Do You Still Believe in Magic? What Can Orlando Do to Stay on Top of the East?
I’ve been an Orlando Magic fan ever since the 1995 Finals. Although the Magic were swept that year by the Houston Rockets, I felt confident that with Hardaway, Anderson, Grant and of course Shaq, the Magic would eventually win a championship.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Chicago ran the East and built another dynasty, Shaq eventually left the Magic for LA and Orlando went from arguably the most talented team in the NBA to a seventh or eighth seed in the East.
Fast-forward to 2001: The Magic sign Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. This is a championship-caliber team right? Wrong.
Hill ended up playing four games his first season, 14 his second, 29 his third and yeah, you get the idea. Even though he played a good portion of his last season in Orlando, he was never the force he was in Detroit.
McGrady, on the other hand, blossomed in Orlando, but could never lead the Magic beyond the first round of the playoffs and was eventually traded.
In 2004, everything changed for the Magic when, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, they took Dwight Howard. With the help of Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, a vastly overpaid Rashard Lewis and an overlooked Rafer Alston, the Magic went on to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, and make the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years. I was ecstatic.
However, much like the series against Houston 14 years earlier, the Magic were again outplayed and lost a heartbreaking Finals against the LA Lakers in just five short games.
Last year, I watched my beloved Magic lose to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, despite sweeping the Hawks and Bobcats in previous rounds.
I thought last year was finally the year the Magic brought the championship home, but again, it wasn’t time.
Luckily it’s a new year, and the Magic have another chance to bring a championship home to all of us in Florida. After a 13-4 start, there is no need to panic.
Boston and Orlando are no longer the only two dangerous teams in the East: The Heat, despite their slow start are a dangerous team, Atlanta can never be counted out of contention and Chicago has a ton of young talent.
Boston will slow down and have to start rebuilding in 2-4 years, but Miami, Chicago and, to a lesser extent, Atlanta will be a challenge in the East for the next five to seven years. Even if the Magic beat the rest of the East, there is still the best team in the West lying in wait.
The question is: What can the Magic do to win the championship?
The Magic should make a trade. When Turkoglu left the team last year, the Magic lost not only the team’s playmaker, but the team’s go-to guy in clutch situations.
Anyone who watched last year’s Eastern Conference Finals saw Vince Carter miss free throws with the game on the line. Carter can't be the go-to guy for the Magic.
I would love to see Howard be the guy the Magic go to at the end of a close game, but his low free-throw percentage will stop that from happening. Jameer Nelson can be the team’s playmaker, and he has proven this year that he can make clutch shots.
I am still not sure though come playoff time he can be good enough as a playmaker or clutch player to lead the team past Boston and Miami.
Chris Paul is the guy I think would put the Magic over the top. He is among the top playmakers in the league. He would create so many quality looks for Howard and the rest of the team, he plays defense and he can score. Considering how well the Hornets are doing this year, it’s unlikely he will be traded and even more unlikely that it would be to the Magic.
Carmelo Anthony has been on the trading block since this summer, and would be a huge asset for Orlando. Carmelo Anthony would be the go-to scorer the Magic need. He could take a lot of pressure off Howard, and maybe suck up some double teams, or at least get some off Howard.
At the very least, he would create some open looks for JJ Reddick and the other shooters. Most importantly, he can create his own shot and be the go-to guy when the game is on the line.
I just don’t believe the Magic have the assets to acquire Anthony. With Denver looking to rebuild, there is no way they would take on Lewis’ contract. Marcin Gortat is really the only asset Orlando has.
While Gortat is a player a lot of teams might be interested in, I don’t believe Denver is one of them. Denver has Chris Anderson and NeNe locked up for several years, so they have plenty of big men. On top of this, Gortat will make about $35 million over the next four years. All this leaves for Denver is draft picks, Vince Carter’s contract and maybe Brandon Bass or JJ Reddick.
A proposed trade with New Jersey had Derrick Favors and possibly lottery draft picks coming to Denver. Unfortunately, Favors is better than anything the Magic can offer, so I just don’t see a trade for Anthony happening.
Andre Iguodala coming to Orlando makes the most sense to me. Since I heard Philadelphia might be shopping him around, I’ve been hoping I would read somewhere that he was headed to Orlando. Iguodala is a great player but not a superstar, and in my opinion more of a complementary player to a playoff team.
Because of this, I doubt New Jersey or New York (the two teams adamant to add a superstar) would really be interested in Iguodala.
Although Iguodala isn’t as talented as Paul or Anthony, he is a great scorer, decent rebounder, an above-average playmaker and a solid overall player. He, along with Rashard Lewis, would create a great and versatile front line that could score inside and outside.
I don’t think he fills the void the Magic need for a first option entirely, but he’s young and someone the Magic could acquire in a three-team deal without losing anything more than Gortat, Carter and some draft picks.
If things don’t work out with Iguodala, his contract comes off the books soon. If the Magic could make a deal work, I think Iguodala would be a huge asset in Orlando.
If a big trade doesn’t happen, rebuilding is the next option. In three years, most of the big contracts are off the books (Nelson, Howard, Carter and Lewis). Howard MUST be re-signed and I can see Nelson getting an extension, but Lewis and Carter should be gone.
This leaves the Magic with a large amount of cap room to go after a big free agent. Hopefully, Otis Smith will wait and bide his time if need be instead of maxing out the best player the first year the cap relief is there (Rashard Lewis).
The last way the Magic can win the championship is to get lucky.
Otis Smith has made some great moves despite his blunder of signing Rashard Lewis to a contract that far exceeds his value.
He acquired Jameer Nelson from Denver for almost nothing, he took a risk on JJ Reddick with a lottery pick that is currently paying off and he acquired Marcin Gortat for practically nothing as well.
All it will take to put the Magic over the top in the East is that one draft pick that exceeds expectations, or that young role-player who blossoms.
Regardless of what moves the Magic make, the rest of the East will not make it easy for them to reach another Finals berth, and the West will make it even harder to win it all.
Despite what happens, Orlando will always be my favorite team and I will always believe in Magic.
