Magic President Jeff Weltman Explains Silent Trade Deadline
The Orlando Magic has built its team off of chemistry and keeping its roster consistent, and as a result, the team was once again quiet at the trade deadline.
There is a somewhat negative connotation with not making a move at the deadline, but that is not at all how the Magic is looking at it. The team's President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman talked more about the decision in an interview with Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.
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"We have to give them the opportunity to grow and the opportunity to really experience what a playoff drive is all about," Weltman said. "It's going to change them, make them better, make them more serious and give them a layer of understanding that you just can't have unless you go through it. For us to push our team maybe a game or two further with a temporary fix just doesn't make sense to the big picture of what we're trying to do."
The Magic was one of only seven teams that did not make a move at the deadline, as a lot of teams made some very big movies that shook up their roster. That is the last thing that the Magic wants to do, as it has built some of the best team chemistry in the league.
"Obviously, those teams are different places than we are," he said. "We want to get to a place where were pushing chips up, where we're spending draft picks, spending cap space... We want to get to that place but we have to be responsible to do it right and not skip steps. We like where we are and we worked really hard to be where we are."
The Magic will look to prove that it made the right decision at the deadline over the course of the season. Its next chance to do that will be tonight against another team that did not make a trade, the Chicago Bulls. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET in the Kia Center.
