the team’s veteran core of Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordan for draft picks, young pieces and cap space.
As much as I disagreed with the Magic dealing Vooch, I have to admit Weltman seems to have won the trade. Upon agreeing to send Vooch to Chicago, the Magic netted Wendell Carter, a first-round draft pick (seventh overall) that turned into Wagner and another upcoming first-round pick from the Bulls. Chicago, even with Vooch on the roster last season, got eliminated in five games in the first round of the playoffs (sound familiar, Magic fans?).
Whether you’re for or against tanking, you can’t deny that the Magic have an intriguing young core of players led by Banchero, Wagner, Carter, Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony. They also have some other interesting players such as Mo Bamba and Bol Bol. There also are two players — Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz — who are supremely talented but perennially injured.
We know the Magic aren’t going to win any championships anytime soon, but this is the season we need to see them showing improvement, making headway and answering some questions:
Can Banchero at least show flashes of becoming the star the Magic haven’t had since Dwight Howard left? Can Wagner take another major step after making the NBA’s all-rookie team last year? Can Suggs rebound from a disappointing rookie season? Can Isaac and Fultz not only get on the floor but stay on the floor? Can head coach Jamahl Mosley and his staff develop these young players and turn one or two of them into stars and some of them into key role players?
If they can’t be a winning team this season, can the Magic at least start learning how to be a winning team?
“It’s been asked many times this offseason — ‘What’s next?’ ” Weltman told me a few days ago. “I think this season is going to be a continuum from last season, but with that we want to start putting in what winning looks like — fewer mistakes, team orientation, being tied on a string defensively, elevating our standard as our team grows up so our players understand what winning is about. It’s not that teams in this league can’t win when they’re young because they’re not strong enough or because the physicality of the league won’t allow it. It’s more because young players need to understand their roles and understand the sacrifices it takes to win.”
Translation: There will be many growing pains this season, but that’s OK.
Growing pains means there is growth.
And growth is just another way of saying the plethora of p-words we need to see from the Magic this season:
Potential.
Possibilities.
Progress.
