Orlando is still waiting for Aaron Gordon to come down from his gravity-defying Slam Dunk Contest and trying to figure out exactly how he lost it. There is plenty to say about that and who should or should not have won the contest.
The reality though comes back to focus Wednesday when the team returns to practice. And comes into further focus Thursday during the NBA Trade Deadline. The Magic have some work to do to improve their roster and questions to answer.
Big questions to answer that we have been pondering over at Orlando Magic Daily for much of the last month.
Of course, these are all questions the team needed answered this season as the team makes decisions on young players and how to move forward with a winning team.
These have all been issues that have arisen throughout the season and questions that needed to be raised.
A 2-12 January and continued questions about how the Magic finish games and, ultimately, get wins has led to some urgency in the front office. While the desire to trade certain key players may be overstated, there is definitely a player type the Magic are after.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders on the latest episode of the Basketball Insiders Podcast said some of the problem has been the Magic’s shifting roles and young player focus on their contract futures.
Players like Evan Fournier and Victor Oladipo are playing for their first big contracts and so it was somewhat easy for them to let go of the rope and worry about their own individual play. The reliance on multiple players to play well each game without a clear pecking order could very well have hurt the team.
A veteran presence could certainly help center the team and get them to focus and buy back in to the message. A more established player can also fill a role and not be looking to expand his game or reach for stardom. Right now the Magic have several players they surely believe can develop into stars (not to mention the players believing it themselves).
There just is a general lack of knowledge on the roster playing at this level.
So how do the Magic go about fixing it? That is going to be the big question the rest of the year. The reality that faces this team exiting the All-Star Break.
On Orlando Magic Live on Orlando Magic Daily, Zach Oliver of Orlando Pinstriped Post and I looked at the season to date and how the team moves forward.
This team is both the 19-13 team that took the NBA by storm to begin the year and the 2-12 team in January that left a lot of questions.
With the All-Star Break winding down for the Magic, the work to answer these questions is really beginning.
