NBA: Grading would-be playoff teams in the Eastern Conference

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8. Orlando Magic (30-35)

Grade: C-

The bottom half of the Eastern Conference is about as bad as it gets. This Orlando Magic are currently the 8th seed and sitting at 30-35, five games under .500 and are still 5.5 games ahead of the 9th place Washington Wizards. That same Wizards team in 24-40, 16 games under .500. That alone explains the bottom half of the Eastern Conference, who don’t pose a threat to anyone.

Regardless of the situation at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, if the season ended today the Magic would be a playoff team as they were last year. They have a good head coach in Steve Clifford and some solid role players who would be good fits on plenty of contending teams. Their best player is Nicola Vucevic, a solid big man who is a double-double machine but nowhere near the caliber of player who would lead the team anywhere.

The Magic have had a “good season” depending on who you ask because they are a playoff team but they are not a good team. They’ve gotten worse compared to last season but with that bottom half of the Eastern Conference being so bad, it allowed them to get into the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season and they’d likely be a playoff team this year as well. With that being said, they are nothing more than a first-round exit, likely via a sweep.

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