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Can Magic Be Better Than Nets Next Season?
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic isn't in the playoffs this season, and if it wants to be there a year from now, a team currently in the postseason will have to take a step back.
A potential candidate for a regressor in the Eastern Conference would be the Brooklyn Nets, a team that has undergone a seismic shift and is a game away from elimination against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Nets are the No. 6 seed in the East, but it comes after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving just before the trade deadline in February.
Before trading Durant on Feb. 8, the Nets were 32-22, but the current iteration of the team led by Mikal Bridges went 13-15, just a smidge better percentage-wise than the Magic was this past season.
That being said, Orlando is a team on the rise while Brooklyn is a team trending in the wrong direction. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Markelle Fultz are all expected to take another step in the right direction next season and the Magic has a pair of lottery picks coming its way. Meanwhile, the Nets have a pair of picks in the 20s.
The Magic has a nicer outlook and could do some damage next season. Somewhere, Orlando will need a target to take its place in the playoffs and Brooklyn might be that team.
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