NBA Rumors: 5 Draft Day trades Orlando Magic should make

The Orlando Magic are at a crossroads as a franchise. They need some work to take the step up to the Playoffs. The Draft will be a big step to getting there

Since trading Dwight Howard in 2012, the Orlando Magic have been trying to build back into a contending team. That progress has gone slowly.

The Magic won 20 games that first season, efforting to get the top pick and start from scratch. They won 23 games the second season, then 25 then 35. Each time adding another high lottery pick, but no transformative superstar. Unlike other Magic rebuilds, they did not strike rich with a Lottery win to build around.

Orlando is seeking a big step forward. And with the 11th pick, it is going to be tough to make much of a move.

The Magic set the tone for their offseason at the trade deadline when they surprisingly dealt Tobias Harris for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova. That essentially cleared away nearly $16 million in cap space and set the tone for what many expect to be an aggressive offseason.

With every team having cap room though, it is hard to say if that is a good thing for the Magic if they hop to take the next step to the Playoffs. They will almost certainly try and go after some of the big-name free agents out there, but with only 35 wins and no Playoff experience, it is hard to say they can get there.

The clear goal in free agency to take this promising young core forward is to bring in veteran voices. Perhaps the team started doing that in hiring Frank Vogel as the head coach.

To get a big-name free agent, the Magic have to bring in another star or another reason for a free agent to believe this team is ready to win. And that starts with the Draft.

Like with free agency, the Magic will have to be aggressive to make something happen and take a surer step forward.

Next: The long-running rumor