The excitement around the Orlando Magic has not been this high in a very long time. Not since Dwight Howard departed the team in August of 2011.
The team has gone through its share of false starts and poor decision-making in rebuilds. The promise of growth and advancement never quite came to fruition. The team never felt quite complete.
The Magic never had real hopes for the postseason or any positive momentum to build on. Their one season in this interminable rebuild that gave them any hope ended in catastrophe with the head coach suddenly resigning and the team trading away valuable assets for cap room in a free-agency summer where everyone had cap room.