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Alex Martins is confident that his Orlando Magic won’t be out of the playoffs for too long.
The Magic fans are hoping the team’s CEO is right.
A year ago, the Magic were celebrating their seventh straight season in the playoffs. Now instead, they had the worse record in the NBA and have to think of a way to climb back to respectability. Martins doesn’t think it will be the long, hard way.
It’s based on the draft picks the Magic will have plus some promising newcomers who emerged this season such as Tobias Harris, Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless and Andrew Nicholson.
Yes, they traded away top NBA franchise-like players in Dwight Howard during the offseason and during the season. But they got some good value in return.
The ownership is also looking to have $30 million in cap space left, giving the team a chance to sign two maximum-salaried all-stars.
That does look good on paper. But the Magic also have to realize they’re not going to turn around a 20-62 team overnight. It’s going to have to be a start from scratch sort of deal where they’re hoping players learn how to perform in the NBA. The most important thing will be for the younger players to learn how to close out games and do the little things which will add to one-point wins, not one-point losses.
In the end, that will determine contenders vs. pretenders. The Magic did pretend too many times last season. They came close in many game but didn’t get the job done. When Martins starts investing in players, he needs to find a closer to lead the way for the rest of the team.
