Anyway, the link and a few quotes:
Hollinger’s 2021-22 Orlando Magic preview: Lineup, roster, prediction, how long will rebuild take?
Some excerpts:
Orlando got some good stuff out of this, including the eighth pick in the 2021 draft, two future firsts, two promising young players and a massive trade exception, but inevitably it will take a little while for all this to coalesce into a real basketball team again. Injuries weren’t the only issue hurting the Magic, to be fair. The non-development of 2018 sixth pick Mo Bamba hurt, given how loaded the rest of that draft was. Clifford otherwise did great work, but his inexplicable, insatiable need to put Dwayne Bacon on the floor resulted in one of the league’s most statistically negative players leading the team in minutes by a wide margin.
The Magic finished as a bottom-five team at both ends of the court, but the offensive drudgery was especially painful. They were last in 2-point percentage at a ghastly 47.6 and not much better from beyond the arc (34.3 percent; 27th). Following the midseason trades, they were twice held under 80 points in an NBA basketball game in the Year of our Lord 2021.
Orlando ended up with two lottery picks that should serve as the foundation for whatever this team can become going forward. The backcourt will be a little crowded with young players now that Suggs is here, but he’s a much more compelling prospect than Cole Anthony and should immediately become the developmental focus. Wagner doesn’t have Suggs’ ceiling but is a good passer and defender who can make plays in transition; if you’re Orlando, you’re hoping for Mikal Bridges-type outcomes.
Orlando also traded the 33th pick to the Clippers for a 2026 Detroit second-rounder and cash, which, I mean … not great. The odds of Detroit’s 2026 second-rounder being as high as 33rd are vanishingly low, so I hope that was an awful lot of cash. A team in Orlando’s situation should be trying to hit on as many young guys as possible; if roster crowds were an issue, there were also a couple of good stash picks waiting in this spot
The Magic are a gazillion dollars from the tax line (OK, $22.5 million to be precise), and that could come into play because they’re sitting on a $17.1 million trade exception for Fournier until the trade deadline. Orlando could use that and draft equity to trade for a player under contract who can be part of its future, a more promising avenue than relying on free agency. Orlando also projects to have about $40 million in cap room next summer; extending or re-signing Carter could soak up some of that money, while using the Fournier exception may cut into it too. But the Magic could take a free agency plunge if they really wanted. A more likely scenario, perhaps, is some combination of the above: Using the Fournier exception on one player, using perhaps $20 million of the cap room to sign another player and extending or re-signing Carter with the rest.
A few player comments highlights:
Cole Anthony, PG – Respectable showing for 20-year-old rookie with waaaaaay too much offensive responsibility.
Mo Bamba, C – Actually got better last season, but his motor just never runs very hot.
R.J. Hampton, SG – Speedy scoring guard is only 20 and grew two inches since draft day.
Gary Harris, SG – Tough wing defender whose shot disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle in 2018.
Jonathan Isaac, PF – Can he stay healthy? Enters fifth season with just 136 career games.
Chuma Okeke, PF – Smart combo with good hands, but lacks athletic pop. Can he shoot?
Terrence Ross, SF – He’s still here? Veteran bomber is team’s most prominent trade bait.
Jalen Suggs, PG – Tough defender, excels in transition; pick-and-roll game looms as bigger question.
Franz Wagner, SF – Big, athletic and skilled, but low release raises concerns about 3-point volume.
Moritz Wagner, C – One Wagner brother could become really good. This is the other one.
Two factors suggest this might be a bit shorter than your standard teardown.
First, the Magic have some pieces here already — they were just injured last year. Isaac isn’t a star in the typical sense...but he profiles as somebody who can be the second-best player on a good team. Fultz...youth, athleticism and playmaking also bode well for his post-ACL future...Carter is in his fourth season, and if things go right, he’ll give the Magic a starting-caliber center immediately.
Second, the Magic have a lot of factors in their favor that can help accelerate a rebuilding timeline. Suggs might be good enough to legitimately raise their floor, for one. Enough other young faces are here — Wagner, Hampton, Anthony, Okeke and yes, Bamba — that only a couple of them need to pop to push the Magic forward. It goes without saying that a likely high lottery pick in 2022 will also help.
The cap room situation also bodes well; no, they aren’t getting an A-Lister, but the weather and touches available here should make the Magic competitive bidding for anyone on the notches below. Part of this coming season’s task is to thin out the herd a bit and figure out where the team remains weak going forward, so it can target those spots in free agency and trades.
Finally, the front office under Jeff Weltman and John Hammond is in its fifth season and has only one winning campaign (42-40) to show for it...The incentives are there to get this turned around relatively quickly. No, not this year. But, if everything goes right, maybe next year?
It might not be a lengthy rebuild, but this year is going to be uuuuugly...As a rookie coach, Mosley will also have to navigate a couple of delicate situations...At some point, a nod from management to declare winners and losers at these spots would soften his burden. That said, the Magic might be just competitive enough to be mildly entertaining while still stoking optimism for the future...If that doesn’t come to pass, Magic fans can at least circle March 20 on their calendars. That’s when Oklahoma City comes to town, and it will be one of the few games this year in which the Magic are favored.
Prediction: 21-61, 15th in Eastern Conference
