Ten Things the Orlando Magic Must Do to Compete with the Miami Heat

With the Miami Heat adding a super trio this offseason, many Magic fans feel as though they are ready to throw in the towel and concede a Heat championship, not only for this year, but for years to come.

But is that logical?

The Magic have more depth and an improving center in Dwight Howard, who is already the game's best. While the Heat have the flashier lineup, it could be the "team concept" that puts the Magic on top. We've all witnessed the star-studded Olympic teams lose games to teams that have one or two NBA-caliber players on their roster, so we know this sort of thing is possible, to say the least.

This article will look at both signings and methods of play that will enable the Magic to defeat the Heat and become Eastern Conference Champions once again.

Find a gem for Marcin Gortat

There have been discussions since last year that the Magic re-signed “The Polish Hammer” as a means to acquiring a key player later on down the road. Well, having passed the one-year mark of his signing, that time has come. (He had a clause in his contract that let him veto trades for one year and they would only get compensation on half his contract’s salary.)

There have been numerous trade discussions, especially involving the Bulls and the Timberwolves. In both scenarios, the Magic would be searching for an upgrade at small forward. Since the Wolves dealt Al Jefferson already, that likely kills any talks there, as he would have been the main chip in the deal, with small forward Corey Brewer being the “filler.”

The Bulls, meanwhile, would ship Luol Deng to Orlando for Gortat. However, with the signing of Carlos Boozer to play along side Joakim Noah, this looks less likely still.

Will the Magic fail to find a taker for Gortat?

Bring Vince Carter off the bench

The Magic’s matching of J.J. Redick’s offer sheet shows a commitment to his future. Vince Carter, meanwhile, has no real future with the Magic. With his contract due to come off the books next offseason, his real value is as an expiring contract.

Sliding Redick into the starting lineup now would allow Vince to shoot as much as he wants with the second unit to provide much-needed scoring. Last season, the Magic depended on the likes of Mickael Pietrus and Jason Williams to score in the second unit. Adding Vince’s firepower to the bench might make a big difference in holding onto—or extending—leads.

Acquire a backup center to replace Gortat (if he is traded)

The Magic currently have three centers on their roster. The problem is that only two of them can actually play. Summer League only further cemented in my mind that Daniel Orton is a colossal waste of time and an utter bust. He won’t be ready now, nor ever, to step in and play meaningful minutes. Who, then, do the Magic sign to back up Dwight Howard?

One possibility that was discussed was bringing Tony Battie back, but he just signed with Philadelphia. With big bodies difficult to find in the league, the Magic don’t have many options. Settling for the ancient Theo Ratliff may be the best solution left.

Obtain a quality third string point guard

One option here is to bring back Jason Williams. But would he be happy sitting out most games, as incumbent third stringer Anthony Johnson did last year?

The best solution to the third string point guard situation may be to sign a promising Summer League player. It wouldn’t hurt to have another prospect in the mix, and maybe the Magic could find a diamond in the rough.

Of course, going with someone more proven might be the way to go, too. Travis Diener, anyone?

Obtain a second perimeter defensive stopper

With the impending loss of Matt Barnes, the Magic currently only have Pietrus as a defensive specialist to guard perimeter players. Thus, obtaining a second defensive stopper may be necessary to check the outside duo of Wade & LeBron.

At this point, it would be left to Redick and Carter to guard Wade, and we saw what happened last year in that scenario: 24 points (one-point Heat win) , 25 points (in a Heat blowout win), 21 points (in a Magic blowout win), and a monstrous 36-point, 10-rebound, seven-assist game in yet another Heat blowout win.

So Wade averaged 26.5 points per game, which was his season average, against the Magic. However, adding LeBron to the mix will make it more difficult to check Wade. The Heat held the season edge against the Magic last year, three games to one, so the problems with Wade alone are huge. The Magic need to add a second defensive guard to the roster. Corey Brewer would be perfect.

Decide to utilize Brandon Bass more

Bass barely saw action last season, and many Magic fans were completely befuddled as to why. Otis Smith went out and spent $5 million to bring in a guy to sit the bench? It seemed there was a rift between Otis Smith’s plans and Stan Van Gundy’s coaching approach.

While the stretch-four philosophy has worked reasonably well, one must wonder if moving Rashard Lewis back to his natural position as a small forward and starting the high-energy Bass would do wonders for the Magic. He would bring added toughness and would be a big body to bang with the more rugged power forwards.

Give Dwight Howard more help on the glass

Dwight Howard is arguably the best rebounder since Dennis Rodman, but he can’t do it alone. Too often, you see Magic players simply get out of the way and depend on Dwight Howard to skyrocket up for the rebound. And the situation isn’t helped by having the feather-soft Rashard Lewis manning the power forward slot. Even Ryan Anderson is a better rebounder than Lewis.

Giving Dwight Howard some help on the boards would allow the Magic to get more second chance opportunities and also to prevent the same on the defensive end. Quentin Richardson will help a little, but truly, it comes down to Bass again, who could average 12 and eight if given 25-28 minutes a night.

Play better perimeter defense to keep Howard out of foul trouble

Most of Dwight’s defensive fouls are due to poor defense by the perimeter players. They simply “funnel” their man into Dwight Howard, expecting him to come up with a spectacular block. Often, he does. However, this lends itself to getting Dwight into foul trouble, and if Gortat is to leave, Orlando will lack a solid option off the bench to save the day in those situations.

Get Bosh into foul trouble

Having only two of the Heat’s three superstuds on the floor would make things significantly easier. The fact that Zydrunas Ilgauskas has so much trouble guarding Dwight Howard will mean a lot of help side defense from Bosh. It’s up to Dwight Howard to capitalize on this and take the ball right at Bosh when his help side defense comes. Because of the Heat’s lack of depth, foul trouble to Bosh would spell serious problems.

Juwan Howard is the backup. Enough said.

Make the Heat run

The lack of depth on the Heat is ultimately going to be a problem for them. The next-best thing to getting their stars in foul trouble is having them wear down to the point where they aren’t as effective. By picking up the tempo against the Heat, LeBron and Wade won't be able to play 42-46 minutes a night, because they will wear down over the course of the game.

Tired legs in the fourth quarter could make the difference. The Magic have the depth to go 10 deep. It’s up to Stan Van Gundy to use this to their advantage.

What's more, the Heat's bigs so far (other than Bosh) are slow. Getting easy baskets in transition should prove to be easy. Ilgauskas is one step away from needing a wheelchair and Juwan Howard is on his last legs, too. The Magic have to capitalize on this.

Continue to persevere

While many are ready to hand the trophy over to LeBron and the Heat, the Magic, as well as a few other teams, have lineups that can give the Heat numerous problems. Capitalizing on the Heat's weaknesses and making some final touchups on the roster should give the Magic a real shot at defeating King James and the Heat.