There are big questions being asked about the Orlando Magic these days. After losing 11 of the past 12 games in a season that demanded wins and had the promise of a Playoff berth as December turned into January, there should be a lot of big questions being asked.
Orlando has looked terrible this month on the floor. The team has been lifeless and inconsistent to say the least. The Magic just cannot seem to get themselves out of the rut.
There can be all the promise in the world with young talented player, but it is not going to equal success without that consistency to put it over the top.
Another All-Star Game selection has come and gone without a Magic player announced — now the longest stretch without a Magic player in the All-Star Game — and there seems little prospect that any player on the Magic will for sure get there.
To be successful in the NBA, it takes stars at the end of the day. And the one thing that has eluded the Magic the last three years through the NBA Draft Lottery system — despite three straight years with top-five picks — has been a true superstar.
Mario Hezonja, Aaron Gordon and Victor Oladipo may yet develop into a star that can help take the Magic to the next level. They are so young that it is hard to look too far into the future. Even with the team trying to take a step forward as a unit.
That star is the biggest missing piece, and the reason why Ti Windisch still has the Magic No. 13 in his future power rankings for Fansided:
There may not be one guaranteed star player in Orlando, but the Magic do have a compelling young group that they should be able to keep mostly intact for the next five seasons.
Having Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Mario Hezonja, Tobias Harris,Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Shabazz Napier on a roster is probably going to make a formidable team in 2020. Even though Orlando probably cannot keep all of them, they’ll come out of the next half-decade with some great homegrown talent.
The only reason the Magic aren’t higher is because they have no surefire star player. Oladipo and Vucevic are close, but neither are locks to be truly great. If either of them do develop into a star, Orlando should end up being a top team five seasons from now.
Things are not lost though. There is a lot of talent on the roster 25 years and younger. When projecting a few years into the future there is plenty of opportunity.
Maybe one or two of those players develop or get flipped into a veteran that can take the Magic over the top.
The one thing that is clear is the rebuild has not gone according to plan. Poor lottery luck has hurt the team without doubt. There was never an Andrew Wiggins or Jahlil Okafor available when the Magic were drafting. Their plans to get Kristaps Porzingis in 2014 fell through when he did not enter the draft and they watched him go a pick before they could grab him in 2015.
That is just the luck of the draw sometimes. And it hurts the team’s championship aspirations with the rebuild.
Where Orlando goes next with its rebuild at the trade deadline and in the offseason will determine the franchise’s next direction.
