Post-NBA Free Agency power rankings
By John Buhler
Orlando Magic
East, Southeast
It would not be shocking to see the Orlando Magic finally get out of their own way in 2017-18. Since the end of the Dwightmare Saga, it’s been all sorts of horrible in Central Florida for the Magic. Fortunately, they have a good head coach in Frank Vogel and a general manager that isn’t laissez-faire with whiteboards in former Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond.
Orlando drafted a high-end local kid out of Florida State in Jonathan Isaac at No. 6 in the 2017 NBA Draft. Adding backup point guard Shelvin Mack on a two-year, $12 million deal only adds competency to the Orlando’s floor general repertoire. Clearly, Orlando wants to give Elfrid Payton one more year just to see if he can’t respond to good coaching to live up to lofty expectations.
Does Orlando have players? Absolutely, as there are only a few guys that most teams wouldn’t be happy to have, mostly Mario Hezonja and Bismack Biyombo’s gargantuan contract. However, there isn’t a great deal of upside with any of them. Evan Fournier is the team’s best player until Aaron Gordon pops, but when will that be? Nikola Vucevic is a sound offensive player that doesn’t play defense, isn’t a 3-point shooter and therefore has no trade market.
Overall, Orlando may still be the worst team in the Southeast Division, but this has been one of the Magic’s better offseasons in a long time. Just unraveling all the sheer madness that former general manager Rob Hennigan did last year is a step in the right direction for this team. Orlando could be the No. 7 seed or the 13th-best team in the East this year.