Fansided

Predicting the final records of each NBA team

By Brad Rowland

CPer Forbes, LeBron James beats out Tiger Woods for most valuable sports brand. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
CPer Forbes, LeBron James beats out Tiger Woods for most valuable sports brand. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) talks with head coach Jacque Vaughn during the second half against the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Bobcats defeated the Magic 91-80. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo (5) talks with head coach Jacque Vaughn during the second half against the Charlotte Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Bobcats defeated the Magic 91-80. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /

Orlando Magic

Young teams almost never excel defensively while struggling offensively, but it appears for all the world as if that will be the case with the Orlando Magic in 2014-2015. The Magic were better defensively (17th in the NBA) than they were offensively (29th in the NBA) last season, and if anything, that should be magnified this year. Orlando invested heavily on the defensive end in selecting point guard Elfrid Payton and forward Aaron Gordon in the NBA Draft, and if either player cracks the rotation in year one, it will certainly be based on the defensive end. In addition, 2013 lottery pick Victory Oladipo could certainly be characterized as a defense-first player, and many believe that he will be the team’s best option this season.

More so than arguably any team in the NBA, the Magic are void of a superstar presence offensively. Tobias Harris is their leading returning scorer at less than 15 points per game, and only Nikola Vucevic and the aforementioned Oladipo even exceeded double-digit points among their returning option. Orlando did hand out a sizable deal to free agent big man Channing Frye to provide spacing and shooting, but Frye is already banged up and that could seriously bother the Magic’s offense in the early going.

It will be exceedingly interesting to see how the rotation shakes out, with legitimate position battles at both forward positions, but the Magic should improve defensively from last season, and if it is possible, they may just regress from the 29th-ranked offense. Yikes.

Projected Record: 26-56, 13th in East

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