The Orlando Magic Should NOT Be This Good…

The Orlando Magic Should NOT Be This Good…

Yo what’s going on y’all it’s con back here again today with another video and today going to talk for a little bit about the Orlando Magic they’ve been rebuilding since they trade away core pieces like Evan forier Aaron Gordon novich back at the deadline in 2021 which honestly was overdue it was really

Exciting to actually see them make those deals and they got a decent return for those guys they got some good draft Capital some interesting players as well like wend Carter Mo Vagner Gary Harris and it led to them actually being able to tank after being just kind of a met

Team for a while they spent a lot of years in the middle of the pack in the playoffs a lot of time is like a seven or an eight seed finally they fell towards the bottom of the standings and actually landed the fifth overall pick in the draft to get Jaylen Suggs that

Year as well as the eighth pick which came over in the vous trade from Chicago getting fron Vagner in the process as well they followed that up with another Lottery appearance in which they got really lucky and actually landed the first overall pick in a seemingly

Stacked draft class there are a lot of interesting names they could go with there were rumors surrounding chadol Gren of Gonzaga Jabar Smith Jor from Auburn who it felt like all the way up until draft day they were leaning towards but eventually it was revealed

That they were going to go with the guy everybody expected them to take all along in Palo banero out of Duke he was the consensus number one overall guy and he showed exactly why in his rookie season he won Rookie of the Year almost unanimously just losing a couple of

Votes here and there was their best player immediately and led them to a really good second half of the season over the final 41 games of their campaign they went 19 and 22 just three games below 500 a big improvement from the first half of the season and also in

That same stretch they’re one of the best defenses in the entire league these were all really positive things they felt like they could build off going into this season that we’re in right now because of this strong finish to their season and a plethora of young talent that was seemingly going to improve

There were some expectations behind the magic for the first time in a few seasons there’s some people that thought they would just have overall Improvement some thought you might see an allar appearance from a Pala bankera or fron Vagner and some said they could be a playing Team even some said they could

Be a playoff team outright one example of a lot of hype surrounding them came from Marco folz himself on the roster who said that they were going to go out there and grab a top four seed and secure homecourt advantage in the first round I like the confidence but to be

Honest going into the season to me this felt pretty out of the realm of possibility it wasn’t the fault of the magic I really like what they’re building over there and how for a while I’ve made a number of videos on the channel stating that but to me it just

Felt like the Eastern Conference had too many good teams to allow that to happen you talk about the Celtics the Bucks the Sixers the Knicks the heat the Cavs those 16 to me felt like they would probably be top six locks or at least right there in that conversation for

That with also teams like the Atlanta Hawks seemingly on the come up a lot of people thought they could be a top six team this year and the Indiana Pacers a team that I believed in a lot they were one of my sleepers coming into the

Season and seemed like they were in for a bunch of progression as well so while the Hawks were on a really good trajectory felt like they were building something special I thought this might be another year where they ended up just barely in the lottery I definitely could

Have seen them in the plan I forget where I predicted them I think I might have had them at that 10 spot right around that 10 or 11 range which I think most people also kind of had that in mind for the magic going into the season

Like I said there were people that went more optimistic but that was kind of the consensus I feel like going into this year and at the start of the season the magic were proving the optimists right they were going crazy for the first like month month and a half or so they were

Holding down the two seed pretty tight being the second best team behind Boston while a lot of other squads are on the Eastern Conference falter a little bit dealt with some injuries the magic just kind of held their ground from the gecko you could see that the defense from last

Season was really holding up poo was playing great fron Vagner was taking a step forward a bunch of guys were contributing and then eventually they went down the standings a little bit and it felt like okay they’re coming back down to earth they’re probably going to remain more around this plane range for

The rest of the season but now they’re back they are once again doing the stuff they did at the beginning of the season and they’ve got a real shot to potentially grab one of these top four seeds like Marquel fultz predicted and it may even be higher than the four seed

Itself over the past 25 games the magic are 18 and seven which is tied for the third best record over that stretch with the Oklahoma City Thunder and pelicans and the only teams they’re behind in that stretch in terms of record are the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets

Teams that most people will tell you will probably end up in the NBA finals in June this includes a stretch where the magic won 10 of 12 games leading into yesterday’s loss against the Kings they barely lost that game by two points they had chances at the buzzer right

Before that to go ahead and hit a game winner but ultimately came up a little bit short if they had won that game though they would have been the four seed outright but even with that loss the magic are just half a game behind the Knicks at the moment who have really

Been struggling with injuries and just one game back of the Cleveland Cavaliers at the three seed who are also dealing with some pretty significant injuries in their own right like they kind of have been all season if we want to go even further technically the two seed isn’t

Out Of Reach for the magic they’re four games back in Milwaukee at the moment but the Bucks have been playing really well at this point so even if the magic keep up this hot streak I don’t think they’re going to catch the bucks but the fact that there is a feasible

Possibility they could is extremely impressive in its own right and it feels like they’re probably going to end up in this four five range maybe even the three spot because they’re playing better than the teams ahead of them and the teams behind them with the Pacers and Miami are faltering a little bit

They’re two and a half games up on the Pacers and three games up on Miami they’re not technically out of it but the magic playing the best out of the five teams I would say that are currently from that three to seven range also regardless of where they end up the

Fact that with 13 12 games left in the season the mck are even in the conversation for homecourt Advantage in the first round is extremely impressive like I said earlier I did not see that happening I was wrong they have wildly exceeded some of my craziest

Expectations and I’ve got to give them a lot of credit for that so let’s talk about why it’s happening the biggest reason of course as I’ve alluded to a number of times in this video is the defense it has been key as it was last year and Jamal Mosley deserves a ton of

Credit for instilling this identity in them it’s rare that you see a young team like this defended the level that the magic do they’ve been the third best defense in the League this season and they’re continuously creeping close closer closer to that two spot probably the biggest reason for this has been the

Arrival of Jaylen Suggs he’s been a pretty hard-nosed gritty Defender over the course of his first two seasons but this year he has leveled up to be an all defensive guard one of the best defensive guards in the entire NBA and not only that but he’s allowed himself

To stay in the court more often now because he’s got a 40% three ball on top of that there were questions surrounding J sugs coming into the year because this magic team doesn’t have a lot of three-point shooting and while Jon sugs is this great defender they need guys to

Space the floor around Pao and fron but Jaylen Suggs has turned himself into that two-way player he’s the gritty heart and soul of this team and after there were a lot of people questioning his future in this team’s backourt because of fit past couple years people

Questioning if he was going to be a bust because of injury issues he’s now solidified himself as a Cornerstone for this team and an established part of their core going forward there’s even some people that will tell you he is the defensive player of the year and I’m not

Going to go quite that far but I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in his career he wasn’t competing or even winning one like ad Drew holiday or Marcus Smart who did secure the award a couple of years ago he is that impactful on that end the amount of times that

He’s locked up an opposing team’s best guard it’s impossible to count then out there in the front Court you have Jonathan Isaac who a few years ago felt like a lock to win not one but probably even multiple defensive player of the years he was one of the most impactful

Defenders in the league before a bunch of injuries struck and kept him out of the lineup pretty consistently but this season he’s played more games than he has really over the past few seasons and he’s looked like the defender that we knew him as back in those days he’s been

One of the most gamebreaking defenders in the entire NBA this season in fact he’s the highest defensive EPM out of anybody in the league he’s ahead of guys like Marcus Smart Alex Caruso Joel embiid Evan Moi ojan anobi Victor wanyama Rudy goar all guys who are incredible Defenders Jonathan Isaac

According to this Advanced statistic which a lot of people love clears all of them this season fron vogner gives them some great defensive versatility can guard a number of positions wend Carter Jr has been great all year down low even when he was injured goou pataz held down

The fort extremely well big shout out to him Gary Harris has been good on that end palero isn’t the best defender quite yet but he has some really solid moments gives him a nice amount of physicality some size and I think eventually pal will be a really good Defender they

Really just don’t have many bad Defenders that they put out there in the court at least not consistently and that’s a big plus for them they play Fantastic Team defense they help each other if one guy makes a mistake there’s four other really solid Defenders to go

Ahead and help them out this team is just really locked in on that end and again I got to give a lot of credit to Jamal Mosley for putting them in this position to succeed and really instilling this defensive mentality in such a young squad on the offensive end

They’re definitely a lot weaker just the 21st offense in the NBA this season mainly because they’re an awful three-point shooting team they’re one of the worst in the entire NBA which was a big concern coming into the year but credit to them they’ve done enough to at least stay afloat and give themselves

Chances to win behind that highle defense a lot of this production has come from pal banera who was named an Allstar for the first time this season and has elevated his game from his rookie campaign 22.6 points per game 6.8 rebounds 5.4 assists and a steal

Shooting 47% from the field and 37% from three that’s a big jump from his rookie season he’s got a really physical downhill rumbling type of game which feels very reminiscent of a young LeBron when I watch him out there I’m not saying he’s going to become LeBron

Because I don’t think that at all but the game is definitely reminiscent the play style where he’s really good as this point forward he likes to attack the basket can finish really well through contact knock down outside shots he has a really varied skill set and that’s great to have from your young

Number one option there are a lot of different ways he can attack you he isn’t the most efficient score yet but it’s just his second season and I also think when they get more spacing around him it’ll really open up the game because at the moment they can send a

Lot of pressure his way cuz they’re not very worried about guy sending outside shots Beyond him their secondary guy of course has been fron Vagner giving them 19.8 points per game 5.8 rebounds 3.9 assists and a steal shooting 48% from the field and it’s surprisingly low 29%

From Deep it’s a big fall off from his first two seasons I think eventually that shot will come up a little bit to me I think it’s just a little bit of variance as well as again the spacing being pretty rough so they can kind of

Key in on he and Pao a bit more but FR has done a great job finishing around the rim he’s really underrated in that regard he’s a great cutter can attack a defense a lot of different ways going downhill play on ball off ball just a fantastic complimentary star to have

Next to Pala who I think has allar potential and he could make a team very soon if the magic continue this trajectory that they’re on like say next season they’re one of the top seeds I think they could end up with both Powell and fron on that team I believe in his

Game a lot outside of those two guys for the most part it’s kind of been scoring by committee 12 and a half points per game from Suggs 11.7 from Cole Anthony 11.3 from wendo Carter Jr Mo Vagner who’s been great Off the Bench for them giving them 11 Marco Foltz with 7.6

Points per game Gary Harris with 7.1 Isaac with seven Anthony black with 4.7 and the list goes on and on it’s really just been a team effort on the offensive end Beyond their top two guys even beyond the success they’re having standings wise this season it just feels

Like a great Foundation that the magic have built up Pao and frons are a great one-w option and again I think their efficiency will improve with more Shooters around them and I think it’s better for a young team to be locked down defensively and kind of struggle offensively than the other way around

Because that defensive identity is hard to get and I do think they can just trade for Shooters draft guys that have that offensive minded skill set to put around fronza pal I think that’s a lot easier uh again a lot of credit to W mosy for what he’s done he earned that

Multi-year contract extension he got recently and I think right now he’s one of the better coaches in the entire NBA if the magic finish as like a three or four seed I could see him getting some serious Coach of the Year love although I do think it’s going to be kind of hard

To beat Mark dno over in Oklahoma City but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jamal Mosley is one of the finalists at the very least and of course as we talked about earlier this all has them positioned to potentially land a top three four or five spot in the Eastern

Conference playoffs this year which is way ahead of where I had them in terms of their schedule I know there were some people that were way more optimistic but again I think most people were kind of similar to me where it felt like the magic were just a year away from being

At this point which would have been perfectly fine if they even just made it to the planing tournament or ended up as an eight seed that would have been a home run season but instead they’ve got a grand slam they could legitimately land home court advantage in the first

Round Beyond most people’s wildest expectations I’m sure some people are going to try and discredit the Magic by saying the only reason they’re up here is because the East has had a bunch of injuries and yeah teams like the Knicks the Cavs the Sixers the Heat the Pacers

Like all those squads have been pretty beat up this year but the magic have still had to take advantage of the opportunity and even if you told me those teams are facing injury I still don’t know if I would have had the magic up here at this spot ahead of some of

The other teams in the Eastern Conference so they’ve exceeded my expectations I was wrong about them I’m sure a lot of you were and it sets up a potentially really interesting playoff match up between them and someone else in the Eastern Conference in that first

Round I will say I do think they a first run exit but I don’t think they’re a super easy one to take down with the right matchup the offense in the of shooting overall gives me a lot of pause but that defense is going to be held a

Face on any given night if you’re going up against them there’s going to be a team that even if they beat the match you can go to the next round they’re really going to have to work for that they’re going to have to fight through some physicality through high LEL

Defenders whether it’s Jonathan Isaac it’s fron vogner it’s Jaylen Suggs I could see them pushing a team to a six maybe even seven game series in the first round if they really get the ideal team to face and if you give an opposing team a competitive series land home

Court advantage this is one of the best possible season imaginable for the magic I cannot believe they’re here at this point and there’s still a lot of room for them to continue to make this a wildly successful year this court is super young you seemingly have your

Future top two players in fron vogner and pal banero and going to the playoffs you’ll at the very least know in a playoff setting where it really matters what’s wrong with this team what do you need to do in the offseason how do you need to shape this squad around your two

Stars I think that’s going to give them a big boost over some of the other teams that are trying to level up in the East going into next season I’ve just been blown away by what the magic of done I had to make a video talking about them

Cuz I haven’t talked about them in their own video since like the beginning of the season when they were up there for the two seed they bowed their way back up towards the top and I’m happy to say that I was wrong about this magic team really excited for what they’re doing

Over there and given it a couple of years this magic team could be representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals I don’t think it’s that far away if they make the right decisions and their talent develops the way that I think it’s going to but with

All that being said those are my thoughts on the magic this season let me know down below what your opinions are do you think the magic could take somebody down in the first round do you think there still a year away from that what have you thought about their season

So far what do you think about Pao frons what’s their ceilings and how far away do you think the magic are from being one of the top contenders in Eastern Conference could it be next year a couple years even further down the line would love to know your thoughts as

Always I appreciate you watching leave a like And subscribe if you did enjoy hit the notification Bell so you don’t miss out future videos appreciate you watching I’ll see youall later real one say back

The Orlando Magic came into the season with raised expectations after a good finish to last year behind great play from Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Many thought they could be a play in team, some thought they would even make the Playoffs, but few thought they would be in contention for a top four seed with teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat this far into the year. Yet, here they are as one of the NBA’s best defenses and one of the league’s craziest stories this year. They’ve proved all the doubters wrong and somehow this is only the beginning. Let’s talk about it.

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0:00 – Intro
0:36 – The Rebuild
1:39 – Expectations
3:11 – Proving People Wrong
4:29 – The Playoff Race
5:41 – Elite Defense (Jalen Suggs)
8:37 – Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner
11:00 – Playoff Outlook
13:37 – The Future
14:22 – Outro