The Orlando Magic and their constant state of mediocrity
After a surprise run to last year’s postseason, the Orlando Magic have struggled out of the gate
To paraphrase the most legendary postgame soundbite of all time:
Tracy McGrady is not walking through that door.
Dwight Howard is not walking through that door.
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Penny Hardaway is not walking through that door.
And if they do…well…their knees will be just as bad as when they reached their primes.
Look, no one believed that the Orlando Magic were going to compete for a top spot in the Eastern Conference. But after a surprise push to make it to last year’s postseason (and a wild upset), there was some confidence that the Magic would take a step forward and potentially compete for a division title.
As it stands right now, they are 12-16 through 28 games this season. This is the same record they had at this point last year.
Two straight years of mediocrity.
This is baffling because, in an era where players want to play with their friends and request a change of scenery on a dime, the Magic were able to do the unthinkable and resign two important pieces in Nikola Vucevic and Terrence Ross.
They just signed Aaron Gordon to a four-year, $76 million deal in 2018.
The roster is filled with a mix of promising young talents such as Mohamed Bamba, Jonathan Isaac, and Markelle Fultz. This is to complement the established veterans such as D.J Augustin, Evan Fournier, and the recently injured Al-Farouq Aminu.
So what’s the problem?
Nearly every member of the team has regressed in every major statistical category. Only Fournier, Fultz, and Isaac have seen significant improvement this season.
It is also easy to blame their schedule. They are in the top ten in terms of strength of schedule have the third toughest this far in the season and have an abysmal 1-13 record against teams above .500.
If you feel these reasons are not suitable, then let’s take a look at the coaching staff. Steve Clifford is a great developer of talent, but his record hasn’t yielded much success.
Maybe the biggest issue of all is how the front office has historically kept this franchise in neutral.
The Shaq and Penny years were short-lived but provided so much promise.
They were able to lure McGrady and Grant Hill (and almost Tim Duncan). However, injuries never let the early 2000’s Magic reach their full potential.
The Dwight Howard era was perhaps the most promising of all. His outright dominance on both sides of the ball was a joy to watch and allowed the front office to surround him with quality role players. However, outside of their 2009 NBA Finals appearance, Howard’s teams did not amount to much success.
The difference between this current Magic team and those of years past is simple: they are the inverse of each other. They have all the role players, but no star.
What is the draw to play for the Magic?
Jimmy Butler went to that other team down in Florida. LeBron James did not want to take his talents to DisneyWorld.
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The Orlando Magic have been treading water for the last six years since Howard’s departure.
This was the season to take that next step.
Instead, they remain standing still.