{"id":413124,"date":"2026-09-28T21:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413124\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T21:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:02:11","slug":"orlando-magic-embrace-mixed-expectations-entering-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/413124\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic embrace mixed expectations entering season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scan the NBA preseason power rankings from an array of national media, and you can find the Magic<\/a> mostly in the middle of the pack across the league.<\/p>\n

The Ringer<\/a>\u2018s Michael Pina recently ranked Orlando<\/a> 15th out of the 30 NBA teams. The same goes for SB Nation<\/a>\u2018s Ricky O\u2019Donnell. USA Today<\/a> listed the Magic 16th. Meanwhile, NBA.com<\/a>\u2018s John Schuhmann slotted Orlando 10th out of 15 clubs in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

After three consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs, those preseason projections don\u2019t bother Jeff Weltman<\/a>, the team\u2019s president of basketball operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, I think they picked us to win the East,\u201d Weltman said Monday at the team\u2019s media day held inside the AdventHealth Training Center. \u201cHonestly, I much prefer this summer. I much prefer the focus, the attention, the notoriety being drawn to other teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just gone about our work quietly,\u201d Weltman added. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of good work here. I think a lot of important work.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the reasons the Magic haven\u2019t quite caught the eye of the national media is because of their relatively quiet summer.<\/p>\n

After re-signing veterans Jonathan Isaac and Jevon Carter while also exercising a team option for Jamal Cain, Orlando brought back the majority of the roster from last season. The Magic only signed one new free agent when they reunited with fan favorite Nikola Vucevic and also drafted Izaiyah Nelson in the second round, adding him on a two-way contract.<\/p>\n

Departures included Moe Wagner, who signed as a free agent with the Brooklyn Nets, and Jett Howard, Orlando\u2019s 2023 lottery pick who signed a two-way contract as a free agent with the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Magic\u2019s major move this offseason was firing Jamahl Mosley and hiring Sean Sweeney<\/a>, a first-time NBA head coach who\u2019s known for his intense style. An assistant for over a decade in the league, Sweeney last directed the stout defense of the San Antonio Spurs, who fell in June in the NBA Finals to the New York Knicks.<\/p>\n

A common theme shared among the players Monday when talking about Sweeney was his clear and consistent approach to coaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been constant communication,\u201d said Magic forward Paolo Banchero, who added that he and Sweeney spent time together in Banchero\u2019s hometown of Seattle this summer. \u201cHim telling me what he expects from me, asking me what I want and stuff like that \u2026 Can\u2019t ask for anything more from a new coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe expects us to do what we\u2019re being told to do,\u201d Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. said of Sweeney. \u201cAs a player, that\u2019s what you dream of. That\u2019s what you want. You want to be held to a standard and when you\u2019re not meeting that standard, to be told that you\u2019re not doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Magic guard Desmond Bane about Sweeney: \u201cI\u2019ve been extremely impressed with his approach. I think that his care factor is through the roof. He says it all the time, this is the job that he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HeadMagic coach Sean Sweeney speaks during Orlando Magic media day at the AdventHealth Training Center on Monday. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

While others teams, such as the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> (who traded for Boston\u2019s Jaylen Brown and signed LeBron James), made flashy moves, the Magic believe roster continuity under the guidance of a new staff led by Sweeney will carry them throughout the season and beyond the first round of the postseason.<\/p>\n

Weltman welcomes the lack of attention brought towards Orlando entering the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur players are beginning to get to an age where they are understanding what goes into winning (and) what goes into getting out of the playoffs,\u201d Weltman said. \u201cThe integration with the coaching staff has been terrific. So, honestly, I would say it doesn\u2019t matter, I don\u2019t care, but actually, I like it. It\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all got to play the games. That\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Magic open training camp Tuesday. After a week of practice, the Magic open the preseason Oct. 7 at Memphis. Orlando\u2019s regular season begins Oct. 21 versus Atlanta at Kia Center.<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scan the NBA preseason power rankings from an array of national media, and you can find the Magic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,76046,110],"class_list":["post-413124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}