Orlando Magic FAIL to meet expectations | What can they BUILD with and what do they NEED?

Orlando Magic FAIL to meet expectations | What can they BUILD with and what do they NEED?

We and the Orlando Magic are officially back home for the end of the season. So, what do we make of the 2024 2025 Orlando Magic season? And what is in store for the future today on Locked on Magic? You are Locked On Magic, your daily Orlando Magic podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And you are indeed locked on Magic. Today is May 1st, 2025. My name is Philip Rossman. I’m the senior writer over at Orlandomomagicdaily.com. credentialed member of the Orlando Magic Media since the 2010 season. You can of course follow me on Twitter, philipr_omd and on blue sky, philipr. On today’s episode of lockdown magic, we are back home from Boston. Long trip today. Lot of lot of flying, a lot of flying, a lot of time in the airport. We are back home getting ready for exit interviews on Thursday. So, what do we make of this line nomadic season? How do we classify the last 83 plus 5 88 games? What will this season mean? We’re going to get to all that. Start doing the autopsy coming up here in just a moment. But first, we want to thank you again for making Lockdown Magic your first listen every day. For all my everydayers, people who listen to the podcast every day. Truly appreciate appreciate you all making lockdown magic part of your day every day. And you can make lockdown magic your first listen every day, too. It’s all part of the lockdown podcast network. your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked On Magic is brought to you by Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. Turn any TV into your Xbox. No console needed. Head to amazon.com/firetvlockedon to learn more. Let’s get this out of the way. The Orlando Magic did not accomplish their goals this season. They were the first to tell us that after game five on Tuesday, Tuesday night, I guess it was almost Wednesday at that point. Um, days are weird. Um, the Magic did not accomplish their goals this season. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. I’m not going to sugarcoat it and say this was a smashing success of a season. The only measure of success or the only way we could say this season was successful was if the Magic had won a playoff series, one homec court advantage. And frankly, if this episode weren’t coming for another two weeks. So, while I’m going to define success and failure very differently than a lot of people will, the Magic did not accomplish their goals. And this is the first time the Magic have not accomplished what they set out to do at the beginning of the season since they did the tearown in 2020. since they did or 2021 when they traded Nicole Vuchic, Aaron Gordon, and Evan Forier. Let’s just put that all out there right away. Orlando entered this season after making the playoffs last year with a young team eager to keep growing. They entered this season at coming off a year where they won 47 games and were the five seed, eager to take the next step, to win homecourt advantage, and to put themselves in a position to win a playoff series. To say the least, obviously they dropped from 47 wins to 41 wins. To say the least, they dropped from the five seed to the seven seed. To say the least, they were not in the contention for a home court advantage. To say the least, they were not in a series where they had a frankly realistic shot at winning. That’s the breaks. That’s how it goes sometimes. And so the Magic now find themselves in a spot and in a position where they have to grow, where they have to assess what went wrong this season. And we’re going to get to some of this in a minute. Assess what went wrong this season and find a way forward. We will talk to Jeff Welman on Thursday. We will get his answers because what he has to say is the most important thing about what comes next for the Magic. We’ll talk about that on tomorrow’s episode of Lockdown Magic. two big future episodes here coming up. But I also want to make this statement too. The Magic Season was not a failure. Despite the overarching goals not getting accomplished, a lot of that was just frankly a out of their control. the Orlando Met. No, no team can survive the injuries that this team faced. No team can live and and succeed when their top four scorers all miss significant portions of the season. Paulo Beno missed six weeks or missed what two months actually full two almost a full two months with a torn oblique. A month after he goes down, after his star turn, France Vagner misses six weeks with a torn oblique. Two weeks after France Vagner goes down, Mo Vagner goes down with a torn ACL. And then roughly two weeks after that, Jaylen Suggs injures his back and plays one more game the rest of the season before injuring his knee and has lost for the rest of the year. Go find me a team that can survive those kinds of injuries. They’re not many. And so injuries aren’t an excuse. The Magic didn’t accomplish their goals. They they made some they had some major regressions, and we’re going to talk about those coming up here in a minute, but they also found a way to make the most of their season. At several points, they they really had the option and had the decision to make. Are they going to let the rope go completely? They had moments where they could have easily said, “We’re done. This ain’t worth it.” 18 games is not even a quarter of the season. But the Magic finishing 12- six over the last 18 games of the season to get to 41 wins is something to be happy about. At a moment when the Magic could have kind of quit and skated to the end of the season, the Magic said, “No, we are going to make the most of this season. We are going to make the most of this time we have together, of this opportunity in front of us.” And they did. They beat the Cavs on the road. Great win. They won that huge game against the Hawks at home. They won the playin game running away with their two stars, frankly, not producing at the level that they’re accustomed to. They put themselves in the playoffs in a tough series against Boston. Not going to deny that. And made the Celtics fight tooth and nail to beat them. For all the flaws, for all the shortcomings, for all the things the Magic aren’t and can’t be with this roster, the Magic still found ways to make themselves competitive, to never let go, and to never quit. That is a credit to each player on the team. is a credit to the leadership from Palo Beno and France Vager as as budding and as growing as it still is. That is a credit to Jamal Mosley. That is a credit to the belief of all these players in each other. This wasn’t the season the Magic wanted. But it wasn’t a failure either because the Magic still established a culture of who they are, of what they’re going to be, of what this program is. In many ways, or not many, in many ways, this was a a confirmation of what the Magic accomplished last year. Last year, everything felt easy. the momentum just there was just a wind at the wind at their sales, wind at their backs. Everybody was healthy there. There wasn’t adversity last year except for the last week of the season, but last season was just momentum. They didn’t know what they were doing. This year, they came in with expectations. They came in understanding what they’re capable of and had to deal with the frustration and disappointment of not being able to do it all the time, of having to work to regain their spot. And ultimately, the magic did not get back there. And that is something that they have to remember. I’m not sitting here saying it’s all rainbows and puppy dogs and and and and excitement and all that stuff. They had players make major regressions. as well as Wendell Carter played defensively throughout the last half of the season and into the playoffs through the fact that Wendell Carter had the healthiest season he has had playing the most games he’s ever played in a single career than playing the most consecutive games that he has played for this magic team and in his career. His three-point shooting completely dropped off the face of the earth. He provided so little on offense and there are stories like that throughout the roster. Contavius Caldwell Pope the big free agent signing not shooting the ball well until the last month of the season and then disappearing in the playoffs as the veteran at least offensively pretty solid defensively throughout the course of the season. It’s Anthony Black continuing to struggle to find consistency as a secondyear player to find the aggression that the Magic need from him to be the ideal point guard for them. It’s Jonathan Isaac who put on the weight and supposedly put on the muscle to be more durable and he played the games to be durable but couldn’t stay on the court minutes wise to keep his to keep his wind and his stamina up and could not provide the same impact defensively or anything on offense. It’s the whole team, yes, shooting the worst three-point field goal percentage in the league. There are a lot of things to fix. And again, we’re gonna get to that towards the end of the show a little bit as we begin to eye the off season. There are a lot of things to fix. There are a lot of things the Magic must improve, but there’s still a lot that this team did well. There’s still a lot that this team was able to accomplish. As small as those goals are, I agree with the team. This is no time for moral victories. The Magic didn’t accomplish their goals and that requires a hard look in the mirror by each individual player to figure out what they need to do to get better next year from Jamal Mosley to figure out what more he can do to get out of this team. And yes, from Jeff Welman most especially to say, what are you going to do to add the players to make this thing work? to make this thing that everybody feels can be so special to make this work. It was a season that was a mixed bag. A season that the magic left a lot on the table through no fault of their own in some cases, but certainly left a lot on the table. But it’s a season that could provide the seeds and the future for this group. What did the Magic show us that will be good for this team’s future? We’re going to get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Locked On Magic is brought to you by our friends at Amazon Fire TV. Did you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices. No console required. Just grab your paired controller, subscribers sign into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with EA Play included, and you’re ready to go. Dive into hundreds of premium titles, including EA Sports Culture Fall 25 to Call of Duty as easily as you stream your favorite shows. I’m a gamer. I love I love playing my video games. gives like evens me out for an hour or just ticks me off, gives me a puzzle to solve, whether it’s playing whether it’s playing B an NBA game, playing soccer, playing playing anything. I’ll play College Football 25. I’m terrible at it, but I’ll play play it. When I’m on the road, I do kind of miss the Jones of playing video games and doing it on your phone is not the same. With my Fire TV, with my Fire TV Stick, I can make my hotel TV into an Xbox for me so I can stay uptodate with my games, get my seasons done, or get to that next level. Head to amazon.com/firetvlocked to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required. Available on select devices, including Fire TV Stick 4K second gen, Fire TV Stick 4K Max first and second gen, and Fire TV Cube third gen. Again, turn your TV into an Xbox with the Amazon FireTV stick. That’s amazon.com/firetv locked on to get started. I understand the disappointment. Um, I want to acknowledge disappointment and disappointment is the correct response to the season. Orlando did not accomplish their goals. That cannot sit, that cannot rest. that requires action from everybody in the organization. So don’t take the fact that I’m not in here calling for people’s heads or saying like, “Oh, this is a failure that that my by try.” Don’t take me pointing out positives as a sign that I think complacency is is the is the solution. The Magic have a lot of bets to make. They have a lot of decisions to make this off season. Last season, they bet on continuity. They bet on internal growth to take them to the next level. And guess what? It didn’t work. It didn’t happen. It didn’t pan out the way that they hoped for. And so again, now the Magic have to ask themselves, okay, which players are we going to keep? Which players should we stay invested in? And which ones is it time to move on from? And those two questions aren’t completely mutually exclusive because they can say we want to be invested in this player, but we need this skill and the only way we’re getting that skill is by giving up that player. There is going to be a lot of permutations and a lot of things to talk about in the offseason. So stay subscribed to Locked On Magic through the offseason because we’re going to talk about all that. But even though I can fairly say that this season did not meet expectations, did not meet the goals the Magic were trying to accomplish, I can also sit here and say and tell you that there were still good things to hold on to. That this is a season that is as important as a learning experience to make this entire franchise better. What was the big thing that I said exiting the playoffs or entering the playoffs? If the Magic aren’t going to beat the Celtics, and we all understood that was a tall task that I wanted to exit that series knowing that Paulo Bancerero and France Vagner are playoff performers, our true all-star players. And honestly, as disappointed as I think everyone has a right to be after the playoffs, as disappointed as everyone should be after the playoffs, because the Magic could have and should have played better, would that mean they would win the series? I don’t know. the national media and and the overall scope of this of of the coverage of the series was like, man, that Magic team plays hard. They defend their butts off. And Paulo and Fron are those dudes. Let’s get this Let’s get this like 100% clear there. The positive of this season is that there is no longer any doubt. Paulo Ben Carro and Fran Vagner are perennial allstars. And the only way they miss those teams is if a the Magic aren’t as good as they should be. And guess what? If the Magic are not a perennial playoff team, if they’re not competing for homecourt advantage for every season until Paulo and Fron are not on this team anymore, that is a failure on the part of Jeff Wilman or it’s because of some act of God like all the injuries that hit the Magic this year. The Magic are a four seed contender for from now until the end of these contracts. They’re a four- seed contender for the next five years. the window to win a championship is opening and we can only say that because of the seasons Paulo Beno and France Vagner had. And so while I could agree with you that yeah, the Magic did not have the most effective offseason they needed to have to maximize these guys ignoring needs that we all saw that they needed and clearly needed after that game game seven loss in Cleveland. The window is open. The Magic have done the hard part of team building. They’ve got the superstars. Paulo Vancero and France Vagner were just simply amazing in the playoffs. Paulo finished with 29.4 points per game. Ended up shooting only 43 and a half% taking 24.8 field goal attempts per game. Shooting 44.4% from three. Free throws are an issue for him, but playoffs are playoffs. France Vagner after an uneven playoffs last year, averaged 25.8 eight points per game, shot 44.3% from the floor. We’re going to ignore the 18.9% from three, uh, and added 76.9% from the foul line. Pretty low for him, actually. Um, but again, just carrying that heavy heavy bur in the regular season. The two the duo was just as good. 25.9 points per game in the regular season for Paulo Banker. Shot 45.2% from the floor, 24.2% or 24.2 points per game from Fron Logger. became the first Magic teammates to average at least 20 points per game in the same season since Shaq and Penny in 1996. Paulo Bane, Carol and France Vager continue to do things that they are the only players in franchise history to do in the playoffs. Some of that is by necessity because the Magic had no other options and no other players that could attack off the dribble. But the Magic essentially this season pushed Paulo and Fron to their limits. They found where they lose effectiveness and where this off where where they carry this offense when they have no help. No offense help because guess what? The Magic only had four players scoring double figures during the regular season. Two of them were J were Jaylen Sugs and Mo Vagner. The other two were Paulo and Fron. In the playoffs, the Magic had only three players scoring at least 10 points per game. That was Paulo Banker Fran Vagner and Wendell Carter had a very nice playoffs. I I have to commend Wendell Carter for a very very strong showing in that playoff series. But the Magic did not give these guys any help. But that’s the thing. This is the hard part. They got the two max guys. And Paulo Benro will get a max extension on June 30th. Do not worry. He is wrapped up for the next four to five years. Um or whatever. I forget what how much contract is, but he’s wrapped up for a very very long time. The Magic laid the seeds for their future. They established that they are an elite defensive team. continue to be an elite defensive team and they establish that they have two all-star level players. That is the bare minimum of what we could have asked for this season, but still seeing it, being a part of it, watching it grow. That’s the reason to be a Magic fan right now. That’s the reason, as Jeff Welman will probably say at exit interviews on Thursday, this is the best time to be a Magic fan. And guess what? I I I I can’t dispute that despite how disappointing this season is, or was, despite the results of this season, the Magic are still in one of the most enviable spots in the league with two stars under 23 years old, able to do this, and still clearly going to get better. We’ll talk about France Vagner shooting very, very soon. We’re going to ask him directly about it on Thursday. Um he began very much hinting at it after after the game on Tuesday. Uh it’s been a question everyone’s been avoiding just to not make him think about it as much as I’m sure he is thinking about it anyway. But the ma but the the future Magic Champion the seeds were laid this season just like they were laid last season. The future Magic Championship team is there because Paulo and Fron are that good. And while I agree, we should be taking bigger steps. The Magic should have taken a bigger step this season. Again, injuries played a role in that, but so too did a summer that did that. So, so too did the summer bets that didn’t pan out. Had a big part of what the Magic failed at and what the Magic have left to do this off seasonason. But the Magic have the hard part done. And so if you ask me what the state of the magic is, despite how disappointing and frustrating the season was, it is still good because Paulo and Fron are the dudes. They are the guys you can build your team around. The frankly the best duo of talent the Magic have had on their roster since Shaq and Penny. And who knows, they may give Sha and Penny a run for their money. They I don’t I don’t want to speak too soon, but probably not Shaq level good. Magic Shack was the best version of Shaq. Come fight me Lakers. Um, the Magic have that base covered. And now comes the next part, the difficult part, the task ahead for the Orlando Magic. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. If you have listened to this show over the last two years, you have likely heard me say why the playoffs are so important. If you’ve listened to the if you’ve listened to the show at any point, even when the team was really bad, and you would hear me talk about why the playoffs are so important, why for even losing in the first round is so valuable. In the playoffs, every single one of your flaws is exposed. Teams are able to focus in so intently on you, on your on on what you do, on your idiosyncrasies. They learn you so well. We could probably call out every single one of Boston’s sets and every single one of Boston’s plays. The Magic were sitting on everything. The playoffs become about will. Can you beat a defense that knows what’s coming? That’s the playoffs. And with the way the league works now, they pick apart every weakness that you have. You have to go to the playoffs and you have to lose in the playoffs to better understand your flaws. Now, the Magic knew a lot of their flaws. We are not surprised by a lot of the reasons why the Magic lost, but like Palo Bane Carro, honestly, if there is going to be something good that comes out of game five Tuesday night, Paloan better look at that and say, “I can’t be the defensive weak link anymore.” or if they’re going to attack me, they’re going to pay for it. Now, look, I think Paulo is a better defender than people give him credit for. The fact that Paulo is the weak link of that Magic defense is a testament to how good the Magic defense is, but he still wanders off the ball. He’s still a step off sometimes, especially against a team like the Celtics. The Magics still feel the need to kind of hide him on the worst shooter. It was Al Horford throughout this series. It was Drew Holiday throughout this series. And they and Paulo got burned several times. And in game and like I said in game five, a lot of his fouls were late rotations or his early fouls. His first two fouls were all late rotations and that put him in a precarious spot because then Boston attacked him when he got his fourth foul. Um they got him frustrated. He was late to his spot. Fron Vagner struggling with this three-point shot despite the volume and the confidence he wants to have in his three-pointer. He knows he needs to work on his read. Second straight year we’ve talked about this. This is more impetus to do so. But as a team it is clear the Magic need more. Jeff Welman told us and we will again ask him these questions at exit interviews on Thursday. Jeff Welman told us continuity only works while you’re successful. The Magic just had an unsuccessful season. The Magic just had a season where they did not accomplish their goals. where they did not did do what they would deem a success and I would agree with that. I’m not calling this season a failure. I don’t think it was a failure, but it was not a success. The Magic have work to do. And the fact that their defense felt like it bugged Boston so much and yet they could not take advantage of the mistakes. They could not put themselves in a better position to win. Whether it was game one, whether it was game four, whether it was game five, they should have won last night. We should be prepping for game six tonight. We should I’m not afraid to say it. I know they lost by 31, whatever it ended up being. The Magic should be prepping for game six tonight. They played a better game until the until the bottom just dropped out from them. If the Magic want to be in this on the Celtics level, they have to address these key issues. They have to address the three-point shooting. They don’t have enough of it. They don’t have enough of a three-point threat. They probably need a volume three-point shooter. But more than that, they need someone that can create easy shots for everyone else. Someone that can create on time, ontarget passes and get defenses and rotation. They need more than two guys who can attack comfortably off the dribble. They need more players who when they get the ball, their first instinct is to score. Fact of the matter is, as good as the Magic’s offense was, second in the league, having the 27th ranked offense is not good enough if you want to compete with a team like the Celtics. It’s not good enough if your aspiration is to win a championship. And look, maybe Paulo Bane Caro and the way that he plays and maybe the way this offense is, maybe it does mean that the Magic have to transform their offensive playbook, but the Magic got to get the personnel in first. Orlando simply doesn’t have enough shooting, doesn’t have enough threat of shooting. Their shooters are too low volume to make anyone care. Now, Jaylen Suggs, he took uh he took 6.9 three-point attempts per game this season. shot 31.4%. A lot of that because he’s working off the dribble and and had to set shots up for himself because everyone else was hurt. Paulo Van Carol took 5.9 attempts per game, shot 32%. Fran Vagner took 5.9 three-point attempts, shot 29 and a half%. All three of those players improving to even 35, even let’s still 34% would go a long way to making the Magic a greater offense. Look, their big free agent signing was Contavius called Woo. Took 4.3 three-point attempts per game, 34.2% shooting. If the Magic could get someone at 8 three-point attempts per game at 34% shooting, that’s another two, that’s another three, another three and a half. Uh, one, that’s like one and a half more threes per game. That could be transformative. And if that player shoots 35 36% on eight three-point attempts per game, that’s two or three more three-pointers. Now, that is transformative for this offense. But I think a lot of us saw the other issue and and frankly, as much as I think the shooting issue is a big issue, the crux of this Magic offense is the ability to attack off the dribble. Everything this Magic team wants to do is based off of a pick and roll, a read off a pick and roll, and their ability to get downhill and, yeah, a little bit of matchup hunting. So the fact that the Magic only have Fran Vager and Paulo Benero capable of creating their own shot off the dribble. Jaylen Suggs is okay at it, not great. Cole Anthony is the only one with that scores instinct. It is clear the Magic need more players who aren’t afraid to take a dang shot, even if it’s a bad shot. They need more volume. They need more volume scorers to ease the burden off Paul and France and maybe get them some easy shots who are there this off seasonason for the Orlando Magic. We know the defense is going to be there and I don’t think Orlando’s going to go sign players require players that they are concerned will not buy in on defense. If you want to play for the Orlando Magic, you got to be willing to defend. You don’t have to be perfect because they’ll clean they’ll clean up a little bit for you. They’ll help you out. Mo Vagner is proof you don’t have to be perfect. Frankly, Cole Anthony and Paulo Banchero are proof you don’t have to be perfect on defense to play for this team. They will help you out if you put in the effort, but the Magic have to meaningfully address their offensive issues. And to me, it it it isn’t the three-point shooting where it starts. It’s setting up the three-point shot with more off the dribble creation. They need more players who want to attack the ball, attack the rim, specifically the rim off the dribble and can create their own shot because that’s what kickstarts this offense. When teams double and put the wall up on him, when teams try to wall up on Fron, be able to dish out to someone in the corner who can make that three-pointer, but then pump fake and attack. Kick it back out to a Jaylen Suggs. Kick it back out to if Kentavius Gobble Pope is still on team Kavius Golope. Kick it back out to Paloan Carroll for a spot up three. How many spot up threes did we see from him this year? All of his threes are pull-ups. They need another they need more players who want who have that instinct so that they can set others up for easier shots. This was the issue coming out of last year’s playoffs. Paulo and Fron had to do too much. All of their shots were hard. And the fact that they still made a bunch of them, and it was the case in this year’s playoffs, too. The fact that they still made a bunch of them tells you how good they are. Get them some easy shots, you’re not going to lose production, and you’re going to increase efficiency. And you’re going to have another player that can get you 15, 16, 17 a night, and on a straight night get you 35. That’s what the Magic are looking for this summer. And the task ahead is to find those players. It’s probably two or three of them. Find those players to fill out your starting lineup, to fill out your bench, to fill out these critical roles and increase the offensive talent on this team. The Magic throughout their draft process, and it is a fair criticism of Jeff Welman on this point, the Magic throughout their draft process have targeted length, athleticism, and defensive intensity. And that’s fine. That is a fine philosophy thinking that you can build offense and kind of fit guys into that to build the defensive identity you want. It’s no longer time for that. It’s time to push this team forward. And this team is going nowhere without an infusion of offense for this group. If that is the biggest thing we learned, and it was a thing we should have known entering the season, I’m not going to absolve Jeff Welman of that. I understand why he made the moves he made. I I think they were still logical. They did not pan out. They did not work. And so it is time to force some action. It is time to force some of this into play. Players did not develop as you you hoped. It’s time to find the players that can elevate this team where you wanted to be this year and where you ultimately want to go. The pressure is all on Jeff Welman to find those players. And look, we’re going to go through the lists. We’re going to start naming names. We’re going to start making target lists. We’re going to start going through all this as we get closer and closer to July 1st and closer closer to the draft because it’s going to happen on draft night. It’s going to be a busy draft and I don’t think it’s going to be because the Magic use their draft picks. The Magic are in a spot where it is time to put some skin back in the game and time to more clearly and directly address critical needs and frankly to be ruthless about it. The Magic have set themselves up to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. I have no doubt of that. Now, it’s time to execute on that vision and build a team that can get you there. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Magic Course. Find me on Twitter, philipr_momd, and on blue sky, phipr. You can subscribe to the podcast, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Tune, and Hy, Google Play, Spotify, Odyssey, and all podcast to your podcast enabled listening device. For latest on the Orlando Magic, be sure to check out Orlando Magic.com. You can find us on Twitter, OM Magic Daily. And for even more Orlando Magic content, be sure to check out my Patreon page, Orlando Magic Hub, at patreon.com/orlandomagic hub. As always, thank you for your support. We want to thank you again for making Lockdown Magic your first listen of the day. For your second listen, go check out the Locked On NBA Game Night podcast every night, every game until an NBA champion is crowned. Get local analysis on a national scale. Find NBA Game Night on the Locked on NBA feed on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. That’s going to do for me today though. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Locked On Magic. We’ll be back tomorrow. We will chat about what we learned from exit interviews, continue the autopsy of this season, what the Magic hope to accomplish uh next season as well or as they prepare to look into the offseason. We’re gonna get to all that. Again, follow me. I I’ll try an update from media day on Twitter, Omagic Daily. We will see you all after exit reviews tomorrow. Until then, for Orlando Magic Daily and Locked on Magic, this has been Philip Ross. See you again next time for another episode of Locked on Magic.

The Orlando Magic entered the season with ambitions to make the second round and win homecourt advantage. They ultimately failed to meet those goals through a combination of injuries and regression.

Still, Orlando had a lot of things to be excited about. They established their defensive dominance and identity. They developed their two stars into true building blocks. They have the foundation to be a great team.

The pressure now is on management to meaningfully address obvious needs and give the team the personnel to boost themselves into the contention tier.

0:00 Intro: Magic’s 2024-2025 season review
5:42 Injuries derailed Magic’s playoff aspirations
16:54 Banchero and Wagner: Magic’s superstar duo
22:33 Playoffs expose team weaknesses for improvement
28:41 Magic need more offensive creators

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FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)