Tragic Turnaround for Orlando

Orlando, FL— The Magic have been by far one of the most underwhelming and disappointing teams in the NBA this season.

In mid-December, the Magic were putting together dramatic comeback victories over the Nets, Celtics, and Heat. The belief surrounding the team was that once Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner returned from injury they would continue to ascend as a top contender in the Eastern Conference. Simply, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

No one person is to blame for the team’s lack of success, the entire team from top to bottom needs to be held accountable. And yes, there are a handful of contributing factors as to why the Magic have struggled this season and failed to even meet expectations. 

Injuries Derail the Magic

Injuries are the biggest factor as to why the Magic have struggled mightily this season. 

Just five games into the season Paolo Banchero tore his oblique in Chicago and proceeded to miss the next 34 games. On Dec. 6, Franz Wagner tore his oblique in Philadelphia and missed the next 20 games.

Moe Wagner tore his ACL on Dec. 21 and underwent surgery ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Jalen Suggs who’s appeared in just 35 games this season, was officially ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery to remove a cartilage fragment in his left knee.

For context, the Magic’s three best players have played a combined 96 minutes together on the court; it’s been a disastrous season in terms of injuries. This chart displays teams on the top that are the most affected by injuries, and the bottom that are the least affected by injuries.

https://twitter.com/sradjoker/status/1897009070172999962

Orlando is Finding New Ways to Lose

To make matters worse, the Magic have found new ways to lose over the last two weeks and it’s been frustrating for everyone involved. 

Orlando blew a 19-point lead to the Grizzlies, got blown out by 40 points to the Cavs on national television, then blew a 17-point lead to the Warriors and allowed Steph Curry to drop 56 points on 12 made three-pointers, and now back-to-back losses to the Raptors with a ton of self-inflicted wounds.

Not only have the lackluster third quarters been coming back to bite the Magic, but this team took a step back on both sides of the ball, especially on the defensive side which is their backbone and identity.  

Offensive and Defensive Inefficiencies

Since Jan. 1, the Magic have fallen to ninth in the NBA in defensive rating (112.6), and even without Suggs, their best defenders who are available in Goga Bitadze and Jonathan Isaac have regressed. 

And offensively, we know this team has struggled all year as they rank 30th in PPG (104.2), 28th OFF EFF (1.042), 27th FG (44.0%), and 30th 3PT (30.7%). If the Magic maintain their current three-point shooting percentage for the remainder of the season, it would be the lowest for any team since the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, who shot 29.5% from beyond the arc.

Magic Make No Trades at the Deadline

Once again the Magic refused to address their needs as a team that needs three-point shooting desperately in both the offseason and at the deadline. We know that the Magic decided to stand pat at the deadline this year, and that decision is looking worse and worse every day as the Magic continue to fall in the standings.

Understanding that making a home run trade for an All-NBA caliber player was rather unlikely at the deadline, you’ve got to make some kind of move to show your team and fanbase you’re serious about being competitive with Paolo and Franz healthy. 

Although you may not have wanted to get ‘squeezed’ at the deadline, this is a results-driven league and the results of this team standing pat are very telling. 

Underwhelming Free Agent Class

In free agency, they signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason who was a knockdown shooter in Denver for back-to-back seasons, but he’s taken a step back this season.

Three-point shooters like Luke Kennard, Gary Trent Jr, and even Malik Beasley were all available as free agents this offseason, but none were signed. Instead, the Magic brought back all of their free agents, excluding Markelle Fultz, and that hasn’t worked out for them.

Regardless if the issue is allocating too much money to role players who aren’t making much of an impact, simply signing the wrong guys, or even utilizing them incorrectly, there are problems on every level. 

Reviewing the 2023 Draft Class

Both of Orlando’s lottery picks in 2023, Anthony Black and Jett Howard, are perfect examples of this. We’ve seen flashes of both Black and Howard being fundamental building blocks that can grow with this core for the foreseeable future. But we’ve also seen bad stretches from both players, as they’re young, learning, and growing as professionals in their young careers.

Orlando also passed up on plenty of very talented players in that class such as Gradey Dick, Dereck Lively, Cam Whitmore, Keyonte George, etc. This is not an indictment on Black and Howard but it brings up similar questions. Did we take the right guys? Are we utilizing them properly? Do their skill sets complement Paolo and Franz?

Final Thoughts

The Magic were not aggressive enough in taking advantage when both Paolo and Franz were on rookie contracts. That doesn’t mean pushing all your chips to the middle of the table and aiming to win a championship. What it does mean is that while you have them on team-friendly deals you need to surround them with more talent, to maximize their abilities to give yourself an opportunity of making deeper postseason runs. 

Despite the vast number of injuries, the Magic don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for them. Teams are in the business of still going out there and competing night-in and night-out to win, regardless of how healthy or derailed with injuries the Magic are.

Orlando received a ton of praise from the NBA community at large when they were winning games decimated with injuries and applying that ‘next man up’ mentality, and rightfully so. But since the new calendar year the Magic have won 9 of their last 29 games and the road isn’t getting any easier anytime soon.

The Magic for all intents and purposes are not playing at a level that is good enough to get them into the playoffs, despite being in the Play-In Tournament. If the Magic somehow squeak into the postseason they’re more than likely swept in the first round by Boston or Cleveland.

Injuries should not be the entire excuse to run it back with this same group and have another ‘evaluation year.’ The team’s inefficiencies are evident, and changes need to be made this offseason.

Nobody should look at the Magic’s season as a ‘success’ by simply making the playoffs, even with an onslaught of injuries. This team has failed to meet expectations, they have regressed, and they will have a lot to retool and fix this offseason to build around their big three.