The Orlando Magic have come off the NBA Draft with a clear directive and a clear message. The time for collecting assets was over. It was time to begin building a real team and cashing in the young players who had not accomplished much of anything in four years of a rebuild.
The Magic traded Victor Oladipo to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Serge Ibaka. They gave up their draft pick in the deal. They were clearly changing course.
Then again the Magic were clearly changing course from the time they traded Tobias Harris to the Detroit Pistons in February. Two straight years saying the goal was to make the Playoffs and a year when that goal took on a more concrete message and mission, the Magic seemed no closer to making the Playoffs or turning the corner in the rebuild.
This was not an indictment of the process Rob Hennigan undertook and the long-term vision the Magic wanted to undertake following the Dwight Howard trade. This seemed the natural steps the team had to take. But Orlando was not getting anywhere with it.
Improvement from 20 to 23 to 25 to 35 wins was progress, but not at the speed the team wanted. Now entering the fifth year of the rebuild, the Magic seem to be demanding a playoff appearance from its team. And that would require a major change to the roster.
Oladipo was casualty of this pursuit. His inability to make that leap from good player to All-Star player, the kind of player a team can build around and succeed, created too many questions for the team in this all-important year. The Magic were ready to cash in their chips.
The pressure of making the Playoffs is very real for the Magic. Serge Ibaka was an acquisition that was a risk. He has never been the star of his own team. He has never been the second-best player on his own team. Now he will have the chance to be at least one of those things while also bringing his potentially elite defense and shot blocking to a team in desperate need of both. He can anchor the team on that end where Frank Vogel has made a name for himself.
It is a move that makes sense. The kind of risk the Magic need to take to push this roster forward to that next step and next level.
But not the move that does it by itself. The Magic still have work to do. Their goal of adding major pieces in free agency remains. Even with a roster shuffle, the team still has to find a major free agency piece. The ultimate decision on whether cashing in Oladipo in this specific deal — and by the same token trading Tobias Harris for cap space — will be determined on whether the Magic can form a team that can take that next step in the wreckage.
Orlando has moved on from building through the draft to building through trades and free agency.
Like Oladipo, Elfrid Payton may face the same fate of getting dealt if he cannot provide consistency or that step up. Aaron Gordon may sit in that boat too. Then Mario Hezonja. Then. . .
Time is running out for the Magic to prove something. Fans have gotten restless and are ready for a team serious about competing — even if it is at a base level of making the Playoffs.
There is still disappointment. Ibaka is a more known quantity while Oladipo had an emotional bond with many fans and still potential to go. The Magic though wanted the known quantity. They seem ready to push out of the “What if?” and go to the stage of delivering results.
Is this the right time for that? Should the Magic have been a little more patient? Those questions may come in the autopsy or be pushed aside after the 2017 season, perhaps the most important Magic season in some time.
The Magic have made their move. They have made their call now to move forward in a different way. This pivot will likely be how Rob Hennigan’s tenure as general manager leave his legacy. If it fails, the team will almost certainly go in a different direction.
As the Magic prepare for free agency next month, the stakes are even higher.
Orlando Pride fall on late goal
The Orlando Pride gave up their first goal at home since the home opener on April 23. The usually reliable confines of Camping World Stadium did not provide the comforts this time.
The Pride took the lead in the second half on a Jasmyne Spencer goal. Portland though bounced back, equalizing and then scoring just before the beginning of stoppage time. The Pride continue to struggle finding consistency though and another defeat, even in what Tom Sermanni called the team’s best game to date, is something of a disappointment.
“I thought what we did tonight, against the best team in the league, we went out and fought and virtually outplayed them the whole game and created more chances,” coach Tom Sermanni told Orlando-Pride.com. “We probably played our best soccer of the season, and then we gave away two of the dumbest goals that you could possibly give away to a team that is basically down and out. I’m really delighted with how we played, really delighted with the chances that we created, with the energy and with how the players stuck to the game plan. I am absolutely seethingly angry about how we managed to lose the game.”
That is the cruelty of soccer sometimes. A team can dominate the game, but a few momentary lapses and key opportunities seized can change the game completely.
It happened against the Pride against the Thorns, leaving the Pride still in fifth place heading into the bye week.
Mick Foley pays tribute to Orlando after tragedy
The WWE rolled its show into the Amway Center on Sunday evening for a house show, a non-televized event. The main event featured Dean Ambrose defending his title against Seth Rollins — a future pay-per-view main event.
The event was more notable with the WWE announcing it would donate all the proceeds from the event to the OneOrlando Fund. Just incredible as the lower bowl was mostly full for the house show. And the fans got their money’s worth.
WWE has a special connection to Orlando, of course. The promotion’s performance and training center is located in Winter Park and the minor league NXT promotion records many of its episodes at Full Sail University. It was a crowd that certainly responded well to the event.
Legendary wrestler Mick Foley was in Orlando Saturday and posted on Facebook a heartfelt message to the city:
There is certainly a lot of strength and resolve in Orlando. And it continues to shine through as two weeks becomes three weeks and life becomes a little bit more normal.
