1 DAY AGO - Mario Hezonja was given little chance to succeed last year, but with a new coaching staff, the Magic may finally see his potential. Entering the 2015 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic needed scoring – and more specifically shooting. Evan Fournier, the team's only bona fide shooter, was yet to prove himself with a breakout year. With the fifth pick, Orlando again found themselves just outside the realm of blue chip talent. The first three picks had been set even before the NCAA Tournament started. Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Jahlil Okafor were long gone. Kristaps Porzingis, the raw but versatile Latvian big man who caught the Magic's eye the previous year, was fresh off the board. Magic general manager Rob Hennigan elected to stay in Europe with his pick, selecting Croatian swingman Mario Hezonja. Hezonja was an intriguing player, the likes of which basketball fans had never seen before. Barely out of high school, and barely getting minutes on Barcelona, scouts were Collapse

5 DAYS AGO - The Magic have made moves, and have said all the right things, but is going the direction of Indiana smart? Since being hired as head coach of the Orlando Magic in late May, Frank Vogel has touted the same message—the new Magic will resemble the old Indiana Pacers. Hours after putting the pen to paper with the Magic, Vogel said that he took the job because Orlando’s young core reminded him of the Paul George-Roy Hibbert-Lance Stephenson squad he took over in 2011. Vogel not only reiterated that statement in subsequent interviews, but added that he could turn Nikola Vucevic into a shot blocker like Hibbert was, simply by changing the way Vucevic positions himself on D. Vogel seems to have convinced several people within the Magic organization, as well as several talking heads around Orlando, that the Pacers of recent past are worth emulating. When asked about the Vogel hire, Evan Fournier was optimistic, saying that it was "always a pain in the [butt]" to play Vogel’s Collapse

9/5/2016 - Who would be the star of your system? One of the biggest concerns following the Magic’s sometimes wild, sometimes enigmatic offseason is how they’re going to balance the frontcourt rotation. How is Aaron Gordon going to get the minutes he deserves? Did Orlando sign Bismack Biyombo only to have him play backup minutes? Which big man pairings will they try, and which ones are going to work? More importantly, can a bunch of amateurs on the internet figure out the best answers to these questions? Probably not! Let’s try anyway. Inspired somewhat by The Ringer’s roster-building game, I thought I’d make up a challenge to figure out a minutes rotation for the 3-to-5 spots. The goal is to assign 140 minutes-worth of playing time to the five key players in those positions: Bismack Biyombo, Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green, Serge Ibaka, and Nikola Vucevic. Technically, the three positions have a total of 144 minutes to divvy up, but let’s assume some other guys will get in the mix here and there. Once Collapse

8/21/2016 - For a franchise that was reeling, the Frank Vogel hire proved that there is still hope left in Orlando When Frank Vogel announced on May 19th that he would take over as the 13th head coach in Orlando Magic history, it changed the team's perception around the league. No longer would they settle for scraps. No longer would they have to stomach rejection. Vogel chose the Magic over much "sexier" jobs, and it says something about the kind of person he has always been. But for that day to take place, another much darker one had to happen first. One could make a compelling case that May 12th, 2016 was the worst day in Orlando Magic history. It may not seem that way now, but it sure felt like it at the time. That was the day that Scott Skiles deemed the Magic un-coachable, and willingly left millions of dollars on the table just to get away. It torpedoed the franchise's plans, and left them with no direction. This incident reminded Magic fans just how far their team had fallen, and the Collapse

8/9/2016 - The Magic added a third alternate to their collection of jersey’s on Tuesday. For the second time in three years, the Orlando Magic will be adding another alternate jersey to their stable. The new jersey, a black base with the Magic logo and white and blue stripes around it with the number in the top right corner, will be worn in select games throughout the 2016/17 season. The jersey, called “Stars” will be the Magic’s fifth jersey, joining their white and blue home and away pinstripes, black alternate pinstripes, and gray sleeved “Pride” jerseys, which the team wears during Friday night home games. Now, the Magic made a big misstep adding the “Pride” jerseys a few years ago, and made it even worse this time. The jersey’s, which look like they should be worn either in practice or during Summer League, have no cohesion whatsoever with their other four jersey’s. The design of the jersey looks like one that will open up the potential for more adds to be placed on the jersey Collapse

8/5/2016 - Magic players voted on their favorite teammates in the National Basketball Players Association's Players Voice Awards. Elfrid Payton has earned the respect and trust of his Orlando Magic teammates, and they've rewarded him by naming him Best Teammate in the National Basketball Players Association's Players Voice Awards, which the NBPA announced via Twitter on Thursday afternoon. "It’s always nice to be recognized for your accomplishments, but it’s extra special to win an award when you know it’s voted on by your peers," said Chris Paul, the president of the NBPA, in a statement. In addition to naming the best teammate on each of the league's 30 clubs, the Players Voice Awards also includes such unique honors as Clutch Performer, Best Social Media Follow, Coach You'd Most Like to Play For, and Best Dressed, among others. Payton, 22, is entering his third season as Orlando's starting point guard. He owns career averages of 9.7 points, 6.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He and Collapse

8/1/2016 - Regardless of what is written on the wall, Nikola Vucevic prepares to fight for his starting spot. The Orlando Magic are facing a unique situation following a draft day trade and an offseason filled with signings reflecting the new inflated NBA salary cap. Nikola Vucevic, Orlando’s primary starting center since the departure of Dwight Howard, who was the Magic's highest paid player following the mid-season trade of Tobias Harris, suddenly finds himself the fifth highest paid player on the team and the team’s second highest paid center. The Magic pushed many of their chips to the center of the table with the signing of Bismack Biyombo. Biyombo, who posts career averages of 4.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, is coming off of a strong playoff performance with the Toronto Raptors that helped his free agency stock skyrocket. He fits with Magic head coach Frank Vogel’s plan to maintain 48 minutes of rim protection, becoming the second primary rim protector Collapse

7/22/2016 - We get to know C.J. Wilcox with Lucas Hann of Clips Nation. After their acquisition of C.J. Wilcox last week for Devyn Marble, the Orlando Magic’s offseason moves are seemingly coming to an end. With 13 players on the roster, the Magic will only need to make a few minor moves to continue to round out their roster for the 2016/17 season. After it came out that the Magic were planning to waive Marble before his contract became fully guaranteed last Friday, they were able to quickly find a trade partner to take on the third-year swing man, and give them something in return. That something, the aforementioned Wilcox, is somewhat of an unknown to many. After having a successful four-year career at Washington, Wilcox has played sparingly for the Los Angeles Clippers over his first two years in the league. Wilcox, who the Clippers were planning to waive, gets a fresh start in Orlando, and brings forth tools and assets the team desperately needs. Still looking for more shooting, and with Collapse

7/15/2016 - Orlando will get compensation for a player it didn't have in its future plans. The Orlando Magic decided Wednesday to cut ties with Devyn Marble before his contract became guaranteed. Now, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, that decision will pay immediate dividends. Rather than waiving Marble outright, says Robbins, the Magic will trade him and a future second-round NBA Draft choice to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for C.J. Wilcox and cash. The Clippers made Wilcox, now 25, the 28th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, but he struggled to carve out a role on a veteran-laden team with championship aspirations. In 44 appearances at the NBA level, the former Washington standout has averaged 2.5 points and 0.4 rebounds per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 38.1 percent on three-pointers. Marble, 23, played 44 games for Orlando after it acquired his Draft rights from the Denver Nuggets in the trade which also netted it Evan Fournier. Despite a Collapse