Every headline you read would indicate that this has been a bad first half of the season for the Orlando Magic.
At the All-Star break, they are tied with five other teams for the fewest number of wins in the NBA. Injuries have kept key contributors like Nik Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Terrence Ross out for extended periods of time.
The franchise saw great hope in last summer's sixth overall pick, Jonathan Isaac, as his rookie campaign tipped off in October. That optimism was dashed 15 games into the season when he suffered an ankle injury.
Due to Gordon's injury and a subsequent need to pull out of Saturday's Slam Dunk Contest, this seemingly rudderless Magic ship is the only team with no representation on the court at All-Star Weekend. To cap off the melee of bad news, one of the franchise's former future building blocks, point guard Elfrid Payton, was shipped away for nothing more than a second-round pick at the trade deadline.
When you put it all together, the proof is in the pudding. The first campaign headed by new President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman and General Manager John Hammond has been an abject disaster.
That is the story on the surface, but here is the reality of the matter: those who believe this season in Orlando is a failure are way off the mark.
In fact, the 2017-18 campaign has been a resounding success.
Orlando Magic Make Moves For New Season
Yes, it has been disappointing that Isaac has not seen the light of day since the Magic's surprising and misleading successful early start. Firing off a record of 18-41 is also not what one normally wants to see when they check the standings for their favorite team.
Still, the players on the roster have shown Orlando's new front office decision makers everything they needed to see. Even though he has played in just 39 of 59 games, Gordon has proven he is worthy of a long-term deal to keep hooping in The City Beautiful.
He is averaging 18.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and is among the most improved players in the NBA. By all indications, Weltman/Hammond view the soon-to-be restricted free agent as a future building block.
This Orlando Magic season has also produced the fruit of a Mario Hezonja emergence. That previously-mentioned onslaught of injuries has opened up minutes for the former top draft pick and he has responded with three straight 20-plus point performance heading into the break.
While Orlando rejected Hezonja's fourth-year option at the beginning of the season making him an unrestricted free agent this summer, it looks like they now may have a difficult decision to make on a player, who at 22 years old may just be coming into his own.
The Magic's brass has also been able to take this season to get a look at players like Vucevic, Evan Fournier, and Jonathon Simmons. They certainly have a better idea now where they fit into the longterm picture.
Orlando's front office has been able to preside over all this growth and gather necessary data while still having a squad on the floor that is in the hunt to strike NBA Draft Lottery luck and land this year's #1 pick. If you believe the draft gurus, there could be several All-Star caliber talents sitting at the top of draft boards this summer.
If everything broke right through these last four months, perhaps the Magic are up hovering closer to the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but what does that accomplish? Battling to be mediocre in the NBA could improve fan morale in the short term, but rarely does it enhance the long-term ability to chase championships.
Ricky Bobby said it best, "If you're not first, you're last!" With Orlando far from this year's title chase they took a mulligan and kept hope alive that they could get the chance to select a player that makes them relevant.
The fact that some important things have been gleaned about the roster along the way is just icing on the cake.
Carson Ingle has been a sportswriter and sports talk radio host in Orlando for the past ten years. He can currently be seen several times a week on Spectrum Sports 360's Face-Off segment at 10:30 p.m. on Central Florida News 13, channel 1013. Follow him on Twitter.
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