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Orlando Magic Complete 2016-17 Preview
- Updated: September 21, 2016
Most NBA cores dissolve eventually and over time, but the Orlando Magic’s cracked in a matter of weeks.
2015-16’s version carried a 19-13 mark into the new year, good enough for fifth in the Eastern Conference. But the Magic sandwiched losing streaks of four and eight games around an uninspiring win over the lowly Brooklyn Nets, crash-landing with a 113-94 road loss to the Boston Celtics on Jan. 29.
“We’re playing soft right now,” then-Magic guard Victor Oladipo said, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. “We’re not playing together, and it’s not working. And if we don’t figure it out, it’s going to be too late.”
It was already too late. The damage was done, and the dismantling followed shortly thereafter.
Tobias Harris and Channing Frye were sent packing at the trade deadline. Scott Skiles resigned as head coach less than one year after accepting the job, and former Indiana Pacers skipper Frank Vogel took over. Oladipo, Orlando’s highest pick since Dwight Howard, was himself traded on draft night for seven-year veteran Serge Ibaka.
The activity carried over into the offseason with Orlando frantically reworking its core in an attempt to snap a four-year playoff drought. But despite having such a busy summer, the Magic may be no closer to that elusive postseason spot than previously.
Biggest Offseason Move
The offseason swap with the most long-term meaning is the transition from Skiles to Vogel. The former always seemed like a stopgap solution, having never held the same post for long. The latter could be an Orlando fixture, as the 43-year-old boasts both strong player-development chops and plus-.500 career coaching records in the regular season (.580) and playoffs (.508).
But the immediate focus from the Magic’s summer is on the volume of roster moves: Of the 17 players who suited up last season, only six still reside in Disney’s home.
Orlando’s radically reshaped ranks feature a slew of risk-versus-reward wagers, none greater than the Ibaka acquisition. There was some sticker shock at the price—the 24-year-old Oladipo, No. 11 pick Domantas Sabonis and stretch forward Ersan Ilyasova, and with Ibaka earmarked for the 2017 free-agent market, the Magic may have shot themselves in the foot should this be just a one-year rental.
But Orlando knew of the potential pitfalls and still pulled the trigger. Why? Because Ibaka, a three-time All-Defensive first-team selection, could be the key piece of Vogel’s puzzle.
“Serge Ibaka is such an important piece to taking this organization to where we want to take it, to become a defensive monster, be one of the best defensive teams in the league,” Vogel told reporters. “We are going to preach defense as much as I always have. But you have to have the people that can get the job done.”
That defensive focus led the Magic to two more rim protectors in veteran Bismack Biyombo and rookie Stephen Zimmerman. Orlando also re-signed Evan Fournier, traded for Jodie Meeks and added Jeff Green and D.J. Augustin to help offset the offense lost by departing Oladipo, Ilyasova, Brandon Jennings, Andrew Nicholson and Jason Smith.
Rotation Breakdown
With Oladipo out, Elfrid Payton should look even more comfortable as a backcourt building block. The herky-jerky point guard found ways to produce alongside the former, but Payton’s limitations will be better masked by playing with Fournier, a career 38.9 percent three-point sniper.
Aaron Gordon gets the starting 3 spot by default. The frontcourt is too crowded to get him major minutes at the 4—where his skill set works best—and he’s too talented to sit.
“If …
